As I (Mark) look out of the window onto Auschwitz-Birkenau I’m aware that without those buildings so much of what happened there could not have taken place. The barracks, guard houses, kitchens, toilets, sentry posts, gas chambers and crematoria were all buildings that made the whole killing machine possible. In the same way the building that we’re building now will make what God wants to do here possible.
God said this Prayer House will be an outpost of heaven. An embassy if you like, because an embassy is a representation of one country’s government (heaven) operating in another country (on earth). It abides by the laws of the other country and the host country has no authority over it. However, unlike an embassy, which is restricted to a single building, God wants His kingdom to expand out and take dominion of the region around it. In our case the spiritual atmosphere all around Auschwitz-Birkenau!
Cathy and I are very much aware that we cannot do this alone. There are many bricks that are used to build the walls of a house and there are many living stones that are needed to build the walls of a spiritual house. In Nehemiah’s day all the people of Jerusalem were involved in building the walls. People who would normally be doing something else, such as goldsmiths, priests, district leaders, gate keepers and merchants. They are all mentioned there in the scripture.
So we’re asking God – who are the bricks? Lord, who are You calling to be part of this work? A few years back a prophetic friend of ours had a vision which included a long list of names. These were the people that God was calling to build the House of Prayer. But within the list of names there were some names that were crossed out. These represent the ones who didn’t respond to His call. But then other names appeared alongside them. And very occasionally there were lines where both names were crossed out and a third name appeared. Every line had a name assigned to it, so God is very specific in the tasks that He gives us!
God is calling some to help build the House of Prayer, to establish the building. These are the ones who give financially, and those finances will then be traded into bricks and cement. The money will become part of the fabric of the Prayer House. And God is calling others to intercede and to pray. These are the ones with weapons in their hands! Actually, if you look as the book of Nehemiah, those who built the walls also had weapons in their hands – so maybe we should be doing both!
It’s unusual for us to send out a letter with a message like this – we normally just let you know what’s happening and that’s fine. Our purpose is to encourage and inform. But this time we feel something stirring in our hearts. We feel that God is calling some of you to partner with Him in what He is doing here. This could be in a big or a small way – each and every task He gives us is unique to the individual. And only you know if that’s you, because you’ll feel that stirring in your own heart.
But please don’t feel you need to respond in any way if He isn’t leading you. In all that we do in our lives it’s so important to follow Him! We don’t do something just because we think it’s a good idea, or if somebody else thinks it’s a good idea, or if it’s somebody else’s calling. We only want to do what Jesus wants us to do, because everything else is wood, hay and stubble!
If the weather is fine, we’ll start building the walls of the prayer house in just over a weeks’ time. And when it gets going we’ll send out another building update.
Sometimes people want to know if they can pass our newsletters on to others. Of course please feel free to send them to those you think might be interested. If you feel the Lord is stirring you in some way, then please write to us. We’d love to hear from you!
