Category: Strategic Prayer

Challenges…

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by Martin Scott
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A while back (2015 – 40 years after his death) we prayed at the tomb of Franco asking as a sign that ‘an earthquake would go throughout Spain’. Two months later in the biggest shake up in Spanish politics most newspaper headlines were ‘a political earthquake has gone through the whole of Spain’ with commentary that the results had never taken place in the period of the democracy. Then last summer we visited Franco’s birth place to cut off the roots. The next day the government passed that his body would be removed from the Valley of the Fallen. We rejoiced!!

We have just visited Madrid for 48 hours and one of our ‘projects’ was to visit the Cathedral where the Franco family want to have his body re-buried. This would not be good as the Cathedral is easily accessible and the tomb could become a shrine to Nazism. We have been very aware of the battle since the summer. One of the aspects we have discovered is that we can get a breakthrough and that the whole situation seems to come back around with a vengeance. It is a learning curve for us and we are seeing that we need to go to a level deeper each time.

The image is of Franco’s only direct offspring’s tomb in the family crypt that they purchased. How to go deeper? Well we prayed for sure, but placed a blade of grass on the tomb among the fresh flowers. A blade of grass! Grass has its time. Grows and withers. There is a time that is over… so we put down the blade of grass, prayed, then went to the entrance to the crypt saying not in here.

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Us, God or what is changed?

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by Martin Scott
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‘Prayer is not for God it is for us’ is one explanation that has a lot going for it. Once we get beyond ‘do this for me’ kind of prayers there is a huge truth in the above. If we are serious about situations changing and begin to address them in prayer it is not normally too long before we discover that the same issues are present in us and need addressing – even if the same issues are not present to the same extent. This is the principle I see in Jesus’ teaching that murder is rooted in anger, adultery in lust, or Paul’s words that idolatry is rooted in greed. One of the principles in strategic prayer (and identificational repentance) is the genuine personal identification and personal repentance that comes through in the identification. It is rare for the prayer to be simply I stand here innocent but I stand in the gap, but more of a ‘we and our ancestors have sinned’.

Prayer changes us, for as we interact with God we find that once we are exposed to his presence we are impacted. Prayer then is certainly for our benefit.

I contend it is also for God’s benefit. Not so he can change (though there are many OT references to God changing his mind after human interaction and dialogue) but so as he can act. The key request / command that the will of God be done on earth as in heaven that we find in the pattern prayer surely indicates that at a very real level for the will of God to be done prayer by followers of Christ is essential. Without the request we can only assume there will be whole aspects where the will of God is not, and will not, be done. Something is released when we pray. We see this with Daniel who prayed fervently but there was a delay, the angel indicated that the prayer released him (her?) to move, but en route there was a necessary battle against opposing forces that took time to resolve. We also see how, in Revelation, that the prayers of the saints rise up to heaven and fill a bowl that once full can be released. No prayer and there is no move forward by the angelic in and through territory occupied by forces of darkness; no prayer and there is no bowl being filled that once outpoured can bring about change.

Prayer of course changes us but it has a major part to play in changing the environment where the prayer is focused. We do not need to adopt an extreme position of God’s mind being changed, as if we can move him from being a hard God to a kinder one (OT) but that he is enabled to do what he was unable to do before the prayer was offered up. This to me is in keeping with ‘the earth he has given to humanity’. This is our jurisdiction, and through wrong choices, both past and ongoing, we have given power to the prince of this world – who has been judged at the cross, and we are to press for that judgement to be visible.

I have many times written that we can never draw a straight line between we prayed this and this happened. To make those claims indicates that we are also claiming to have the full picture. There are so many things we do not know. I had the privilege of praying for a lady who had not walked unaided in 19 years, for 16 of those she had been confined to a wheel chair. The MS had by this stage taken her voice, and her eyesight had also been very badly affected. For whatever reason, I leaned over to the person next to me and said, ‘that woman will walk tonight’. Her story was subsequently written up in one of the national newspapers (sorry to say but it was ‘The Daily Mail’!!).

