Lives forever changed

The highlight of the mission, and a great way to conclude it, was the open air crusades in Freretown, Mombasa. 

We were joined by Kenyan gospel singer Salome Mwabindo and the atmosphere was truly celebratory. On the final night of the crusade we saw an amazing 16 people make a commitment to follow Christ. Over the course of the mission there have been 23 such commitments and 11 testimonies of immediate miraculous healing. The figure represents those we know of as many were prayed for in mass prayers as there were too many to pray for individually. We trust God that there are many other people who have been touched by God's miraculous healing power. 

On the final Sunday, before the crusade, I had the chance to preach to a church in Maweni which is a slum in Mombasa. A major part of my topic was helping people to see themselves from the perspective of who they are in Christ rather than their outward circumstances. It went down very well indeed and I was told that some of the things I had taught from the scriptures were things they were unaware of until now. The pastor was very happy. That sermon almost never happened as there was a mix up over transport to the church. It seems that the devil didn't want this to happen but it did and God really touched people's hearts. 

Monday was a leisure day before I fly back on Tuesday. Along with my friends (including pastor Kyomukama Deus from Uganda) we visited the historic Fort Jesus which was built by the Portuguese around 500 years ago. I even found time to film a video series on 'Defeating the Giants' which is about recognising and pulling down strongholds in our lives. 

It has been an amazing time including the leaders conference. Thank you to everyone who supported this mission both financially and in prayer. We trust God that many lives and churches have been eternally changed. 

Shalom... Steve Johnson 

First crusade, salvation and healing.

What a good first day of our open air meetings. 

There was lots of singing and dancing and celebration, Kenyan style. Many of the public sat around the perimeter but when they were invited, they came. Many came for prayer and we had three testimonies of miraculous healing including one who had suffered from heart pain for some time. The symptoms totally cleared after prayer. Another young man came with eye problems which, again, were totally resolved after being prayed for. 

(the picture above is of Bishop Samuel kazungu addressing the crowd) 

I had the opportunity of sharing the message of the gospel with these people and 5 people responded by coming forward and making a commitment to follow Jesus. 

It was indeed a productive, fruitful and colourful day. We are now very much in anticipation of what the next two nights will bring. 

From Mombasa, kenya... Steve Johnson 

Healing & prophecy.

Something is definitely stirring at our lunchtime meetings. Today I taught on one of my favourite topics. The power of a testimony. It has opened people's eyes and encouraged them to be ready to share what Jesus has done with others. 

Later on I was back in the church in Ukombozi where I had preached yesterday evening. I kept it short tonight so I had time to pray for various needs. Virtually every one of the church came forward for prayer. There were so many I prayed for them in crowds by category. I got one specific testimony of healing. I don't know how many others there were. A few relieved prophetic words/words of encouragement. They were very appreciative of the ministry and the pastor told me that many more came out tonight because of how well the previous evenings message had been received. 

I also sensed God wanted me to pray for pastor Chiwai and his wife (family pictured above) and sensed God wanted to encourage them that this was just the start but to rely on his grace. They really appreciated the ministry and blessing. 
Tomorrow I will be accompanied by the awesome Kyomukama Deus as we go to the next lunchtime meeting and on to the first meeting at the church in freretown. Tomorrow is also the last day before the big crusade launch which is in the same place. It's going to be a great time. 
May God bless you as you pray for me and the mission... Steve Johnson 

The resurrected King.

The colourful scenery of the lunchtime meeting in central Mombasa is pictured above. It was another well received message focusing on Jesus as Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. I will be coming here throughout the week to minister at the lunchtime gatherings.

That evening I headed across to an area called Bamburi where there is a church. I had a message but changed it at the last minute to talk about the power of a testimony. It certainly captured the imagination of the congregation who can now see clearly how to use their testimony to spread the gospel.

I am conveniently based near Moi Avenue where the famous tusks are (see above picture). It's a great location just 5 minutes walk from the lunchtime meeting and not much further from the site where our big open air crusades will be held. Tomorrow I will be back at the church I preached at tonight. Pray that God sparks a Holy Spirit storm of fruitful evangelism as a result of tomorrow's messages.
Shalom... Steve Johnson

From a beggar to a prince

Monday and today are focused on some interesting meetings on Mombasa Island. There is a long standing ministry here who have a facility right in the heart of Mombasa and provide a spiritual oasis during the working day. There is a strong emphasis on worship here and it comes with such a clear sense of God's presence.

