My UK journey with Apsotle André Pelser

 

Early last Friday morning I set off to collect Apostle André from his hotel in West London. It was the beginning of my time with him on his UK trip. I had already spoken with him on the phone, even that had brought to me a sense of peace and well-being. It had been almost five months since I said goodbye to him in Richmond. I was starting to allow myself a sense of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of working together again.

 

I have learned to cope with the comings and goings of the Apostle, at first I would not want him to go and longed for more time. I once asked him how he copes and he told me when he leaves people behind he mentally presses the pause button. As I drove to meet him I was reminded of that picture and I would be able to press play again.

 

Our reunion in the hotel cafeteria was as if we were moving on from where we had left off. A quick collection of bags and dropping off of keys and we were on our way. Once out of the London traffic we were making progress to my home town of Birmingham, two hours drive north on the M6. We decided to have lunch before checking André into his hotel and to pick my son Ben up on the way so we could enjoy his company too. Ben duly collected we drove to a nice pub to continue fellowship and to relax before the evening seminar meetings. We dropped André at his hotel and headed to collect some last minute things we needed before going home to relax.

 

It was hard to believe that the Apostolic Seminars were finally here. In the past we have found it hard to hire church rooms so we decided to rent a community hall called The Carpenter’s Arms. It sounds like a pub name but it’s a venue run by a group of churches that they use to minister to the community. My whole family had pitched in to help with the preparations, we wanted to do it well. We had laptop, lcd projector, a presentation and even set up the laptop so that we could use it to type in the prophetic worship. This was to be the first event hosted by Prophet Notebook Ministries so we wanted to set a good standard. We even produced name badges and a delegates list.

 

Twenty-eight people had booked in. It could have been many more but for a clash with a church weekend which meant many who would have come weren’t there. When I heard of the clash I thought of moving the dates but I felt God said, ‘it’s a choice that has to be made to come’, so I left it as it was. It turned out that those who came were the right ones. We had people from England, Scotland and Wales. A tremendous effort to be there. People who were coming because they had already been affected by Apostle André’s previous visits in some way. This meant that there was unity from the start.

 

I had given little detail to the worship. I asked a couple to be prepared to play. In the end the band consisted of Nigel on keyboard and Ian, George and myself on guitars with Iona and Jenny leading the dance. We had two songs and by the time we were ready to start the first meeting we had had no rehearsal. As we began to sing the anointing and presence of God became evident. Out of the unity of our hearts prophetic worship flowed. André commented later, ‘it was like being at home’. Out of the worship the phrase was sung, ‘we are vessels of the Spirit’ and this was Apostle André’s cue to release the Body that we had become to minister to each other.

 

There were several highlights of that time but the one that blessed me was a fulfilment of a vision I had several days before. I saw my father-in-law, Brian, and we were praying and prophesying over him as a family. It was now time to fulfil that prophetic vision and so I called Ben and Jenny over and we prayed for him. It brought tears to my eyes to hear his grandchildren speak prophetic words over this patriarch of the family.

 

André spoke that first night and brought much fresh revelation. It was a privilege to be there. My son Ben has summarised the teaching and it will be available on CD so I won’t repeat it here. Needless to say I will be revisiting my notes and listening to the CD’s repeatedly. André chose to sit down as he taught due to a calf injury that was giving him pain. At the end of them meeting I prayed for him that God would heal him in his sleep and give him a restful night.

 

Saturday morning came and we were ready for more. I could sense the buzz of anticipation as we gathered again. I was woken in the early hours felt the Holy Spirit show me that today there were certain things to be done. Its good to receive the order of service from the conductor of the meetings.

 

A friend of ours was at the meetings. John has been a friend of mine for about twelve years. He is a faithful and gentle servant of God. Together with his wife they served God in prayer ministry for many years. Last year after almost fifty-two years of marriage his wife Joyce died. Her funeral was a time of great celebration. The Holy Spirit had shown me that we as a Body must all hug him and make him feel loved so we did. It was a moving moment but as I reflect back on it, it could only happen because in the short time we were together we had become a Body.

