UK Retreat: Encounter with the Supernatural

A Time to GoAt about 9.15am a few days ago on Sunday, April 30, 2017, The Preacher retreat in the United Kingdom came to a splendid close with supernatural encounters at the elegant four-star landscaped De Vere Hotel, Theobalds Estate, Lieutenant Ellis Way, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, EN7 5HW.   We wished we could continue, but we had to go.  Says Solomon the wise man, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” – a time to come, and a time to go (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).  We left, with pictures both of the Italian gardens of that gorgeous Georgian manor estate at the outskirts of London and with the fragrance of God’s glory reinforcing the strong urge to return next year into what one participant described as the rare atmosphere of His presence.  For some, the invitation to return was in their angelic encounter.  That was the awesome story of one pastor who had come to the retreat from Africa; a story I shall shortly narrate.Wingless AngelsIt is not often that one physically meets an angel, and they do not always wear their wings, which is why Paul advises that we handle strangers cautiously, because they could be angels (Hebrews 13:2).   Mr Manoah the father of Samson had only one encounter with an angel, an angel without wings, an angel that looked like “a man” (Judges 13:10-13).  In 2014 we published an article entitled “Wingless Angels,” on the angel that the women disciples had met at the tomb of Jesus on that first Easter morning.  He was just “a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment,” who said to them, “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:5-6); a young man whose strange words and ways moved them in no mean way.  St Luke further reports how what was probably another batch of women had found “two men” standing at the empty tomb of Jesus, men who talked with them no differently than other men do (Luke 24:4).Not everyone sees an angel; not always do we see angels, and they do not often wear their wings when they show up to mortals.Rare Angelic EncountersMighty Gideon the deliverer of Israel saw an angel only once (Judges 6:11).  Prophet Elijah had only one such rare encounter, when an angel twice brought him a meal in his season of great depression (1 Kings 19:5-8).  We do not know if Prophet Isaiah ever saw one.  Queen Esther never saw an angel, neither did Jeremiah.  Peter in the New Testament had a privileged few encounters (Acts 5:19-20; 12: 7-9).  Even though angels are always with us, it is not to everyone they materialise, and they do not usually show up with a wing.The Angel at Heathrow International AirportThis pastor with his wife had attended a previous retreat in Ashford, Kent, at which not a few participants testified to seeing angels in the hall.  During that retreat, he got the very distressing news that his only brother in the United States, who had recently been born again, had died.  On top of that was the bad news about his son in a university in the Island country of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, who had met unfavourable company and had otherwise used up his school fees of thousands of dollars.  With the grief of his lost brother sufficiently weighing down on him, he was proceeding to meet that boy in Cyprus and teach him a good father’s unforgettable lesson.At the Heathrow International airport after the retreat, on his way to war with that errant son, he met an angel – an elderly man, looking like one of the airport cleaners.  He was a black man that spoke with what seemed to the pastor like an East African accent.  The man said to the pastor. “My son, you are grieving greatly, but what has just happened will not happen again.”  Those words were very important to him, because he had lost a first brother, and now the other only brother.  He had begun verily to fear if he were the next one to die.   The old man proceeded, “You are on your way to Cyprus to meet your son.  Don’t worry, he is a good son.”  Then the man went on to address other private matters that he could not have naturally known. The pastor and his wife looked one another in the face, perplexed.  The pastor was glad his wife was by him watching the drama unfold, otherwise how could he have believably narrated the encounter to her?  Finally, the man offered to check them straight into the plane ahead of the long queue of passengers waiting to board.  When did ordinary cleaners begin to board passengers on a plane, he wondered.  He told the old man that they preferred to remain in the queue, and the ‘man’ walked away.  The pastor got to Cyprus with no fight left in him against the ‘prodigal’ son, who today has turned into a great testimony.The Shekinah like a Bright LightThe pastor said to himself, If coming to that retreat should grant me such rare angelic breakthrough, I shall return to London, and he was there to tell his story; but that was not all.  At the recent retreat at De Vere, a couple of participants reported to having seen an awesome bright light in the little hall where we worshipped and prayed.  It was God Himself, or His glory, like a light.  