I had the chance to attend and speak at one of their well attended meetings and address Christians from many different churches. I had all my notes on a doc on my phone which, for some reason repeatedly refused to open once I was there. It did not matter one bit as once I got up to speak it went really well.

I shared a word about the blessing in the beatitudes and how God takes us from the place of being beggars totally unable to help themselves and utterly reliant on the grace of another to the position of being a Prince in the kingdom.
It was later that the devout lady who runs this ministry told me that there are many ministers in Kenya who live in extreme poverty because that's what they believe being 'poor in spirit' means rather than seeing themselves as humbly reliant on God's grace.

These two days are an opportunity to slow down after 3 messages a day and have some time to focus on the ministry for the rest of the week and the crusade.
I am back in the lunchtime meeting on Tuesday and on Wednesday the ministry at one of the churches in Mombasa will be added to that.

Right now I am in my hotel room and I can hear the Muslim call to prayer from the mosque just 50 metres down the road. Thankfully I had an early night and the 4.30am call to prayer didn't wake me up. I was already awake!

A day of salvation and miracles.

Today was the day for our Sunday services. We actually had three and so I got to speak on each occasion.
The morning service was marked by a miraculous conversion. There was a married couple who were going through serious problems. The husband had an evil temperament and was often drunk and violent towards his wife. He was doing all manner of evil things. One day he came home after drinking he began to shout at his wife as she was cooking his food and then started beating her. It was more than she could take. She threw a pan of hot water over him and scolded him in the process. 
His family were furious and had her driven from the village. Somehow God worked to turn this situation around. Her husband offered to move with her to a new area and make a fresh start and this Sunday turned up at the church, wanting to give his life to Christ. 
In our evening service we offered to pray for the sick. Three people testified of God healing them. One man came forward to testify. I had not even prayed for him personally or laid a hand on him but as people were being prayed for he asked God to heal him of the pain in his body and was set free. 
That night I had spoken about the peace of God, how it included healing and used psalm 133 to show how God's peace operates when we are together in unity. He simply believed that God was there to heal and he was healed. 
Today (Monday) I am travelling to Mombasa and a place called freretown where I will be for the rest of the mission. 
Keep praying. God is doing good things... Steve Johnson 

Final day of leaders conference.

Saturday was the last day of the seminars in Mariakani. There has been a good response people seem to be growing in confidence.
My health is certainly better. I've been bitten quite a few times despite having a mosquito net over the bed but my voice is getting better.
It was good to recap what was taught, have a Q & A and share some things that are an 'accelerator' to the discipleship process. All in all it was a good day.
We finished earlier today to allow pastors and attendees to travel back to their church and homes in the region, country and beyond. (Some are travelling all the way back to Burundi 🇧🇮)
Sunday is church day so it is more a case of a main service and what they call a revival service later on. We will have a chance to pray for people's needs and pray especially for the sick.
My friend Kyomukama is still in Uganda 🇺🇬. Pray that he will be able to to make it for the rest of the mission.
We will move to Freretown, Mombasa on Monday morning.

Dark night, bright day.

It was an awful night. I settled in early enough and thought I would get up early and prepare the days teaching as I wasn't being picked up until 11am. Then the coughing started. It was if something was stuck in my throat needed clearing but nothing was there and I ended up having numerous coughing fits. It drove me to distraction. I don't know what time I actually fell asleep but when I woke up it was 10.45 in the morning. I had no breakfast or time to shave or shower (bad deal in 35° heat and humid nights) and hurried out with a basic outline of notes and no prayer time. Seriously horrible.
In light of all that it was amazing how well the day turned out. My voice was not great but I kept the coughing under control. I took the first minute of my first session to invite God into it and it went so well. I chose a few things to share including how to see failure differently. This had a big effect on a number of pastors and others. There seemed to be a fear of failure that held people back from trying things and therefore learning. The second big impact was with my translator who is a pastor of a church around 20 miles away. I had shared some basic points about discipleship that I'd only begun to learn in the last year or two. It turns out that this man has a big heart for raising up evangelists but was so frustrated at the lack of results over a number of years. We had the chance to talk at length later and eat together which I felt was not enough time and it turns out that it is this same guy whose church I will be speaking at next week for a few nights. I thank God for ordering my steps.
We finished the day with a short evening meeting and, with no notes at all, I found the text that I sensed God wanted to share. Again it went particularly well.
I'm told that many of the pastors have not heard this kind of teaching before and they are encouraged because its understandable, practical and something that they can implement.
So by the grace of God it was a very good and productive day. My voice is even a little better. I'm just praying for a better night.
Tomorrow is the final day of this section before our Sunday services and then move to Mombasa town on Monday.