 

Another remarkable thing took place that morning. The caretaker of the building was in his office during the meetings. Annie, my wife in speaking to him had discovered he was from Cape Town. I went to speak to him about his South African connections before the meetings and we shared many common memories of the city. During the meetings Annie noticed that his door was open and the door to the hall was also propped open. He wanted to hear what was going on. As André started to speak Annie went and asked him in. He was so moved by what he saw and heard that he asked for our contact details so that he can come and join us at our Wednesday meetings.

 

Apostle André got up to speak and shared that in the night he had received healing for his calf, thank you Jesus. He spoke mainly about Kingdom. The Kingdom within, the righteousness, joy and peace we have from that. More ministry took place and a lot of things were done by the Body of believers ministering to one another.

 

Before the meetings I had prayed that the Apostle would be honoured. This was my desire, that he would feel acceptance from the people. I felt that prayer was answered. We took an offering from those twenty-eight people including many young people who were at school and college and it was more than I had had faith for. A confirmation to me that Apostle André was well received. No great appeal for money was made, just an appeal to ask God what to give. As we were praying about what to give I learned from several afterwards the Holy Spirit spoke to them to give more than they had planned. The offering was determined by God so I rejoice in that.

 

After clearing up we went on to a local restaurant and shared fellowship over a meal. This has become a hallmark of meetings with André. Much impartation happens at the table. Friendships are formed and strengthened and hearts opened in simple ways. After the meal André was driven the two hour journey to Sowerby Bridge for the meetings the next day where we would join him.

 

We left for Sowerby Bridge early the next morning. We picked up three others and make our way in two cars. After dropping everyone off at church I went to pick up André from his hotel, a quaint place with wooden ceiling beams and a very welcoming staff. When I arrived they were apologetic that they couldn’t offer me coffee because there was a problem with the electricity and the power was off. I explained that André would feel like he was in South Africa as it had been a regular occurrence there.

 

The church in Sowerby Bridge is led by Duncan and Beverly Curry. I first met them at a national prayer meeting a week after they took on the leadership of the church. I didn’t know them but two of their congregation who they were with are friends of ours. Out of this we met them several times more, even sharing a meal with them and André on one of our trips back from Scotland. The result of that was an invite for Prophet Nola and Mimie and further meetings there. Beverly attended the Scottish Conference last year. They had been with us at the Seminars over the Friday and Saturday and were now welcoming the Apostle into their meetings.

 

After the worship André brought a timely word from Isaiah 55 concerning the thorns and the cypress tree and the briers and the myrtle tree. I deliberately say little about what I know about a fellowship to André so that he can bring what God wants to say untainted by any influence. The word was accurate and we await to see the outcome.

 

As things drew to a close the Lord gave me a prophetic word for the church. As I stood up to give it the word turned into a serious rebuke. Prophet Nolan spoke to me at the Summit last year and told me that the UK needed to hear the warnings as well as encouragement. The rebuke is not easy to give because you know it demands a response of agreement or rejection. There is a price in giving it and  a price to receive. Pray for Duncan and Beverly, to be sustained as they continue to push through in support of the move of God.

 

After church another time around the meal table. We shared for nearly three hours before I had to drop off André to catch a train to Scotland and further meetings.

 

As I said goodbye to Apostle André I once again pressed the pause button. Yet God doesn’t pause and His work goes on and the ripples left by the Apostle will continue to have their effect and we will seek to continue to prepare the way for God’s move.

 

Thank you to folks who release Apostle André. Thanks to his family. Thanks to Cape Town Harvester. Thanks to André who is obedient and willing. Above all thanks to God for the privilege of calling us ‘for such a time as this’. To Him be all honour and glory in the Church.

 

Prophet Graham.

