I was having lunch with a friend, discussing trivial things like PURPOSE. When my friend looked at me and asked ‘so, what is your purpose’, I broke down in tears because I was suddenly reminded to what God had been saying all along. I knew exactly what that purpose was!
Several years ago, shortly after my second mission to the Philippines, my pastor had organised a travelling ministry to set up a tent at the local reserve to hold revival meetings for a week. A team from Bethel Church in the USA came to minister that week and the churches of Rotorua combined to host a bunch of services in the tent.
On the final night, I went up for prayer and one of the Bethel team, who I had never met, and who didn’t know anything about me, approached me to pray. After praying for me he told me what God was showing him.
‘I don’t know if you have a family of your own, but I see you setting up organisations around the world to take care of children who don’t have mothers and fathers’.
Little did he know that I had already been taking ministry teams in to some of the most impoverished areas within the sex capital of the Philippines, where children left fatherless from sex tourism are rife!
I have just kept this prophetic word in my heart praying that God would confirm this.
Two years later, on my 45th birthday, I find myself crying in a restaurant and confessing this purpose to a good friend over lunch.
I had arranged to meet with the Pastor of the church I attend one Monday for a coffee to float the idea of longer term Philippines based ministry past him and to seek his wisdom. A few days before that meeting I sent him the following message: ‘Hi Matai, I have a massive favor to ask; If you and your wife get time, would you please both spend literally a couple of minutes lifting me up in prayer and a couple of minutes waiting to see if God speaks to you before we meet? Random I know, but I’ll tell you why when I see ya.’
I received a message less that one minute later, ‘Done’.
Matai didn’t wait until Monday to tell me what he had heard. During the Sunday worship service the spirit of God was flowing and Matai was in the moment. Over the Mic he announced in front of the church, ‘So Steve, this is what I think I heard the Lord saying. I don’t know, but I feel God say that you’ve been struggling with a big decision that you know in your heart that it’s God calling you and he’s saying ‘Go’. Step out or you’ll miss it and regret it. As the tears began to flow yet again I doubted no more!
There was a second part to that prophecy, and I wish I had noted it down, but I didn’t. But it had something to do with not worrying about the ‘how’, those things I just know, things that come naturally to me. The main thing was the word GO!
Have you ever looked back on your life and seen how every single thing matters, everything is a platform for the next thing. If my pastors words ‘don’t worry about the how’ mean anything, it is that I already know the how, I am already equipped with the tools and the knowledge to make things work.
So, here we find ourselves on the very first step of what I imagine will be a bumpy road, but a journey I am more than happy to walk. My prayer is that the readers of this will journey with us, partner with us and do what they can to give a little to matter a lot!
Phase 1
- Find the need – Talk to community members, find children who meet the ‘criteria’, learn their story
- Tell their story, create ‘campaigns’ for each child
- Collect and administer support from ‘Golden Hearted’ people to provide for schooling, clothing, food and shelter
- Tell the story of the difference made for each child
Phase 2
- Find a facility ‘a place to care’ for children who live on the street
- Receive volunteers (helpers, nurses, teachers, carers)
- Organised mission trips
- Partner with local churches to establish mentoring programme providing pseudo parent