Spring 2013

Newsletter

This page will be continually updated until the end of July

Canada April 2013

I enter this year for the first time as a pensioner, complete with a free bus and train pass! I'm not sure if I will ever get to use the pass but maybe one day it will come in handy. The annual autumn/winter prayer ministry school continued every Tuesday evening until mid February, and prayer ministry appointments continue week in and week out as busy as ever. Linda's health suddenly and dramatically improved at the beginning of April, following a simple prayer accompanied with an anointing of oil in church. As I write this on May 1st she is still in restored robust health. God is good.

Green Pastures church gives a thank-you dinner for the CRi Ireland team. February 6th.

We have been closely associated with Green Pastures Church since its formation, especially in the areas of teaching and prayer ministry. As a thank-you they laid on a superb 6 course meal for the whole team along with their husbands or wives. The food was simply superb. The church has recently purchased a 97 acre site nearby and plan to build a 'Christian village' which includes a 4000+ seater church.

Jeff Wright and Ken Symington

Pastor Jeff Wright and I

Ellel Pierrepont, near Frensham, Surrey, England February 26-28th

On this visit to Ellel Pierrepont I did a one day teaching to term 4 NETS students on 'The dark night of the soul' and 'Hearing the voice of God' followed by a two day teaching to term 2 NETS students on 'The Father Heart of God.' On the Friday morning I gave the weekly communion sermon to staff and delegates, which is videoed and released on the Ellel Web Site where some 4,000 people have signed up to receive the weekly link. These weekly sermons are also made available on You Tube and I see that my previous sermon 'How to boil a frog' now has 2500 + views.

Advanced Prayer ministry school.

The advanced prayer ministry school in the form of one day (Saturday) seminars is open to anyone who has completed one of the annual prayer ministry schools. This spring the subjects being taught are Freemasonry (February 23rd) Occult (March 2nd) Deception (March 23rd) Abuse (March 30th) and Healing the Human Spirit (April 20th)

Visit to 'God's Garage' Portroe, County Tipperary. March 15th - 16th

Portroe 2013

The CRi team made one of our (fairly) regular visits to teach and minister at 'God's Garage' in Portroe, the home of the amazing Mulrooney family. It was lovely to have a full house and the hunger was palpable. Friday evening and Saturday morning were given to teaching and the rest of the Saturday was prayer ministry for the many people who were booked in for our visit. One of our favourite Irish venues. The team stayed at a holiday home near the beautiful Lough Derg and that was a very restful place to wake up to.

Canada. April 17th - 26th

I have turned down invitations to Canada in recent years because I am unable to get insurance for Canada and the USA due to my serious heart condition. However last September God suddenly witnessed to me that I was to go to Canada and a few weeks later a new invitation came in from Ellel Canada in Ontario. I prayed about it for two weeks and felt that I was indeed to go on this occasion, without medical insurance. I was so glad that we went. It was a blessed and fruitful time.

My first teaching event was 'From Slavery to Sonship' at Smith Falls Free Methodist Church. The event started on Friday evening with a (huge) steak meal cooked by good friend Pastor Randy Williams, and concluded on Saturday evening with ministry. All previous orders of my book had sold out and I was asked to bring some more with me. I brought 22 copies in our suitcases and they were all sold before the event got underway!

The feed back from the delegates was a great blessing. Here are just a few samples...

"I am incredibly grateful for the time we had with both of you and even more so for the truth spoken into my life through you and the door that was opened between me and my Heavenly Father. To be able to forgive my earthly father and remove that barrier...and to really mean it...that was a precious gift God gave me through you and I cherish the memory. Something has shifted completely...I can feel it...so thank you for your obedience and your willingness to come to Canada"

"I want to thank you for sharing the Father's heart with us. Through your teaching and stories it has opened my understanding of what a loving God we have. It has given me assurance that He has a greater purpose for my life. I so look forward to living out these truths"

"Thank you for your teaching, for allowing God to speak through you and to use you mightily in connecting me to the heart of Father God. When you 'locked eyes' on me I experienced for the first time in my life, the love my Dad in heaven has for me. In an instant I was connected heart to Heart, spirit to Spirit, with my Dad, Creator of the Universe, the Great I Am, The One who loves me just as I am. God bless you and your wife Linda. Thank you both for your ministry

A visit to the Jericho Road addiction centre, Ottawa.

