The Praise Report
Fall 2008

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(L) Map with marker showing first leg of our 4000 mile long mission drive into Kosovo and Romania starting from France and passing through many different countries. (R) Standing with French and Kosovar friends in front of a bombed out building in Prizren, Kosovo.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

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EuroMission 2008
L) We had planned on riding in a large comfortable van but a devastating accident right before the trip totalled it, with no coverage on it; prayer for a miracle was the only hope. A Volkswagen Rabbit was donated just before the trip, which though much smaller and with no air conditioning nor radio, got us where we were going. What you can’t see in this photo are all the things piled up at our feet and in between us, we are even sitting on sleeping cushions in order to fit everything in. (R) Trying to get everything to fit in the car for the 4000-mile road trip to Kosovo and Romania. Getting all the stuff in and then finding a place to put ourselves after we had put it all in was a constant challenge.
We just returned from our most extensive European mission trip yet. We ministered in seven different countries including France, Kosovo, Romania, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and Ireland. As well as passing through 17 different countries and driving over 4000 long miles into Southeastern Europe by car, in a small vehicle squeezed full of people and luggage and other things stuffed practically up to our necks, we then traveled another 4000 miles by train into the most Northwestern parts of Europe to minister in Scandinavia.

We experienced many powerful moves of the Holy Spirit, miracles, salvations, and divine appointments, as well as going through triumphs and trials, all while being sustained by the mighty hand of God every step of the way.
Preparing for the Trip
This trip really began over a year ago when we led a youth camp on our last mission trip to Tours, France, where we taught and prayed for those who came to the camp and then went out on the streets with them, witnessing about Christ in the community and holding evening meetings where we preached the Gospel. We had 9 people come to Christ right from the streets, including a young woman from Belgium who ended up worshipping and going out and witnessing with us the rest of the week. Others were renewed and revived at the camp and the French youth leaders there began to talk to us about doing a mission trip together into the Balkans and other parts of Eastern Europe. (The Balkans includes the former nation of Yugoslavia that has broken into many different countries and has seen much war and strife in recent history).

As we communicated back and forth with our friends in France as the trip grew nearer, the reality of spiritual warfare had already begun to hit us. The vehicle to be used, a good-sized, comfortable van, was in a devastating accident shortly before the trip, rendering it unusable. As we were left wondering what to do, the Lord provided a small compact car that was donated to the church leaders in Tours, France, just before the trip.

Thankfully, we had the transportation we needed to go, though now we would be traveling in a much more cramped conditions, having to endure the hot, stifling, 100-degree heat of Southern and Eastern Europe with no air conditioning or a radio to relieve the 15-18 hours on the road that we would log per day when traveling. We were definitely in for a wild ride!
Arrival in France
L) Reconnecting with old friends in France and enjoying some French cuisine before 4000 miles with a lot of
road food. (R) Preaching in Tours after arriving in France at the church where we had the youth camp last year.
Once we arrived into France and reconnected with our friends from our last trip, we then ministered in the church in Tours. God moved in Holy Spirit power as we preached on a couple different occasions. Seeing people touched, filled, and empowered by the presence of God is always exciting in a place like France that has less than 1% of its population who are born-again Christians.

God also gave us grace for the journey as we received ministry ourselves in preparation for the long road ahead into the Balkans. Although we’d be riding tight and cramped for some 4,000 miles through many different countries, the Most High assured us of His presence with us.
Off to the Balkans
(L) Road sign in Kosovo encouraging people to be supportive of the KFor/NATO troops (R) American flags are actually a pretty regular sight in Kosovo, even streets in the capital are named after some American Presidents. Something highly unusual in Europe, Kosovo is definitely a land of ironies.
We began the journey through France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. After crossing many borders and logging many miles, we finally made our way across the Serbian/Kosovar border—definitely the toughest—into the newly independent nation of Kosovo (Serbia and Kosovo were at war with each other in the recent past.)

The reality of the war set in immediately as we drove into Kosovo and saw the bombed out buildings and walls and NATO/KFOR soldiers and UN vehicles dotting the landscape.

