Update from Jesse

Well, here we are in Springfield, where the sons of God are going to spring up from the fields of harvest. As the waters cover the sea, so the increase of His government will know no end. Saints and sons of the Father are going to spread through out this city like blood through veins, giving life flow to places of darkness. With the joy of the Lord in our bones, we are ambassadors of Christ to this nation, representatives of God to this city. And may the Holy Spirit have dominion as we go about the work He has sent us for. Amen!

There is a general air of excitement over here, as the Lord begins to peel back the veil of fear and break the chains of insecurity. Freedom has been on my mind a lot lately. The glorious freedom of the sons of God, which all the earth is groaning for. And the thing is: I am just starting to know this freedom. I sing about it, thinking of others. But I need it just as much as anyone. More so. The Lord has been illuminating the amount of fear and insecurity there is in my life. And He is beginning to release freedom.

The day after we got here, Papa and our friend Stephen were out in the yard talking. Soon Micah, Stephen and I joined them. We all prayed together, clasping arms as a picture of the joining together of living stones. Friend Stephen asked me if I had a freedom song to sing. I didn't. But I felt like we were supposed to dance. If you know me, you know I'm reserved. Even the fact that I'm writing this blog is amazing. I normally prefer to hide myself from people, both out of fear and selfishness. But the Lord said dance. So we danced. It ended up being kind of a tribal, warfare dance, with clapping and singing and stuff. And it was right in the front yard for all to see. It was a prophetic declaration, not only for us, but for the city, as the Lord is going to be releasing a freedom so profound it will be seen right out in the open, with no shame.







That night we spent some time together in prayer. The Lord released more freedom, specifically for my dad. The word of the night was "uncorked." Well, we're getting uncorked. It's a gradual process, but it's big. I've felt very much corked for at least the last year, kind of wandering around in a desert. Well, thank God for the wellspring that is He beginning to pour out! For me, it began in Kansas City when our new friends John and Sarah prayed for us. When they prayed for me, I cried. I'm not ashamed to say so. I like crying, because it reminds me that my heart still works, and that there is still a receptivity in my spirit. So that was the first wave. And there are many more to come. Right now the desire in my heart is intimacy, relationship. The Lord has revealed to me that I have nurtured an identity in performance, specifically music. If I can't write a song, I feel like a failure. But not anymore. My identity is in Christ and Christ alone. And I long to know him (yada) as I've never known Him before. I have a hunger to be hungry, a thirst to be thirsty, a desire to desire Him.





Freedom! Oh there's such a freedom we've never known. Praise Jesus for the work of the cross! We are seated with Him in the heavenly places, with every spiritual blessing! Oh the riches of His glory, the riches of His grace! Riches! Take a second and ponder over that word. His grace is boundless! Hallelujah! And I am just beginning to know it! All of you have so much going on in your lives I almost feel silly to be writing this. David's in Mexico (Praise Jesus!). Aunt Pat is living the life of a saint. People are working and living and seeing to their calls. Some are suffering. And I pray for healing, and for the love of God to be poured out in a way that is immeasurable, but tangible! Oh thank you Jesus for all of these wonderful people! Forgive me for ever taking you for granted, brothers and sisters. You are a part of me, and I love all of you. May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant you grace and peace in this time of changes! God bless all of you.

Love,
your brother Jesse

Update from Micah

After a bug infested camp ground in Illinois, a strange groundhog sighting, crazy traffic and a blown tire on the cargo trailer, we have arrived.

For the last day of driving Leah and I were in our white honda van and the rest of the family was in the blue van, otherwise known as Abraham.



On the road I found myself praying, "Father of glory, give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you, having the eyes of my heart enlightened, that I may know what is the hope to which you have called me". He then gave me Romans 13:8

"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."

A few weeks ago, before we left the Lord spoke to me 2 Corinthians 1:21. "...It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us".

Prior to him showing me this verse the Lord had been speaking to my Dad about joining and building. It's God who establishes us. He's the one who joins us together. In Him we're joined together. There's no other place but in Christ. So God is gonna be joining us together with some people. He's going to build something and we get to partner with him.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15



As we crossed the boarder into Ohio we all felt the witness of His Spirit. I was half asleep, but I woke up and Leah told me she heard a full choir singing. Shortly after that Chloe called from the other van telling me to put the phone on speaker so we could all pray together. As we prayed I felt joy, excitement and anticipation! The Lord said:

Isaiah 33:5-6
"The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
and He will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure."

