|
Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? (Isa
6:8)
These words of the Lord have been echoing throughout the ages, and throughout
the earth, as He is seeking those who would forsake all for His sake and His
kingdom to be His reflection, His hands, feet and mouth to a hurting and
perishing world. Because from every tongue, tribe and nation He will have a
people at His throne who will love and worship Him, and He is eager to gather
His people in all the nations of the world. But who will go? Who will say like
Isaiah, here am I, send me?
When I first met Jesus ten years ago and committed my life to Him, I adopted
C.T.Studd's motto as my own: If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then
no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him. I was praying two
dangerous prayers at the time: Send me where they haven't heard, and, Send me
where nobody else wants to go. And as He looked with His heart of love upon
the West African country of Mali, He heard my prayer and gave me my
assignment. I would be taking His kingdom to the people of Mali!
But, youthful zeal and excitement needed to embrace an 8-year period of
preparation for the great calling of the Lord. Are you willing to pay the
price? Are you willing to be broken? Are you willing to go through the fire? Are
you willing to let the vision die so I can resurrect it again? Are you
willing to give up EVERYTHING for ME? Are you gonna love Me more than your
call? Would you just love Me, even if everything else was taken away,
including your call?
You see, the higher the calling, the deeper the breaking, the more the dying,
and the longer the preparation. We must be totally transformed into His
likeness, reflecting His love and His glory, being His representative, His
ambassador to this world. What an honor, and what a responsibility! We are
called to be a light to the world, to be His instrument, to do what He did
and even greater things. Are we really doing His will? Are we going into
all the world? Are we preaching the good news? Are we making disciples? Are we
healing the sick? Raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, casting out demons?
(see Mt 10:8).
If we are falling short in any of these areas, let us search our hearts and
cry out for more of Him, to be transformed more into His likeness, and to be
found worthy of carrying His fullness and His anointing, the power of
Almighty God, of Holy Spirit, who lives in us and flows through us to a dying
world. I'm falling short, but I'm desperate to become a woman worthy of
carrying the name of my Lord, who will not love her life unto death, who will
totally submit to HIM and fear Him more than men. How can we be any less? How
can we not give all to the one who's given all to us?
Today the Lord is raising up an army that is so in love with Him they do not
care about anything else. When we behold His face, nothing else matters, and
everything else fades away. They will know their Lord, and will go in His
power and strength with much boldness and authority taking nations for Him. Are
you one of them? Are you asking Him for nations? (see Ps 2)
I am. I have asked for Mali. And I have asked for Austria, which is where I
am from. I was so hungry for God, was so desperate to see His power, was so
desperate to do the works He did like He promised, yet found myself powerless
and bringing little fruit. Yet the Lord looks at the heart and heard my cry,
and He sent me to Bible College in Kansas City where I found what I had been
looking for. I found the two things I had desired most of all and stormed
heaven for.
I found an intimacy with my beautiful Lord that is beyond words; a place at
His heart, hearing His heartbeat, feeling His breath, hearing His whisper,
and feeling His embrace. Nothing compares to the presence of our Bridegroom
King!
And the other thing flows out of that precious place of intimacy - signs and
wonders, the works of Jesus, the sick healed, the captives set free and the
kingdom of God come in power. We are all called to that place!
It was during my two years in Kansas City that Catch The Wind Ministries
was born, and it has been a great joy and privilege to be a part of such a
wonderful team, to write e-mail updates on our trips and take care of the
website. And we've only just begun!
In June of this year, I myself had the awesome privilege to go on a missions
trip to Africa with Todd Bentley. We saw thousands saved, and hundreds
healed of every disease and sickness. And as many of you know, later that
month a Catch The Wind trip to Vienna was planned which then had to be
cancelled.
