This is when things start to get a little bit dicey. Tony and I had spent several hours the day before with a slight degree of success in reuniting the church split. Hugs were passed around and forgiveness was requested and received. We were not prepared for what happened that evening or the next morning. When we got to the church, we were greeted with warm welcomes. The unfortunate thing was that Duke and many of the church members were not in attendance. As we sat there and were listening to the praise and worship music and Bible class, I began to receive texts from Duke. He and his family had been threatened the night before, even to the point of death. I was shocked as the messages continued to roll in describing the situation. The interesting thing about this was that Pastor David, who we had with the day before, had two visions. They came two weeks apart, and it was revealed to him that we would face hardship as the enemy would come against us. He also received Scripture that said “Fear not, the Lord is with you.” In the midst of the turmoil, we would be removed from the evil presence without harm to us. That is exactly what happened, and it is hard to believe, had I not witnessed it firsthand.
I showed the text to Heidi and almost immediately, the Holy Spirit prompted her to deliver a message from Psalms 139 and 140. During the time that the texting was going on, there was a new pastor that I had met the day before. In fact, within a few minutes of seeing him, God identified him as the executive director for Echo Africa Kenya. The unseen force of the Holy Spirit swung my arm in his direction, pointing at him. I leaned over and told Tony “That is the man right there, and we need to talk to him.” As it turned out, he was exactly the one that God had chosen. Pastor Jared and his wife Grace, school teachers, were selected by God to be the next addition to the Echo leadership family. We had not revealed this to them yet. The amazing thing was that God used Pastor Jared, Heidi and Tony to deliver messages about love, unity, forgiveness, and working together. Three times, his church congregation heard the same message. Three times, God emphasized the importance of loving one another. Their actions later that day denied that the message that was given to them three times.
There are moments in Heidi’s life that God uses her to deliver very powerful messages. This day was one of those times. She got up front of the church and she said she wanted a specific interpreter, not just anyone. She spoke directly to a possible translator, even to the point of asking him questions as she talked about the Scriptures. He was not used to anyone challenging him like that, especially a woman. I believe he knew that he was dealing with something beyond the natural realm. He even got to the point where he was fumbling with his words and had a more difficult time speaking. This was uncharacteristic for him. He usually talked with great confidence and a loud voice. Heidi told him several times to talk quieter. The longer he stumbled, it became clear that demonic activity was at play. When she was finished talking with him, a stunned pastor that was working for the enemy sat down.
Now it was Tony’s opportunity to deliver the third segment of a Holy Spirit-guided message of love. God tied all three messages together in perfect harmony. When Tony got done talking, Pastor Jared got up once again. His next actions were confirmation that this was the chosen one to head up Echo in Kenya. When he got back up to the pulpit he asked, “Where is Duke?” Duke’s mother, wife, and baby had entered midway through the service and were sitting down. He called them forward to ask where Duke was. They both came forward and said that he was sick. The Spirit led me to stand up and walk forward to place my phone with the text messages on it in front of Pastor Jared, then I proclaimed that what he had sent me was a lie. Pastor Jared took a few minutes to read through the text messages. Then he spoke to the mother and wife again and said they were being dishonest. The mother then came forward and admitted to her dishonesty, and said they were afraid for their lives because they had been threatened. There was grumbling and a gasp heard in the church.
The day before, when we met with them for several hours, I said that harmony amongst them is necessary for us to continue to work together. We smelled gasoline, so I walked around the building to see what was going on. There was definitely a sense that the forces of hell were coming against us. We all thought that we should leave quickly, but we were surrounded by mobs of people to the point of restricting us from going. Heidi was surrounded by women becoming quite aggressive to get her attention and for her to stay. The pastor that God told me not to trust was the only man out there by Heidi, standing only a couple of feet from her, staring at her. Now it was obvious that there was a demon working in this man. What he did not know was that the Authority of God was working in Heidi. She distinctly remembers the warning that was given to this pastor. This may be your final opportunity to turn from your evil ways.
You may be wondering why I was not by her side. I know that in certain situations, she needs no protection from me because God has it covered. This was one of those situations. Also, I was ushered back into the church by several other pastors begging for me to meet with them before I left. After meeting with them for several minutes, I reiterated the message that when there was not harmony in the church, I could not spend my time trying to do the mission of God. For Echo Africa the purpose is to train pastors and distribute Bibles. Now the question is “Can we escape pre-riot conditions safely?”
