After 12 years living outside of England – 3 (sort of!) in the States, and 9 in Northern Ireland – this true dedicated Englishman has finally moved back to England. It’s a massive step of faith, as I responded to what I – and others who I have on my advisory group/Council of Reference – felt was a clear word from God. It was also confirmed by prophetic people at the conference  I spoke at recently in Dublin. I went to Northern Ireland off the back of a somewhat awful time in the States, I came back from there shattered, burned out, and disillusioned. So I thought a year in the quieter, slower-paced life of NI would be a good ‘recovery’ place: I thought I had a lot of friends there from 9 years of visiting to preach. One year became nine: if I’m honest, I felt God told me move back to England sooner, but the faith to finance a move didn’t seem to be in place! It’s amazing, but even after 40 years of living by faith, I found it hard to believe that God would provide the means and a home in England – infinitely more expensive than Northern Ireland: for some reason, the faith for the ‘risk’ disintegrated! BUT, I wouldn’t have got to know, or travel with good friend Thanney Pyper, or another great guy, Davy King, from Londonderry, both of whom have travelled with me quite a bit, and have moved into seeing miracles happen everywhere they go.

A prophet – one who was in Dublin at a conference Thanney & I spoke at but who I’d never met when Robert Miller came to pray for my knees in October, sent a prophetic word for me which tipped the balance in favour of moving back, with a number of things in it that, when I asked him about it in Dublin, was the confirmation I needed to take the leap of faith. Some of the things in the prophecy were SO accurate for someone to give who had no idea who I am – like the enemy had tried to trap me in a labyrinth. I’d never thought of labyrinth, as any different to a maze. Having looked into it, it is very different! It’s a real trap. It became like a prison this year, unable to walk, and really only leaving it to go to the doctor, hospital, or pharmacy! I realised it was a blockage to my healing until the prophet bound it and threw it in the pit…. then I walked for the first time in 9 months, after Robert’s prayers and Billy’s prophetic word. I realise that when God spoke some years ago about moving back to England, I backed out because of the cost, and those last years were the worst with my arthritic knees, and this year the worst ever. Bearing in mind osteoarthritis is incurable other than with replacement surgery, the fact that my knees are much better is a miracle: and my belief for years is that God WILL heal them, and it seems that he is, THANK YOU JESUS!!!!

I had two places in mind about where I’d choose to live, if God allowed me that choice, and it seems that, against all the odds, he’s opened the way for a flat/apartment in Gravesend, just 500 yards from the church – Eastgate -where the presence of God is so heavy it hits you in the car park when you open the car door! Over the 47 years of my Christian life, I’d not experienced anything like it, even in countries I’ve been to that have been in revival. It’s a church where God moves very powerfully, and the worship is lovely, not like a ‘rock show’ that quite a few churches practice now.

I thought I’d be living a nomad existence for quite some time, but God has opened the way to me taking a flat just 500 yards from the church – the southeast of England is a tad more expensive to rent than in Northern Ireland (!!!) – like 2-3 times more, so I’ve been praying for God to increase my support base, and writing to some people who pray for me to see if I can meet the difference between what I was – and will have to – pay (it’s double – but Gravesend is only 17 miles from central London, and a mile from Ebbsfleet Channel Tunnel station, so understandable. After the year that I’ve had – 10 months not being able to walk – I want to be in a place where what and who I am is accepted, and where I can be impacted and increasingly filled by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and see God begin a whole new season of increasingly powerful ministry wherever I go. Many have said this is a whole new and exciting season in my life, and I know that my walking has improved markedly in the last few weeks. That’s a blessing!!

So I plan to ‘hit the road’ again in the early new year, once I’ve established my new home, and have already received some invitations to churches without having asked! I’d love to come to your church if you want me. I’d value your prayers for the remainder of the support I need to live in England, and if you feel you can help me, email me (paul@paulbennison.com) and I can send you information. It will bless me immensely, and I pray that what God says about multiplying back to you occurs too!