Isaiah 30:23
"And He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures."

As we hit the out skirts of Springfield I looked at the clock and it said 5:55. 5 is the number of grace. Right away the Lord prompted me to look up Isaiah 55:5 which says:

"Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the holy one of Israel, for He has glorified you. "

A promise from the Lord. When we got to Stephen and Jenny's house I told Stephen the verse and he said that he saw 5:55 and was feeling grace. He also reminded us that it was 5/5/10. The Lord had also given him that verse as a promise about a year ago.



As a family we are asking for the United States. Knowing that the Lord says ask of me and I will give you the nations and that Jesus has reconciled the world to God.

On this adventure the Lord told me he was taking me on a journey of discovering more of him and discovering who I am. Finding His identity and mine. Throughout the trip the Lord has brought prophetic encouraging words from lots of brothers and sisters. Using the words to expose things in my heart. I know the Lord has imparted things during this trip. I'm excited to see what unfolds.

I'm desperate to see His glory revealed, hungry to encounter Him and see His face and expecting to experience fresh waves of His presence!

A little adventure has ended and a great adventure has begun.

Blessings and Joy in Christ Jesus our Lord

Love,
Micah

Update from Leah

So our next stop in our road trip across the country was Kansas City, Missouri. We got here on Saturday the 1st, and we ended up staying until Tuesday morning. It was a long day of driving, but it was worth it. God had some amazing things waiting for us. While we were here, we checked out IHOP (the International House of Prayer). For about five months now they have had these Awakening services going on four days a week. So when we got here we checked in, unpacked and headed out to check one of them out.



It was my first experience with IHOP, and although I've heard a lot about it, I wasn't sure what to expect. The message was the gospel, which was awesome and an affirmation of the message God has put in our lives. During the few hours we were there, God really reminded me of some things, refreshed me and renewed me. Towards the end of the meeting, they asked any visitors to come forward to receive impartation so we all headed up there.

I was standing in that line, feeling the Spirit, but standing like a board, and this older, white haired woman came up to me. She grabbed my hands and wanted me to dance with her, so I did, but it was half hearted. While she was dancing with me, she said something just in passing but it really cut into me. She said: "Don't be religious."

My gut reaction was offense, but within ten seconds I felt a witness of the Spirit. When did I start to take myself so seriously? When did I forget to rejoice? To dance? To yell and clap and stomp? God really did something in me in that moment. A work of release and freedom.





Dad was in his element. Surrounded by older, wacky intercessor women, grunting and dancing and having a ball. It was awesome. There were some really right on words for a lot of us, and I left encouraged. We spent the next couple days checking out the 24/7 House of Prayer, and experienced several divine appointments. We also connected with some friends of our friends Stephen and Jenny. Originally, we were going to leave Monday morning, but really felt that we were to stay another day. I am so glad that we did.

John and Sarah Markman were the reason we came. God had something for each of us individually here, and although we were all enjoying IHOP, I was waiting for that to happen. Because we stayed an extra day, we were able to meet them and their two adorable little girls, and they were courageous enough to have all eight of us over for dinner in their apartment. It was such a divinely anointed time. They are originally from Springfield, Ohio and they are on staff with IHOP. Wow. God spoke so clearly through them to each member of our family. It was timely, accurate and encouraging. It brought a renewal and a release of the Spirit. God did a final work of freedom for me in some areas, specifically self hatred and my identity. It was so awesome.



The process of this trip has been interesting. At each stop I feel like the Spirit has been doing a step by step work of preparation in all of us, getting us ready for Springfield. I am so excited for what the Lord has for us there, individually and as a family. And I know that He has a home for us, and that the provision is there already. Thank you GOD! There is such a joy in my spirit right now!

Love and blessings,
Leah

From Redding we drove to Yerington, Nevada; we stayed with treasured friends, Jim and Sherry Roche. They are such awesome gifts to the Body of Christ. A spiritual oasis in the high desert. Our family received timely rest and refreshing. (Is. 35). We stayed with them for 5 days. It was so hard to leave. We also got to spend some time with another treasured friend, Dennie.