I visited her later to get the back story. She told me that someone suggested she went to the meeting, but she was very reluctant. She had been prayed for so many times over those many years and had had no improvement so was not looking to expose herself again to any prayer. She inwardly agreed to go only if someone came and directly offered to take her. This subsequently happened.

With regard to all the prayers that went before we might assume they were ineffective, howver in this situation the most likely scenario was that the last prayer was the least effective, but somehow tipped things over.

There are so many things we do not understand and I am certainly not saying that every situation will be resolved if we simply throw more prayer at it. That was the situation for Edith, but we cannot quote one example and make it applicable to every situation. Yet I am suggesting that prayer changes situations that would not change without it. Prayer is not simply for us and our benefit.

I know the frustration of the seeming ineffectiveness of prayer; of being (reluctantly) able to recount where what I have prayed has not received an answer, but in it all I am still pushing to move beyond the passivity of ‘God has everything in control, he knows what is best…’ God has entered our world and is walking with us. His activity might not be totally limited by our response, but it is certainly increased with our partnership. Prayers rise to heaven and one day we will see how it all fitted together.

(Disclaimer: I do not possess the prayer book in the image above the title. (Surprised?) Probably would do me some good to get a prayer book… but that is another story!!)

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By the end of the year!

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by Martin Scott
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Friday the Spanish parliament passed a very important vote to exhume Franco’s body from the Valley of the Fallen. (For the objection to this for example: The Guardian.) In 2015 we prayed with Roger and Sue Mitchell at the Valley of the Fallen at at his tomb. Thursday this week past Gayle and I went to the house where he was born. We had believed there still was unfinished business… and Friday the vote!

We have realised of late that in a number of issues that we have given a good push to that we have to finish them, the ‘finishing straight’ can hold the biggest resistance. Tomorrow we will be in Madrid to put a push in prayer behind the move.

We have looked for this year to bring a few things through to a completion. The constitution was signed at the end of 1978 – 40 years ago. Although it was a remarkable constitution to move Spain to democracy, it also needs to be loosened up. At the end of Franco he proclaimed that ‘all things are tied up, well tied up’. So… A time to untie we think.

These past 2 weeks we have been off road – without electricity, only very occasional internet. So getting home (Thursday?) will be great, but also the slow process of working through emails. For those who have written and there has been no reply… either an apology or the gift of patience!!

I will probably put up in a few days some reflections. Particularly with reference to Burgos and to Ferrol. Two major cities that we spent time in.

We have travelled exclusively in the north of Spain. It is our break, but also to get our feet in the land, hence the off road camping. We are also in the process of getting sight on the next 30 years… Might not have another 30 years, but there are those who died in faith whose voice still speaks, and maybe there are those who are alive whose voice does not speak any more. So seems faith is important.

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Memories remembered

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by Martin Scott
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Just under a year ago in our journeys around Spain we visited the city of Badajoz, in the west of Spain just a few kilometres from the Portuguese border. We were provoked to go there during the many months we had travelled seeking to pray into the history of the Muslim expulsions in Spain. We aimed to finish in Gibraltar as that was the entry point in 711AD, and were there over the weekend of September 10th. We had not planned to go to Badajoz but in a dream we had a passionate request:

But do not forget Badajoz and the life threatening storm that is coming there tonight. (Post on the dream in Tarifa/).

When we went to Badajoz we were not ready for what we experienced. It was truly the ‘forgotten place’, and we were more deeply impacted than we realised. Even a local did not know what a sculpture was representing – it represented one of the most brutal massacres of civilians in the whole Spanish civil war. It was opened with an invite by the town council and many of the families affected were gathered – and it was opened without any speeches!!

The place of forgetfulness is the place where memories are kept alive – in the sense of they have not been healed so can be pulled on so that history can repeat / rhyme.