Through rough, potholed, and at times unpaved dirt roads, we made our way past American flags and streets named after American presidents in Kosovo—the US defended it during the war—to those we’d be ministering with in the city of Djakova, which would be our base for our Kosovar ministry in three of its cities.
Ministry in Kosovo
(L) The Holy Spirit moved in great power our whole trip, especially in Prizren where signs and wonders took place including the healing of hearing impairment and epileptic attacks. (R) French team, us and Kosovar friends in Prizren, Kosovo. The Holy Spirit gave us great koinonia fellowship while there.
God poured out His power as we taught and preached and prayed in churches in Kosovo in the cities of Djakova, Prizren, and Rugova, as well as in a children’s orphanage on the outskirts of Djakova.

The Holy Spirit was poured out in dramatic great power as we ministered, especially in Prizren, where the meetings we did went past midnight each night even though we started at 6:00 pm. A young man received healing in his impaired hearing and another was healed from epileptic attacks, and the whole church was powerfully ministered to each night as God poured out His presence in a very intense way there, filling and pouring His grace and love over everyone present.

We taught, preached, and ministered in the church in Djakova and the Lord impacted the young people there. (It’s mostly young people who will go to a church in these areas.) We connected in a powerful way with the people in the church in Djakova with true friendship and koinonia fellowship .

In the town of Rugova we had around 8 young men come to Christ. We preached and shared the Gospel and then talked with the young men from the community whom the pastor had been inviting to the church, and they finally opened up to receive the Lord after we shared the Gospel with them. We prayed with each one individually to receive Christ and also to be filled with the Spirit. One of them was so powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit he just sat receiving in front of everyone for a very long time. Even when another speaker came up to share some further things, he just sat there right in front of the church, oblivious to all the people looking on at him while he was engaged by the presence of God.

(L) Nato/Kfor troops on patrol watching over the city (R) Old ways of getting around on horses and buggies and many dirt roads as well as power outages are a pretty regular thing. Mixing these old ways of transport with modern cars becomes quite the challenge to the driving situation. Passing by accidents and witnessing many close calls became regular fare.
We also had a good number of kids respond to an invitation to receive Christ when we ministered at a children’s orphanage just outside Djakova.

Kosovo was part of the Balkan war and many who live there ended up in refugee camps during the war or worse, as around 10% of the population in places like Djakova were killed. There has also been persecution in this region that is now 90% Muslim (according to the latest US Department of State and BBC statistics) and only around 1% born-again Evangelical Christians. The pastor we worked with in Djakova was abducted and beaten and tortured by the Islamic Kahail which was part of an Al Qaeda cell in the area, because he came to faith in Christ from a Muslim background.

A few mornings while still in Kosovo, we were awakened by the sound of gunfire while sleeping with the windows open in this hot, Southern region of Europe. One time it was an actual shootout right down the street from where we were staying, between some people in conflict. Another couple of mornings we heard gunfire again, this time right outside of our window. We found out that the city had launched a campaign to shoot the stray dogs that overrun the area. This explained some of the dogs we saw laying dead that morning.

The soldiers and police would also inevitably pull over one of the cars we were caravanning with while coming back from church at night, wanting an explanation of why everyone was out so late (1:00 AM isn’t the normal church-going hour.) Bibles and guitars had to be shown and played as well as answering questions about what is in the Bible to prove a church service was being returned from, which the German K/FOR Soldiers and police had trouble believing could go so late. They couldn't comprehend that the Holy Spirit keeps the services exciting and going late into the night when His power is poured out, but God used it for good as they were witnessed to as a result of it. One time the police lights were flashing right behind us, I prayed a quick little prayer as we don’t speak the language: “Lord, I think the pastor could handle this better since he lives here.” Amazingly, right as I prayed that, the police car suddenly passed me and went up and pulled the pastor over instead, even though he was about to pull me over. The pastor knows everyone in the area so it wasn’t a problem for him to explain why we were out so late at night.

God worked powerfully in all the places we taught, preached, prayed, and ministered in Kosovo and He really connected us with the people. We also had a great time of fellowship with everyone we ministered with in that new nation.
(L) In front of the church in Rugova, Kosovo, with some of the young men who came to Christ when we ministered there. (R) Singing songs with the kids at the orphanage in Djakova where a number of children received the Lord.
Driving to Romania
(L) Road sign in the Balkans (M) Nat from France holds a sausage-like substance named Pipi. It tasted just like the name sounds!!! (R) Romanian graffiti regarding the excessive number of dogs which overrun the city and bark all night!!!
After departing from Kosovo we began the long journey towards Romania. As we passed through Macedonia we were immediately accosted by a pack of guys on the street running up to the car and sticking their hands through the open windows. Letitia from France, who was driving the car, tried to get the windows up but had difficulty with the hands coming in. She shoved a big, unopened bag of potato chips at them to try and get them to back off. They all began fighting over the chips and we were able to drive off without any problems, though we laughed later at how we were really looking forward to eating those chips.

