My arrival in Southern California was met by many manifestations of G.o.d"s supernatural acts. G.o.d in His mercy had faithfully accompanied, led, and met me on the other side as He had promised. Without knowing a soul when I arrived, and with no credit history, income, or even a social security number, I was blessed with G.o.d"s favor to secure a very beautiful two-bedroom apartment with sparkling swimming pools for our use, located in a secure, gated community in Costa Mesa, California. This would be our very ftrst home in the area. My family joined me there a few days later. We had given up all our old keys in England for our house, car, and so on, and G.o.d had given us brand new keys. The G.o.d of the impossible again showed up as He had promised.""Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with G.o.d all things are possible."" (Matthew 19:26 NIV)
"Behold, I am the LORD, the G.o.d of all ßesh. Is anything too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27 ESV)
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"Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son." (Genesis 18:14 NIV)
One of the many miracles was when I met a young stockbroker originally from Liberia by the name of George. It was during a visit to a church that happened to be within walking distance from our new apartment. California is the third largest state in America by area, and the largest by population. With a population of over thirty-eight million people and no underground or rail system, a car is almost a necessity. At some point during the church service, we were all asked to turn around and greet the people around us. After saying my h.e.l.los to the people on either side of me, I turned to greet the people on the row behind me, including a young man sitting right behind my chair.
G.o.d had arranged everything in His usual, amazingly precise style. That young man could have been seated anywhere in the ftve hundred or so congregation meeting s.p.a.ce. We chatted briefly, and he introduced himself as George. I was to later ftnd out that he had never attended that church before and was just visiting that day on an invitation from his neighbor. He asked me what I was doing in California, and I tried to explain "walking by faith" to him. Whatever he understood me to have said, G.o.d moved upon his heart, and he decided to fully furnish our new place with some top-of-the-line furniture. I immediately recalled sowing all our beautiful furniture in England along with my left-over wedding gifts and was just in awe of G.o.d"s principle of sowing and reaping. He had again fulftlled His promise to us, restoring so rapidly and abundantly much more than we had sown.
"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29 NIV)
George also very kindly volunteered to pick my husband and our children up from the airport when they arrived from Minnesota. Afterward, he gave us all a tour of the area, sharing many valuable pieces of information with us.
The miracles continued as many Christians in the area begin to hear of our supernatural move to California. The miracles of G.o.d"s provision, manifestations of His great power, and call upon our lives seemed endless. One of the ftrst persons to hear of us was a Nigerian pastor by the name of Tony. He introduced us to a Christian couple living in Garden Grove, California. This couple, upon hearing of our amazing G.o.d encounters, immediately arranged for us to meet their senior pastors, Doctors Ric and Renee Durfteld. The name of their church was Christ Temple Church in Pomona, California, later renamed Eagle Heights Community Church after moving their congregation to Chino, California. Dr. Durfteld, PhD, CFL was, until his retirement, a professor of theology, at Azusa Paciftc University, Azusa, California. They are the founders of two successful and highly recognized ministries. Authoring several books, they have contributed to such publications as Focus on the Family (1990, April) and Charisma (1992, March). Meeting them was a great honor from the Lord.
Again, this was solely orchestrated by G.o.d. The Durftelds immediately took us under their wings and provided great support. With their a.s.sistance, we were able to complete all of the necessary paperwork to register and preach as ordained clergy in the United States. One of the churches in Minnesota had also agreed to sponsor and ftle for the extension and completion of the needed paperwork to ftnalize our permanent immigration status. Pastors Ric and Renee opened the doors of their church and pulpit to us, embracing and encouraging G.o.d"s call upon our lives. From our arrival and for many years later, I was privileged to receive many invitations to preach and sing at their church and special events.