Yet, while the team was unable to come to Vienna, I myself had a
couple of weeks in my home town and my home church, and the Lord can even
work through ONE. It was absolutely tremendous how the Lord opened doors for
ministry, and even in a catholic nation with less than one percent born-again
believers, where revival is unheard of, and Christians have been laboring
hard with little fruit, God came down in power to heal, encourage and
transform. I had the joy of doing several meetings with between 3 and 20
people, and my only "agenda" was loving God. And while I was loving
on God and pouring my heart out to Him, He responded and poured out His heart
on us. The prophetic flowed to build up and encourage and confirm. Healing
flowed - back pains, blood pressure, knees, and much more - as well as hearts
being healed. And He came to break hearts for Himself, to draw His people
close to Him, and He also increased His anointing and giftings on people. It
was so awesome! I saw lives changed forever!
And now, after eight years of preparation, it is time for me to step into my
destiny. Yet, it is really not my destiny, but the destiny of the nation of Mali
this is all about. It has nothing to do with me, but all with His purposes
and His plans to advance His kingdom in Mali. All I am is a little girl
holding her big Daddy's hand and simply following along.
And I'm excited. I had been praying all this year about how to get into Mali,
and for an open door. And then the "suddenly of God" happened and
here I am, going into my Land of Promise. I was invited to teach German (my
mother tongue) at a Malian school. It is a small, private school, no
Christians and poor. What a wonderful opportunity! What an opportunity to
shine His light, to meet students, parents and teachers! And I keep seeing in
front of my eyes how that sick kid walks into my classroom... What a joy it
will be to be Jesus to the people of Mali! To heal them, and then share the
good news with them. And soon you have a group of believers that needs to be
trained and taught and raised up as leaders to go do the same. Believers who
will love the Lord passionately and who will gather to worship and honor Him.
And the other picture I keep seeing is this little abandoned kid on the
street that no one cares about. But the love of Christ compels me to stop for
the one, to pick up the little one Jesus cares about so much, and to give him
the love and the family he needs. Half the population in Mali is under 15,
and the number of street kids in the capital Bamako, where I'm gonna be, is
increasing. Who will be Jesus to them?
On September 18 I'm flying to Bamako, Mali, in West Africa. This
vision is big - and I've been praying for workers, for those who would lay
down their lives and come to be a part. We are called to impact every aspect
of life. I want to see churches full of passionate lovers of God, Bible
schools, schools for children, orphanages, medical facilities, and business
enterprises.
Right now it's me - a single, 30-year old woman, full of the Holy Spirit, who
knows her God and follows Him. BUT, this is only the beginning! Let's catch
the wind and watch Him do mighty things for the glory of His name!
I'm so very thankful to be a part of Catch The Wind Ministries, and to
be able to be under their as well as my Vienna church's covering. We've been
to Bulgaria, we've been to Austria, to Mali and more nations are opening up. This
is the day, this is the year of the favor of the Lord!
Partner with us in fulfilling the great commission God has given us! Forward
this e-mail to your friends, tell them about our website, pray for us, and
maybe God even tells you to sow seeds into this soil.
I also invite you to go to my own website www.healing2thenations.net
and to subscribe to my e-mail newsletter if you would like to hear about what
God is doing in Mali. I'īd also love to hear from you.
May you enter into the fullness of the presence of our glorious Lord!
All HIS,
Claudia
CATCH THE WIND
office@catchthewind.net
www.catchthewind.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ask of Me, and I will make the nations your inheritance. (Ps 2:8)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
until Sep 18 Tel. (+43)(0) 676 / 517 4008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Claudia R. Wintoch
Wurlitzerg. 50/19
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Catch The Wind Ministries
P.O. Box 11962
Kansas City, MO 64138
claudia@healing2thenations.net
www.healing2thenations.net
www.glorywebservices.com
Talk to me online - I'm "healing2thenations":
msn messenger
In the US:
Mail checks to Catch The Wind Ministries
IMPORTANT: Don't write my name on the check, but add a note that it's for me.
In Europe:
Bank name: BA/CA
Bank number: 12000
Account number: 509.101.468.00
Online (it will say Glory Webservices):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|