Wow! Just Wow!

MacGyver’s hand and footprints.  How did he do that?

29 September 2016

I am so humbled to think that God has used me and my team from Asheville to take back territory from the defeated enemy—and we did!  Yesterday we prayed at the Borsa (Italy’s stock market).  We were the first prayer team I know of to pray there.  And today the market dropped 33.3 points.  Three is the number of God, so three three’s is God times God (or God cubed).  That was unrighteousness taking a loss.  May they discover true value in righteous endeavors.

After that we prayed at the Ossuary of San Bernardo.  The ossuary is a chapel adjacent to the Santo Stefano Church.  Santo Stefano is the Italian name for Stephen, the first Christian martyr (see Acts, chapters 6 & 7).  Unlike other ossuaries that are decorated artistically with the bones of priests and monks and other holy men, this ossuary used the bones from a local hospital—so the bones of many people who died before their time of various diseases.  Some of those people were no doubt unrepentant toward God.  No wonder it is known as The Gates of Hell.  Three of my friends prayed there a few months earlier, and afterward each of them became sick with the flu.  This indicates that the ossuary is indeed inhabited by demons of disease and probably also death.  As we entered, the atmosphere in that place decorated in dusty bones was heavy and very oppressive.  But there was a discernible shift as we finished our prayers.  Then as we were leaving a man in an adjacent chapel began to sing a beautiful song to God.  We took this as confirmation, like a pat on the back from God, saying, “Well done!”

Then we went to pray at a place that I hadn’t even known existed: Italy’s version of the Walk of Fame.  Many stars from Italy and Hollywood have left their hand and foot prints in cement there.  So we prayed for an increase in the trend toward making more Christian films, and for Christian films to become more mainstream.

Finally we met my friend, Michele, and prayed in his neighborhood.  Before heading out to the Borsa to pray, Michele had come to my house, and told the team about his ministry and concluded with a summary of the important people and places in his neighborhood—a remarkable concentration of homes and offices of powerful and influential people as well as the seat of government for the region of Lombardy.  Right there, every day, important decisions impacting all sectors of Italian life are made: banking and finance, sport, schools, entertainment, and government both local and national.  So we did a prayer walk all around Michele’s neighborhood.  God-incidentally[1], Michele’s neighborhood was the location of my first residence for my first three months in Italy (again, the number of God!).

Afterward, we had aperitivi (a light meal consisting of appetizers) at Michele and Shelly’s house.  There the team got to meet Shelly, Michele’s wife, an American.  Shelly is a model and freelance fashion designer.  We enjoyed a lovely time of debriefing, encouragement, and getting better acquainted with one another, followed by a time of prayer.

Shelly told us about her work in the fashion industry, and invited us to come along on a prayer walk with her in the fashion district.

Yes, I am extremely privileged and humbled that God chose me and this team from my church in Asheville to come alongside Him in the work He’s doing to change and bless Italy.  Wow!  Just wow!  God is good!

[1] Because there are no coincidences with God—they are God-incidents.