Apostle's Report – Tour to UK July 2009 …..& Istanbul
Apostle Aje and Teacher Chantal, Cherie and Ethan Pelser.
ON June 14th, 2009, Harvester Church Members sent us out with a catapult to England. They actually acted it out and literally flung us as a family forward onto the stage! A few hundred people locking arms and cheering was quite a thrilling experience. Someone saw “a flame behind us”. “People will see Jesus in our countenance.” “Be bold and speak out - you have the answer.” These were some of the words that empowered us to go and make disciples like Jesus said! There is power in submitting your ministry and calling in a local body of believers that we are beginning to understand.
Birmingham Harvester
On arrival in the UK , Jenny Unsworth picked us up, her grandparents, Brian (an Evangelist at heart) with his wife Janet, Annie Unsworth’s parents. They taught us how to set up safe houses for recovering drug addicts and how to approach Government for possible funding of such projects. Based in Birmingham at prophet Graham and Anne Unsworth's Home. They showed tremendous hospitality and supplied their car for us to travel over 1000 miles to several destinations for ministry. Ben graciously gave up his room for us and Jenny shared with Cherie. Jenny is due to come to MBC in 2010 and has just completed school, well done Jenny! Good news was that Ben is considering studying at MBC in 2011! In addition, George Gwynne is a young man doing his A levels and he attending the Bible cell at the Unsworths. They have worked through various MBC subjects already and one can see the seeds for a new church in Birmingham growing. One can really sense that prophet Graham has proclaimed: “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord!” The first week was filled with challenges as Ethan got chicken pox and had a terrible journey. Cherie had bronchitis and was coughing badly. Chantal reminded us to wage war with the prophecies made concerning the tour. This is when it helps that we were sent from a loving and supportive Harvester Reformational Church in Cape Town. We held 2 house meetings in the first week and met new friends from Sutton Baptist Church where Andre had been before. I explained Harvester's vision of an aircraft carrier to the Group because there were some interested in what we are doing in England. This was done in the context of a sermon on “Function” on an individual and corporate level. In England we found many Christians to be dissatisfied with a traditional church paradigms that have not embraced the apostolic reformation. There is a clear need and desire for new churches to be planted in the UK and for current chucrhes to be reformed. There is a sense like “We are well able to take the land” for Jesus in the like the spies sent into the promised land ... Joshua and Caleb...
Sowerby Bridge Elim, Yorkshire
We had a wonderful weekend with Pastor Duncan and Beverly Curry who received us as sent ones. We ministered Friday night, Saturday 10 am till 4 pm and Sunday morning main service. We merely continued to build on the foundations laid by Prophet Graham and others including Apostle Andre and Prophets Nola Pelser who ministered there with Prophet Mimie last year. The people were therefore very receptive when we spoke about prophetic flow in worship and Duncan flowed with us very well showing a good scripture knowledge for various aspects Of the meeting. There was doctrinal teaching on various aspects including discipline of children God's way. Prophet Nola's manuals were sold out immediately and we had to print out more ... much more expensive than Postnet South Africa! God confirmed his Word with signs and wonders such as deliverance from fear. It was clear to see demonic oppression in people in the Group and they found release in Jesus name after a brief battle in prayer! There are some emails from others who share the excitement on Harvesterchurch.net. We made good friends in Sowerby Bridge and we may see some of them at the Summit. Elim is a Pentecostal movement not unlike the AFM and leaders of local churches are allowed to get support and mentorship from whomever they choose. God showed me how we will share wells and palm trees on our journey with Elim on the way to receiving the promises for both movements.
Nexus, Coventry
We met Dave and Kate Silbur from Nexus, a Music Academy in Coventry with high standards and a wonderful testimony for Christ in their community. Dave’s parents are apostles to the UK and I could relate to many stories of ministry. His vision to equip musicians to benefit the kingdom of God is inspiring and he showed us how to operate in the UK on various levels. Their fully equipped studios for training and separate studios for recording really got me praying… We also enjoyed their end of year concert which was both professional and a great evangelical opportunity. Chantal and I received some master class lesson from their skilled staff who have dedicated their lives to see young musician reach their potential to the glory of God. They raise funds in interesting way, like setting a drum marathon world record of 66 hours – no jokes! I told him about praisathons. We had some interesting conversations with Christians about the spiritual heritage of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and names such as George Jeffries; Wilberforce; Wesley; and many others were named. We even discovered an apostolic move in the 1970’s and found out what happened to that.