A UK police officer at the retreat saw what she described as the throne of God that filled the house where we worshipped. A few other remarkable encounters were had, for which we do not have the space now.Answered in a HurryA woman had been invited to the retreat by a pastor she much respected.  Notice was short, funds were rare, there were bills to pay, but she came – with one nagging prayer.  Her brother in South Africa had disappeared from the radar for so, so long that she feared the worst about him. All attempts to reach him had been unfruitful.  “O God,” she had prayed, “may I hear from or about my brother.”  Her prayer was answered in a hurry.  By the second day of the retreat, she received a call from Belgium, her brother was OK, and would reach her soon.  She has sworn to not miss the retreat next year, if God answered prayers there in such a hurry.  She is a professor at a University in the UK.  The atmosphere of that retreat seems to have been summed up in the words of the intercessor-pastor from Manchester who remarked that it has been a very long time since she has been in that kind of refreshing fellowship in God’s undeniable presence.Back to Birmingham with a Holy PassionA medical doctor from Birmingham was so specifically impacted by her encounters at the retreat that she left with a passion to commence a Preacher family of sorts in her city, preparatory to a more massive participation next year.  Pastor Roseline, much liked by her members whom she had encouraged and some sponsored to the event, said it was in the interest of her church-growth that her members came with her and grew with her.  Almost her entire workforce followed her.  At church the Sunday after the retreat, participants began thankfully to say how God had met them at De Vere.  Pastor Roseline at once commenced to mobilise everyone to register for the retreat next year.And the Fire Spreads…That was not the only pastor who had gone aflame from that retreat.  A few church leaders who had been invited but missed the retreat were full of regrets at hearing the stories of what God had done.  A senior pastor in one of the leading global churches in London has already committed to getting his leadership and pastoral network to not miss the Shekinah next year.  From Nigeria also, some respected Christian leaders have commenced indication of interest to be at the 2018 retreat.I Missed my FlightRetreat had ended.  I rested a day, then hurried to the airport as scheduled.  I had checked in online ahead of my arrival at Heathrow International Airport. It was about the dot of time, one counter was still open. They took my passport in a hurry, to check me on. My luggage had been weighed and passed.  Just then, a Manager -  was he an angel of a different kind – came from behind and asked them to disboard me, that if I had arrived five minutes earlier I could have been on the flight.  No explanation would help.  I was fined £119.00 if I wished to travel the next day.  I dragged myself off the check-in counter to a different desk where I paid the penalty very grudgingly.  I needed to return soon enough to other schedules already being threatened by this sudden sad angel’s intervention.  I returned to my lodgement in London, trying with much pain to ‘praise God in all things.’That evening, we were visited by two pastors one of whom was the one who had met the angel at Heathrow airport.  They were followed by a couple that had been at the retreat.  The husband had long desired to be baptised with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. He had gone through many previous ‘ministrations’ that had had no result, and he and his wife had begun to feel very concerned. Then, out of the blues, our hostess said to me, “This is probably why you missed your flight.”  Maybe, I said, more determined to make a gain out of my pain of a missed flight and unplanned expenses. We prayed, and the man was filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, his wife much relieved.  I sent him off with his wife, still full of the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues.  For His sake I missed my flight?  Maybe.  How strangely the angels work sometimes! At the same airport where an angel was ready to board some unwilling travellers, another had ensured I missed my flight, and made me pay for it.London 2018What did we discuss at the last retreat?  What messages were preached?  Hopefully, that shall be Chapter Next.Date for next year’s retreat is May 4-6th, 2018 (banking holiday).  Venue has already been secured.  Some persons have signed on already, and so have I.  For registration, kindly note the following details:Single occupancy: £185.00 per personDouble occupancy (shared rooms) £135.00 per person (i.e. £135.00  x 2).Children aged 11-16 @ £101.25 Children aged 4-10 @ £67.50Children under 4 years go FREE Day delegates – No Accommodation & Dinner only is still £20.00 per day For 1 night only May 5th – 6th (Sat am to Sun am)Single occupancy now £105.00 per personDouble occupancy now £75.00 per person (this particular price is still to be confirmed) Account details –Account name: The Preacher, UKBank: BarclaysSort code: 20-44-91Account no: 23974367IBAN: GB33 BARC20449123 974367 Thank you so much. Shalom. Contact: Helen:  [email protected]> See you next year, at the same venue.  Your angel is waiting for you.  Amen.The Preacher