June 1999 Chronicle
Parramatta for Jesus. Parramatta is a city within a city - the city of Parramatta
is the geographic hub of the city of Sydney, Australia.
About 2 years ago the Lord gave me the vision for this city. God has chosen Parramatta
to be a city of revival. Parramatta is to be a city of Salvation; a city of Healing;
a city of Deliverance and a city of the Impartation of the Holy Spirit. The Lord
wants to start in Parramatta first what He wants to do in all the cities of Australia.
God wants His fire that starts in Parramatta to eventually burn all over Australia.
Similar to the bush fires that burn out of control in the Australian summer; igniting
all that are in it’s way - a spontaneous ignition, so too the fire of the Holy Spirit
will burn across this nation. God has given us this land. God has given us Australia.
He has given us this nation. He wants us to be very courageous and to go in and
possess the land. Australia for Jesus. We embrace this vision from God and desire
to fulfil our destiny. We felt led of God to start Hope Ministries, which will be
the instrument to help fulfil our destiny in God for our nation and the nations
of the world.
The call of God on my life has been strong of late. The prophetic voice has been
powerfully calling me to go out more into ministry. Many months ago, God spoke these
words to me, ”If you don’t step out of the boat, you will not walk on the water.”
God was using the example of Peter, the disciple of Jesus, who saw Jesus walking
on the water and wanted to do likewise. In response to Jesus’ command Peter stepped
out of the boat and walked on the water. It takes a tremendous amount of faith to
step out of the boat. God was asking me to do just that. God asked me to give up
my full time employment and go to work on a part time basis. My position in secular
employment is that of National Operations Manager in a manufacturing, installation
and service company. This makes my role very demanding indeed. The position gives
me good financial rewards and benefits and as such it would be a sacrifice to lay
it all down. However, God has to be obeyed and the work of God has to be done. About
5 months ago I approached the Managing Director of the company with a request to
work part time. His reaction was very terse and he rejected it outright by saying
that I ought to appreciate the company’s requirements and the time demands of my
position. This precluded part time work.
However, I felt God saying to me that I should ask again. An old man of prayer confirmed
this to me from my local church. Around about that time Ron Bradwell, an anointed
servant of God from the UK came to our church to hold special meetings. At that
stage I did not know him too well. But what he and I did not know was that the Lord
was sending Ron Bardwell with a prophetic word for me. The gist of the prophecy
was:
“Don’t miss out on what you were called to do. Despite any opposition, the vision
must be and will be fulfilled. The vision was given to you to fulfil. You were ordained
for a time such as this. You were called to play the fiddle, don’t play second fiddle.”
Subsequent to this prophecy, God spoke strongly into my spirit powerful things,
Prophetic direction came from the leadership of the Church and an anointed woman
of God, and Sister Bernadette Nahlous gave me a word of direction. Recently, while
I was in Brazil, church leaders spoke some powerful things into my spirit. The time
was NOW! I had to act.
After Ron Bradwell’s prophetic word, things started to happen. By a strange and
peculiar chain of events, God began to open doors as He had promised. God set the
perfect scene for me to again ask my boss to release me to part time work. He agreed
to look into the possibility of my being released on Fridays. But very quickly things
started to happen and I was released for 2 days per week with immediate effect -
Wednesdays and Fridays, the exact days that I felt God wanted me to work for Him.
About a year and a half ago, when God began to speak into my spirit about Parramatta,
God asked me to spend the whole of Wednesday in intercession and spiritual warfare
in the Parramatta city centre and to hold lunch time deliverance and healing meetings
on Fridays. God distinctly told me that first I would see ”ones and twos”, then
”threes and fours”, and very quickly ”hundreds upon hundreds” come to these meetings.
With the release to part time work my resolve began to falter. I began to understand
what a huge task was ahead of me.
I had no place in the city to hold my Friday lunchtime meetings and no place in
which to spend time in prayer on Wednesdays. God had instructed me to pray the whole
of Wednesday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. God said that it should be just like a normal
working day - a workday of prayer. With no sheltered place to pray, the only option
was to pray in the open in the city parks. But to spend a day praying in the parks
was still my big hurdle, Twice during the last 6 months we had gone into the city
to spend time in prayer in the and it proved to be a trying task - praying in the
heat of summer and now it was winter, the task was certainly going to be worse I
tried to make other suggestions to God on what I could do with the day but God sternly
asked me to ”bow my will before Him” and to walk in obedience.
Many, many months ago while praying, God spoke to me about Parramatta. He distinctly
told me that just as Jonah, the prophet had gone to Nineveh and sat to watch at
the city gate and just as God caused a vine to grow up and it’s branches covered
Jonah’s head from the scorching heat so too God promised to cover my heat. And just
as the people of Nineveh repented of their sins so too God promised that the people
of Parramatta would repent.
My first day off from work was to be the 9 June 1999 and I was still going through
these tussles with God the week before. It was exactly a week to go on a Wednesday
morning that during my Morning Prayer time God distinctly spoke to me and asked
me to see Dr. Kwan, a doctor in the Parramatta CBD. I had not met Dr. Kwan before
and did not know too much about him, except that he was a Christian doctor practising
in the city. The next day I telephoned this man and made an appointment to see him.
When I got to his surgery, I told him outright that I did not know what to say as
God had asked me to see him. It was a bit awkward, not knowing what to say; but
then I felt impressed to tell him about my call to come into Parramatta and the
miraculous way that I was released from my full time work. As I spoke, he put his
head into his hands and began to weep. He got up from there and began to ”speak
in tongues” and then prophesied that God had prepared for me an ”upper room” and
that God was going to work great things through me. I began to cry uncontrollably
at the goodness and provision of God. Dr. Kwan then told me that he had been praying
for an intercessor to come into the city for a long time and that God had asked
him to prepare a room for the intercessor. He offered me this room, which he calls
the ”Upper Room”. He went on to say that he was part of the Full Gospel Business
Men’s Fellowship in Parramatta and that they were praying for someone to come into
the city to hold lunch time meetings in the CBD and that they would support me in
that venture.
God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Once having seen the mighty
hand of God in action, I have no alternative but to move in and take what He provides.
We have now commenced meetings in Parramatta on Fridays at lunchtime and spiritual
warfare prayer on Wednesdays. God is blessing us as we walk in obedience to His
word.