This page will be continually updated until the end of 2013
It has been a busy few months and difficult to get time to produce a new newsletter. But here goes...
Ellel Pierrepont, near Frensham, Surrey, England July 16th - 19th
I travelled to Ellel Pierrpont to teach 'The Father Heart of God' for two days to term 2 students, then one day of teaching 'Hearing God' and 'God's Testings' to term 4 students. Finally delivering the Friday morning sermon to leaders, teachers and delegates. The title of this talk was 'A Holy Discontentment' The weekly sermons are videoed and go to some 4,000 people who have subscribed to receive them. They also go on to..
The battle to go to Australia
a smile in hospital
At around 10pm on Sunday July 28th I was suddenly convulsed with extreme pain in my abdomen. An ambulance was called and I was given oxygen and morphine which rapidly diminished the pain level. I was taken to hospital (again!) and kept there for three days. The pain was caused by gall bladder inflammation, and during the investigations it was shown that I had a 2.1cm gallstone. Now came the problem. Linda and I were to fly out to Sydney in two weeks time and I had to begin a course of strong antibiotics (daily injections and capsules) at home which produced rather problematic side effects. The consultant advised us not to travel, but I was determined not to let anyone down. However on arriving home I found that the trauma of the event and the debilitating side effects left me so weak that I could hardly walk more than a few steps. I prayed hard for guidance and eventually decided to fly because I didn't hear the Lord say not to.
We stayed overnight at Singapore but I was unwell throughout the night. Finally when we got to Sydney we were met by our good friends John and Ilona Small and spent the first night in their Sydney home, before driving in one of their cars to Gilbulla. Here we were told that there was a record number of delegates booked in for the first weekend course on the Father Heart of God! I stayed in bed as long as I could to try and recover, but on the Friday afternoon, at 4:30 I was still so weak I could not get out of bed! The first of the eight by one and a quarter hour teaching sessions was due to start in three hours! Despite there having been huge amounts of prayer for me in Australia and Ireland I asked Linda to pray for me one more time. Within two minutes I was up walking about the room with enough energy to take on the full weekend. Thank you faithful God. Linda and others later said that they thought it was the most anointed they had heard me teach this subject. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
The second weekend was 'Freedom from Addictions' and I was asked to teach this because I have been involved in ministry to drug addiction in Southern Ireland for nearly a decade. The Ellel International newsletter report from Gilbulla stated...
'We thank the Lord that Ken Symington was well enough to travel to Australia. We certainly witnessed God at work as Ken taught on the Father heart of God and Addictions over two weekends. The Father Heart of God weekend was the largest weekend we have ever held, with over 100 delegates'.
Some written notes were handed in to me after the Father Heart of God weekend...
"Dear Ken, I am so thankful to God that His love overflows to us through you. I have so enjoyed and appreciated your gentle, clear teaching, and the love and humor, little dramas and sharing so deeply from your life. It has been an unforgettable experience. I have shed tears over those who need to experience this teaching and the reality of Jesus' Daddy, but cannot travel the distance. With sincere thanks and deep appreciation"
"Dear Ken, Thank you for a wonderful conference on the Father Heart of God, and I got it - practicing calling God my Daddy. What a relief! Thank you for coming to Australia-what an amazing journey you have had and such an inspiration. Love and blessings"
"Thank you Ken - for the first time in my 66 years I GET IT! I GET IT! Bless you, may Daddy God bless you richly"
When we left Gilbulla we were blessed to be able to spend two and a half days at John and Ilona Small's beautiful beach side home just outside Byron Bay [see photo of evening on the beach at the top of the page] From the balcony we could see the annual migration of humpback whales as they continually surfaced in the bay. On the first day we saw an estimated fifteen whales in the bay! However, being a keen photographer I wanted to get whale photos, so on the second day we went out whale watching and after an hours blank, we finally had two large specimens surface near to our boat. I got my photos!
For the following two weeks we holidayed with family in Queensland, but I continued to struggle to regain health, and when I consulted a local GP I was sent for extensive blood tests and an Ultrascan. Results were good, except for the confirmation that my gall bladder had collapsed around the gall stone and there were minor inflammation levels. The GP prescribed morphine patches to carry with me on the long flights home in case the gall bladder suddenly flared up again into a repeat of the excruciating pain. Praise God all return flights were trouble free. I am due to attend reviews to decide what to do with the troublesome part.