Next we passed through Bulgaria, the most corrupt country in all Europe (according to a recent BBC report). They sprayed a little water on our car at the border checkpoint, and we were then told to pay a fee for being disinfected from “bird flu” -- Welcome To Bulgaria. We had to pay to get out of the country too, as they demanded money for crossing a small bridge out.

While driving through Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, the road suddenly ended in the middle of the city with no signs or indications of where to go. Completely lost, we felt led to go into a gas station, where, amazingly we met a person who spoke French that led us to a cab driver who agreed to lead us out of the city towards our destination. It was quite the maze going through so many different parts of the city just to get out and get where we were going; we also had to try and avoid making eye contact with all the police everywhere waiting to give you a “fine.” We somehow kept up with the taxi through all the twists and turns and finally made it out of the city.

After crossing the border late into the evening, we finally made it to Romania, but we still had a long drive in front of us. We finally arrived to our destination in Bucharest in the middle of the night, and even at that hour it was very hot.
Ministry in Romania
(L) Bryan preaching in Bucharest, Romania through an interpreter. We had a powerful time in Romania!
(R) Having dinner in the Transylvania area of Romania with Pastor Helmuth, Laetitia, Nat and other friends.
The massive number of stray dogs that overrun the city of Bucharest were barking outside all night long, echoing throughout the city. This, combined with the heat and tight conditions we slept in, afforded us little sleep most of the time there. It was definitely a challenge but God refreshed us as His Spirit moved powerfully in both Bucharest and the Transylvania area (Turda) pouring out His presence in both places as we ministered. We also had some powerful divine appointments while we were there.

While ministering in the town of Turda, we had spent a bit of time praying with the pastor for a prospective building. As we were walking out of that building I (Bryan) saw a man whom the Holy Spirit led me to talk to. Out of all the people we could have talked to, this man has a daughter who goes to school in San Diego, a place he had also visited (something very unusual in this part of the world.) This opened up a conversation and we talked as well as witnessed to him about Christ for a while.

As we were talking, another person picked up a wallet from the ground behind him and asked if it was his. Amazed, he affirmed that it was. We shared that this was a sign from God, who was watching over his life—pick-pocketing is common there, more often someone would be running off with it. He was greatly impressed and overwhelmed by all that was happening and by our witnessing and praying for him.

The pastor himself said that he, as well, could hardly express to us how encouraged he was to see how the Lord was working while we were there.

The pastor also told us he will be following up with the gentleman as he lives near him, and in fact, we've already received news that the pastor has run into him again and continued sharing with him about the Lord.

We got to cool off on a visit to Europe’s largest salt mine right in Turda deep below the earth. We also drove past the world’s biggest government building, also in Romania, built by Ceausescu during Communism. I agreed to play in a local church soccer game which was much more intense than I expected. I should have seen it coming when they all showed up with cleats on and soccer attire. Turns out the pastor himself played at a professional level in the past. Sore legs were only part of the exhaustion and punishment of playing with guys at this level. God had mercy though, and obviously gave an angel the command to redirect a ball I kicked into the goal so I wouldn’t be completely humiliated by these Euro soccer fanatics. We played American football when I grew up, the kind with a brown pigskin ball and pads and helmets, which of course leaves you at a great disadvantage when playing European-style football.
The Drive Back to Western Europe
(L) After a difficult night sleeping in an Italian truck stop with only around 2 hours sleep, which was preceded by 18 hours of driving, we awoke to find ourselves near the famed city of Venice which was well worth the visit and refreshed our car-weary backsides to get out of the car and stretch our legs. (R) Patrick and Laetitia hanging out with a Gypsy mother and some children in the area of Transylvania, Romania.
After finishing our ministry in Romania we began the long journey back towards Western Europe. We spent 18 hours driving the first day, going all the way through Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and then into Italy in the middle of the night.