What does one do in those places? Gayle and I are pretty clueless. We walked, prayed, poured out wine and salt. We even tried to sing!!! If anyone knows what to do please send answers on a postcard. If I were to send in my answer it would be ‘stand clueless, and stand until you can move on.’ Probably a pretty rubbish answer.

We were deeply moved when a few months later Pablo Iglesias came to Badajoz and in a public speech spoke of the history and how it will not be forgotten. I wrote about this:
Don’t forget Badajoz on Dec. 2nd last year. So often there is a follow up by someone in some measure of authority to stand where someone who did not know what to do but stood there in the name of Jesus stood before.

Just yesterday we came now across this article in: El Diario outlining guided walks that bring to remembrance the slaughter in Badajoz. The bullring in the photo is where we focused when we were there. It is no longer there and this is where the ‘forgotten’ sculpture is placed.

To say we, the clueless ones, are blown away is an understatement. Let there now be an unlocking.

In the article we can read:

La memoria es un ejercicio democrático. El conocimiento del pasado es necesario para no cometer los mismos errores. Las visitas guiadas quieren fomentar la conciencia histórica para avanzar hacia el futuro, señala José Manuel Rodríguez desde la asociación AECOS.

La Matanza de Badajoz sigue suscitando mucha controversia, y las rutas abogan por visibilizar la memoria de la ciudadanía pacense. “Consideramos que es un hecho histórico que, de manera interesada, fue invisibilizado y ocultado. Manipulado”, destacan desde la organización.

Memory is a democratic exercise. Knowledge of the past is necessary so as not to make the same mistakes. The guided tours want to promote historical awareness to enable forward movement, says José Manuel Rodríguez from the AECOS association.

The massacre de Badajoz continues to provoke a lot of controversy, and the routes promote making the memory of the citizens of Badajoz visible. “We consider that it is a historical fact that, in an interested way, was made invisible and hidden. Manipulated “, stand out from the organization.

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PS: Infant Jesus?

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by Martin Scott
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We have just completed our final day in Prague… A whole load to process and try to put down on paper some time soon. Gayle and I with Annie Bullen had a little PS to the prayer with a trip to the ‘Church of Our Lady Victorious’ where a statue of the infant Jesus is stored behind bullet proof glass. It began life somewhere in Spain and was brought over to Prague by Spanish nobility, and has been venerated here in this church and subsequently in many places throughout the world. Thankfully a lot of prayer has gone into this before, and necessary prayer. Those who had been taken on the issue of the ‘Lady of Guadaloupe’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe) around 10 years ago came to Prague as they discerned that the actual power behind the Guadaloupe situation was the ‘infant Jesus of Prague’. No small issue then!!

Our ‘commission’ was a simple one. Go in and cut off the Spanish roots. If that can be cut then we would expect there to be a draining of power. As we approached the statue we were so aware that so much of the power had already gone… So quietly we positioned ourselves in the middle aisle, and began to pray while there was some measure of buzz around. There was no loud praying, for sure… A priest / monk with a small tour group walked past and said ‘Shhh!’ Then spoke first in Italian (I am pretty sure) then English – where are you from? I replied ‘De España’. He then said: ‘Podaís hablar en Español, pero no en francés ni en ningún otro idioma!’ (You can speak in Spanish, but not in French nor any other language!!!) Unreal… first a confirmation that the authority relating to the statue was Spanish and we took it that we had authority to go for the Spanish roots.

Not a bad PS!

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Ephesus – a big shift

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by Martin Scott
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I am very grateful for my evangelical roots, coming to faith when I was 16 and experiencing the reality of a ‘personal’ relationship with God. Likewise the impact of the charismatic expression of Christianity, healings, miracles, speaking in tongues and all that goes along with that… absolutely life-changing. Backgrounds are important and I know many of my peers have sought to re-position themselves with regard to those two definitions, as labels cannot ultimately define and certainly should not restrict us. My own trajectory has taken me, not so much to move on from them (post-) but to realise that they sit within a bigger landscape. That landscape being that of stewardship of this creation both to point toward the new creation and to draw that new creation ever closer. The body of Christ, is here to bear witness to that new creation and to create space that humanity can fill as less-than-perfect, yet real stewards of, that new creation.