All the girls with Sherry




All the boys with Jim







Our friend Dennie



Stephen's new mohawk



We took some great walks and hikes in the desert in 70 plus degree weather. We saw such beauty! I'm in awe of the wonders of His creation. Ethan caught numerous Horny Lizards and we had our first Lizard round up. ( Chloe, Stephen, Ethan and myself chased and finally trapped a collard lizard; it was Ethan's hand that finally grabbed his tail while we removed rocks to catch him. What a beauty!)



A Horny Toad!



A ground squirrel in Wilson Canyon, Nevada



The Great Lizard Roundup!

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One morning, I woke up to a verse Gen 22:2. (The Lord commanding Abraham to offer up Isaac on the mountain) Later I went for a walk in my green crocks in the desert alone, I wasn't planning to go very far but as I looked up to a high rocky area up in the hills, Holy Spirit reminded me of the verse He spoke earlier. I knew He was asking me like Abraham to go up to the mountain and offer up everything. As I approached the hill, the Lord sent me a butterfly; I stopped; it landed right in front of me a couple feet away and rested. What a wonderful picture and lesson from My Lord. Change, transformation, metamorphosis and release. I can't really explain and to be honest I'm not sure what is all going on, but something is happening to me; something is shedding and I don't know yet what will all look like, but if It's Jesus I want it. As I sat on the hill I did what I believe the Lord asked of me and went down with a skip in my green crock feet and a song of joy in my heart--"Sons of God come forth!"






Wilson Canyon, Nevada



More of Wilson Canyon



Mountains in Nevada



Stephen in Wilson Canyon



We experienced a sad loss, when at midnight on monday the 26th, Leah's cat Patchouli died. We are pretty certain that she died of a spider bite in her mouth. Most likely a brown recluse. Patchouli was always in tight quarters with Leah, Chloe, Maureen and Ethan during these travels; so we are pretty certain Patchouli's death and the death of the spider was a way in which the Lord protected my family from harm. Many of you remember Patchouli and what a loving cat she was. She is with Jesus now.









With the Lord's peace in our heart, we left Yerington tuesday morning. We traveled hard in the face of strong winds of opposition. We endured almost 7 hours of a dust storm while we drove. We had lunch at Lovelock, Nevada and I yelled out Lord unlock your love in Lovelock. The winds were so strong; we wondered if we should continue--but with peace in our heart we moved forward and submitted to our Father who reigns over all winds and all weather. We made it to our destination, Elko; spent the night and left the next morning--destination Rock Springs, Wyoming. We drove all the way through Salt Lake City and Utah. What an amazing and wonderous place. We made it to Rock Springs, adjusted our clocks to mountain time. We arrived to cold weather and snow flurries. We spent today checking out the area--rich in history; wild horses, antelope and surreal landscape. We plan to leave Friday a.m. and try to reach Nebraska by evening.



Lovelock with key






The Salt Lake




The view on the drive through Wyoming




7 hours of dust!



Wild horses in Wyoming!


Your prayers and support are so needed. Protection, safety, Peace within and between family members as we face great change and transition. Thank you! Thank you!

Love D-love Duke

P.S Jesus is reminding me to lighten up and have FUN!

Jesus is not only the road, He is also our destination! Hello, this is Duke reporting from Redding, Ca. We spent a week in Poulsbo with my mom; then we spent a couple days with Maureen's mom in Toppennish. We stopped in Ellensburg for a couple days and stayed with our treasured friends John and Mary. We then went back to Port Townsend and stayed a couple days with Darvin and Ginger; While in Port Townsend we said our final good byes; hooked up our 7x14 cargo trailer; and started off on our caravan adventure: All 8 of us, 2 dogs and 1 cat; Leah driving the minivan and me driving the large van hauling the cargo trailer.





First stop: A return back to Ellensburg where we stayed for about 1 week. We left Ellensburg 2 days ago and we are currently in Redding Ca. We plan to leave thursday morning-heading east.

