Reflections From My Brazil Trip

Thank you to any who read this blog and who prayed for me during my trip to Brazil. Below is the first part of my reflections from the trip. You can download a 4 page version of my reflections from my web site, or email me for a longer version.

Tom’s Up Front Note: These notes are personal reflections and are not in any way intended to promote me or what happened in and through me. I am deeply humbled that God should have touched anyone through me, and I recognize that I am a mere toddler in the supernatural realm. Others on the team saw far more happen than I did, and I truly rejoice with them. But I wanted and needed to make a personal reflection. And some folks requested a copy of this simply because of their interest in the things of God. Soli Deo gloria! (Latin for “To God alone be the glory”).

Trip Overview: A total of 80 team members, including Gary and Kathi and their support staff went to Brazil to train pastors and leaders in healing the sick, deliverance and inner healing and to leave an impartation for accessing the supernatural realm more fully, etc. We served the people of Brazil in two locations: Joinville (sponsored by a Foursquare Church) and Londrina (sponsored by Casa de Davi). We also visited a couple of orphanages in Joinville and received impartation and teaching in Londrina from Mike Shea and the others who are part of Casa de Davi (an incredible prophetic ministry in Londrina that focuses on preparing the Bride of Christ and emphasizes 24/7 worship, etc.).

Sessions each day included training/ministry sessions for pastors and leaders in the morning and more general teaching and healing sessions in the evenings. We concluded our time in each city with impartation services where we laid hands on people for impartation, starting with the pastors..

General Personal Reflections

The level of worship and the level of God’s power were something I have never, ever experienced! I learned more about healing, deliverance and inner healing in these two weeks than I had in the previous 10 years—it was like an ultimately accelerated course. All of us also received several personal impartations—I spent almost all of my time on the floor worshiping, repenting, receiving, etc.

God did some amazingly deep healing work in my own life even as He flowed through me to minister to Brazilian people and to some of the team members. One huge breakthrough for me personally was a revelation of God’s love for me that was more complete than any I have ever previously experienced. The combination of others loving on me and praying for me (especially some young ladies from Dallas and Dave Duggan’s prayer one afternoon) plus deep encounters with God while in worship and while alone, brought some kind of breakthrough that I am still processing. Another surprising thing that happened to me was that I was asked to be one of four speakers in Londrina, speaking to four different churches on four successive nights. God had told me that I would be speaking in Brazil, but I didn’t believe Him until Gary came up and asked me to speak. I am humbled and awed by God’s favor and trust that something of God’s goodness flowed through me.

Personal Lessons Learned

• I am more convinced than ever that everything flows out of ever increasing intimacy with Papa God!
• I am in anguish for the US church after experiencing what I did in the sponsoring church in Joinville. Rare indeed is the US church that enjoys the level of freedom and power that I saw in Joinville.
• I continue to be challenged by God to minister only from the place of His compassion. I am appalled at how easily distracted I am while ministering to people so that I lose sight of God’s compassion. I am convinced that if we can minister from a place of rest deep within the Father’s heart, flowing in His compassion, we will see our faith rise to unprecedented levels that see the full release of God’s Kingdom power.
• I will never be the same because of the repentance Mike Shea brought us to and because of the impartations I received from Gary and Kathi, from Davi Silva and from the Casa de Davi team and from other members of our ministry team.
• I marvel at the many Kingdom connections that came on this trip for so many of us: Mike , a college professor (department head) was one; my roommate, Drew, was another, etc. I know beyond any doubt that this trip was the specific one I was supposed to be part of—something many others would also say.

Corporate Lessons Learned

• The reality of the spiritual world was brought into bold relief during this trip. Western Christians are generally terribly naïve about how real the invisible world is and how it is the primary source of influence on our lives. This truth was brought home in a myriad of ways: the obvious spiritual conflict that was occurring all the time; the need for deliverance and breaking witchcraft before healing could occur, the teachings by Mike Shea; the presence of angels and the abundance of supernatural visions, words, revelation, etc. Wow!
• The connection between the emotional, the spiritual and the physical became undeniably clear. I cannot recall praying for anyone who was physically healed who did not need to forgive someone or renounce something or have something broken off of them. Everyone seemed to need at least one of these, if not all of them, before being able to receive healing (physical or inner).
• Mike Shea’s teachings on praying for the transformation of a city, on the Lord’s prayer, on the worship of the four living creatures need to be heard by everyone! Too much here to recount, but I plan to make his messages available to everyone (he gave us permission to do so).
• The connection between unbridled worship—led by true worshipers—and the spiritual breakthrough that follows was forever cemented in my heart.
• The need for everyone to continue to experience in deeper ways the Father’s love was also powerfully brought home to me. Related to this is our own need to minister only from love and compassion. I can’t count the number of people who asked me to pray for them to have the same kind of love and compassion that they saw in me, and I am just a tiny beginner in this!
• Faith is a matter of the heart, not the head, and faith is something we must grow into. I know in my head that God wanted to heal people in wheelchairs, the blind, the little 5 year old paralyzed girl that I prayed for, but the level of faith in my heart wasn’t there yet. But growing confidence in the goodness of God, coupled with what healing we do experience, causes faith to move from head to heart. “More, Lord, more—for your honor and for the blessing of your people!”
• Listening to the Holy Spirit is the most important part of praying for folks, whether for physical healing, inner healing or deliverance. I find that I am often too quick to start talking or asking questions of the person rather than tuning in to what the Spirit is saying. “Change me, O Lord!”
• Every miracle is a wonderful kiss of love from a loving Father and a lesson to be learned from (as Pastor Bill Johnson often reminds us!).

I will write next time about what I learned about some hindrances to healing that we saw as we prayed for people. For now, I am off to a week of vacation!

Stay lost in God's love.

Tom, Abba's least child.