As usual, I tend not to write too much here in the aftermath of a trip away, as I’m pretty certain you’re not interested in where I went shopping, how much dirty laundry I’ve had to wash…. and other similar exciting things that we all have to do!

It’s been a good time of catching up with people, and spending some lovely hours with some of the people who are going on the next Colombia trip with me. It’s particularly good as virtually all of them are young, with a passion to serve God, and a desire to see God heal people through them, and only one has been to Colombia before. Yes, planning the next trip there having only just got back from the last one! In fact, I’ve got people already ‘pencilled in’ for the October/November 2014, trip , and March/April (Easter) trip 2015!

I’ve had some good rest, too, and a few visits to a sports (don’t laugh!) physiotherapist: as my knees are improving, it’s bringing to light the fact that muscles that have gone out of alignment to cope with my wonky knees, need to be put right. I’ve had particularly ‘interesting’ pain from something called the iliotibial band (I’d never heard of it, either, until I got to know my great mate, Robert, from Melbourne, Australia, who is an ultra-marathon runner…), which runs from hip to knee, and is – it seems – a runner’s problem! But my ITB was well twisted, and Tony, the physio, who is brutally strong, has been a physio for many years, said he’d never come across anyone who’d got ‘knots’ in the SHEATH of of the ITB, as well as the band itself! And, of course, the knees have thrown my back out of alignment: yes, I’ve had people pray for all those things, and I still will, but the instant ‘relief’ of knots in the muscles running down the length of my spine, has been wonderful!

And, I’ve had some time to study, and prepare, for the conference in France this coming weekend. ‘Louange Côte Ouest’ (West Coast Worship) is organised by long-time friends Colin and Sue Enticknap, who have been missionaries in the Vendée region of the west coast, for 8-9 years, and the conference two years ago, was a great time. Please pray for Colin & Sue, as it is a tough region of France to pioneer: yes, of course, it’s beautiful, it’s hot there now, the beaches are wonderful: but they’re there to see God’s Kingdom established, and it is a lonely battle a lot of the time. I’m taking with me my lovely friend Brian Louden, from Maidstone, who is a great ‘prayer for healing’ and ‘prophecy’ man, as well as being a lovely bloke, and I’m anticipating a great weekend of seeing God transform lives, unite Protestants and Catholics where there is a ‘touch-stone’, and bless Colin & Sue. And, of course, it is ‘baguette-land’!! I’m going to have to TRY and be restrained, as since the end of February, I’ve lost 2½ stone in weight (35 pounds for Americans, and 16 kilos for the rest of the world!). I can resist many things, but baguette…? Hmm….

I[m hoping that, with the SIM card Colin got me today, and the wonderful technological miracle that is a wi-fi dongle, I will be able to keep you posted here. And, of course, if you have a free weekend, flyBe fly into Nantes, which isn’t TOO far from Brem-sur-Mer, where the conference is held (probably the more ‘famous’ resort is Les Sables d’Olonne, a few kilometres away), it would be lovely to see you!

And so, it’s almost packing time again…. I wonder how many times I’ve packed suitcases/bags, over the last 28 years….? I thought I was only going to ‘travel’ for maybe a year, when God first insisted I went: maybe I ought to have kept my boarding passes since 1987, too! I’d probably need quite a large part of my study for them!

My desire for France is to see God’s Kingdom come, on earth: to see the power of the Holy Spirit REALLY cut loose, and transform not just a conference, but the whole region. I posted this quote on Facebook the other day:

– and it reminded me of a similar one I used to quote many times, and will start using again, from, I think, Roger Forster:

• The Gifts of the Spirit are not toys for the church: they are tools for the street

– so my prayer is that people impacted by God’s awesome power will take it OUT to where it can TRULY make a difference….