Yesterday I went to Pastor Ivan’s church in the kindergarten. Some of the newer team members were surprised and a bit dismayed to hear that I was going to a different church than the team. But the head of OCE (Operation Capitals of Europe – oceprayer.com) was not dismayed. I have joined the team often enough that he knows I don’t go off on my own without a very good reason. I had already told him about the visit Wednesday to Pastor Ivan’s church and praying for the pastor, so I think he wasn’t surprised to hear that I wanted to return to encourage the pastor some more.
It encouraged Pastor Ivan very much to see me there, and he asked me to speak briefly to the church about my ministry. One surprise was the musical talent in that little church. I don’t often hear music that good in much bigger churches. I suggested to Zuzana that they should cut a CD. Books and CD’s make good fundraisers, and I believe that this little church is going to grow. They will need to be ready for growth.
Zuzana told me that my visit encouraged the whole church. Afterwards we caught up with the rest of the team for lunch and then we went to the castle. At the castle we broke up into prayer teams for various concerns: business, families & children, art & culture, Israel, and an intercessory team that remained in the castle and prayed for all the prayer teams.
I chose Israel, so we took a walk to the site of the biggest synagogue in Bratislava. It had been right beside the largest cathedral—St. Marten’s also known as the Dome of St. Marten. There was only one other synagogue right beside a cathedral in all of Europe, the one by Notre Dame. The Communists tore down the synagogue to build a bridge, but also to send a message about religion.
It was a very good time of prayer, and the anointing was so strong that at one point a blind man’s guide dog led him right into the middle of our prayer circle. At another point a man with a German Shepherd walked past us. The dog barked and barked, but interestingly, he was muzzled in a wire muzzle. Since one of the Slovaks was praying at the time, I didn’t want to interrupt to point this out, but I think it is significant—prophetically showing that the Nazi spirit would never again threaten the Slovakian Jews.
One woman prophesied over me, saying that I have been called to be a blessing to the Slovakian believers, and to the unbelievers as well. I confirmed that my calling is to support the Body of Christ here in Slovakia and throughout Europe, and through them to reach the lost. So it was very cool to be confirmed by this prophetic word. And I have a Slovakian word for how it made me feel: FEE-ha! I don’t know how it’s spelled, but that’s it phonetically. It means WOW! It’s my new favorite foreign word.
Afterward we joined the team of intercessors that had prayed for all the teams. They went to Slavin, the World War II monument and cemetery, atop the other hill in Bratislava. There we found 5 young skaters (for those over 30, that’s skateboarders). One woman (not one of our group) had just finished hollering at the skaters, telling them that it was disrespectful to be skating in a cemetery. Instead of leaving, they simply sat and waited for her to leave, and that is how we found them.
Upon arriving there, I felt an almost overwhelming desire to dance. Someone pointed out the woman and said that dancing in a cemetery would probably offend her, too. But, since others also felt moved to dance, we decided that the thing to do was to dance in a quiet and subdued way. As we worshiped and prayed, we danced mostly with our hands and swaying, but the desire to dance became stronger and stronger for all of us, until it broke out in a joyous dance. I think it is perfectly acceptable to dance in a Nazi cemetery. Dance is a sign of victory, and the Kingdom of God is indeed victorious over the Nazi spirit. Hallelujah!
When we finished, we turned our attention to the skaters, who had remained just a few feet from our group. They had seen and heard all of our worship and prayers. One man, who I call Dancing Joe, approached them and began to tell them about Jesus. One woman told me that he has such a funny, friendly style that it completely disarms people, and they love to listen to Dancing Joe. The skaters laughed together with him, and although they just shrugged when he asked if he could pray for them, DJ took their shrugs to mean OK, so he prayed for them. And we left with them all smiling and waving goodbye to us. The crabby woman had left, so they began to skate again.
One member of the team had brought a shofar with him, and he was stopped by an American Jew, who asked what our group was doing. So he told the man about finding his Messiah, Yeshua (he’s a Messianic Jew).
It was a lovely day! I feel such hope for Slovakia. God is good!
Walking By Faith in Europe 