Ephesus was one of the largest cities of Roman Asia Minor, probably pushing toward 200,000 inhabitants. It was wealthy and as per many cities was religious. Temples abounded but the pride of place went to the Temple of Artemis, it being one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The claim was that Artemis’ image had fallen from the sky and therefore the city had a unique relationship as steward of her presence. (This could be simple myth, or perhaps a meteorite had fallen in that vicinity.) Paul’s time in Ephesus was remarkable and I think incredibly instructive. There are a set of elements that are presented in the biblical texts there that are quite incredible. It is quite hard to know were to start and how to list them, but I will try and follow how Luke records them:

  • He found some believers there whose understanding was limited, but they soon became disciples of Jesus in a much fuller way. They seem to become the core of who Paul worked with, taking them with him when he left the synagogue as his focus.
  • Artemis was worshipped throughout Aisa Minor and Paul set up his base in the hall of Tyrannus. Of course what he taught and spoke of we all interpret through our own lenses. An early version of Alpha courses? A fully fledged Sunday meeting with band in place? I don’t think so!! The result though was manifold, one aspect Luke notes is that what he was proclaiming was heard throughout Asia Minor. Throughout her former domain!
  • This can only indicate that the rule of Artemis was seriously challenged, witnessed to by the insistent cry of the populace reacting to Paul’s message: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians’.
  • Not only was her rule challenged but it was seriously weakened and curtailed. Not only was the message heard but also miracles likewise took place throughout what we might call was formerly her territory. Handkerchiefs were carried to those sick, healings and deliverances occurred. Such was the clear impact that even Jewish exorcists employed the phrase ‘by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims’.
  • Occult books were burned, Ephesus being a centre for witchcraft and magic.
  • The economics of the city were challenged and threatened.
  • The hierarchy of government was deeply touched.

There is something there for all of us. Spiritual warfare – bind and loose those powers, go challenge those demons! Public proclamation; miracles, healing and deliverances. Ephesus certainly sets the bar high for us charismatics… But there is much more. for me too much takes place for Paul’s activity to be simply an ancient version of much of our activities today, none of which I am knocking, simply suggesting that God is raising the bar enormously for us. (I think he raised the bar way high when we consider the cross and the resurrection…)

My plan then is to take some of the above themes and try and develop them over a number of posts.

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Let Justice roll down…

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by Martin Scott
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A few years ago we went up to Colon (Columbus) square, Madrid, to pray the day before the so-called Columbus Day. It is certainly a sign of power and from our viewpoint a source of power. We are happy to report that the objections to the annual Columbus day has become more public since then. (Also very happy to report that Margaret Thatcher Square (yes, really) next to this Colon square is now devoid of power!)

Supreme Court

This morning we took a visit back to that area and focused on the Supreme Court (above) and the Audencia Nacional. Our strong sense has been for a few weeks that there is now a phase coming of the judicial powers in Spain being shaken, a cleansing and an exposure of corruption, bribery and lies. So we proclaimed that today in those places. (Well after all you just got to do something, right?)

A few days ago a judge, who said clearly in a major (another major) corruption case involving the government, that he could confirm that a certain M. Rajoy who was in the PP party and had received cash payments was indeed the PM Mariano Rajoy was then removed from the case. Today a judge published a poem that not only insulted the leader of a political party, but in it used mysognist and suggestive language about that party\’s spokesperson (a woman). So we have called time on this. The unravelling of secret (and not so secret) agreements is not how justice was ever designed to flow.

(If you want to read the poem and article about it:

Indignación por un artículo machista de una asociación de jueces sobre Irene Montero.)

So Spain – bumpy ride is a-coming, but it has to and through it all something healthier for one and all.