First days in Kenya 🇰🇪

Shalom.
Well I am still struggling a bit with my voice but otherwise I am well. We are starting with revival services in the evenings and leaders seminars during the days. I am now preaching 3 times a day (and trying not to stretch my voice. The messages are very well received so far and I am asking questions and getting audience participation in illustration so people are engaging more. It is going well. There are pastors who have travelled all the way from Burundi 🇧🇮 to be here. Each evening we will pray for something in particular so pray that people really experience God in those times.... Shalom... Steve

Mombasa 2018

Mombasa mission 2018

I am in Mombasa, Kenya, speaking at a leaders conference and an open air gospel crusade. Below are some notes and prayer points.​

Timeline: Flying out 3rd April / Arrival 4th April

Leaders conference starts 5th April

Estimated start of open air gospel mission 12th April / Finish 16th April

​

Leaders conference

Themes: Global evangelism / Kingdom expansion / Church planting

​

• ​Pray for leaders that they receive renewed vision, fresh anointing & clear divine leading

• Pray also for potential future leaders to be raised up

• Pray for me that God would give me wisdom, anointing and the right words to share.

• Pray for an imparting of spiritual gifts.

​

Gospel crusades

Large scale city centre crusades in Mariakani, near Mombasa

​

• Pray for supernatural dominion and favour and for the peace of God in the area.

• Pray for anointing upon all participants, including the worship team and myself when speaking

• Pray for all those helping to minister to respondents. Pray for discernment & anointing to heal.

• Pray for the many Muslim people in the area.

• Pray for God's miraculous power to bring life transformation, salvation & deliverance.

• Pray that we would see many lasting & genuine conversions

​

In general

​

• Pray for travelling mercies especially on Kenya's notoriously dangerous roads

• Pray good communication and understanding. Pray for the translators I will work with

• Pray for spiritual power and a sense of God's presence and favour and leading

• Pray supernatural protection over myself, the teams and all the events

The latter glory will exceed the former.

This was our final day of mission in and around Nairobi.

I prayed before that we would end on a high and that what we would see on our final day would eclipse what happened before. That prayer was answered.

We planned for a long trip back through the traffic to the old school of one of the young men I am working with. After spending some time on the streets of that area talking to people we arranged to have an audience with some of the children after their regular lessons were over. We had a one hour session with them that went superbly well. Around 70 students attended of between the ages of 11 and 15 and they really engaged with us {The guys I am now with specialise in this and are very good}.

We used the subject of peer pressure and there was some good interaction and we also used this to share the gospel. I shared by background and conversion experience with them and at the end one of the team gave an invitation for people to commit their lives to Christ. We saw six people make a decision including a very emotional Muslim who was deeply touched by the message of Jesus.

This school has been through a very hard time recently having been ejected from their old building and quickly finding new accommodation. Today they were encouraged that people were interested in them and were prepared to do something with them and the students. We even had the chance to pray for and with the principal of the school before we left.

I am staying at a missionary house somewhere between Ruaka and Banana Hill. Everyone in the house gathers together for prayer in the evening after a fellowship meal and shares any prayer needs. One of the residents has been suffering from back pain for the last four months after giving birth. We had the chance to pray for her and she was completely healed of all pain. Even after the mission is completed God is still moving in people's lives.

This mission has been packed with revival services, 6 crusades in three locations, a conference and outreaches to three different areas. It has been eventful. New contacts have been made and We have seen a total of 16 people commit their lives to Christ and another 13 testimonies of miraculous healing along with many people hearing the gospel and being open to follow up conversations and giving their details.

