REGIONAL MINISTRY
The Announcements:
When the Lord moved us to Minnesota, we knew very little of what God had in store.
We knew two things: (1) the purpose was for the ‘generations’ . (2) We were to start a
church. The ‘Regional’ concept had never entered our minds.
The church began on June 6, 2004.
The first Sunday we were in the modular building which was September 25, 2005, the Lord told one of the elders that we had been given the ‘north’. We really had no clue what that meant. The Lord was giving us information a piece at a time. So we made note of it and just kept doing what he had already told us to do.
On June 3, 2008 the Lord told Pastor Vern that “Word of Life will be a regional church. You will affect (and pull) people from the region”. Again that’s all he said. No more information was given.
In putting those two pieces of information together, we’ve been told we are going to work in a region and chances are good it’s going to be north.
Again it was all quiet until March 28, 2009. It was a Saturday afternoon.
I had been looking at the weather maps because they had predicted sunny weather, and it was cloudy Friday and Saturday most of the day. I had noticed how it was cloudy over Minnesota and the eastern Dakota’s. As I was thinking about how they had missed the forecast, the Lord said:
“This is of me you know. It’s going to be cooler for the next few days. Is that OK?”
I thought this was a very weird question for him to ask me. What do I have to do with the weather, and why is he asking me? He doesn’t need my permission. I said it was fine with me. He can do whatever he wants.
He went on to say:
“The last thing they need over at the Red River Valley is 50-60 degree temperatures and 2-3 inches of rain. That would cause major destruction. I have people praying over there and believing for that not to happen. This next storm will give them snow, and the weather will be cooler for a while. Is that alright with you?”
Again I thought, this is really strange that he would ask me. I responded affirmatively.
So that night at church we prayed for the Fargo & Red River Valley area as a church.
After church, I was watching the news to see what was happening there. I was pondering the conversation because I thought it was kind of strange. Why would he ask me anything about the weather and that area? As I was thinking he said: “You believe you’re suppose to be a regional center, don’t you?”
I said yes. (this goes back to things he had said in 2008 and confirmed at the Open Heaven Meetings in 2009)
He went on to say:
“If you’re going to be over this area, you need to begin ruling and reigning and declaring
what will and what won’t happen.”
All of a sudden all the lights came on inside of me. Now the conversation made sense. He wasn't asking my permission. He was sharing with me what he wanted to do, (John 15:15) and wanted us to get into agreement with him. Believe for it to go a certain way, and exercise authority over it.
During prayer on Sunday I shared this and we prayed again as a church. It splashed over into the service time.
As we were praying & interceding for the first 1/2 an hour or so of the service, the Holy Spirit said:
“You don’t realized the honor he has just given you. You now need to go and claim and assess the land.”
The picture I was given was Abraham being shown the land and walking through it so that wherever his foot touched, it became his and it was for the generations that followed. (Genesis 13:14-17)
We knew two things: (1) the purpose was for the ‘generations’ . (2) We were to start a
church. The ‘Regional’ concept had never entered our minds.
The church began on June 6, 2004.
The first Sunday we were in the modular building which was September 25, 2005, the Lord told one of the elders that we had been given the ‘north’. We really had no clue what that meant. The Lord was giving us information a piece at a time. So we made note of it and just kept doing what he had already told us to do.
On June 3, 2008 the Lord told Pastor Vern that “Word of Life will be a regional church. You will affect (and pull) people from the region”. Again that’s all he said. No more information was given.
In putting those two pieces of information together, we’ve been told we are going to work in a region and chances are good it’s going to be north.
Again it was all quiet until March 28, 2009. It was a Saturday afternoon.
I had been looking at the weather maps because they had predicted sunny weather, and it was cloudy Friday and Saturday most of the day. I had noticed how it was cloudy over Minnesota and the eastern Dakota’s. As I was thinking about how they had missed the forecast, the Lord said:
“This is of me you know. It’s going to be cooler for the next few days. Is that OK?”
