Boots on the Ground

We have been home in our beloved Middle Tennessee for about twenty-four hours now (at the time of writing), and my mom systems have been performing post-trip triage: unpack, sort, organize, clean, re-orient, schedule. Our brains and bodies are all pushing through the jet lag fog. I have been attempting to quantify the last six weeks in my head to be able to communicate the mission succinctly.

I keep coming back to our shoes.

My babies have callouses on their feet. Their shoes, which were practically brand-new, are now relegated to \”play shoes\” distinction. We covered miles upon miles daily prayer walking – an average of six miles a day for forty days. London, Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, Avebury, Hadrian\’s Wall, Moriah Chapel. In the oldest churches, the gates, the high places, the sacred places, the waterways. In rain and mud and cold.

And for what? Why the expense and the work and stress? To what end?

 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ – John 4:37

Because breaking hardened ground and breaking hardened hearts require hard work, physical and spiritual.

While we love to see people pray for salvation, we love to disciple, we love to teach; more often, we see our job as breaking the ground. We are spiritual mappers,  looking for places to till the soil or dig for wells. Yes, it is abstract, but no less real. If we are to talk about the great harvest of souls, we must talk about the process.

Praying breaks the spiritual ground of a place. Every revival is preceded by prayer. So when The Lord leads us to go to a place to pray and intercede, we obey, knowing that His will is to release His Kingdom in that place.

We have felt a pull towards the United Kingdom for a couple of years and waited for the right time. When a door opened last year, Jason went to London to scout the land and make some connections. He was received warmly and invited to return as a prophet to the land. We began to plan a family trip for 2019. However, as God tends to do, all the ways we planned and ideas we had were turned on their heads. Certain doors closed; others opened. We have learned to trust His leading and not to fight for our \”best laid plans.\” As we stepped in faith, He showed us His purposes.

Some highlights we would like to share include:

• Jason spent a day at Europe\’s largest pagan festival, Witch Fest, to pray and also talk with and show love and care for attendees. He ended up meeting with one of the speakers and former president of the pagan federation of UK and his wife. They spent an hour talking about their beliefs and exchanged emails. Jason is wanting to build a bridge of communication with those on the pagan path;

• We stood at the Chalice Well and White Springs in Glastonbury as people gathered water and talked with them about the true Living Water;
• We prayed and shared our story with multiple people visiting Glastonbury Tor, a spiritually significant high place for pagans;
• We joined in communion services and prayer meetings at Church of England congregations;
• Jason spoke and ministered alongside friends at a church in Belfast and a London prison. The power of God was evident during the time at the prison. Five men surrendered to Jesus, and Jason walked away with the tears of hardened men on his shirt sleeves;
• The kids prayed over many people and places, including the homeless in Glasgow;
• We made connections with believers who have become family; with ministries which we will pray for and return to, and individuals who are seeking answers and spiritual truth.

Along the way, we had countless God-incidents and divinely orchestrated moments. I am in awe of His goodness, truly. There is a rumble of life in the United Kingdom. We are grateful for our time there and are anxious that we might return some day.

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