We thank God for all he has done and every life that has been changed. I am also very appreciative of Kyomukama Deus  who has been a revelation with his love of the scriptures and his faithfulness in preaching and teaching. The PAIS movement people I worked with this week have been superb. It has been excellent. We have ended on a high so it has been as God told me in answer to my prayer, "The latter glory will exceed the former"

Amen.....Steve Johnson

Ruaka and the saving power of Christ.

Today has been challenging, a learning curve and eventually glorious.
We had a brief planning meeting and time of prayer and worship before heading to the nearby town of Ruaka. This is an up and coming area with lots of businesses and a large shopping mall. Many of the people are preoccupies with their business but we met numerous people who were prepared to listen.
Ruaka is also marked by varying religious ideas. There is a large Roman Catholic church there and there are many who buy into various ideas such as Rastafarianism. This leads to some interesting conversations.
Although we did not see anything miraculous during the most part of the day we did find sharing testimonies effective. People seem to need to see you are real and you are not just there to preach religion to them. They want to know if you understand them. We are developing our mission approach as we go along. We are learning and we saw the fruit of that near the end of our outreach.
One of the things we do is to keep our eyes open for needs that can be immediately met such as the person whose wares had fallen from their tipped barrow. We helped them with this and, as a result, they are more open and happy to talk and listen. Today we saw a man struggling up a hill with a large barrow carrying lengths of metal. He was finding it hard to steer with all the potholes in the mud track so we helped him take it back to the yard where he worked and we got talking.
One of the two men we spoke to was already born again and his workmate 'Kennedy' was listening intently as I shared my own life story with him.
Another thing we have learned to do is to encourage them to share their thoughts and any questions. This helps us to know where they are at with the whole subject of God and faith. It also helps them to know that we actually care about them and respect them. This has led to some good conversations about difficult subjects today.
Kennedy really thought hard about what we shared with him and had some questions of his own. At the end he said he wanted to give his life to Christ so I had the chance to pray with him. It was an awesome end to a day which, in terms of salvation or healing, looked empty {although we trust God that many good seeds were sown}. We collect contact details from people who are happy to be contacted and so there have been numerous good bridges built over the last two days. I think these outreaches over the last two days have been every bit as good as the crusades of last week.

Today Deus travels back to Uganda. This was his last outreach of the mission. Tomorrow I will be working with the two young people from PAIS Kenya who we have been working with so far. They are very good. One of them will be traveling to the U.K soon for an internship. Who knows, maybe I will meet up with him in the future.

Tomorrow we will go to Huruma which is a slum area. We are going door to door and also looking for any other opportunities for mission there. This will be the last day of mission. We are looking forward to a great final day.

God bless you...Steve

Face to Face in Kiambu County

We has a much needed rest on Monday which was very much appreciated after doing so much over the course of the previous week {and having out itinerary changed to include a busy Saturday and Sunday}. Today we have been able to approach things having been refreshed and refocused.

We are doing things rather differently this week. This morning we met for breakfast, devotions and prayers along with a planning meeting for the day. We decided to reach out to a nearby town called 'Banana' {Yes, you did read that right}. We have used a three fold strategy.

Along with prayer walking the area and interceding for the people we have been approaching anyone who might listen and introducing ourselves. If they are open to talk then we share the gospel with them. We must have spoken to around 30 people today. There is a young man called Samuel who has given his life to Christ today. Please pray that he would stay true to his commitment. We routinely offer prayer to people we meet as this is a positive way in which people can encounter the power of God and also shows our heart toward people as a positive witness.

This day of street witness and door to door has been marked by many shared testimonies and use of the word of God to share the gospel. We trust God for much fruit to come of the seed we have sown today.

We are working with a young man called Collins who is part of the PAIS movement now operating in Kenya. They specialise in reaching children and young people and he has brought some really useful skills in helping us to have a good outreach. He is off to The United States in a few weeks for a one year internship. We pray that God enlarge his capacity to minister during that time. He has a real heart to reach people and  spiritual maturity for a young man which is very god to see and also a testament to PAIS philosophy of reaching and developing young people.

During our prayer walk we had a look inside a local church that turned out to be only one week old. We had a chance to pray for the church and the new minister of this church plant and they have offered us an opportunity for a lunchtime open air preaching platform in front of the church which is facing the main road. We are praying about this.