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Gibraltar: an ending

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by Martin Scott
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It is quite amazing to be home… a journey that effectively began some 9 months ago when we were convinced that we were to give ourselves to the ReConquista and the expulsion of the Muslims from Spain. The final four days of that journey were spent both on La Linea (the Spanish side of the border) and in Gibraltar itself. Before arriving home yesterday Gayle and I spent one final night in Granada on a hill overlooking the city. Granada, being the final Muslim kingdom to surrender, was quite a place to reflect back, at sunset, on the past months. We are not sure what more we will do in direct focus on the ReConquista / expulsions. In the immediate we know something has been completed and we will need time to reflect further. There are so many parallels to the Civil War (36-39) and this might indeed pull us.

In a few days we will head north to the Basque Country, being joined there by Noel and Tricia Richards. After all-but 8000 kms (5000 miles) we plan to kick back for a week!

So Gibraltar – the place where Tariq landed in 711 with a relatively small invading force from Morocco. In a few years from Gibraltar the whole of the Iberian peninsula (with a small exception) was Muslim. The majority of those in the land before and after that invasion were Spanish / Portuguese (excuse the anachronism). They converted from ‘Christianity’ to ‘Islam’. Being the entry point this is what led us there and shaped our plans to end in that geography. We were so glad that we were joined by 8 from the UK (Roger & Sue, Graham & Nicky, Julie, Steve, Lee Ann, Kay), 4 from Sweden (Claes & Kina, Bjorn & Maria), and very thankful that the three who came with us in the first few days of travel some months back were at the end of this phase too – Sam (France), and our Spanish friends who have welcomed us again and again to the land, Noe & Loli. In Gibraltar itself we were welcomed by Stewart and Louisa Duthie who many of us knew from Bridgend in Wales almost 20 years ago. They created wonderful space for us and it was so good to reconnect. So a great group of people all who carry so much history in God. Gayle and I could never have accomplished very much without this group of people.

It is genuinely hard to report on the time there, and certainly we are less able still to make an assessment of what took place. We know as we drove away Sunday night that a huge weight was off our backs, even if we had slept only a few hours each night these past days. Gibraltar was not only the entry point for Islam into the land, but it is a portal from heaven to earth, and as such there are always layers of history in such places. Our focus then was not simply on the entry of Islam – indeed that was barely a focus – but on seeking to align ancient purposes of right trade, hospitality as opposed to piracy and borders that exclude.

We had a big focus on piracy. In our first years in Spain (2009-11) we had a focus on a threefold manifestation: piracy (at work in the banking system), betrayal and murder / destruction (we owe those insights to Michael Schiffmann). As we have travelled we have seen again and again that there was a pattern in the expulsions of betrayal followed by murder. In Gibraltar we sought to shut down the root of the spirit of piracy, not simply in relation to that geography but as it affects the western world system. We worked toward this and on the final morning focused sharply on closing it down and opening what has increasingly accompanied us in our travels – ‘convivencia’. A living together, giving one another space regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or faith. We see this as that which the body of Christ, as a catalyst, is responsible for. Of course the outworking is very challenging. It can leave us as vulnerable and open to being persecuted, and open to living out the Pauline gospel once again! This we consider is the trajectory for the coming years. Vulnerable… lambs among wolves!

We were acutely aware that the era we are living in is so focused. Empires, regardless of what adjective goes with that, are not simply being challenged, but are being exposed and are showing real signs of crumbling. Hard borders will give way to inclusive boundaries. Simply put we believe that our time in Gibraltar contributed to that trajectory. Of course we are probably more impacted as we were involved so our sense might well be exaggerated, but there is a real sense of a before and an after.

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Getting up to date

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by Martin Scott
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A couple of hours ago we arrived in La Linea – the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar. A bed and a shower in a room – luxury for a night or two!! Dust, sand and who knows what else went down the shower plug!! As per usual we have been without WiFi for the past days, so a quick catch up here.

After leaving Huelva we drove to the Portugal side of the border, then drove on to Lagos (not the Nigerian one….) to meet a Brazilian couple who have been there a few months. As is often the case they have to figure out what to from here. Changes / transition like that are enormous, and much easier to speak into than live through. The necessity of the desert is that is the place where you can see what cannot be seen and hear what cannot be heard.