A Window of Opportunity in Europe
Although there is so much more to learn about the United Kingdom spiritually we do know that we have a share in the plating of future churches there along with spirit-filled Bible Colleges. But there are existing churches that have shown an interest and an affinity with what we are preaching concerning prophetic flow in worship, so God’s strategy for us is becoming clearer. Harvester is committed to reaching Europe but specially the UK within the next 10 years, because this is a window of opportunity. Islam is on the rise and there are fewer British born British citizens than such that have emigrated from India, Pakistan, West Indies, Ghana, and many more countries. If the Church in England does not mobilize on a national scale and reach out and plant more works and train more workers, a great harvest could be lost and Islam is waiting at the door to take over Britain. There is a sense that is has started already. We started explaining that there are never too many churches because there are thousands of homes not reached in every suburb. Young people need a lively church that supplies answers to difficult questions and empowers them with the straight truth of the Gospel, not the watered down “everybody is right” diluted sorry excuse of a Gospel that is being preached in many churches. It is time that the drinking culture be replaced with a Holy Spirit filled culture and you know what? The people are readier for it than we think! It was easy to preach there because people are hungrier than ever for a simple Gospel of Jesus without the psychology and institutionalized and rigid control of their society. Spirit and truth worship is a key to setting minds free to think differently and break religious strongholds on their experience of church, so that church will become the beacon of light it is intended to be. And we told all the churches and ministers we met that Christ within them is what makes them capable to do it! We were just there to cheer them on! The harvest is great in the UK now, who will go?
Barking, Elim Church. Pastor John and Trish Waller
We met up with friends of my Dad, John Waller with his wonderful wife Trish. They have worked for God in Africa and planted many churches in Ghana, also in Ireland and now other parts of England, so he has “been around the turf long enough” as he puts it! They treated us with great hospitality in their lovely home and we ministered in their church on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They were celebrating their first anniversary at that church. We were privileged to be a part of their celebrations. We held a praise party for the Youth and prayed for people to receive the Holy Spirit and healing. One girl did not have a breakthrough though and we struggled with her for a long time with no apparent success. Another lady came up and testified that God touched her during a drum solo that night and she felt better. Win some, lose some! The kids in general had no problem dancing to the song “Set Apart” and it seems that the youth in the church are ready to go for Jesus! They have a good youth pastor looking after them too. Thank God for Youth Pastors and what they do. On the Saturday, Chantal was asked to lead worship for the regional women’s gathering organised by Trish, and a Senior Minister’ wife in the Elim group brought the message. Chantal was thanked on more than a few occasions for the “lovely worship”. On the Sunday I preached about manifestations of God’s Nature that would draw souls to church and apostolic frequency flowed. A senior minister that attended thanked me and said he had a lot to think about. The evening was given to us to flow prophetically and some of their band members had some breakthroughs in singing prophetically which became very exciting. They have some wonderful musicians who could easy carry on his way and we will stay in touch. John and Trish also blessed us on our way and gave us a lot of advice about Elim, Ghana and other ministry points, but they also were excited about Prophet Nola’s Worship manual which he will hand to his band. We prophesied to the leaders and called the supporting staff to hold up their arms in ministry.
Liverpool
Back to Birmingham and a rest with the Unsworths as well as a trip to Anfield – Liverpool’s home, what a privilege to see Prophet Graham buy Liverpool stuff like a young soccer fan! Ethan now has Liverpool kit for his teddy bear! Liverpool was the cultural capital of Europe in 2008 and there were many regeneration projects in the city that lost a lot of inhabitants over the last decade. Pray for the city because I see us doing something there for the Lord in the years to come. The name of the city is derived from the Liver Bird that you can see on the Football Logo. Albert Dock is a modernized Waterfront with many upmarket apartments, museums and restaurants and we spent the day there. Trips in the car with Prophet Graham became wonderful extended conversations about God’s move in England! A true friend in the Gospel – we have spiritual family in England Harvester.