I thought this was a very weird question for him to ask me. What do I have to do with the weather, and why is he asking me? He doesn’t need my permission. I said it was fine with me. He can do whatever he wants.
He went on to say:
“The last thing they need over at the Red River Valley is 50-60 degree temperatures and 2-3 inches of rain. That would cause major destruction. I have people praying over there and believing for that not to happen. This next storm will give them snow, and the weather will be cooler for a while. Is that alright with you?”
Again I thought, this is really strange that he would ask me. I responded affirmatively.
So that night at church we prayed for the Fargo & Red River Valley area as a church.
After church, I was watching the news to see what was happening there. I was pondering the conversation because I thought it was kind of strange. Why would he ask me anything about the weather and that area? As I was thinking he said: “You believe you’re suppose to be a regional center, don’t you?”
I said yes. (this goes back to things he had said in 2008 and confirmed at the Open Heaven Meetings in 2009)
He went on to say:
“If you’re going to be over this area, you need to begin ruling and reigning and declaring
what will and what won’t happen.”
All of a sudden all the lights came on inside of me. Now the conversation made sense. He wasn't asking my permission. He was sharing with me what he wanted to do, (John 15:15) and wanted us to get into agreement with him. Believe for it to go a certain way, and exercise authority over it.
During prayer on Sunday I shared this and we prayed again as a church. It splashed over into the service time.
As we were praying & interceding for the first 1/2 an hour or so of the service, the Holy Spirit said:
“You don’t realized the honor he has just given you. You now need to go and claim and assess the land.”
The picture I was given was Abraham being shown the land and walking through it so that wherever his foot touched, it became his and it was for the generations that followed. (Genesis 13:14-17)
The Trips:
Now we know the region goes at least to Fargo and the Red River Valley. Well if it goes that far in that direction, where else does it extend to? So we decided to find out. We set a date to take a team of people to endeavor to follow the Spirit and find the perimeter of the region. We set the trip for May 20, 2009. We would be gone 3 days.
Praying before the event, we felt not to go south. The Lord had also told Pastor Vern to stop at least every 50 miles and pour oil and pray. More than that we had no idea where we were going.
So we went straight west. As we drove into the east side of the Dakota’s it felt like we should turn north. This ran us up the Red River Valley area. In a modern way we were making an effort to duplicate Genesis 13:14-17.
At our last stop before going into Canada, Pastor had a vision. He saw a pole of light being planted into the ground at every stop where we prayed and poured oil. He saw the light pole being planted in front of him. Then the vision switched to a map of the upper midwest. The light poles that had been planted up to this point were all lit up. (This was the 10th stop) Then the rest of the perimeter of poles lit up and what appeared
to be shafts of light would shoot out from each pole to various other poles in the perimeter (those already established, and those yet to be established) weaving a web and forming a dome over the entire area.
Feel free to look at the map and see the perimeter that was established. It was too far to cover in one trip.
So a second trip was made in August, 2009 to close the region.
Many, many different things were sensed by the team and we traveled through the communities. One of the more formidable visions was in Fargo at a park along the Red River near St. Joseph’s Hospital. One of the men from the team (Dennis) felt we were to pray a specific planting of something like a stake in the area. Like staking a claim. As we prayed and poured oil, he saw a large two-edged sword being thrust down into the ground at an angle.
Everyone could sense that something significant had just occurred.
Mary and I want to thank the team members who sacrificed to help us establish this perimeter:
Dennis Philipczyk, Dean Olehy, Susan Heckt, and Keri Swift.
Praying before the event, we felt not to go south. The Lord had also told Pastor Vern to stop at least every 50 miles and pour oil and pray. More than that we had no idea where we were going.
So we went straight west. As we drove into the east side of the Dakota’s it felt like we should turn north. This ran us up the Red River Valley area. In a modern way we were making an effort to duplicate Genesis 13:14-17.