After 18 hours in the tight car we never found a decent place to sleep. So at two in the morning we decided we better stop somewhere and we ended up spending the night in an Italian truck stop. Loud semis came in and out every two minutes while we tried to grab some sleep in the cramped conditions for a few hours while truck generators were loudly rumbling all around us. What a night! Especially after 18 hours in the car already and tough sleeping conditions for weeks before this. I had reached the limit of my strength and endurance. It was impossible to even move our legs, getting stuck in the most uncomfortable positions.

Imitating a pretzel wasn’t my idea of sleep so I rolled out of the vehicle onto the cement below. When that turned out to be worse, I went and found a patch of grass to sleep on at the truck stop and do what Sierra backpackers call "cowboying it" (sleeping straight under the stars, no tent etc), yet this was on the side of the freeway, not up in the mountains. “Cowboying it” isn’t fun in the first place, but on the side of the freeway it’s downright misery, it makes you feel like a total street urchin.

The Apostle Paul said we are to endure hardship as a soldier of Christ; I remembered that Scripture and quoted it to myself in the middle of such fun and also reminded myself that Special Forces soldiers have a saying: "You are able to endure 10 times what you think you can!” I had to remind myself of that too while being woken up for the 200th time by another loud truck spewing its diesel exhaust up my nose. However, when you think you've reached your limit of endurance there comes a strength from somewhere beyond, and that was from Jesus standing by our side in all our trials we went through including this one. The strength He gives goes beyond human ability and meets us to carry us through, right when our own strength could take us no further, and that is exactly what the Lord did.

We, however, awoke early after maybe 2 hours of sleep (a generous estimation) to find we were close to the famed city of Venice, Italy. We took the time to pay a visit, which was well worth the effort. It was refreshing to just cruise around and stretch our legs and be back into Western civilization. Even though we were running on such little sleep, something not too unusual on this trip, it was nice to just get out of the car for a while. From there we headed to the border of Italy/Switzerland.
Ministry in Switzerland
(L) Lugano, Switzerland, near the border with Italy, where we ministered. It was quite the culture shock re-entering Western Europe and especially Switzerland (R) 4:30 AM train, plane, and car departures leave you quite bleary-eyed and zombie-like. We did more than our share of these on this trip. Sleep sometimes felt like a distant thing we could only "dream about."
We preached and ministered in a church in Lugano, Switzerland where the Holy Spirit moved too. God again, as so many times on this and other trips, demonstrated that His power is not limited to a location or region or a revival or special church. These signs will follow those who BELIEVE. We stayed with an American friend, Frank Martinez, who is doing business on the border of Italy and Switzerland, who generously hosted us and took us out for some local meals.

This was great after so many weird roadside food ventures on our 4000-mile driving journey. We had eaten some weird and wacky stuff including something that resembled sausage from Bulgaria called “Pipi.” It tasted just like the name implies! Another favorite delicacy from Bulgaria was supposed to be cheese but tasted more like plastic putty. We had tried to put it together with this weird bread for the world’s worst sandwich. We all agreed, especially our French friends, that we’d rather go hungry. Except for Patrick of course who thought it was all just fine as long as he could put plenty of ketchup on it.

We had the opportunity to witness to a young Argentine guy in Switzerland who is the waiter at a restaurant there. He ended up sitting down with us and talking for over an hour. He was really open and receptive as we shared the Lord with him, he even told us that “people in this area need to hear this very badly.” We also shared with others along the way as well, including some young Mexican girls that were visiting Venice.
Stops in France and Germany
(L & R) After 4000 miles of driving and ministry in many different nations it was time for a little beach break in the south of France before doing another 4000 more miles by train up to and through Scandinavia to minister there. We continued to minister even while taking a break having some powerful divine appointments.
Before heading to Scandinavia to minister, we needed a break after such long travels. having already logged some 4000 miles. We had stayed in a place with 6 cats in one house along the journey, spending more time coughing and wheezing than sleeping at night. We had gone without eating at times and been going nonstop, even sleeping on the side of the road. As we were just about to do another 4000 miles as we headed on to and throughout Scandinavia, this time by train, to minister in Norway and Sweden, we felt the Lord strongly communicating to us to stop, take a break, and rest, before moving on to any further ministry.

