Summer 2009
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
We send you summertime greetings along with thanksgiving to our Lord as we labor in His harvest in Portland. This is a wonderful time of the year and the Square in downtown Portland is bustling with activity giving us opportunities each and every day. There is such a variety of people coming by the corner where we interact with tourists from all over the world as well as tour groups of students from such places as South Korea and Japan.
We have been called to be witnesses to His presence (Acts 1:8) and chosen to be laborers in His great harvest (Matthew 9:38) which is a great honor and awesome responsibility. It is always a joy to share the gospel with someone, especially someone in their teens and early twenties. The young men and women who come to us and have never heard the gospel, ask us some very good questions. This can be quite challenging because they usually have so much information from the Internet, and are so involved in Internet culture, that we find ourselves in cross-cultural and trans-generational missionary activity. We ask for your prayers concerning this challenge and opportunity.
There are also those older men and women who have been “burned out in the bushes and blown out on the trail” (Matthew 13:1-9). Their initial approach to us is usually one of hostility and they are usually wounded and angry mixing Jesus, organized religion, republican politics, family troubles, and personal failures into one big mess of hurt and confusion. Each of these interactions usually take some time because we have to patiently endure all their hostility and rejection in order to begin to hear their heart and then to hear the Holy Spirit’s response and ministry to them.
4 Dimensional Love Bringing 4 Dimensional Healing.
Here are two scriptures which we desire to walk in when we meet those who have been “burned out in the bushes and blown out on the trail.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul prayed,
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit,
soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Holy Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, and peace are so important during these times of ministry to such wounded and hurting people. We must patiently wait for His Spirit to minister to the spirit of the person in order to bring healing to the mind and the emotions of their soul. The damage the enemy has done to the person’s spirit usually results in damage to the emotions and mind and often is evidenced by some kind of sickness in the body. The healing of the spirit, mind, emotions, and body has four dimensions. The Holy Spirit leads us in healing ministry as He speaks to our hearts during such times.
In Ephesians 3:16—19 we see four dimensions to love when Paul prayed that we would be,
“strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man … being rooted and grounded
in love…able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and
height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge…and be filled with all the
fullness of God.”
This four dimensional love strengthens the inner man and can be known in the heart. As we are rooted in love we can know the love of Christ and be filled with His presence.
We were sitting by the MAX stop @ the Square when David came by and stayed with us. He talked for a while and then picked up some calendar cards and started to hand them out and speak with people who stopped by. Before he left he blessed us with a generous monetary gift to help us along.
During this time some young folks came by and read the sign on the backpack, “Jesus Heals. Ask Us For Healing Prayer. Jesus Forgives and Heals.” They also received some calendar cards. One of them took two tracts written in Japanese since she reads the language. They hung around talking among themselves at the corner and then left.
As we were walking up 6th Ave. to catch our bus home we noticed it go by. We could have run to another stop to catch it but did not. Then we noticed a group of young people at the bus stop with a sign reading, “Free Prayer.” A couple of them had our calendar cards and we recognized them from the Living Room. They told us that they were students with InterVarsity and were from PSU, U of O, and OSU. We talked briefly with them about some of our past experiences ministering at PSU with various groups, including InterVarsity, and gave them an article we had written about being a laborer in our Lord’s harvest.
We often pray with people while they are waiting for their next MAX train so we noted their sign and asked these students to pray for us while we waited for our next bus. One of them asked if it was OK if they put their hands on us while they prayed and we agreed. (It is good to ask before touching anyone and shows kindness and respect.)
We asked them to pray that our labors would be fruitful @the Square and they gathered around us, bowed their heads, and prayed as we waited for our bus. Then we prayed for them concerning reaching their own generation.
We shared a little about God’s four dimensional love (Ephesians 3:18) bringing four dimensional healing to the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. (2 Thessalonians 5:23) We talked briefly about the deep needs in their generation coming of age in such a broken culture filled with pain, distractions, violence, and fear. As our bus approached we gave them a couple of copies of our June newsletter which you may read on our website.
This is one time we are glad we missed our bus.
The Wind of the Holy Spirit
In John chapter 3 we read about the time when Nicodemus came to Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that a man must be born again or born from above by the Holy Spirit in order to see or enter into the Kingdom. Paul also wrote that the Kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). During his time of ministry with Nicodemus Jesus revealed an important truth.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it
comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit using the metaphor of the wind. And He says that the one born of the Holy Spirit hears the sound of the Holy Spirit. Since the Kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit it becomes very important for us to “hear the sound of the wind” and be led by the Holy Spirit. We need to hear the voice of the Spirit in order to minister the Kingdom in our interactions with people being drawn to us by the Holy Spirit.
Those who “hear the sound of the wind” carry the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives, most importantly love. In 1 Corinthians 13 and 14 Paul writes that love never fails and that we are to pursue love. Paul writes that we are to pursue love and desire the gifts especially that we may prophesy and speak words which are Spirit and Life (Note John 6:63). These words can bring comfort, encouragement, and strength to those who receive them. And every brother and sister who knows Jesus can be filled with the Holy Spirit and hear the sound of the Holy Spirit in each and every situation of our lives. As we walk in His love we bring His healing to the spirit, mind, emotions, and body of every person He draws to us; no matter where we are – church @ 24/7.
Testimony ~ from Karen @ the Square
A young man came over to me and asked for a tract and prayer. He said he was born again but that he was on methadone. I asked him if he was baptized in the Holy Spirit and filled with the Spirit. As he was nodding out on methadone, he apologized and said that even though he was nodding out he could hear me. So I told him the Holy Spirit would give him the power to become a child of God and that the power would help him to be set free of his addiction. I called Ron over and we both started to pray in the Holy Spirit. As we were praying in the Spirit, he began to pray in the Spirit. We also prayed the words God gave us over him. He never nodded out while we were praying over him. I saw him the next day and he came over and talked to us. He was rejoicing. He had convinced his counselor to lower his dose of methadone to half and he was no longer nodding off. As he was leaving, he said he was praying in the Holy Spirit’s prayer tongue often.
Thank You for Your Prayers and Support!
We send you our heartfelt thanksgiving for all your prayers, love and generous, kind, and encouraging support. With this letter we send you our love, encouragement, and prayers. May you “hear the sound of the wind” in all that you do and wherever and whenever you are – 24/7! Thank you for your notes and your emails which bring much joy to our hearts.
…walking Along The Way with Jesus…
…desiring to live in the glory of Fully Awakened Hearts…
~ Ron & Karen
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293