To be ‘at home’ in the land of my own father – Wales – is lovely: it was a surprise when God made it clear that Welshpool was where he wants me purely because of the ‘geography’ for a regular Heathrow traveller and with many of the speaking engagements I get being in the southeast, but God is doing something special in Wales, with many prophetic words about the country and links to the Welsh revival…. so a month ago my flat in Kent was packed up and moved 200 miles northwest, into – for now – the garage of friends in the fellowship I’ve come here to be part of. The prayer is that God will do a miracle and provide me with something he’s promised over the last 5 years – my own home (it’d be the first home I could call ‘my own home’ since selling the last one I owned in 1983 to go to a ministry training centre) – but while waiting for that, or finding a suitable and affordable long-term rental property, I moved into an AirBnB property for the last month – to say that was ‘interesting’ would be a massive understatement!

I drove from Kent to the house, and on arrival was confronted by signs advertising most things ‘witchcraft’ – and the owners – one look at the wife and I knew that she was a witch! The house was filled with many occult books and artefacts, and the atmosphere was like I’ve never known! Some people might say ‘Why didn’t you get out?’ but I know that he who is in me is greater than he who is in any AirBnB or the world! Friends from the fellowship I’ve come here to be part of helped with covering some things up, moving books with titles like ‘Healing by Magic’, turning around statues of Buddha, covering over a native Indian ‘Dreamcatcher’…. the atmosphere changed as I and the friends here prayed, but it was still heavy…. I could have done courses in ‘Chakra Belly Dancing’ (! – don’t let your mind even go there!!), all things chakra, reiki, healing through magic…. oh yes, and a crochet course….

Monday night last week, at 4 am, unable to sleep (a problem every night in that house – I worked out that in 31 nights I slept for about 70 hours all of it very broken up) in the middle of a very wide bed, praying and listening to worship music, when I was thrown off of the bed by something unseen, landing on my knees (ooowww!!) and smashing my face on a heavy chair by the bed…. thought I’d broken my nose and lost my front teeth (I hadn’t fortunately though there was a lot of blood) but my knees are only just recovering to the pain level they normally are!

Some lovely friends have offered me a temporary home until I can either rent or miraculously get my own place, and I’ve had two nights of sleep, which has been bliss. I think I need a fair few nights before my body recovers… the Fellowship here is lovely, the folk have been so kind, helpful, generous in the amount of help they’ve given me, as the house I was in was so impractical for someone with mobility difficulties, especially the stairs! It’s a church based on Acts 2:42ff., so very different to what I left behind in Kent. It’s a delight to be with people who love and care for each other, have a massive heart for the area and the country, and God is moving some key people to the town which is just confirming some of the prophetic words that He’s spoken in recent months. It’s a thrill that God considers me able to be a part of what he’s going to do here, and to find that some of the folk in the Fellowship have been praying for 4-5 years that I’d come here. Now for the healing of the knees….

It’s a delight to be here and will be an increasing delight when I’ve learned to pronounce some of the place names (I can manage Welshpool!! – but not in Welsh – see if you can from the picture below!)), and when I can finally settle into what will be home. I look back and realise that I haven’t really had ‘home’ for many years – yes, I’ve lived in flats and houses, but none that I’d truly look forward to going ‘home’ to. So I’m praying that this will be a place to call home truly, and be part of what God is doing in Wales, as well as continuing to travel to many of the places I’ve been to in the past.