New book nears publication!
The first look at the cover of my new book - due out February 2014 - and published by CHI Books Australia. Here is one of the early reviews...
It is a rare occurrence to find a book that so clearly and passionately encapsulates the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and how to live wholeheartedly in His Kingdom today. This book exposes and addresses the many things that are eroding and undermining the effectiveness of believers today and steadily guides us back to the plumb line of biblical truth. At the same time, it reaches out and rekindles within us that God given desire for “more”. You will not fail to be both challenged and inspired as you read this book and I pray that it will stir you to press on and take hold of all that Jesus died to give you. Ken’s first book “Loved like never before” is our number one bestseller at Ellel Pierrepont and I believe that this will even outstrip that.
We again had the privilege of spending a day with author, international speaker and founder of Partnership Ministries in Canada, the Rev. Dr Alistair Petrie and his wife Marie. We have been friends for more than a decade and he is one of the leaders who has written a review for my new book. His books include..
Photographing the Prime Minister
Photography is my hobby and on October 11th, and for the second time, I was asked to be the sole photographer at a meeting where Prime Minister David Cameron was the speaker. On this occassion he was addressing a gathering of businessmen at a Belfast Hotel. An unusal break from my normal programme!
The first event was an Ellel team training weekend with people travelling from as far as Lapland. The theme was radically following Jesus, with much of the material from my new book. One leader said that nearly 100 years after the foundation of the Bible school where the event was being held, it was wonderful to see the original teaching coming home!
The second event was two evenings of the Father heart of God in Lindesburg Pentecostal Church. I was the first outside speaker to be invited in and it went very well with many people coming from different denominations. Two people came from Stockholme and booked in locally. Numbers were greater than anticipated.
The third event was a Friday evening and Saturday Father Heart of God in Gothenburg. Again numbers were much greater than anticipated and at one stage the oganisers were considering a larger hall. My translator as usual was Goran Anderson, retired director of Ellel Sweden, and although I cannot understand Swedish I was continually told by others that he is an outstanding translator. We really enjoy working together! The presence of God at the end was unmistakable and the feedback afterwards was very encouraging.
Yet again I ended up in hospital! Trying to make the most of our last morning in Sweden we got up at dawn to go into the nearby national forest to see if I could photograph elk or boar, but half an hour after we started out my gall bladder flared up again and I was rushed to Gothenburg hospital in great pain. Eventually after many tests and an injection the pain subsided and I could smile again! Linda took the photo as the pain was lessening. The doctors were just wonderful. Initially they doubted that I could fly home later that day, but we did. My gall bladder has allowed me to come into contact with medics in three countries in three months now!!
The annual Autumn prayer ministry school.
This is the 10th consecutive year we have hosted this school. Men and women from many denominations are invited to attend this basic level course which runs for approximately twelve Tuesday evenings. One man comes over from Scotland for the evening course, returning on the 11: 30 ferry the same evening! Once a person has attended this school they can attend any of the one day occassional advanced prayer ministry schools. This is one of my favourite events on our calendar.
Anniversary visit to 'God's Garage' in County Tipperary.
November 7th - 9th an eight strong CRi team made the now familiar trip 'down south' to County Tipperary. And yes the song is right - it is a long way!
This - our 22nd visit to God's Garage - was to be a special visit as it marked seven years since Anne-Marie Mulrooney built a meeting hall and a teacher's apartment where her garage used to be and invited CRi to use it for God's Kingdom work in that part of Ireland. On the Friday evening I taught on the challenging subject 'Active or inactive Christianity?' and on the Saturday morning 'Understanding fear.'
On Saturday afternoon the team ministered to a total of twenty-nine people with an average appointment of one hour each. During this ministry time two people - a husband and wife who were being ministered to seperately at the same time- gave their lives to Jesus!
For the team the highlight was the Friday evening celebration...
The evening's worship was initially led by Ken Mulcahy and Corey (one of Anne-Marie's four sons) then Anne-Marie and her three daughter's plus one of their friends led us all in praise celebration, followed by a solo from one of her girls. (see samples below) A truly remarkable family!