We were blessed to be able to hit the beach for a few days of R&R in Southern France before the coming long train ride up to Scandinavia. The Lord blessed us all with a little sun, fun, and surf and threw in some divine appointments for good measure as well.

While strolling through Biarritz I (Bryan) saw a small group of people walking up a street we were on and felt led to talk to them. Turns out they were an American Gospel singing group on a tour. After we spent some time talking with them we prayed for them as well as encouraging them to be bold and share their testimonies of Christ's work in their lives when they perform. All this and some fun waves too, which recharged our batteries before we began the long train ride north to Norway and Sweden.

As we passed through Germany we were able to visit some historic sites where the Reformation was initiated like the very Castle Church where Martin Luther nailed the famed Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church door, sparking a movement that shook the nations and history. Right as we were there, we received a newsletter from a fellow minister who talked about the importance of Luther's stance, teaching, and the Reformation.

A recent show on the History Channel also explained how Luther and the Reformation he sparked led in time to so many of the modern blessings we now take for granted: individual freedom, modern democracy, civil rights, and “oh yeah!” the very nation of America!

The body of Christ needs to get back to the central focus that Luther had on the Gospel of Christ and move away from all the man-centeredness now permeating every aspect of Christendom. (We recently heard a mega church pastor confess he and other popular mega church pastors in America purposely turned everything into entertainment in their churches just to attract big crowds. They literally admitted that they consciously decided to replace the essentials with entertainment in order to give people what they wanted, which is to eliminate the challenging word that says we are sinners in need of God’s grace).

Luther also wrote about the importance of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life, which is just as relevant today. We were blessed to be there in Wittenberg as they had a celebration in the historic town with fireworks and other events right at the church where he nailed his famous theses.
A visit in Lutherstadt Wittenberg: (L) Castle church door where Luther nailed the 95 theses. (M) Luther statue in the center of Wittenberg. (R) Fireworks over the castle church, celebrating the Reformation! Luthers return to the Word of God shook the nations and spawned many revival and missions movements in time. Radical and controversial, God used him to change the course of history and we cannot white wash God's work through him and rewrite history to be politically correct today.
Ministry in Scandinavia
(L) Powerful home meeting in Sweden where a we had a glorious time in the Holy Spirit! (R) The Holy Spirit moves in power at a church in Sweden where we ministered at. Young Lucas here was powerfully filled and impacted! We have continued to receive news of a dramatic change in his life from what God did.
When we got up to Scandinavia we had some very powerful meetings in both Sweden and Norway where God poured out His power.

At a home meeting in Sweden the Holy Spirit greatly ministered to many people. The Spirit of God also moved powerfully in a couple of churches we preached at in Sweden as well. A man who has been in leadership many years and who has many spiritual gifts himself told us that this was a long-awaited breakthrough and healing for him as he had been seeking the Lord for the Holy Spirit to refill and revive him for a long time—“This is what happened to me tonight when you prayed for me”-- he told us. Many others received similar blessings from the Lord. Another man who has been a missionary in many different places said that this is what church is supposed to be, where God moves freely amongst His people and meets their needs through His power.

We ministered at a youth service in Kristiansand, Norway where Bryan preached at a meeting of about 200 young people. The timing was quite incredible, as a young man who was part of the youth group had just died the day before we arrived. Bryan was able to share through personal experience, having had his younger brother pass away while on this mission trip, how essential it is to lean on the Lord and stay in the center of His will when someone passes away who is part of your life or family.

This was, without a doubt, the biggest trial of this trip, receiving the news of the death of Bryan’s younger brother, which basically shook us to the core during our driving trip. The Lord ministered to us continually, however, and gave us comfort, strength, and clear confirmation of His presence with us and guidance for us to carry on with the work He called us to do.

We also ministered at a rehab in Norway where a big strong guy who looked just like a classic Viking received the Lord when we talked with him at the end of the meeting. We heard quite a few surprised comments that he received Christ, apparently he had been quite resistant before this.

We also spoke at a home meeting where the Holy Spirit moved power fully. It was a blessing to see God move powerfully in Scandinavia after not visiting there for four years.

