France 2011: Trip Report

Around six months ago I received an email from Joel Trefcon asking if I would speak at his church in Marguerittes, France. I’m trying to learn to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit for trips like this and so spent some while praying about it. One night I had a dream in which I was underwater but dressed in a suit and tie. I could breathe without any breathing apparatus. I was conducting a wedding underwater between a woman (somehow I knew she was a French woman) and a dolphin. In the dream I was telling people this was a unique event, it had never happened before. Interestingly a big feature was that it was warm in some places but very cold in others.

As dolphins normally mean kindness and compassion and the woman obviously represented the French church I took it as a green light to go ahead. We booked the trip in and I thought no more about it. Two days before we were due to fly my wife Caroline and I were praying when pressed me more on the dolphin. She said “Dolphins just mean so little to you; it must have more meaning to the people there.” After googling ‘dolphin’ and France (and being slightly confused by a spoof website that actually said that the French used to have an actual dolphin on the throne!!) we then found the truth which was that in French history the person who was next in line for the throne was actually known as the le Dauphin (which means dolphin in French) because of the dolphin featured on his coat of arms. Suddenly the dream made sense – Jesus was promising was that he was coming as the true king of France for his bride- the church! The warm and cold spots in the water represented that the nation was warmer in some places-cold in the others but that Jesus was going to help them change the water temperature. So, encouraged in faith, we took a small team on the trip and we were so welcomed by the French people. We had a number of churches gathered together for six meetings across three days – it was a phenomenal time. They’d asked me to come and speak on healing ministry to see a culture like we’ve learned to develop at King’s Arms. I thought I’d go about it a different way because lots of people ask us to come and speak on the outside stuff but I’ve found the Lord has taken us on a journey as a community which has started from the inside out. Power on the outside comes from power on the inside. We started the first meeting talking about the journey of repentance that we’d been on as a church because kingdom advance always starts with repentance (which is why Jesus started there) We led the church in repenting from control, repenting from judgements, repenting from fear and self reliance -just some of the things that have dominated our hearts and that God really has led us on a journey of cleaning out.

Then we talked about dealing with ungodly beliefs, things that stop us from dealing with who we really are in Christ and who our identity is in God. Then we looked at deliverance. We found that one of the first things as a church that God restored to us was the ministry of deliverance-helping people get set free from spiritual oppression both for ourselves but also to help others. We had some powerful times in the sessions as God broke in and set so many free from things. The third session we looked at the area of understanding the heart of God as Father. It was very much our journey that God brought huge understanding of his heart for his church. It’s grace “unpacked and applied” if you like. We looked at the barriers to knowing the father’s heart for us and it was really the breakthrough session. At the end we asked people forward who needed a hug. It was so powerful as people wept and laughed their way to freedom. Many who had never been hugged before in their lives sobbed as God broke in. Numbers were freed from performance, isolation and separation. There were a number who were living under the fear of death and were massively set free. A phenomenal time.

We finished with looking at creating a supernatural culture. On the Sunday morning we looked at how to move in words of knowledge and walk in authority. It was clear that the Lord wanted his church to move in such accurate revelation that unbelievers really would ‘fall on their knees and say that God is amoung you’. So we did some training on how to receive a word of knowledge and asked people who had never received  a word of knowledge to come forward publicly and give one. It was great to have a whole raft of people respond. We had five or six people who were healed straight away. One person had missing cartilage in the left knee which caused the bones to grind together. They were healed, the pain and grinding stopped. Another guy had a plastic tube around the ligament in his ankle which he had damaged. He could feel this tube in his ankle before prayer and had been having extreme pain for the previous two weeks. As prayer went on he couldn’t feel the tube at all and he was completely pain free for the first time.  Another lady had chronic headaches and neck pain issues and all that pain left her. A guy had wrist mobility issues hadn’t been able to move his wrist for years properly and the power of God hit him and he was healed. There was also a woman with ongoing throat pain and she was healed.

What was exciting was that they all responded to words largely given by those receiving words of knowledge for the first time.

It was an amazing trip and our hearts were melted for the people of France. It’s been a tough few years for them but it was so wonderful to see the grace of God strengthening and healing his church. We met some wonderful leaders who are leading so well and sacrificing so much for the church. The churches are full of amazing people who are serving God in a tough climate. Their boldness, passion for Jesus, freedom in worship and desire to press on for more were so inspiring. Thanks to all those who prayed for us while we were there. We look forward to more healings and more break through in France as they get out on the streets and do their stuff. The cry of the conference became ‘vive le Dauphin’. Long live the King as he comes for his bride in France.