Anne-Marie and girls celebrate Jesus
The light from my iphone makes Ciara's eyes look white!
Peig and Joy
There were two cake cutting celebrations. The first one was to celebrate the fact that Christian Restoration in Ireland first came into southern Ireland sixteen years ago, and have been coming regularly ever since. Peig O'Laughlin and Joy Daniels were the two ladies who approached Linda and I way back in 1997, and pleaded for "someone to bring us the truth about God." Peig gave a very moving speech about how, over those years, she had found true freedom in Christ and seen others do so, through knowing Kingdom truth. At the end of the evening Anne-Marie cut another cake to celebrate the seventh anniversary of God's Garage.
Anne-Marie
"What a blessed and powerful time with Ken and team"
"What a great weekend at God's Garage. So happy to celebrate seven years and see the CRi team again. Feel very blessed to be there. Yet another gift from God to me"
"What an awesome weekend Ken and a privilege to see two people give their lives to the Lord in the midst of the ministry....May God Bless you all for your selfless natures and your desire to see broken people restored. Words can not describe the love and respect I have for you all"
Men's Breakfast.
On Saturday November 27th I had the priviledge of speaking at the monthly West Church men's breakfast in Bangor. This was special for me as it was the church I attended for seven years early on in my Christian walk, and here I was substantially shaped by the Rev David Baillie (now retired) and here my teaching and prayer ministry began. So to be back after an absence of a decade and a half was a joy, and a real delight to see the improvements in the property and the increase in numbers. I spoke on 'How to boil a frog' - always a challenging message!
Baptism at Green Pastures, Ballymena
On Sunday evening, November 28th, I had the honour of being asked to baptise a friend. Green Pastures Church has grown so large that it now has four services on a Sunday. This was at the 8pm evening service, where, once again, many people were being baptised. (Indeed around 400 people have now been baptised in total since the fledgling church opened it's doors for the first time in 2007) The atmosphere at the church was amazing, and as the crowds leaving the previous service mixed with the crowds coming in for the second service it was hard to move! At the end of the service a lady in the congregation indicated that she wanted to become a Christian. Plans are now afoot to build a 4000+ seater church nearby.
Christian Restoration in Ireland have been involved with the church since its foundation, and week by week we provide prayer ministry and seek to train up prayer ministry staff within the Green pastures Church itself.
What better way to celebrate reaching 66 years of age than to do something challenging!
Linda and I spent an hour on various climbing walls and associated 'scary' challenges in a local Clip 'n' Climb arena. Linda (who is closer to 59 than 58) was able to go further up on much of the equipment and go up faster. Here she is making the 'leap of faith' What a girl!
Oh no! Not again!!
Yes, again. While on a weekend break at a cottage in the Mourne Mountains in County Down my gall bladder decided to flare up again at 4 am. An ambulance was called and after being given morphine and anti-sickness injections I was driven to hospital in Belfast. However, this event seems to have finally persuaded the consultant to seriously consider surgery. So far he has been very (very) reluctant to consider this option because of my 'fragile' heart condition. However, I have now received an appointment in January for a two hour pre-operative testing, which - I am told will include tread mill and cycle testing - to access the strength of my heart, and then a final decision will be made regarding surgery. Next year I am booked to travel to France, Hungary, Australia, Tasmania, and possibly Netherlands, so I will need to be free from this problem.
Taking a 'wee break'
When December came I realised that I was very close to 'burn out' and I needed to take a short step back to rest and recover. It took me a week to stop feeling uncomfortable about doing this, but I soon realised how necessary it was, and so I cancelled all (well almost all) ministry appointments and teaching duties until mid January 2014. This 5 week planned break enabled me to get my camera out again and it quickly reawakened my delight in photography. For my birthday the family pulled resources and bought me a second hand macro lens (extreme close up) which has been a real blessing to me. (see one sample here - the leg of a tiny spider on our floor - sorry ladies!)
Then the big storms came and my sense of adventure rose up afresh - and off I went with a photographer friend to the biggest waves on our coastline. Getting close to them was quite a challenge. My friend took the first photo of me hanging on to the railing on a narrow exposed walkway in order to get some dramatic pics!
