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| In the Beginning |
| Ponderings and Contemplations:-In the few months prior to the Vision the Lord gave me, I began enquiring of God as to why people who say they are committed to God tend to suffer with issues that seem quite out of character to their confessions. The verse in John 10:10 became a key piece of scripture that launched me on my quest to better understand what “having life and having it [life] more abundantly” was really all about. As I began to ponder the scripture, I also began to question The Lord as to why this was not prevalent in so many Christian lives. |
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| Our Mission Statement: |
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| Unfolding the vision:- It was not until one evening in July of 2008, as my family and I were
getting ready to go out for the evening, I was confronted with an answer to
a question I had raised with the Lord. On the 10th of July 2008, as I was
busy getting ready, I noticed and distinctly remember a very powerful
evangelist ministering on TV. He paused during the course of his message and
said “You there! Yes you… in front of the TV, you’ve been questioning God,
if He will be with you, if this is His plan for you, if you should take a
step of faith and start a ministry.’ At this point I became fixed to the
spot on which I was standing. He continued… “Go start a fire … yes a fire
for God! And see Him come through for you on the other side… You do it and
you see just how He will come through for you.” With that, the evangelist
broke back into his message and I went about pondering that challenge. It
was the next morning that when I was in my early morning prayer that the
Spirit said to me, “you heard the word from my servant last night, it was
for you. Are you ready to step up to the task at hand?” I remember telling
the Lord that I would know if it was His Spirit if after sharing with my
wife, Christine, she would stand with me to embrace this challenge. I came
home that morning, and after contemplation during the day, that same evening
after the kids were in bed, I told my loving wife what the Lord had said and
how He wanted me to hold a revival. My words to Christine were “Pup [my
nickname for Christine], if I said to you that the Lord wants me to hold a
revival, what would you say?!” I remember Christine saying to me “It’s about
time you stepped up to what God has planned for you.” So with my Christine
by my side, we stepped out in pure faith and began planning the revival.
Little did we know that this revival was to become the launching pad for the
birth of Haven of Rest. |
A Walk of Faith:- With no idea of
how to proceed, we began calling around to see if there was a hall that we
could use. The Lord brought an amazing lady into contact with us, who gave
us a hall, just right and at a heavily discounted rate. We were staggered at
how these initials steps were coming together and could only logically
conclude that this was indeed the Lord’s doing.
In addition to this, a dear friend of ours provided us with all the sound
and lighting equipment. However, as I quickly became aware of my limited
resources, I remember going to the Lord in prayer during these initial
planning stages and telling Him that I was going to conduct the worship time
with a few backing tracks and songs on my laptop. Little did I know what the
Lord had in store! Again, amazingly I had a call from yet another friend of
many years gone by who got me in contact with a young Bible college student
who said he would gladly play for the revival. What I did not expect was to
have an entire eight (8) piece band on stage leading us in tremendous Praise
and Worship. |
| The Countdown begins:-
30 days and counting …
With the day’s beginning to fade away, and the revival drawing ever closer, the hall hire charge was the only fee that was required to be paid up front. To my utter amazement The Lord spoke to one of our church friends (who might I add is now a part of our ministry and leadership team) which lead to that faithful servant generously giving us an envelope stating “this [money] was for the revival”. This money and the additional amount I put in covered the hall hire charges!
There was still one more item remaining which needed to be finalised. This was the advertising of the revival. I wanted to put this on radio and one can imagine that the cost in doing so was no small fee. I was prepared to draw this out of my own savings to pay for this expense because by now I was convinced that The Lord was preparing His way to undertake a mighty work. However, The Lord surprised me again when a loving couple (who are now also a part of our ministry) stepped up and paid for the advertisement costs. Amazing!
God had used each of His servants to contribute to this budding ministry. These loving and visionary people would later become the core of our ministry. |
| Menzies Hall Revival:-
The revival was to run for five (5) nights from the 18th of July to 22nd of August 2008. This is what the Lord instructed me to do. I remember asking the Lord why the revival had to take place for five (5) nights, and not just one (1). He told me that five (5) was the number for GRACE and true to His Word, over those five (5) nights we saw the Lord faithfully administer His grace to all those who attended.
The Word of God was preached, The Name of Jesus was lifted up and people were delivered and healed! |
| Haven of Rest Is Born:-
Two days before the Menzies Hall revival began, the Lord told me that a church was going to be born out of this revival. Every state of emotion that accompanies a revelation of this nature immediately swamped my mind. You see, becoming a Pastor was not what I had in mind. I was willing to do the revival, but to lead and shepherd people were not on the cards. Many people I thought to be close to my family and I laughed at us, ridiculed us and joked about the revelation that the Lord had laid on my heart. I remember one morning in prayer the Lord telling me “To seal up the vision until the appointed time”. I later understood that it was God’s way of protecting me from taking in negative thoughts and words that could destroy the budding seed of faith in my life. Through the leading of the Holy Spirit, The Lord dealt with my concerns and my fears and empowered me to begin the walk of faith. |
| The Beginning:-
Close to a year later Haven of Rest is flourishing and showing tremendous progress in Christ. With powerful evangelistic crusades, phenomenal healing and deliverances in the south east regions of Melbourne and the addition of couple of new families and persons, it is clear to see that God is in control of this ministry and its leadership. Since the birth of this church we have seen so many lives radically transformed decisions made to follow Jesus Christ. |
| International Ministries.
We have had some very powerful Ministers from different countries of the world preach at our services from time to time which have had a life changing impact on many who attend. |
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| Loving Families …Changing Lives …Meeting God. |
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| " In the early hours of one very cold winter morning I sensed in my Spirit that The Lord was drawing me into a place of secret closet prayer (Psalm 91) so He could reveal to me the answers He had to my many questions. " |
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