There are two other nearby towns we are considering reaching out to in the next two days. Pray that God would guide our steps.  

Crusades in Obama district.

For the last two days we have had services in the Christ Believers church in the Obama district of Nairobi. We had a really good service there on Sunday morning and the people were very receptive to the word. We learned the difference between the mindset of a son and that of an orphan with the emphasis being that we are sons and daughters of God and the view we have of our heavenly Father will shape our mindset.
We had a really beneficial bible study in the church before the main service. The church was full with around 100 people there. I wasn't expecting the bible study until about 30 seconds before the pastor invited me up to speak but I was led to a passage in Matthews gospel when I was waiting at the hotel which was the parable of the sower and I felt it was important to train people how to prepare their hearts in readiness to receive the word of God being taught and preached so that it would bear fruit in their lives.
Many of the people in this church are reading their bibles as you give out the texts {They are encouraged to do this} and numerous people are taking notes which is very positive. It means they are taking what they hear seriously.
Deus ministered at the crusade yesterday and there were three people who responded to the call of salvation and a number of healings. On Sunday, I had the chance to preach at the crusade and we saw another person come forward to give their life to Christ as well as four people who after being prayed for were set free of all pain.
Today we are in Kiambu county just north of Nairobi. This is our opportunity to rest after a very busy week. It will also give us the chance to plan for the mission work in front of us in the next few days. We are also staying in a decent house which is such a blessing.
I think so far at least six people have given their lives to Christ and at least 10 have received healing. We are working with a really good well trained missions movement this week so we are hoping for a really good second week. The work will focus on young people in the area.
This should be a very fruitful week.

God bless you...Steve

Great end to our meetings in Kariobangi

We have just finished our final meeting in the gospel fire church. it was a really good evening which went up a gear as it came to the end. after the preaching i invited deus to share anything god may have put on his heart. although he said he didnt have anything, as he stepped up to the pulpit asking god to speak to him it all began to flow. we shared prophetic words for people and prayed for pretty much everyone there. became a time of empowering and anointing. the presence of god was very much there.
today and tomoorow morning i will be in christ belivers church for two days of crusades.
please exccuse the poor typing. these keyboards are terrible. the keys keep sticking.
mungu akubariki sana {god bless you very much}

Update

Due to having to jump through numerous online security hoops i have only been able to log on today. I will give you a full mission update tomorrow.

Arrived safe and sound

I have arrived safe and sound.

Today is my rest day as I got about an hours sleep on Thursday evening and flew out of Heathrow very early on Friday morning {I was at the airport for 3am}.

I already have my three messages all but ready for the three day revival at Christ Believers church. It is going to be a good three days. Getting my visa at the airport was incredibly easy and quick. I sensed God wanted me to make him welcome and invite him into the situation and everything went so unusually well. Praise God.

I will complete my messages tonight. It is going to be a good three days. Pray also for Deus as he is arriving on the overnight coach from Uganda. He should be here in time for the service at Gospel Fire church. Pray for his travels and his ministry.

Mungu akubariki {God bless you}

Update: I have hit my financial target with less than 24 hours to go. Praise God.

Last night was a very fruitful and blessed evening in prayer and intercession for the mission and for the prayer partners. I am praying for a prophetic prayer for every one that they would be supernaturally equipped for the task ahead. I am looking forward to teaming up with Deus after meeting and working with him in Uganda two years ago.
The opening Sunday will see Deus preach at the Sunday service {and presumably pre service bible study} at the Gospel Fire church with Simon Arunga. I will be at Christ Believers Church with Dan Owiti as the first in three days at the church. I'm not sure whether Deus will join me on Sunday or the next day.
May God empower your prayers as we seek to advance the kingdom of God.

Mungu akubariki {God bless you}

Almost there: Prayer day one.

Today {Wednesday} is the first day of intercession for everyone who has signed up to support the mission daily in prayer.

Between today and Friday please pray especially for two things. Firstly for travelling mercies and safety for myself and Deus. Secondly that Deus would have every financial need met before he leaves his home in Uganda to travel to Nairobi.

God has been good. He is our provider. I now have almost all my costs covered. God answered specific prayers in specific ways and he led me very accurately to the right places {without my even knowing at the time}

I fly out at 6am Friday morning from Heathrow airport. I will be travelling to London on Thursday afternoon so I will get some decent rest before I fly out.