My thoughts on the meetings with Apostle André in Birmingham         

 It's been a long time coming. After knowing Apostle André for a few years now, we found ourselves ready to bring something bigger to Birmingham. I've been to meetings with André before, including the fantastic conference that was held in Kilsyth, Scotland which began to clarify things for me, but for various reasons a home-town conference never seemed to take off as an idea. So you can imagine the anticipation that had been building in the Unsworth household up to this event. And for once I was no stranger to that feeling. Having visited Cape Town and having spent time with the people there in the summer, I'd gone from mild interest to full blown hunger. I now knew that not only was reform in the church right but also necessary and that the wisdom and understanding that an Apostle can bring would be vital if we were going to see Christ build His church.

            For those of you who haven't experienced this kind of event there are going to be things that may be foreign to you. Most importantly there was no agenda. Other than picking a few songs to lead into worship we didn't plan any of the content of the meetings. There was no real "theme", not in the sense that I've been used to anyway. On paper, most would probably find this frightening. What if nothing happened for six hours? A financial commitment had  been made, the hall hired, the cakes baked, what if nothing came out of it? Sometimes we love to "play church" so much that we program the Holy Spirit out of things and leave no room for Him to move. With faith, however, we know that He will move in abundance and that faith was not neglected over the weekend.

            The meetings were, for me anyway, about further clarification and revealing of unheard truths. During the opening worship on Friday one of the prophetic phrases that came through was "We are vessels for Your Holy Spirit" and so André prompted us to break into groups and prophesy to each other. The natural flow of worship and ministry amongst the body is something that I still find awe-inspiring (and hope to always find awe-inspiring) and it is one of the things lacking from my experience of typical church. Following a human agenda we move from one thing to the next like a stalling car, never riding smoothly on the flow of God's spirit.

            There were three things that André shared that stood out for me over both days of the meetings. The first thing that really struck me was what André shared about how the the old becomes obsolete and the new is embraced. "The alternative community must begin by critiquing the old and eventually dismantling it." As an English student I know all about critique, it's at the heart of any literature essay. It's not necessarily the same as criticising - not in the harsh way that we are used to - but is more to do with seeing something for what it is. When I write a critical essay I examine the text I'm studying and reduce it to its bare bones. I look through the layers until I find its essence, its "truth". And so I believe this is what God is calling us to do with the church. Only once we have looked past all the trappings of the old and see it for what it is can we dismantle it, ready to build a church with Christ at its head.

            Secondly, the image of grief that André raised was enlightening. It is natural to grieve the passing of something. It is also natural to be grieved by things. It is out of that grief that God will build His church. It is through grief that we let go of things and therefore are made ready to accept whatever God has in store for us. Without grieving properly we don't fully let go, we don't accept that something has finished and we still hold on to what has passed. It is not reckless abandonment of old things, but the gradual awakening to the realisation that it is time to move on. Essentially, we must become mourners so that we can see the old things for what they are.

            The final, and perhaps most previously overlooked thought that really hit me, was that we need to rediscover God's wonder. We have become so used to things that we are no longer in awe of God. André wasn't just talking about obvious things like healings (although I think we sometimes become so desensitised to them that they can sometimes be dismissed easily) but the glory of God in things like the setting sun, time with family and friends and  other simple pleasures that we have labelled incorrectly as frivolous or unimportant. Years ago I wrote a prayer in the back of an old bible asking God to help me see Him in the setting sun and to constantly reflect on His glory. It isn't a prayer that I have kept up, but after this weekend hopefully I can look a little closer for God in the small things as well as the big.

            This is just a brief overview of what I took from these meetings. Everyone sees and hears differently so I encourage all of you to get a copy of the meetings on CD and listen for yourselves. Hopefully you will be as energised as I have been by what God is doing. All I know for certain is that things cannot carry on as they have been and I for one don't want to be an old wine skin, splitting at the seams when I'm needed to fulfil my function.