Greater Life Church, Twickenham
Another family friend, Paul Van Essen and his wife Caroline greeted us at Twickenham in their church called Greater Life Church. Paul has an apostolic anointing on his life, and sees some things very clearly regarding different levels of church. He has planted churches and ministered in many countries, sometimes with larger groups and denominations and faced many apostolic challenges. So we pointed out to his church that there was wealth of experience that they can tap from and that they should thank God for their leaders! Arriving there with Chantal tremendously ill, she missed the Saturday night. I played drums with their cool band – look forward o playing with you guys again – Ray and Company! Paul is also a musician and so worship is a key for him in ministry. He enjoyed Chantal’s style as well in prophetic flow which we taught on and demonstrated often calling on band members to join us in spontaneous song of the Lord. Paul ministered on New Wineskins and I took a lot of notes, because spoke about what interested me on this tour – our Spiritual heritage. It was easy to flow with him throughout the conference. We had 3 meetings that Sunday and the morning I preached about Prophetic Flow defining the term in various ways and in the afternoon we ministered prophetically along with Prophet Graham. The evening was a buffet of worship and different songs including the “Set Apart” song which surprised Paul who thought I could only drum! “Chantal the Brave” had ignored her symptoms of chicken pox and heeded a prophetic word sent from Cape Town by Prophetic Nola which her guests had given, the guests were Ukrainian missionaries who said that Chantal would be healed on the Third Day which we figured out later was that Sunday. It was amazing to see her worship God, without any care for the sores on her face. It actually moved a lot of people and she showed the anointing God has given her – really inspiring the worshippers in the house to go for it no matter what. I am impressed by the strength she showed and I’m thankful that God has give me such a wonderful wife! Let’s also not forget the kids who attended 3 conferences and various other meetings never complaining. Many people were touched by the way Cherie danced and Ethan kept himself busy during meetings. They sang their song “I pray sitting in the moonlight” to the children and made some good friends, taking their email addresses for future correspondence. God’s grace was truly sufficient for them too and they also received gifts and toys for their efforts.
A note of praise and thanks for God’s provision for a family of 4 for a 4 week mission in Europe, we never lacked any food, accommodation and transport and we even got a night in Istanbul for free. Thank you to all those saints in England who supported us financially in Sowerby Bridge, Birmingham, Barking and Twickenham, may our God supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus! I believe we will braai with many of them in Africa soon!
Why Istanbul?
Our travel agent saved us money on tickets to Birmingham via air Turkey! So we decided to extend the stop over to 2 days. We stayed in the historical part of Istanbul (not Constantinople!) Just behind the Hagia Sophia, dedicated in 537 AD in the presence of Emperor Justinian, is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, and at the time one of the most awe inspiring churches of the Christian world. The lofty and wide spanning dome is supposed to signify the cosmos and is a tremendous feat of engineering. Something which the Muslim architects could not achieve with their blue mosque a few hundred yards away which needs supports on the inside to maintain a similar dome. Interesting that the architect of the Hagia Sophia was from Miletus, a place where Paul called the elders from Ephesus and said farewell, praying with them in Acts 20:17-38. (Take from on site Museum inscriptions.) The Church covers an area of 7000 square metre. The Dome is 56.6m high and has a diameter of 32.5m.Marble and other stones for construction were acquired from quarries of the ancient world or retrieved from archaeological sites. Apart from the congregational services the crowning of a number of emperors were also performed here. Perhaps a bit of history will encourage us to build churches again. The city of Istanbul has been called different names before the Sultans arrived. From the web site; http://www.hagia-sophia.net/history.htm “Popularly known as the strategic place where the 'East' meets the 'West', Istanbul in Turkey, is a historic and fascinating city, which bridges the continents of Europe and Asia. Situated on the west of the Bosporus strait, which is responsible for joining the Black sea and the Sea of Marmara, Istanbul has a diverse history that is packed with tradition and ethnicity of its various conquerors. Istanbul is supposed to have been inhabited right from the primitive times, and excavations conducted in that place have unearthed several evidences, that date it somewhere between 5500 BC and 3500 BC. Records also point to the fact that the modern Istanbul was actually a small Thracian fishing village called Semista in 1000BC, which also had a port by name of Lygos. By 667 BC, a Greek ruler by name of Byzas, from Megara, established his kingdom here, on the advice of an oracle of Delphi, and named it Byzantium. But it was besieged by the Romans in AD 196, and became part of the Roman Empire. The ravaged city was rebuilt by the Roman Emperor, Septimus Severus, and temporarily given the name of 'Augusta Antonina'. But in 306 AD, Emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium the capital of the