We had the absolute honor to speak at this lovely church in France called, quite fittingly, The Good Shepherd. A good shepherd takes care of their flock and the pastors Robert and Kathryn Baxter truly do that. They help, love and guide the people who attend their church while God helps, loves and guides them. This church has over 30 nationalities contained within it and is filled with all ages. It is very multi-cultural and multi-generational. I can say quite honestly that the level of hunger for the Lord that radiates throughout this wonderfully diverse church is exhilarating and contagious.
We had the chance to have an all-day prophetic conference at the church on Saturday. The people there were so passionate and hungry for God and they deeply wanted to gain more knowledge about the prophetic. Most of the congregation spoke French and, although there was a language barrier, we all truly connected through Him and His word. My dad spoke for several sessions on how to increase your vocabulary in hearing God’s voice. Nearly the whole congregation was on the edge of their seats hanging on to his every word as they grasped all they could about the prophetic. My mom also spoke at one of the sessions. She told of her whirl-wind, thrilling adventure into the prophetic, which led many people to tears and strengthened their desire to know more of God. And I spoke as well about how you have to trust the Lord when he tells you to speak something, even if you don’t understand the reason. This seemed to really inspire people. We then had the opportunity to pray and prophecy to a few people. Many were deeply touched by the Lord that day.
The next morning we spoke at that church again for 2 morning services. Everyone welcomed us with opened arms, smiles and hugs. Language barrier or not we formed great friendships with the people. The worship was powerful and refreshing and everyone worshipped freely in their own way. My mom and I told a couple of testimonies and my dad once again spoke a great, powerful message.
We had the opportunity to pray for many people. I had felt drawn to this one lady and I felt the Lord giving me a word for her. I had seen her covered in sadness and she wore a black, raggedy, torn up coat. I then saw as Jesus walked towards her and He gently took the black, raggedy coat off of her and He replaced it with a sparkling, gorgeous white coat. Then I saw as Jesus started dancing with her as a father would dance with his little girl. As I told her this, her sweet eyes welled up with tears. This lady couldn’t speak English and I can’t speak French [although I wish I could cause it’s so romantic sounding] but thankfully we had a couple of people translate for us. Although I don’t think I was able to fully understand her story, I know the word truly touched her.
I also sensed that the Lord had a word for a beautiful girl who was around my age. I saw that she had a lot of questions about her future – her job, relationships, etc. Yet I saw that Jesus was guiding her and showing her what to do. She was so touched by the word the Lord had given me, she grabbed me and pulled me into a fierce hug as tears trickled down her face.
My mom had seen a vision of anointing oil flowing down and landing directly on someone’s right lung. A woman came up who identified with that. She had undergone an operation on her right lung. This woman had never been to that church before, and had not been to any church for a long, long time. She had convinced herself over the years that God didn’t like or love her. When that word of knowledge was given, she was awestruck. This word was so true and so specific to her that she knew God must really, truly love her and that He knows everything about her, including her right lung. My mom prayed for healing within her body but also for her to come back to Jesus and to feel His love in a way she never knew possible. My mom saw a vision of Jesus with open arms beckoning this precious woman to come to Him. Mom then had the delight of watching her run straight into the arms of the Lord knowing without a doubt that He deeply loved her.
My mom had also heard the Lord say to her right after awakening that morning I want to “fill up” Phillipe! She then had a vision of a heart that had been once been full of the joy of the Lord, but now was drained, dry and cracked. Mom however did not have time to call this out during the service. Later on, after the services, we were sitting at a French creperie with the pastors. The pastors had invited a couple from the church to join us since they lived near-by. The couple they had invited was a guy name Phillipe and his lovely wife Hacina. Unbeknownst to us, Phillipe was part of the full-time staff at the church. He had been going through a season of burnout and felt like all of his joy in doing the work of the Lord had leaked out leaving him painfully parched and uncertain about the future. My mom was able to share this word with Phillipe and it greatly encouraged him.
Sometimes it’s amazing how the Lord works in ways that we would not expect. There were many others we prayed and prophesied to that day. I don’t know all their individual stories. But I am sure of one thing, I feel so blessed and honored to have come to this church and I can’t wait till we come again.