We were also blessed to get the unexpected surprise of some fun surf while in Norway, something that is not always the case in these areas. In fact, we surfed one spot which was really fun. I asked the friends we came there with when the last time was they had got to surf this particular spot. “When you were here 4 years ago,” was their answer, to which they added: “You should come more often since this spot only seems to break when you show up.”

We had a blessed time in Scandinavia while ministering and reconnecting with old friends as well. Praise God for the Vikings converting to Christianity. (You can get our DVD on that exciting and supernatural story, just email us at gracewm@flash.net)
The Emerald Isle
(L) Mission, prayer meeting in coffee shop in Belfast, Ireland, we had an awesome prayer meeting with a move of the Spirit. (R) Ancient tower built by famed Irish missionary to Scotland, Columcille. This tower helped watch for invading Vikings, and they could lock themselves in safely with a ample food supply when they saw the invading Viking ships.
At the very beginning of our mission trip we went through and ministered in the British Isles. Ireland was our landing pad for arriving in Europe and where we’d do some ministry and then head to Scotland where we would take time to spend our 16th wedding anniversary before heading off on our 4000-mile mission road trip from France to Kosovo and Romania.

We arrived into Europe via Dublin, Ireland, Europe’s backdoor for lower-cost passage. We had a powerful spontaneous meeting together in Belfast with some missionary friends—the Jourden's, and others doing mission work there—as we prayed and ministered to one another the Holy Spirit moved in great power. We were in a coffee shop in Belfast and all became unaware of where we were as the Lord touched our hearts and brought some to the floor in power while others cried lifting their hands in His glory. The Lord anointed the time with vision and encouragement.

We also had a unique divine appointment in Ireland at a little hostel we stayed at. A man was filming a documentary at this place, which doubles as a surf school for the growing surf population in the country, and began filming us as we ate breakfast. It led to an opportunity to share about the work we are doing in Europe and other locales and share the Gospel as well, on film at that, which may lead to quite a number of others hearing the message.

The documentary host's response was quite insightful to the general situation of a lot of people in Europe when he said: "I'm Roman Catholic and go to mass regularly but don't really believe in God. But I’m thankful for your God and the work He has you doing." A situation all too common in this part of the world, where people often have a religious background but no real personal faith or relationship with Christ whatsoever, and may not even believe in the existence of the Almighty.

We were literally touching the ends of the earth while passing through the British Isles as we passed through areas like "The Bloody Foreland," which has a harsh, windy, and inhospitable environment, at the very northwest tip of Ireland.
Scotland and the Hebrides
(L) We spent our 16th wedding anniversary in Scotland and also visited the place where one of the last great revivals in Europe took place. (R) Historic church where John Knox preached at King James coronation.
We spent our 16th wedding anniversary on one of the top ends of civilization on the Hebrides Islands of Scotland. If you keep going straight north from there it is on to the Arctic and then over to Alaska on the other side. We saw some awesome scenery while visiting the locale of one of Europe’s last great revivals some 60 years ago. God poured out Holy Ghost fire there and many were saved and moved to serve as missionaries all over the world back then. The Lord impressed upon us the need for His Spirit to be poured out in power once again in Europe. Also, the time served as important preparation for the rest of our trip, as the Lord put it on our hearts to talk about this revival and encourage people to seek God for a fresh one. We were blessed to see the Lord move in power even as we shared about this historic move of God. We also had a divine appointment praying for the lady at the place we stayed at.

We were, in fact, blessed to see and experience this very thing, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, everywhere we ministered in Europe, everywhere we went. It is really more of a miracle when God moves powerfully in a place where not much really significant, spiritually-speaking, is going on. Whereas at a revival, getting saved, filled, or healed is expected. But for God to move in power where nothing much is happening is a sign and wonder of its very own. We were blessed to experience outpourings and signs and wonders in France, Kosovo, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Ireland. These places have less than 2 to 3 percent Christians in their population and don’t see significant spiritual happenings often. The way that God moved is a testimony to the power of the Most High who was with us even as we ministered in one of the most spiritually dry continents in the world today as well as serving as a sign of His plans and what he intends to do here on a much larger scale in His future timing.

It is early days but God has plans and purposes and it is for the salvation, filling, and healing of many in this region of the world.