entire Roman Empire, and from then on, the city was called Constantinople. The Byzantium Empire was more or less influenced by Greek culture, and was also a hub of Greek Orthodox Christianity, which resulted in the construction of several magnificent Christian architectural wonders, the prominent among them being the Hagia Sophia, which remained the world's largest cathedral till 1850. The Roman Empire passed through much turmoil due to attack from various sources, especially the Barbarians, not to mention their internal problems, and finally, in 532 AD, during the reign of Justinian I, the city was totally destroyed due to anti government riots. Though much favored for its ideal location, that made trade and transport between continents an easy affair, this very factor also proved to be the doom of Constantinople. For several hundred years hence, it had to face a lot of assault from the Arabs, Nomadic, Persians, as well as the Fourth crusaders, who periodically occupied it. At last, in 1453, Constantinople was attacked and conquered by the Ottoman Turks led by Sultan Mehmet II, who renamed it Istanbul. It continued to function not just as an important cultural, political and commercial hub, but also as their main centre for military operations too, till World War I, after which it was occupied by the Allies. Sultan Mehmet II was supposed to have given the city a cosmopolitan social outlook. After deporting the remaining Byzantine population, a great many changes were made to the existing architecture in general. The old world Christian city was gradually transformed into a Muslim conurbation as the Emperor started rebuilding all churches so as to convert them to mosques. The great mosque and the Fatih College were built on the old burial grounds of the erstwhile Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles. The Hagia Sophia too was converted to a mosque. But to his credit, the Sultan held a cosmopolitan outlook and for the greater part, allowed people of all faiths to settle in the vast city, and made effective use of their varied skills. Tolerance was a great virtue that was practiced by Sultan Mehmet II, and it was reflected all over the empire. Istanbul acquired a status of great importance in the eyes of all Muslims, after the conquest of Egypt, and its glory increased from leaps and bounds in the hands of its various rulers, many of whom were great patrons of art and architecture. Although the capital of Turkey was changed from Istanbul to Ankara by Kemal Ataturk, in 1923, Istanbul still retained its attractions and continued to expand majestically. But gradually, due to the mass exodus of the various nationalities, especially after the war between Greece and Turkey, it became a prominent Muslim nation. The many historic monuments of yesteryears, that are to be found there, like the various museums, castles, palaces, mosques, churches, etc contribute greatly to the increase in the tourism industry today. In fact, many of its historic architectures have been added to the UNESCO's list of world heritage sites. Though no more a capital city, Istanbul, which is considered to be Turkey's cultural and financial center, still retains its old world attraction and continues to generate its own individual history throughout the ages.” Let’s look at the history of the Church building itself. The magnificent part in the architecture of the Hagia Sophia was its impressive central dome, which had a diameter of 31.24 meters and a height of 55.6 meters. It was miraculously made weightless due to the continuous chain of 40 arched windows under it, which also served to flood the entire interior with sunlight. Moreover, four concave triangular piers at the corners of the base, carries the weight of the dome, and these were reinforced in later times with the help of buttresses. The architecture inside the Hagia Sophia is dominated by breathtaking and colorful polychrome marbles, and gold mosaics, which are encrusted upon brick. This sheathing was also useful in camouflaging the large pillars, as well as to give it a brighter look. It was converted into a mosque during the Ottoman rule and due credit should be given to the Ottoman Turks, who continued the tradition of the Byzantine architecture. They converted the age old church of Hagia Sophia to a mosque and in the process, removed the various decorations like the bells, alter, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels, typical of Christian churches. The rich and impressive mosaics depicting various Christian images that were seen throughout the church were completely plastered over and instead the Islamic masters adorned the Hagia Sophia with geometrical designs and also made extensive use of expensive colored stones, carved wood craft, gold and mother of pearl. Purely Islamic attributes such as the 'mihrab', 'minbar' and the four 'minarets' outside were added at various stages of the Ottoman rule. The transition from a Christian patriarchal church to an Islamic mosque was quite impressive and Great architects like Mimar Sinan, who is considered to be the one of the first earthquake engineers of the world, contributed much to the maintenance of the mosque in further years. Sinan built two impressive large minarets at the western end of the building and the mausoleum of Selim II to the southeast of the building in 1577. Later years saw the addition of a minbar to the sultan's gallery and a dais for sermons as well as a loggia for a muezzin. The Hagia Sophia underwent several alterations and additions and remained an Islamic mosque till 1935, after which it was transformed into a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey.”