We had the great privilege of spending quality time with Jon Ruby (Director of Jericho Road Addiction Services) at their base in Ottawa. We had lunch with the men who are currently in residence there, and then the honor of doing an hour's teaching after lunch. We brought back many brochures and administration documents that might be helpful to Lifeline Recovery in Drogheda and will be encouraging both centres to be in contact with each other to share advice, encouragement and fellowship.

One day team training event.

On the last day of our visit I did a full day (five one hour sessions) teaching under the title 'Moving on with God.' Again, the feedback was so encouraging. Here are a few samples...

"Thank you for pouring into us with such love and authenticity. You are so real!"

"Words cannot express what your obedience has meant in my life. I am forever grateful. I see Jesus through your love"

"Your words have helped bring some of my confusion into line. Thank you for the blessings of your teachings"

"I was so inspired today by your teaching - the challenge was strong but came with no condemnation. I love how you teach authentically and we get to see your heart. I could listen to you all day - I love the stories. I am so eager to allow God to reveal to me how to walk this out. I so needed to hear this teaching. Thank-you so much for following Jesus and walking under His anointing!"

When the day, and our time there was over, the team presented Linda and I with an albumn of photos taken by team member Allicia (see below) with many testimonies mixed through the albumn. What a blessing. Which brings me to the team itself.

What lovely, lovely people we encountered at Ellel Canada, Ontario.

Directors Kent and Karen Bandy, team members Allicia, Jodi, Heather, Matthew and James, plus their substantial volunteer prayer ministry team.

James took Linda and I on a morning hike up and through the woodland on a local mountain, and I was able to get some lovely 'Canadian' photos which are now on my photo website. Along the way we saw Turkey vultures soaring, turtles and HUGE tadpoles in the waters, plus a snake and a chipmunk on the land. Thank you James.

Team member Allicia Bankuti, from an advertising background and a part time wedding photographer, took Linda and I out for a morning to three locations and did a professional photo shoot for us. The results are wonderful. The photo at the top of the page and the one at the start of this section are part of that collection. Thank you Allicia!

The manuscript for my new book is finally, finally finished after endless re-writes of various sections and has gone to the publishers. Its current 'working title' is 'The Great Adventure' - the challenge of really following Jesus. It is for those Christians who are hungry to grow in their walk but don't know how to. It is a challenging book, and I pray that it will be used mightily by God to change lives. My first book has now been translated into Arabic and will soon be ready for publication. Here is a sample...

Arabic translation

May 17th-18th. As part of the prayer ministry team at Lisburn Cathedral I had the privilege of hearing much of the content, and for the first time the terrible depth of the problem within the Body of Christ really hit home, and teaching / repentance / healing must begin now! Like an approaching tsunami, the full impact of the childhood poisoning has yet to hit society. This problem is a real Goliath and we need men after God's own heart now!

Lifeline closing.

Phillip Richardson

We have been very closely involved with Lifeline Recovery for ten years now, (see every Newsletter in previous years) and have seen many men from drug / alcohol / gang related backgrounds come to Christ. Indeed, I count some of these men amongst my most trusted friends. But it is a tough call, and Phillip Richardson feels that he has God's leading to lay the ministry down, perhaps temporarily, perhaps not. As a result our planned visit to the centre outside Drogheda at the end of May will not take place. We support Phillip and wish him well as he takes time out and seeks the Lord's will. He has done a good job.

June 6th -17th

Linda and I travelled to the beautiful Baak House in the Netherlands (Holland) where I taught on two weekends.

The first weekend was 'The Father heart of God' and the second weekend was 'Walking closer with God'.

Here are some of the highlights...

Amongst the excellent facilities was this oak beamed teaching hall set outside the main house.

During the second week a group of young people from the Jubilee programme in Maidstone, Kent, arrived to help around the centre Although coming from this programme in. England most were from other countries. They reflected well on their leaders and on the training they are getting, as the aroma of Christ was so evident on their lives.

However, the event that most impacted me was the mid-week visit to Corrie Ten Boom's family home in Haarlem, near Amsterdam.