Our main focus in Portugal was two situations – Ourique where there was a decisive battle in 1139 that helped establish Portugal as a nation and overcome the Muslims and Evora that Gerald the Fearless took from the Moors in 1165. He later went on to take the city and taifa of Badajoz (1169). Both situations surprised us a lot. There was not the heavy element that we had discovered elsewhere in our travels. It felt as some aspects had already been undone. Maybe there had been others there long before us, or the Christian presence was living in a different spirit to the ReConquista? It felt as if it should have been heavier!! Mr. ‘Fearless’ is certainly someone of interest, described as the ‘El Cid’ of Portugal he likewise seemed to play both sides, reminiscent also of a certain Juan March whose legacy we are sure to encounter in the next few days…

We slept the night the Portuguese side of the border in Elvas before crossing over to Badajoz. We wanted to be there fresh and ready. Badajoz had come to our attention in a dream a few weeks ago when a Spanish man came to me asking that we don’t forget Badajoz and the life threatening storm coming to it. It was a very strong time there. That city needs joy, laughter and songs. If ever we need a throw-back to some kind of March for Jesus (‘Shine Jesus shine…’) then Badajoz is the location. It is great to have ideals – no Imperialism, the Pauline Gospel restored and all that – but a group of people singing on the streets would do something in that city!

We experienced so deeply the blood shed there, the forgotteness of the city. When things come this city is one that gets hit harder than other cities in Spain was our sense. Taken in the ReConquista, taken by Wellington at great cost – and not cost to his troops alone, but to the city as his disciplined troops went on a rampage of rape and pillage, then in the Civil War when there was the repeat of that history with rape and pillage and some 4000 civilians were murdered after the city was taken. Truly those events were storms, and not simply life-threatening but life-taking storms.

We went to the old bull ring where the slaughter took place. No real acknowledgment of the event. I asked a man walking his dog about one of the sculptures that we knew was supposedly to be a memorial to the victims of the Civil War brutality. A neighbour in that area and he did not know what it was. FORGOTTEN. We said we would not forget you Badajoz as we poured out wine, and the city needs those who will be there to remember the city. If the story will not be told, it will not be remembered, and if not told and remembered it will not be owned; if not owned it can only repeat. Maybe in our travels this was the most challenging of all the places we have been. Come on you singers!!!

In the image above the background building is the palace of congress for arts – built where the old bull ring was, the bull ring where the slaughter took place. It should be a sign of hope and of a new future, but the reality is (and we found this before when visiting Badajoz years ago) that the old allows a semblance of a new to manifest but only allows it to be a semblance, as in reality it swallows it up. In the foreground is a sculpted work in metal that was placed there to remember those who had been slaughtered. This was the piece that I asked the man about. It has no plaque, it was opened with the families of those affected present, without any speech, without any mark of silence or acknowledgement of what had gone on. FORGOTTEN.

From there, pre-Gibraltar, we went to Hornachos, ‘the last refuge of the Moriscos’. A small village, but something strong there. When we left we felt something very strange. We might not need to visit Morocco in this trajectory as from Hornachos we were able to call for the new convivencia in Spain. The last refuge had seed in it to call for the future. From that time on we have been more focused on the future than the past. Strange as we are now overlooking the rock of Gibraltar. The place of power and where the Muslims first came. What of the past will we need to address here? We are not sure. What of the future needs to be called for – that is what we will discover. We are rested and ready. Today is the first time we have been in the shadow of the rock knowing this is the right time.

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Niebla and Huelva

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by Martin Scott
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Always a few challenges on the road regarding charging devices and good internet access and now we discovered that our phone contract does not give us roaming in Portugal. A little difficult as we are due to meet a Brazilian couple who relocated to Lagos, people I met many years ago… So now almost sorted!!! But we had a great day yesterday, a great day for us, so here goes (and one image today that I managed to find on the internet – we do have some great images so use your imagination!!)