Adrenaline rushes: Faulty washing machine flooding and causing water damage at my mom's house. Mocha and Fenway (our dogs) getting into the chicken coup at John and Mary's in Ellensburg; after all the feathers settled the chicken population was decreased by 2. It was a wonderful opportunity to grow in love for one another. Jesus causes all things to work together for good. Engine light in the large van blinking off and on especially while climbing like a big slug over Snoqualmie Pass. I am thankful for His protection--to find out that something with the air/fuel mixture was messed up; causing misfires and there were dangerous levels of fuel mixed in with the engine oil. John directed us to an excellent shop where they solved the problem for about a 100 bucks. Running great now!



Some interesting things happened to me while in Ellensburg. While at the water tower area that offers a great view of the city and Central Washington campus, I found a small hidden film roll bottle. It was a geocache (a global positioning satellite "gps" game) people with gps hide these bottles all over the planet. They put notes and little tresures in them. You can get coordinates on line and then search for these treasures using a gps device. If you find one you are asked to leave it in place, record your siting and leave something in the bottle. What blows me away is that I found it without using gps and not only that a few days later within a couple hundred yards, i found another one--this one was in a gallon jug. MMM? I think Jesus is telling me something. What do you think?

In Ellensburg we shared the gospel and prayed with Alyssa (a 17 year old treasure who is living with John and Mary). Mary baptized her in Peoples pond the next day. Pray for her that she would grow in the grace of our Lord; and that John and Mary would have much wisdom in assisting her.



We walked on the Central campus and spent time in the student union building sitting and listening to Holy Spirit for direction. A side note: Man I am old--in a sea of young people that all look younger than Leah, Jesse and Micah; the contrast was scary; I'm still handsome though. By the way for those of you who don't know Maureen and I graduated from Central.



While listening, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a name He gave me a few weeks earlier--Stephen. I didn't know that Mary had invited a man named Stephen to dinner that very night. He was my assignment. We had an awesome time of sharing and prayer with him. He has a Phd in physical ed and is an instructor on campus. He is in his mid to late thirties and He is an awesome man of God. We deposited into the geocache what we were to deposit. Stephen is a leader who loves Jesus and is in a unique influential place on campus. Lord let your glory be expressed through your son Stephen and may many (thousands) of young peoples lives be touched with your message of love and grace.

John and Mary are a planting of the Lord in Ellensburg and much fruit is coming forth. They have unique and special connections with people throughout the community. They are friends with Matt and Susie--campus ministers for over 30 years. We spent 4 to 5 hours sharing and praying for Matt and Susie--an awesome time in the Lord. They in turn encouraged their friends to come and receive prayer. So for about a week our friend Mary scheduled appointments for people to come to her house to receive ministry. Jesus made it easy for us; we sat on our butts and they came to us. Reports are coming back--lives were touched!



The message of the gospel, the message of grace, is so powerful! Where are you? In Christ! Who are you? Sons of God! How? By His doing! What do you have? all things! Why? His love!! etc

We said our heartfelt goodbyes and directed by Holy Spirit came to Redding. As we crossed the border from Washington into Oregon a sense of great release and anticipation came over me. We will never be the same! And I don't know when we will be back. Thank you for your prayers and support. We have been refreshed in Redding and it didn't happen at Bethel. It came through a treasured prophetic sister who we call Dr. Giggles. Her real name Sarah: She is so full of His joy: She prayed and ministered to our family and gave timely individual words to each of us. Thank you Sarah for being you! We also spent some special time with Anthony, Zach and Zach's mom Betsy. Love em!





Jesus is setting me free ! I never realized the depth of rejection in my life. My old slogan for the last 10 years was, "Jesus, despised, rejected and forsaken of men; welcome to the ministry" But through others speaking and praying into my life, I am no longer under the tutor of rejection. Thank you Mary for praying. Thank you Maureen for speaking into my life and thank you Stephen and Jenny for your timely encouragement and prayer.



There is so much Jesus is showing me, but I can't write it down. So Selah for a moment.. And I will grunt in the Spirit. Lord all that you are showing me I release to my brothers and sisters.

Headed East. Appreciate your prayers. Lord, hear clearly, see clearly and keep in step with the Holy Spirit.

Love D-love Duke