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WOW! All of creation is groaning….The beauty of the Lord is being revealed through nature. Teisa and I stand in awe of the majesty of our God in creation. Fall in New England, leaves changing, Red Sox in world series, what more could we ask for? More of the glory!!!

Last night we were at the White Horse Cafe in Hartford VT. I was so excited to bring Teisa to meet one of my spiritual Fathers Wayne Anderson. We were able to spend quality time with Wayne in the afternoon before the evening meeting. Our good friend Dee and the worship team helped usher in the presence of our bridegroom, King Jesus! What a wonderful time of refreshing we had in the presence! Words can’t describe, the atmosphere was heavenly! Thank you Jesus. We love you!

We are very encouraged by what God is doing in New England. On Oct. 7th we were in MA at the Metro West Bridge Christian Fellowship. Hungry hearts were filled with the love of God. We have been directed by the Holy Spirit to keep our message simple and practical. Love the Lord, love his people! What does love look like? We know in Africa it looks like wound care, it looks like food, but in New England what does it look like? Raking leaves for your neighbor, visiting the elderly….love takes on many different facets. I challenged the saints of God to calculated acts of kindness and love. It’s the goodness and kindness of God that leads to repentance. Amen! Revival is here!!!

On Monday we traveled to North Sutton NH with our good fiend Kathy to meet with John Paul Jackson and to minister to his interns. Once again hungry hearts were filled. We are greatly encouraged by what God is doing, we are living in a season of great change. The atmosphere and spiritual climate is changing over New England! No longer will it be known as the land of the frozen chosen, but it will once again become the epicenter of what God is doing in America. Angelic circuit riders are traveling New England and lighting Holy Ghost fires throughout the land. God is raising up an army in New England that will not take no for an answer! The saints of God will possess the land and establish His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!! New England the time is NOW!

The following weekend on the 14th we ministered at River of Life Fellowship in Windsor CT in the morning, and that evening we ministered to 40-50 youth at the senior center in Granby. On Thursday the 18th we met at Granby High School to minister to a dozen middle school students from Valley Brook Community Church. This past Sunday were had the privilege of ministering to the entire body at Valley Brook. Being a former resident of Granby for almost 7 years, I shared my testimony on how God took me from being a convenience store manager at the Food Bag in Granby to being a missionary in Mozambique Africa. God is faithful. The Holy Spirit touched many hearts and many came forward as a call to missions was given.

Both Teisa and I are really enjoying our season hear in America, especially New England. However, we are very aware of what is happening to our Iris family in Pemba. Unfortunately we probably know only as much as most of you who will read this. Please keep Rolland Baker in prayer as he is in hospital and has lost over 40lbs. The warfare in Pemba is raging, but the kingdom of God is advancing and his saints will be victorious. Jesus is Lord!

We hope to be meeting with Rolland and Heidi Baker at the VOA in Harrisburg PA next Wednesday. We will update you all with any new information as we receive it. Please join us in prayer for our Iris family. Thank you. Blessings on ya!!

After two days of wrestling with my computer (and winning!) our wedding video can now be viewed on our media page!!!! I also posted more picture pages on the Photo page like: Omaha wedding, Warriors (our boys), Widows Ministy, Outreachs, etc.

Check it out!

I am working on uploading pictures this week…this new website program is giving me a few issues….please forgive the weird photo pages outlay or lack of the page…I am trying to figure it out:) Grace, grace!

Before we left Africa this summer, we were asked to represent Iris Ministries at the Partners in Harvest (PIH) conference at the Toronto Airport Fellowship. Both Jean and I have been extremely blessed on prior visits to Toronto, so we were pretty stoked to return. Boy, we were not disappointed! We were so refreshed by the worship, preaching, and fellowship. We testified for the ministry and received prayer for the Bakers/our pastors/us…as you can imagine, we had a very hard time getting up off the floor!

After the conference, we drove by Niagara Falls and took some pictures. Here are my favorites….

While in California, I was privileged to return to the ministry I served for 5 years before going to Africa. School of Urban Missions has two campuses; one in New Orleans (where I served) and Oakland, CA. This was my first time being at the Oakland campus which was started 8 years ago by Chancellor George Neau. Today, it is a thriving campus with over 60 students being trained for urban ministry!

When Jean and I arrived in chapel, the atmosphere was charged with zeal and joy! Preaching was easy due to the hunger of the students’ hearts. After chapel, we spent some time with Chancellor Neau and his wife, sharing God stories and future ministries opportunities like hosting students in Mozambique for an internship. Jean and I both bore witness to the internship, so we began making plans to meet with any prospective students desiring to intern with us.

The next day we returned to preach in chapel again….the Holy Spirit was so thick during worship…many of the students made calls for repentance and gathered in groups praying for one another. After some time, the service transitioned to where I could address something heavy on my heart…the ladies! I knew the Holy Spirit wanted to pour out His love on these amazing women (most of the ladies attending SUM have been so wounded by past hurts/lies which has hindered their growth and identity in Christ). I began sharing part of my testimony to encourage the ladies (cause if I can do it, anyone can). Then in prayer, I made some declarations to tear down the lies/ungodly beliefs, the men started surrounding the ladies and praying for them….glory…God did the rest!