The next memorable encounter was with the late Pastor Eddie Rodriguez, senior pastor of On Fire Ministries in Anaheim, California, a Foursquare church. He was a wonderful man of G.o.d whose ministry operated men"s homes, which were a form of rehabilitation and residential center to help drug addicts and alcoholics in their ftght to stay clean and regain sobriety. Someone had invited me to visit his church and offered to pick up and bring me back home after the service. We arrived at the church, and I sat toward the back in what was quite a fairly large congregation. There is no natural explanation for what happened next, except to recognize and acknowledge the undeniable hand of our G.o.d. During the worship service, I joined in with the many voices in praise as we sang songs of adoration to G.o.d. My eyes were closed and my focus was entirely on worshipping G.o.d with all my heart. I noticed nothing of any other activities that may have been going on around me. I was a visitor at the church and knew no one in the congregation, except the person who had invited and brought me to the service.
Immediately after the service, the senior pastor, who I later learned his name was Pastor Eddie Rodriguez, sent someone to get me from the back row where I was seated. I wondered why and quietly followed the usher to Pastor Eddie"s office. He had a few of his pastors from other branches sitting around him in the office and invited me to sit down. He then asked me who I was and how I came to the service that day. I proceeded to share a very brief version of our testimony with him. He listened with rapt attention. After I ftnished speaking, he then shared with me that as I worshipped during the service, he had noticed radiance around the place where I was standing with my hands uplifted. The radiance grew, and he sensed a strong presence of the Holy Spirit upon me. He had
pastored the church for many years and had never seen me before, so he wanted to ftnd out who I was. After he heard the testimony, he asked me to bring my husband and family for a service so he could meet them.
When I got home I shared all that had just taken place with my husband, and we were again picked up for the next service at the Anaheim church. After the service, I introduced my family to Pastor Eddie, and he repeated to my husband the account of what he had experienced during my last visit to the church. Again, the Lord had prepared the way in His own very wonderful way.
He stated that he believed the Lord wanted him to be a blessing to us and opened the doors of the ministry and all its branches to us. He also personally spoke to many of his pastors, recommending our ministry to them. Due to the high regard all the pastors had for him, many invitations to sing and preach followed. More doors to minister in many of Southern California"s cities began to open: Los Angeles, Anaheim, Fontana, Barstow, San Bernadino, Whittier, and many more. As word of our ministry spread, I was invited to preach and minister in all over Southern California. Invitations to minister in other states were also soon received as the s...o...b..ll of G.o.d"s divine network again began and continued to grow.
A lady by the name of Evelyn, originally from the Central African State now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also heard about our story and called. We had said yes to her request to visit us, and it turned out to be another extraordinary encounter. The odds of what happened next can again only be attributed to G.o.d. During my conversation with her, I happened to share the account of my extraordinary journey to Washington, DC and my meeting with an Evangelist Sandra Crouch earlier that year. Sister Evelyn looked astounded, and I wondered what the expression on her face could possibly mean. It turned out she was a very close family friend of many years with the Crouch family and immediately called Sister Sandra on the phone, reconnecting me with her. I had thought nothing of it when the Lord introduced us in Washington, DC. The place had been jam-packed with many very well-known Christian personalities, and I had not thought at the time to ask Evangelist Sandra what state she resided in.
I lived in England at the time, and really wasn"t expecting to ever see her again. Due to my cave-like mentality, I was also not yet aware of the fame of my new friend. Perhaps I never would have fully realized it, but for the intervention of our Heavenly Father. I also may never have noticed that I was now within driving distance from Pastors Andrae and Sandra Crouch. Wow!
As soon as Evangelist Sandra found out I was now local to her in Southern California and no longer in England, she immediately sent me invitations to preach and minister at their new church in Pacoima. They had just recently taken over after the pa.s.sing of their father and older brother, and I was privileged to be a blessing to them and the congregation. What are the statistical odds of all this perfectly synchronized events taking place? I have only one answer that makes sense—G.o.d!
The Crouches brought me over to their church to minister often, and also hosted an aptly t.i.tled "Prophetic Explosion" Conference. I was privileged to be one of their four keynote speakers. As I shared earlier, our friendship would continue until Pastor Andrae"s pa.s.sing in January of 2015. I look forward to all of the reunions when we all get to heaven. I am privileged to still call Pastor Sandra my friend.