The Most High was with us every step of the way, through blessings and trial, mountaintop and valley. His presence overshadowed every step of our three-month mission journey as we traveled so many miles in Europe by car, as well as by train and by plane.
The Coming Harvest
(L & R) Preaching and ministering in Norway at a youth group of over 200 people. Amazingly, the day before we arrived a young man who was part of the group died. Bryan was able to minister out of personal experience about the importance of leaning on the Lord in the time of shock and grief having had his younger brother pass away while on this very mission trip.
One day while in Kosovo I borrowed the pastor’s car. Not having had a radio our whole journey, the first thing I did was switch on the radio. However, there was a cassette tape stuck in it. As I turned it up to hear what was playing, it was a message from famed Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke from the “Europe Fire Conference.” Bonnke kept prophesying emphatically at the part where the tape was playing: “Europe shall be saved! Europe shall be saved! Europe shall be saved!!!”

The power of God struck me with great confirmation so intensely I could barely keep driving. Indeed this is what it sounds like what the Lord is saying for the future of Europe, it seems He is saying that he will bring a great harvest in His time there.
Trial by Fire
However, no ground is ever taken in a war without great sacrifice, and this is a very serious war. Satan attacked and threw everything on us to make us quit in the middle of this trip, including the untimely death of my younger brother who had received the Lord when we prayed with him some years ago and had been baptized in Harald Bredesen’s swimming pool by Harald and us. However, God sustained us, ministered to us, and confirmed that we were in the center of His will and not to turn to the left or right but keep going with what He called us to do. In fact, His confirmation was as strong as it could possibly be.

After ministering in Lugano, Switzerland, we took a trip to visit a church in Zurich. The pastor shared in her message, amazingly, of how when her younger brother was dying and indeed had died, she herself had to continue on with a mission trip in Europe some years back. This was from the pulpit with no knowledge whatsoever of our circumstances. When we spoke to her afterwards, there was a feeling of the depth of a shared trial that few others can understand without having been through something like this. We praise God for His grace, mercy, and confirmation in the middle of such trial.

War requires sacrifice for victory to be attained. We saw many victories: young Muslim men and young orphan kids who came to Christ, the powerful filling of the Holy Spirit upon many people, and healings and miracles and divine appointments. We sacrificed in many ways on this trip including going well beyond our budget as we were hit with all kinds of extra expenses in high-priced toll roads, huge gasoline bills, and just general over-the-top costs with what at the time was the weakest the dollar has ever been in its entire history against the Euro and other currencies, as well as the highest gasoline and oil ever has been in history too, gas averaging us $8.00 a gallon. We are in fact still paying off the bills and can definitely use whatever extra help you may be able to offer.

(L) Roman ruin of an ancient fortress, then church, in the area of Biblical Illyricum (Rom. 15:19) which today is called southern Kosovo (near border of Macedonia.) Paul is said to have visited this area on one of his mission journeys. (R) R.I.P. Bryan’s brother Dana Marleaux being baptized by Bryan and Harald Bredesen. We received the startling news of his death while on our mission trip.
In light of the recent financial crisis it is important to share this word:

Early in the morning on the day the stock market first began its recent shake up, the Lord gave me this Scripture: “I called on your name from the depths of the pit [the pit seemed to represent the trading pit on the stock floor for this word]. …You came near when I called and you said: ‘Do Not Fear.’ ” (Lam. 3:55,57)

Many have gone into panic and fear at what is happening all around in the economy but God says to trust in Him for He is our fortress and high tower in the midst of the storm. Continue on with His business and he will take care of yours . Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.

If a farmer hears there may be a famine next year and in fear decides not to plant, he then guarantees his own famine. Likewise, many pull back on their giving immediately when financial fears arise. This however, will only guarantee a personal financial famine as one plants no seed for future harvest. Rather than pulling back in fear, believers should continue to move forward with faith, trusting that the Almighty has their case before them and will supply all their needs (needs not wants), according to His riches and glory.

We thank you for considering us as you continue to sow financial seed into God’s Kingdom in faith, knowing we have a good Father who takes care of His own.
We truly appreciate your sacrifice in financial support and offerings. Your continued support is a big blessing and a huge help. Thank you so much for helping and giving and continuing to do so as you sacrifice for the Lord. We are together, as you lend your aid in prayer and support, brothers and sisters in arms.

God’s richest blessings to you,
Bryan, Mercedes and Patrick Marleaux
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