Way back when we were living in Cádiz we went on a trip up through Spain connected to the expulsion of Jews from Cádiz and with the promise we would find angels at a key point. It was in a season when we encountered swifts at key moments, including one that flew in our window, flew round the room and out again, then repeated this twice more before flying off. In Niebla we found an openness in the Spirit, felt that was the place, prayed and swifts showed up. That was probably 2012/13.

Yesterday we visited there but this time connected to the ReConquista (it is very interesting to note the parallel aspects to the Jew and Muslim story in Spain). Niebla, now a smallish town was once the centre for a sizeable kingdom that went right across the south of Portugal (the Algarve). In the centre of town there is statue of ‘the last king of the Algarve’. Mûsâ Ibn Muhammad Ibn Nassir Ibn Mahfûz (the last king / emir) was defeated by Alfonso X in 1262 who had sided with a rival Muslim leader then when he had his objectives met took control. Our prayer time there was strong, I pushed into the history and (of course somewhat subjective) there was a deep sense of touching the history. I also – and will continue to do so – prayed into what we now believe was a specific curse left across Spain through the expulsions of there being no rest in the land. Gayle has picked up on the descendants of those who went before and prayed for them including those in Morocco.

We then left to go back to our van, back through the gate of ‘socorro’ (help but more of rescue) – the gate that Alfonso entered the city. There was one person sitting near our van, and only one person in that area. I asked him a question about one of the Spanish words on a plaque. He instantly opened his phone and searched it for us. We began to talk. ‘Are you from here?’ ‘I am from Morocco but am Spanish.’ He was born in Niebla but to Moroccan parents. We talked a little about what we are doing and then he opened up about his own faith (Islam) and issues of racism and suspicion which of course have increased since the Barcelona attack. He said that now walking into a cafe he senses he is looked at differently with people wondering if he too might be a potential terrorist. We then did a small prophetic act with him – put some money in his hands as a sign for his future and for the future of Spain. Could he even have been a descendant of the former emir?

At this point two photos that are on a phone we cannot access would have been sweet!! Although neither of us are of the ‘selfie’ kind of photo taking people (I hear the shock at that revelation) we took two photos yesterday. The first was of us with the statue of the emir. The next one – and we only realised later – was of us with Samir, the young Spanish Moroccan we met. Past and present, with a seed for the future. We now pray for him to find Jesus amidst dreams and to be a young man of peace for the future, for a renewed deep convivencia. If the wolf will lie with the lamb… then we must have convivencia as a kingdom sign.

Huelva: Christopher Columbus

In 2014 we made a little attempt at praying into Columbus Day while in Madrid. It seems that there has been more objection to it since that prayer. There is of course a tie to the ReConquista and Columbus (1492, he sails; Jews are exiled and Granada falls). He is sent out to conquer for Spain and for God – same theme as in the ReConquista and in the Civil War.

We believe we are at a time in history when we have to go much deeper. Each generation has to be obedient to God in their generation, and what was permitted in one generation is not necessarily permitted in the next. God has been in and through Christendom, not because he approved of it, but he goes where we go. We see the same principle in the life of Israel – he is in and with the priests, the king and the temple, but none of those three elements did he call for! It is time to undo the Christendom agenda and pattern, so it was awesome to stand before the statue in Huelva and declare a shift. For us a connection with our prayers in 2014. We will head south next week toward Gibraltar to meet up with others there, and en route we will pass near to where Columbus first sailed from, Puerta Santa Maria. We had wondered if we had to go there en route, but as soon as we stepped out of the van in Huelva we both knew that this was the power source and the place to push for the shift. The statue says it all – Columbus travelling to conquer supported by the cross!!

Today we head West and head for Lagos, then to Albufeira so that tomorrow we can be set ready for two places up through Portugal: Ourique and Evora sleeping in Elvas at the end of tomorrow – right across from the place we will seek not to forget, Badajoz.

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