I have already started to pray through the list of intercessors for this mission {which is now over 70 names long! Hallelujah}. I am believing God to use you in specific and strategic ways as you contend for the kingdom of God to advance. As the scripture says "The fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much". Let's believe a great God for great things.

May God bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Steve Johnson

Can Any Good Thing Come Out of Nazareth?

With Just six days now until I fly out to Nairobi I wanted to share a few thoughts about our upcoming conference.

The theme of our three day Nairobi conference is 'Can Any Good Thing Come Out of Nazareth?' and is taken from John's gospel chapter one and verse 46.

Nathaniel was a man of sincerity. He was also a man who knew the town of Nazareth didn't have a great reputation. Where he was told the Messiah had been found in such a place, Nathaniel was skeptical. Here a just a few points as a taster for the conference.

Come and See
Philip's answer was so simple. It was come and see. It wasn't to wrestle in a theological debate with Nathaniel {Although there is clearly a time and place for theological discussion}. Neither did Philip play the race card and give Nathaniel a lecture about prejudice. Philip's answer was straight to the point, simple and effective. It was 'Come and see'

2000 years later with regard to Jesus we invite people to 'Come and see'. In England, in one major denomination it has been said by one of it's leaders "There is a crisis of confidence in our churches in the gospel". In England many think they have to intellectually persuade people. Many Christians feel they are on the back foot, even embarrassed for fear modern man will hold him to account for such seemingly uneducated and unscientific, primative beliefs. To those, we say 'come and see'.
I don't believe there is any insecurity in the heart of God for a moment with regard to whether people believe in him of not. I do believe that there is great sadness that many are far from him {and some of them even in the churches} and a desire to draw close to them. God tends not to respond to our arrogant intellectual grandstanding or demands. Instead he looks at the heart. He is looking for those who would genuinely seek after him. Nathaniel was such a man. Our job is to trust that God would lead us to such people and give us the courage to introduce them to the Jesus. Where there are questions {and there are inevitably will be} thr best answer is to 'come and see'. Jesus is the best defender of himself.

Jesus knows you
God may appear to come as a distant and uncaring deity but He knows every one of us and he cares so much he came to this earth as a man to die for every wrong we have done. We totally underestimate the seriousness of sin. We call them foibles, indiscretions or something else. God calls it sin. It grieves him and it is the cause of man's separation from God. God's answer to this problem was to come to earth and take the penalty upon himself. That's why Jesus died 2000 years ago. It was so all our sins could be forgiven and we could enter into a relationship with God once again. Jesus makes a holy God accessible.

In short God is not distant. We are. God cares far, far more than we think but do we care enough to reach out to him?

Spiritual gifts. Inside or outside the church?
When Nathaniel encountered Jesus, the first thing he heard was what we call 'a word of knowledge'. That is a knowledge of something we could not naturally know. Jesus began to operate in the gifts of the Spirit. Spiritual gifts are so important to the church and it's mission to make Jesus known. They are so important that Jesus told his disciples it is 'expedient for you that I go for if I do not go I cannot send the Spirit to you'.
It begs the question, how can Jesus going from then be advantagious to them? The answer is simple. Everything that Jesus did was under the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Every Miracle, every healing, every word of knowledge and wisdom. All by the Holy Spirit working through him. The great news for us is that Jesus promised to send the same Spirit to us so that we would continue the work {or rather that the Holy Spirit would continue the work through us}.

So often when Christian experience the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit their experience is mainly kept within the confined of the church or to a prayer language during private devotions. I want to say to you that the Holy Spirit wants to break out. He is desperate to break out. He was send by Jesus to speak to the world. He works in us and through us. Let's change that old mindset. The things we call spiritual gifts can indeed be used in the congregation but in the life of Jesus they were almost always used in public. He sends us into the world so that the Spirit, through us may touch the world. Nathaniel's skepticism was turned around when he encountered the power and working of the Holy Spirit.

There is so much more to share here. This is just the start. There is so much of prophetic significance. Suffice to say that the encounter between Nathaniel and Jesus was one he {and the gospel writer, John} never forgot. Let's believe God and step out for life changing encounters.

shalom...Steve Johnson