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It's in the Mind
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Dear Friends
I had just left the platform. People were milling around talking when I saw this lady with a prayer helper. She was kind of stomping around praising God and the helper had a crutch in her hand. The person came up and thanked me for the message. She had taken hold of my theme, realised who she was in Christ and thrown away her crutch, started to walk on her own and God healed her. She had been told she would need that crutch for a long time but she was walking just fine.
I rejoiced with her and began to thank the Lord for His goodness. What a great start to the year. I was speaking at my home church. It was a message intended to help us see just what Jesus has done for us and this woman certainly got it.
That was the end of January just after I had returned home from the annual KCM ministers conference in the US. Two days later I was on a plane to Lahore, Pakistan to join my good friend Dr Will Pantin for another pastors conference. This time, however was to be different as I was also attending the wedding of Shahed and Mahwesh, two of the pastors of Great Joy in the City Ministries. This was a first and an unforgettable experience, but more of that later.
The conference in Lahore was attended by around 400 pastors and leaders from 6 cities all over Pakistan so it was truly a national meeting. The theme for my part was to teach on changing mindset to think as God thinks on a kingdom level, expecting God to move through them because all things are possible with Him. Dr Will then took this further developing kingdom principles and stretching their faith to believe for more. Together we ministered to hundreds of leaders and witnessed the demonstration power of God moving through the room. It was an awesome time and I sense we will get some reports flowing back to the ministry of the change that has occurred in their lives.
For me it is so wonderful to have the opportunity to minister to the Christian people in Pakistan. Most are following the call of God in difficult circumstances. It is an honour to help them grow and become more effective despite the opposition they meet on a daily basis in a country still ravaged by floods and political turmoil.
So having also preached at the GJITCM church in Lahore on Sunday morning we got ready for the wedding in the evening. The whole thing was such a mix of Pakistan tradition and Christian ceremony. The groom at one point seemed to take centre stage arriving in a procession of what to me were Scottish bagpipes and drums with villagers swirling round in front. The venue looked great with fairy lights in a huge coloured tent and the grooms white turban matched perfectly. The bride arrived dressed in white with lovely bridesmaids. Dr Will conducted the wedding using Kenneth Copeland’s Ceremony of Marriage. It was a very powerful time and brought strong focus on the covenant that they were entering into. I had the privilege of ministering communion to them and conducting a candle lighting ceremony where the couple joined their own two candles into one large one. This was an important symbol in Pakistan to demonstrate the leaving and cleaving nature of true Christian marriage. Strangely for us coming from the West there were no speeches and the groom was not even allowed to kiss the bride in public, despite all our protestations that we were breaking with tradition. Well, I guess we still have work to do!
So Living Word has had a great start to the year. I have in the last two weeks also been to support the leaders of a church in Wolverhampton. We held a strategic vision casting day helping the church to reset its vision and develop plans for growth in the future. I can see that I will be doing more of this during the year together with coaching leaders.
I really am excited about what God will do this year, moving in power and changing peoples lives. So keep on praying for us as we step up to fulfill the call of God on our lives. You are so much a part of what we do and we need your support on a daily basis. Thank you for all you are doing in partnership with us.
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Tony Sheard
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Some of the pastors at the conference
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Dr Will and GJITCM staff at the wedding
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Shahed and Mahwesh cutting their wedding cake
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