Having seen the film, 'The Hiding Place' many years ago and been inspired by Corrie's books, just to stand outside the watchmaker's shop was one thing, but to see Corrie's family home above, and see the actual hiding place in what was then her bedroom, was deeply moving.

A hole has been knocked in the wall behind where her bed would have been so that visitors can step inside and imagine what it would have been like to be hiding quietly in there when the gestapo finally came looking for Jews or Dutch underground people.

Entrance to the hiding place was through the bottom of the linen cupboard, via a moveable back board.

It is estimated that the Ten Boom family aided some 800 Jews, and she received recognition from the Yad Vashem Remembrance Authority as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" on December 12, 1967.

Portroe, County Tipperary, June 28th - 30th

Worship time to start the Friday evening.

This was our twenty-first visit to 'God's garage' in seven years, and I think it may well have been one of the best. Over the years there has built up a faithful cadre of people (as per photo in report from last visit three months ago) who come to the events in this very out-of-the-way rural setting, but earlier commitments to other events in the calendar this weekend meant that very few of them were free to attend. Yet I felt we were still to go and 'see what the Lord would do'. The other surprise was that we had an almost full sized team of ten available to go down, so if new people did not come the whole weekend would have been out of balance numerically. The wonderful surprise was a completely full house with extra chairs and standing room only, including visits from two pastors, and almost all were first time visitors. The anointing was very strong - I believe above the normal - and the challenging teaching was very well received. On the Friday evening I taught on 'Holy discontentment' and on Saturday morning I taught on 'Boundaries' and on 'The dark night of the soul' After lunch we had a long list of people wanting a one hour prayer ministry slot, including even more new people who had not attended the teaching sessions. I was so glad I had an almost full team with me!

During one of my ministry appointments in the afternoon Linda and I witnessed the Lord doing something spectacular right in front of our eyes, producing the instant result of a very emotionally fragile and broken lady suddenly explode with new life, praising the Lord and running round looking for people to hug! When she got home she wrote me an email saying.."...My soul is hungry to be drenched in His spirit, knowledge, humility and grace to carry out the great purpose He has for me. I need food for the soul and I will search for Him with all my heart to know and love Him as He loves me. I thank you for your love dedication and patience with me. I will pray and give thanks for your ministry and hope that you too will pray that Jesus will convert this chicken in to a lion ready to roar His name and His love from my heart mouth and very presence. Let His love shine through me".

Another lady who experienced a dramatic deliverance wrote to me saying.."...As for me, I am a new person. I am sorry that I didn't weigh myself before I had ministry as I am sure I would be lighter. There is a weight gone from my stomach and I am so aware that it is gone. It is an incredible feeling as I was not aware of the physical feeling before but am very aware that it is no longer there. I give glory and praise to God for delivering me. I also feel I grew so much spiritually over the weekend...I truly love each and everyone of you with a depth of emotion that is inexpressible. I thank you so much for saying yes to Jesus and am so grateful for how the Lord has worked through you all to minister healing to those who have come to God's garage over the last seven years."

It is an honour and our privilege to serve the King of Kings.

Dr. James Wesley Smith.

Jimmy Smith

I and many others in Northern Ireland were deeply saddened by the sudden death of Jimmy Smith from la Grange, Georgia, USA on July 2nd. He has been coming to minister in Northern Ireland for thirty-seven years, and I have known him on and off for some twenty of those years. He was a very anointed worship leader, and was the most gifted person in words of knowledge that I have ever encountered, and - especially in the earlier years - he saw many dramatic healings. He was a strong, sometimes outspoken, character, and in my early dealings with him I often felt rather intimidated. However, as years went on and I got to know him better that changed to real friendship, and I saw what a soft heart he had. He was very creative and two years ago when he was in our home he spent an hour completely rearranging our lounge furniture, pictures and ornaments, and to our delight he greatly improved on our layout. I took this portrait of him on that visit and he said it was his all time favourite. Recently his mind began to deteriorate and his ministry finally came to an end. My last memory? Just two weeks ago (June 16th) the 'real Jimmy' left a message on my phone wishing me happy father's day. I was in Holland at the time and did not get the message until I returned home. As one friend put it. 'The world will be a duller place' Indeed it will. But he is home now, and we will meet again.

Previous newsletters

Ken