“Okay, I'll be there in about five minutes. Just…stay undercover,” he said in his British accent. Knight had just called our ministry contact (we'll call him ‘John') to let him know we'd arrived on the campus and would be waiting for him at the front gate of the university. Undercover? Rozanne, Knight, and I (Cher) realized at that moment things must be done with much more caution in this new city.
We hadn't been waiting long when a white man exited a building near us, gave me a nod and flashed a discreet wave as he began to walk down a side street. “Rozanne, Knight!” I whispered. “Quick! There he goes. He just motioned for me to follow.” The three of us stole along at a 50-yard distance as the mysterious man led the way. He lingered at a corner before turning down another path just to make sure we wouldn't lose his trail. And again, he hung back at a door before entering a building. I thought he was a little too obvious for one trying to stay ‘under cover'.
I followed him through the doorway with Rozanne and Knight in tow. We entered a small lobby where he was leaning on a counter waiting for at us. This was our first meeting.
He squinted at me and asked, “Uh…you aren't Heather, are you?” “Umm, no. I'm not,” I replied. Was this some kind of test? It was at that moment that Knight put the pieces together. “And… you are not John are you?” We had followed the wrong man. At that, the three of us returned to our post, waiting for John at the gate, laughing and slightly bewildered. John pedaled up to the gate and gave us a warm, “Hello!” We followed him with no stealth whatsoever, completely conspicuous to all who may have been watching. We told him of our embarrassing adventures as we were trying to do what John asked and “stay under cover”. John laughed out loud and said, “Oh! I only meant to stay out of the rain!” John turned out be one of many strategic contacts God gave us this past week as all of CT left on a scouting & spiritual warfare trip to the city we are expanding to next year. Not only did God provide open doors and divine connections, but He also through prayer gave significant insight into his direction for next year and breakthrough over spiritual strongholds in the city. The universal report is, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
While Cher was scouting out this new city God has called us to, I (Sonny) was back in the USA for a week training the 35 new workers He has entrusted to us. God came through in every way for us at the training: spiritual, relational, and practical. Spontaneous times of surrender and weeping erupted during worship. A supernatural openness and trust were forged among the team in those 4 short days. And 35 support letters were written, formatted, proofed and printed. It was incredible! During one session, I stood in the back and surveyed the troop of 35 world-changers that filled the room. I thought of John Wesley's words, “Give me 100 men who love God and nothing else and fear sin and nothing else, and I will change the world.” God has now given us 58 total (with returning workers). I am excited for what the next year holds.