A report from Mattheus and Rebekah who were in Toronto at the More Lord conference.

Update 1: A very normal Wednesday...

At midday we travelled to TACF (see www.tacf.org) which is about 30 minutes drive from down town Toronto, to attend a conference called 'I Need More'. It is a wonderful building to enter, and wonderful to experience the presence of God in the building. We knew no one at TACF and looked forward to sitting in the back row just listening to the service and receiving from the Lord.

As we entered, we were recognised by four people from the Netherlands and literally walked straight into the senior pastor, Steve Long. We were introduced, hugged each other, and he invited us to sit in the speakers area, but we refused. Thirty minutes later Duncan Smit passed us and almost 'dragged' us to the table to sit with John Arnott. We  had a very animated conversation with him and when the evening service began John asked us to sit with him, which was something we really did not want to do. We wanted to stay in the back row!

At midday we travelled to TACF (see www.tacf.org) which is about 30 minutes drive from down town Toronto, to attend a conference called 'I Need More'. It is a wonderful building to enter, and wonderful to experience the presence of God in the building. We knew no one at TACF and looked forward to sitting in the back row just listening to the service and receiving from the Lord.

As we entered, we were recognised by four people from the Netherlands and literally walked straight into the senior pastor, Steve Long. We were introduced, hugged each other, and he invited us to sit in the speakers area, but we refused. Thirty minutes later Duncan Smit passed us and almost 'dragged' us to the table to sit with John Arnott. We  had a very animated conversation with him and when the evening service began John asked us to sit with him, which was something we really did not want to do. We wanted to stay in the back row!

Duncan Smit and his wife hosted the evening and the theme was the repair of the temple and gold. As he spoke, my Bible, face and hands were covered with gold dust and he asked the audience to give the 'married couple from the Netherlands' a round of applause! Duncan then asked us to come up onto the podium. As I did I felt a heaviness of the presence of God rest upon me.

I was given a microphone and it all started! People were laughing, crying, shaking and I could say nothing but 'Glory! More Lord! We love you!' In my somewhat bemused state I shared what the Lord is doing in the Netherlands and then asked John and Duncan to invite every one from Europe in the audience to come forward. We wanted to release the fire of God and the power of the Holy Spirit over them and Europe, and then we layed hands on them and prayed. The mood was really festive.

Rebekah gave her testimony and we then returned to our seats. After the service we tried to leave unnoticed but at the exit to the church there was a long row of people wanting  to pray with us for revival in Europe. It was a truly great day!

In the following days we had to find the balance between being open to giving of ourselves, and  remaining quiet and just being close to Jesus. John then gave me a few tips on how to handle criticism. His tip was to forgive, don't judge or defend yourself, stay close to God at all times, and then help others who have found themselves in the same situation to get out of it.

If you hear his story, it is quite remarkable! The movement started 15 years ago through John and Caroll Arnott was called the Toronto Blessing and became a world wide phenomena which literally touched millions of people and their lives.

Tomorrow Patricia King is coming to Toronto and I am really interested in what the Lord is going to do through her.

So far this has just been a small look into what the Lord is doing in Toronto on a very normal Wednesday.

Update 2:

Today was, like yesterday, totally amazing! We had so much favour this evening. Once again we were called out from the back of the church where John and Caroll had found us. John wanted us to come and sit next to him and Caroll in the front row.

Patricia King  spoke about how God moves and the signs of revival. She also spoke a lot about criticisms that come in the form of waves of lies and nasty press reports and, if you forgive, it will bring love and promotion to the Glory of God.

Patricia prophesied over us and then asked if we would like to spend time with her. We spoke for four hours and shared out hearts. It was all quite special and what wonderful people her and her husband are.

John said he wanted to keep close contact with us as did Patricia and her husband. They had heard a lot about us through Revival Alliance as we had heard a lot about them through the same organisation. It was all enormously positive.

For our last few days in Toronto, we planned to do nothing at all but receive restoration and confirmation from the Lord. We sat in the back row of the church whilst God showed us his favour. He is loving and good and we are learning a lot about forgiveness, not to judge, and to concentrate on the things of God. We felt the Father Heart of God for us and his presence was awesome! This powerful ministry has had its share of critics, and probably things could sometimes have been done differently, but after 15 years of transformation and revival, the fire of the Holy Spirit still burns here and we can learn a lot from these spiritual mothers an fathers. John and Caroll Arnott are very keen to be the spiritual father and mother to both us and TRIN and we are very excited by this. Great news is that they will also be coming to the Netherlands more often!

Only another two days here, then I speak  on Sunday at a TACF satellite church, something I am really looking forward to. Oh..and before I forget, whilst we were out with Patricia King we also led our waitress to the Lord.

Update 3:

Life is getting quite crazy. Last night was the last night of the conference called 'I Need More' and John and Caroll Arnott once again asked us to come and sit with them. We were sitting talking to them, making a few jokes and generally enjoying ourselves when my heart started beating faster. I heard God tell me that John would ask me to speak and that I should  prepare myself to tell the youth (the under 30's) about the fire  of the Holy Spirit. Ten minutes later John did just that and said ' Hey Mat, grab a microphone and share what you have on your heart with us. I ran forward to take the microphone thinking  'Yes Lord, this is a NOW moment.

I shared very briefly what was on my heart and then asked the young people under 30 to come forward and they ran! The entire group had a Holy hunger and the ministry line spread right around to the sides of the church. I again picked up a microphone and asked everyone to be quiet and wait on the Holy Spirit. He would personally come in power and touch people. Then I got an exciting 'picture' in my head and saw myself running along the lines of people and the Holy Spirit falling on the people just like it did when Peter's shadow fell on people. My heart was beating in my throat! It was quiet, and all of a sudden pandemonium broke out and people began to shake and scream and fall over. The Lord then said to me 'Mat, run as fast as you can up and down these rows of young people. I will pour my Spirit out on them like a whirlwind'.

I was nervous, but did it! We began to run and run and as I went so the people fell over. I started getting worried that the people would hurt themselves. The noise was deafening!

Most of the youngsters lay on the floor under the power of God for three hours. John Arnott was supposed to be speaking that night but couldn't because he could not be heard above the noise. He eventually gave up and made a 'Fire tunnel' for the older people. John then told us he had never seen the power of the Holy Spirit work so powerfully and we ourselves were completely overwhelmed.

The following morning we spoke at a TACF church in Branston, a town of 400.000 people. They had already heard what had happened in the main church in Toronto. They were just as hungry for God here and what happened was almost exactly the same as had happened in Toronto, only slightly less intense.

After that we were really tired and went and got  something to eat.  We then attended another meeting with the leaders of the TACF church, and then left for the airport to catch a plane back home and back to see our wonderful sons.

It was a trip that was very different to what we had expected. God was loving enough to allow us to impart some of what we have in the Netherlands to them and it was really special to be trusted and respected so much by John and Caroll Arnot. We felt like two children that had been allowed to play in God's playground. We had nothing to prove or to achieve, all we had to do was sit back and leave the rest to God.

Feeling quite satisfied, and with new vision, we returned to the Netherlands saying 'More Lord!