Greetings in Jesus’ name with Acts 14:22, “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra [where Paul had been stoned], and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

I have served my Lord in persecuted lands, often in danger of my freedom, and even my life. I know what fear is. We, here in our safe, secure Christian homelands can’t begin to understand what the saints of God are going through in persecuted areas of the world, where your life is lived every moment in danger and fear.

I remember one scene that comes to mind now of an elderly couple in a persecuted nation. The husband had to leave the house for a few moments for some reason, but, before he left, he took time to take his wife in his arms and I watched as they tenderly embraced each other, and she said to him, “Beloved, be careful!” I wondered why they made such an ado over a few moments of being apart; and then I realized the reason, when she turned to me, and said, “In these days, when we part, we never know whether we will ever see each other again!”

You never know when persecution can break out. It can happen from today to tomorrow. A friend told me how she went to sleep in Germany under the German flag, and woke up in the morning under the Soviet flag. Just like that! Another friend crossed over from West Berlin (which was under the jurisdiction of the Allies), into East Berlin, which was under the Russians one Saturday night. The next morning when they woke up, they discovered that the Berlin Wall had been erected during the night, and a whole nation was “imprisoned.”

Never will I forget, hearing the announcement that the city magistrate had arrived at our mission compound with his retinue of soldiers and bodyguards. He had come with an important message for us. We were living in peace, busy with the administration of the Assembly of God Bible School, and pastoring a church that was being doubled in size because of revival. After sitting him down in our living room with a cup of tea he told us, “I have come with bad news; the Communist 8^th army has broken through the Kuo Ming Tang (Nationalist) lines and is marching on our city. They will arrive any moment. I advise you to flee the city as soon as possible. Your life will be in danger!

I got down on my knees, and offered my life as a martyr to Christ, but He spoke to me and said, “You must flee!” By a miracle, we escaped that part of China.

Before we left, we gathered the church together and told them that Jesus was coming soon. They must not fear persecution. God would protect them and deliver them. That was 1949. Fifty-eight years have passed, hundreds of thousands have laid down their lives in China—and still are suffering in prisons, slave camps, and in many other ways.

ARE WE READY FOR WHAT IS COMING? Do we really think we can escape persecution, suffering, hunger, the loss of all things? These last few days I have been thinking about Hebrews 11:35-37, “Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented.”

Hebrews 11:38 goes on to say, “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. ” During the years I lived in safety in Taiwan and Hong Kong, hearing stories of what was happening in my beloved China, I used to travail every time I thought on these words, “Of whom the world was not worthy.” Today, our young men and women are in the front lines of the nations, fighting an enemy that is so much bigger than they will ever comprehend—and the sad thing is that they do not know Jesus as their personal Saviour. No one has taught them how to plead the covering of the Blood of Jesus. Few know how to quote Psalm 91, and no one has taught them how to pray. They are so defenseless. And we are not praying for them as we should.

PRAY FOR OUR NATION: It is time for all of us to pray for our nation, our leaders, our children, our churches, like we have never prayed before. Satan wants to make America his most powerful stronghold. Surely there are enough praying saints who can arise and make up the hedge, and stand in the gap for the land, that God should not destroy it! In Ezekiel’s day He found none (Ezekiel 22:30). What hope do we have for our day?

In the days of the Judges when the land was occupied by the enemy, and great fear was on all people, so much so, that they couldn’t live in their homes, but slept in the forests, and avoided traveling on the usual highway because of their great fears of robbery, arrests, and cruel deaths, God raised up an intercessor prophetess who dared to speak the truth. She dared to proclaim freedom from the oppressor, and dared to fight for it. She said in Judges 5:7, “The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.”

I call upon you women who know how to pray, you true Intercessors, you Deborahs to rise up, and bind the works of the evil one. Weep for your children, weep for your husbands, weep for your churches, weep for your nation! Weep, like you have never wept before. Stand together united in the love of God.

PRAY FOR ME! I am on a Sabbatical, seeking the Lord, and writing a book.

PROPHETIC CONFERENCE: The Prophetic Conference was blessed by the presence of the Lord. We had a large crowd who all said they were encouraged by the messages. Chuck and Mary Ann Flynn shared the richness of God’s Word and ministered prophetically to everyone there. Benjamin Belke played the trumpet like he was summoning angels. Thank you for coming, and standing with us in these last days. Our next gathering is the Winter Youth Retreat: Dec 28-Jan 1, 2009. Next we will have the Branch Officer’s Retreat, March 15-18, and the Winter Camp Meeting, March 19-22, 2009. Plan to come for the outpouring of the goodness of the Lord.

TEAM GOING TO AFRICA: Please pray for a team that is going to Kenya and Malawi with Apostle Bobby Hogan to minister, some are End-Time Handmaidens and Servants. They will be there December 1-16, 2008

MEETINGS IN CHICAGO: Sunday, December 14 at 10.00 am, I will be ministering at Grace Covenant Worship Center (Pastor Derek Kuhn) - 906 Muir Ave, Lake Bluff, IL 60044. Ph: (847) 457-3838; Fax: (847) 457-3840 

Tuesday, December 16 at 7:00 pm, I will be ministering at HUB Ministries, Chicago area. Location to be announced. Watch www.hubministries.org for updates / e-mail ChicagoHUB@aol.com, or call Nancy Magiera at (847) 401-8554.

Thank you for your faithful support of the ministry. You are a great help and blessing to the nations of the world. We couldn’t do it without you. Watch the mail for our latest magazine, it should be arriving soon and is filled with timely, anointed articles.

With deep appreciation for your prayers and love offerings.