Aje reflects on his visit to Hagia Sophia
Walking up the slanted stone stairways to the upper level of Hagia Sophia I started to cry thinking about how a great church had been turned into mosque. There were Islamic signs hanging everywhere and there was no presence of God left in the place. I also realized that this church seemed to be an analogy for present day Europe that has lost its faith in God and generally rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, thus creating a spiritual vacuum for the Islamic conquerors just like the history of Istanbul teaches us. But before we lose hope, remember how Christianity gradually spread like leaven throughout the Roman Empire: from the early church where many were martyred in Rome and other regions like Lyon, through to Constantine’s time, when the Roman Empire had become Christian, could we not spread through the current Islamic empire that is threatening every Christian culture? Hard thoughts may follow… What will it take for Christians to see what is happening in Europe, that it has become a continent needing missions. As Europe has sent Christian missionaries to the world, I call missionaries form the other continents to help Europe in the next ten years, because it is in danger of losing it’s Christian spiritual heritage altogether. Different forms of paganism with traces of witchcraft are common place with Harry Potter mania leading millions astray. Drunken revelries in populated pubs contrast the small gatherings in churches that are forced to be apologetic for their faith in a highly “tolerant” society for other beliefs. A general cynicism towards leadership exits, not unlike other parts of the democratic world, where leaders are expected to fail and very few are suggesting solutions. The recession has hit the UK hard and it is painful to see people face hard times like this. Our hearts are moved with compassion for this great nation that has done so much for the world Spiritually in times past. Hudson Taylor, John Wesley,C.T. Studd and Smith Wigglesworth are just a few names that spring to mind. I realize that there are brave Christian Churches that are thriving amidst this gloomy spiritual landscape and I wish to work with them in the future – I respect the Christian ministers who are carrying on valiantly in a difficult spiritual climate and we wish to offer our services to help in any way in the future. However, new accurate apostolic churches with Bible Schools will help a great deal. I tell our friends in Europe to pray for South Africa and our vast continent of Africa, which is facing its own spiritual problems as well, and then we will in turn pray for them. The pathway between Cape Town and Birmingham is open apostolically because the labours of people like Apostle Andre and Nola, and others who have been sent to and fro, and we sense that the fire in Cape Town truly has spread up through Africa and into Europe. Asia and America to follow. But I decided to pray in Hagia Sophia and I petitioned God on behalf of Turkey and His kingdom especially in Europe. I felt like I was destined to walk in that museum to see what Christian movements can become if they lose their relevance and fire for God. But I was also inspired to build churches for God, physically and spiritually till Jesus comes in any way possible to establish His kingdom. I was walking in a building that has stood for 1500 years, and thought about the churches we will build as a move of God, how long will they stand? We sowed one Bible as a seed for future work in Turkey and have already made one Christian contact in the country. We also met the Secretary General of Business Relations between South Africa and Turkey and hope to pursue the relationship. His plane was also overbooked like ours. God did a strange and wonderful thing here – all things working together for good! We had to catch another flight the following night. Air Turkey put us up in a 5 star hotel in Istanbul for free, all meals paid for and we also received a refund of some sort for the inconvenience! We bought Turkish delight and coffee and slush puppy for the kids and laid the rest at our apostle’s feet on our return. Praise God for that! Back home in Cape Town Harvesters greeted us at the airport including Apostle Andre and Nola, which was a tremendous honour in itself. We love going on missions for Jesus Christ like this and encourage believers to be equipped because there is a lot of work to be done. It is harvest time! We thank God for confirming his word with signs and wonders following and lift up the name of Jesus Christ in every nation and culture and faith. His kingdom is eternal. Victory!