At our last stop before going into Canada, Pastor had a vision. He saw a pole of light being planted into the ground at every stop where we prayed and poured oil. He saw the light pole being planted in front of him. Then the vision switched to a map of the upper midwest. The light poles that had been planted up to this point were all lit up. (This was the 10th stop) Then the rest of the perimeter of poles lit up and what appeared
to be shafts of light would shoot out from each pole to various other poles in the perimeter (those already established, and those yet to be established) weaving a web and forming a dome over the entire area.
Feel free to look at the map and see the perimeter that was established. It was too far to cover in one trip.
So a second trip was made in August, 2009 to close the region.
Many, many different things were sensed by the team and we traveled through the communities. One of the more formidable visions was in Fargo at a park along the Red River near St. Joseph’s Hospital. One of the men from the team (Dennis) felt we were to pray a specific planting of something like a stake in the area. Like staking a claim. As we prayed and poured oil, he saw a large two-edged sword being thrust down into the ground at an angle.
Everyone could sense that something significant had just occurred.
Mary and I want to thank the team members who sacrificed to help us establish this perimeter:
Dennis Philipczyk, Dean Olehy, Susan Heckt, and Keri Swift.
Conclusion:
This is an area of land that the Lord has given to us to watch over. Obviously this is a spiritual assignment and ruler ship. Obviously we don’t know the full extent of what he has in mind. In the correct time, I’m confident he will continue to give instruction concerning our assignment to this region. We are believing that God-appointed contacts and relationships will be established with other ministries, outreaches and meetings will be held, churches will be started, and great things will take place in this geographical area. (Lord, feel free to surprise us with what you have) We are praying specifically for the Native Americans since there are a number of reservations and a large population in this region.
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These are just a few of the examples in scripture. As believer's our call is to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. That is a Global call. God has always segmented out the Globe and given it to various believer's to do what he asks - Establish the Kingdom and Make Disciples. Regional Ministry is founded on a very solid scriptural base.
Scriptural Examples of Regional Emphasis and Ministry:
Genesis 1:26-28 - Adam and Eve and global rule.
Romans 5:12-19 - Adam and Jesus global spiritual rule.
Genesis 13:14-17 - Abrahamʼs Region.
Psalms 91; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Acts 1:7-8 - Believerʼs Global rule.
Matthew 10:1-16 - The 12 Disciples Regional Authority.
Acts 9:15-16 - Paulʼs Regional Rule and Authority.
Acts 13:46-51 - Paul and Barnabas and the assignment to the Gentiles.
Acts 16:6-10 - Paulʼs Macedonian regional call.
Romans 8:18-22 - Sons of God global rule and authority.
Galatians 2:7-9 - Peter and the assignment to the Jews.
I Peter 1:1 - This was a regional letter. It covered parts of what we now know as Europe.
These are just a few of the examples in scripture. As believerʼs our call is to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. That is a Global call.
God has always segmented out the Globe and given it to various believerʼs to do what he asks - Establish the Kingdom and Make Disciples.
Regional Ministry is founded on a very solid scriptural base.
Romans 5:12-19 - Adam and Jesus global spiritual rule.
Genesis 13:14-17 - Abrahamʼs Region.
Psalms 91; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Acts 1:7-8 - Believerʼs Global rule.
Matthew 10:1-16 - The 12 Disciples Regional Authority.
Acts 9:15-16 - Paulʼs Regional Rule and Authority.
Acts 13:46-51 - Paul and Barnabas and the assignment to the Gentiles.
Acts 16:6-10 - Paulʼs Macedonian regional call.
Romans 8:18-22 - Sons of God global rule and authority.
Galatians 2:7-9 - Peter and the assignment to the Jews.
I Peter 1:1 - This was a regional letter. It covered parts of what we now know as Europe.
These are just a few of the examples in scripture. As believerʼs our call is to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. That is a Global call.
God has always segmented out the Globe and given it to various believerʼs to do what he asks - Establish the Kingdom and Make Disciples.
Regional Ministry is founded on a very solid scriptural base.