Beloved Intercessors,
Loving greetings from Engeltal with Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Even though this week has brought a record-breaking winter storm to the Midwest, in Arkansas, spring is in the air. The winds from winter storm Ulmer came here as well and we feel that they are prophetic of the winds of change.
Jesus, in talking with Nicodemus in John 3:8 said, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (AMP). God is definitely calling us to live in His Spirit at this time, even though we may not know where the Holy Spirit Wind is going to blow us! In several translations, Psalm 18:10 tells about God “soaring on the wings of the wind.” As the winds of change blow, we are looking to our Father for His guidance.
Earlier this month, I was texting with Etienne Blom, one of the Lord’s seers from South Africa who will be a speaker at the World Convention. He shared with me that “March is a highly important month. A great shift had started the first of March and it will be endless. It is a shift of blessing. It is the start of the release of the greater prophetic words and promises of Father in His faithful sons’ lives! It is important that you all position yourself for blessings. It is the positioning of pure hearts and clean hands. On the 15th of March the release starts in all aspects of life.” I spoke with him on the phone on the 6th, and he gave more clarity: “The month of March is very critical and strategic for the body of Christ. The first 14 days we are to be re-positioning ourselves — looking for any areas where we are out of alignment, and get into alignment. Set us on fire! And then on the 15th will begin a release of God’s purpose and provision.”
Pray like this: “Lord, show me to myself through Your eyes. What is my role? Help me to see myself as a king and a priest.”
Prayer and Fasting: Even before we left India, I felt that I was supposed to spend three days in prayer and fasting upon our return, so I saw that it was a part of this strategic alignment and repositioning that the Lord spoke through Etienne. As I waited on the Lord, I could see Him aligning Engeltal to His purposes.
A few years ago, Linda Gladman had a dream in which she saw Jesus walking along a sidewalk. Every now and then, He would give something a kick, saying, “You won’t be needing that anymore!” Then up ahead she saw that the sidewalk turned a different direction.
In November, I was discussing with Marylois about what to do concerning our bookstore as a result of Bill Devlin retiring. I said to her, “Are we going to have to shut the bookstore down?” She said, “Don’t worry, Sharon, I’m coming home soon. I’ll step up to cover it and trust God to raise someone up to take over before we return to Israel.” No one has stepped up and we leave for Israel with the Littles and Karen on March 20. While waiting on the Lord on the third day of fasting, I felt to write down the ideas that came to me about the bookstore. I’ll share some of them with you:
- Shut down Amazon ordering.
- Stop the webstore except for the downloadable PDF versions of our books.
- Do not print any more book ads.
- Handwrite or type orders that come in from previous ads or calls from people who know our books.
We are reminded of the precedent that the Lord gave to Sister Gwen after the fire in 1990 that destroyed our office building which housed our bookstore, print shop, warehouse, International School of Ministry, etc. He said, “FULL STOP!” So we stopped—everything! Most of the staff was dismissed and we waited on God. Little by little, God began to give orders to start each phase, we obeyed, and the ministry regrew better than before.
So until God gives us directions to reopen the bookstore, it will remain officially closed, and we trust Him to make up the income we would normally receive from orders in another way. If you go to our webstore, you will get the following message: “We are in transition in our bookstore due to the retirement of some of our staff. We feel that the Lord is leading us to close the webstore for an unspecified period of time. You may order and download the PDF versions of our Engeltal Press books. Thank you for your prayers as we go through the Lord’s restructuring time.”
If you know of a book that we might have in stock, give us a call and have your credit/debit card ready, and we will do our best to fulfil your request. If we run out of a title, though, we are not planning to restock it until the Lord gives orders to reopen.
All of this (and MUCH more) happened in the first fourteen days of March. We spent time aligning ourselves as the Holy Spirit led, and many things came up that were ripe for change. So as the seasons change from winter to spring, the Valley of
Angels is also changing by the wind of the Holy Spirit! We know that it is part of the process of preparation for the next things on His agenda! And I encourage you to do whatever the Lord shows you to position yourself and posture yourself in alignment with God’s purposes for your life so you will be in line for His blessings!
Israel Prayer Assignment: Our Israel prayer warriors will band together starting the 25th on assignment to pray specifically over some of the major cities, coastal ways, and borders of Israel. It is a very strategic assignment, and we have a powerful team that is being sent by the Lord to accomplish the bidding of His Holy Spirit. Please cover us in prayer all that week for concise, strategic prayers, strength, health, clear guidance, and decisive victories on all fronts.
Anointed Prayer Gathering in Colorado: Our ETH Stephanie Schureman of Dwelling Place Ministry (who ministers to our children at the World Convention) is hosting FRESH OIL Anointed Prayer Gathering in Wheat Ridge, Colorado (a western suburb of Denver), April 16-19, 2019. Philip and I will be ministering there along with Rona Spiropoulos, Clay Nash, Joseph Farah, and others. Here’s what the website says about it: “You are invited to join us as we set aside the week just before Passover and Resurrection Sunday, for powerful, practical, relevant teaching and participation in intentional prayer. This will not be a typical conference but rather a gathering intent on hearing God’s strategy for prayer and joining our arms together with strength and encouragement for intercessors.” We hope that you will be able to join us there for days of strategic prayer, or at least be praying with us wherever you are for Denver, for Colorado, the region, US, Israel, and the nations.
Pray for the Philippines: From Colorado we will fly to the Philippines to meet Bob Baldwin, and Christy and John Bacon who will have already been ministering in Mindanao with ETH&S Zeny and Francisco Pacleb. We plan to go to Baguio to be with ETH&S Celia and Donald Soriano, and then be in a Leadership Conference in the Manila area. Please be praying for all the organizers to receive clear, strategic guidance from the Lord and that we will see Him move in a powerful way to change lives and bring in the Harvest!
Thank You! We are always so very grateful for your love, prayers, and gifts. We bless your health, strength, joy, peace, family, and all that concerns you!
Your handmaiden and servant,
Sharon and Philip