After chapel, we met with 11 students interested in doing an internship with us in Mozambique next summer! Please pray with us about this amazing opportunity. Many of these students struggle in huge ways with their tuition (which is very affordable), so believing God for the $3000 for the airfare to Moz is huge! Also, a few students have never left their home state of California!
So friends, this is huge for them. Please pray with us for the supernatural provision for these students to come…..we want to provide some form of matching scholarship for the struggling students.

It’s hard to believe it has been four years since I sold my house in Granby CT and went to Pinecrest Bible Training Center in upstate N.Y. I quit my job of 17 years at the Food Bag in March of 03, however it wasn’t until September 11th that my house sold. There are times I miss my job, the customers, and the people who worked with me throughout the years. Uncle Kevin, Mary Lou, Harry, Bruce, Ron, and Linda B are just a few of the people whom the Lord used to help shape my life. Often I’m asked where I received my education/ministry training. I tell people, 17 years of working with the public in retail. How did I ever survive? God’s grace is sufficient; his mercies are new every morning and every day.

I can remember sitting in my office in Granby when I heard the news that the World Trade Center had been hit. Awe, shock, disbelief were three of the first emotions I felt. I can’t say that I remember feeling angry at what had happened, but I did feel overwhelmed with sadness and grief for the next week or two. Every time I would read the newspaper or watch TV I would begin to weep and interceded for the families of those who lost loved ones. At times I couldn’t work, I would lock myself in my office at work and weep uncontrollably. I knew my life would never be the same from this day forward. All of our lives were forever changed by the events that happened on 9/11/01. The date 9/11 takes on special meaning for me because it was the day signifying my call to forsake all and go into the world to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. I had found the pearl of great price. JESUS!

While in Redding CA, Teisa and I went on outreach with our friend and web master Zack to a local housing project. Candice (a ministry school student from Bethel) has led this local weekly outreach for the last several months and has established relationship with most of the people. After a yummy meal of chicken salad and chocolate brownies we sat, listened to thier stories, and waited on the Holy Ghost. After about an hour we felt the compassion of Jesus begin to well up within us. We know it is the Fathers desire to heal the sick and to see his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Forgive me for not remembering names. Holy Spirit Help! Anyway there was a lady with a wrist brace on who needed a touch from God. Zack then pulled out his phone that had a video clip of a testimony of a man being healed with the same condition. We prayed Jesus healed! Glory to God!

This was just the beginning. Sitting next to the lady whose wrist got healed was another lady who was desperately in need of a touch from God. She had scoliosis, extreme back pain, a knee brace, and she told us that she had five surgical procedures for an irregular heartbeat that she had from birth. We decided to pray for her back first. After a couple minutes of prayer we asked her what she was feeling. She said heat. I said thats good! We prayed again, the pain left. Glory! We then asked her if we could pray for her heart. Of course she said yes. We asked her to put her hands on her heart as a point of contact. We placed our hands over hers and prayed for a new heart. Within a few minutes we were all rejoicing! Our loving heavenly Father had released his kingdom and given her a new heart. For the first time in her life she had a regular heartbeat. She was very excited to say the least! I then asked if we could pray for her knee, however by that time Jesus had already healed it! Praise the Lord! Jesus paid the price over 2000 years ago.

The first lady who received healing then went and got her friend from one of the apartments and told her that Jesus was healing people. She came out and received a touch from the Father. We ministered the love of the Father to her and saw a complete change in her countenance. She had been suffering from many illnesses and thought it was because she was doing something wrong and was being punished. We told her that was a lie from the devil, and that Jesus loved her just the way she was. The Spirit of Truth came destroyed the lie of the devil and set the captive free!!!

Jean and I share a passion for hiking… Sooooooo we have been enjoying our 2nd honeymoon 🙂 in God’s amazing sanctuary of nature. I (Teisa) got to put my feet in the Pacific ocean for the first time…..boy was it cold!

We also hiked thru the Redwood Forest in northern California. Wow, wow, wow! We saw trees over 360 ft tall! And huge…they are as wide as our huge Bayubob trees in Africa. We also found out that many of the Redwoods have been around for over 2000 years….which means these trees were sprouting when our Lord walked the earth- WILD! Jean and I felt His strong presence…we rejoiced and joined with “all creation groaning” for Him!

Last Sunday was AWESOME! We were with Pastor Terry Inman and Harbor Light AG in Fremont, CA! Pastor Terry and his wife Mary hosted us all weekend, treating us to great food and fellowship. We were very blessed to have time with Luis Cabral (an international evangelist also staying with the Inmans). Just for kicks we showed everyone our Pemba wedding DVD. To our surprise Pastor Terry was so touched by it he wanted to show it to his church Sunday morning!

The response was unreal…..people we never met were so touched by our wedding….we never reaally thought much about it except our thankfulness that Jesus touched lives…Our DVD has wedding pictures, village ministry, parts of the the wedding, and exerts of an interview which was done before the wedding by a professional filming team who heard about our wedding and asked if they could film it. Wow… you go Jesus! To us, it was the wedding of our dreams, but also just the normal wedding of anyone who loves/serves God in Mozambique. It is very humbling to think that our wedding might continue to touch lives thru our DVD.