Are you ready? Can you believe it? It is already time to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR!! I cannot really believe that I am writing this – another year is wrapping up and 2025 is nearly here. WOW! Reflecting a little on this year I have to confess it has definitely had its moments of struggle where I have needed intense discipline to keep my eyes on the main joys of life and not get distracted with bad news and difficult circumstances. But 2024 has also had moments of real delight and incredible joy! I have had so many stories of answered prayer and miracles. As I paused and thought about this year, this Psalm came to mind. In Psalm 77 we read the following encouragement:
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’ Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.
I wonder, as this year ends and you wrap presents for your friends and family, if you can consider the miracles you have witnessed in the lives of those close and near to you? As you write the emails and send cards, remember the stories and journeys that you have been on together this year. I believe that God has been walking intimately with us in the mess of a complex year. Marriages have been healed, friendships restored and deepened, babies and grandchildren born, houses bought and sold after much prayer, finances and businesses have experienced miracles and survival when there seemed to be no hope….and so many other happenings. Take a moment to consider the miracle-working God who has been with you in 2024.
Heartcry has continued to be busy over this last month of November. In fact, as I have sat and looked ahead to our December schedule, I have realised we are still busy with a variety o f m e e t i n g s , c o n n e c t i o n s a n d ministry until the very end of the year. Helen and I will travel to Egypt in December returning to the UK on the 17th December –hopefully leaving us just enough time to cook, shop and prepare for Christmas! We have included our December 2024 and January 2025 schedule for you with this letter so that you can pray for us. We will not write a separate Christmas letter to you this year but we will post a message on our social media and give you a virtual hug!
Helen and I started this last month in Exeter in Rediscover Church. We had an incredible weekend. For me one of my memories will be a conversation with a student who had just started reading geography at the university. He came to Rediscover Church for the first time on the Sunday that I was speaking. After the service he shared with me some of his personal story. He had heard my name when being introduced to speak and then realised that it was familiar. On checking with his parents, they confirmed that I was the one who had prayed for them 22 years earlier at a conference in Swanwick when they thought they were unable to have children. Suddenly here he was, just starting university and in this church for the first time, and he meets the woman who prayed for him to come into the world. Even more amazing was that I spoke that morning from Jeremiah 1 about the God who forms you, sets you apart and then appoints you. God was so kind and just confirmed His love and care for this young man and I know God was smiling that day as we connected! It was also a special weekend for Helen. She was able to be with her sister and welcome her little nephew into the world. A special family time.
There have been so many special moments this month. Nicola was preaching at the Hillsong conference, powerfully communicating the importance of God’s word in our lives. I spoke in our Oxford Hillsong and saw three young men who were in church for the first time give their lives to Jesus and then return in the afternoon on that same Sunday to come and be baptised! Gordon and I had the joy of being at Anchor Point for the grand opening with Betel partners from the USA, Spain and around the world. We celebrated the goodness of what God had done and Gordon preached on Saturday night on the Revival of Miraculous Power. So many came to the altar and dedicated their lives to Jesus. We have also visited many cities – from Rotherham, Birmingham, Fleet, Epping Forest, Oxford to Exeter… speaking in different churches, denominations and backgrounds. Everywhere we have witnessed a hunger for Jesus and a desire to surrender to God and His ways more completely. People are turning to God. Last Sunday the church told me there were 8 first time decisions for Jesus after I spoke; this thrills my heart. Jesus is being revealed in this nation. We have also taken time to mentor leaders, have zoom calls with prophets and others across the nations, sat in board meetings as trustees and directors and asked God for wisdom in this next season. There is always a wide variety of tasks and I am so aware that we need wisdom to navigate this season well.
One of the joys and privileges of ministry is when people come back to you with stories of what Jesus has done since we visited or ways in which the message was confirmed. In October we had time with some leaders in Liverpool. Others from Birmingham had joined them and we spent some time praying for the city of Birmingham. I was reminded of a picture God had given me about this city at the heart of our nation. I shared it with the leaders, explaining that I felt God wanted to alert them to the “stuttering heart” of the nation which had recently also been declared financially bankrupt. I had felt that the Church in Birmingham needed to pray intentionally and with a new Kingdom authority and that, as they sought God in this way, their prayers would become like the life-saving paddles of a defibrillator to kick-start the heart of the city and the nation with new life and hope. It was a very vivid picture which resonated with the leaders. On returning home, one of these leaders emailed us a few days later. He was surprised and encouraged to see an article in a local Birmingham newspaper about an area of the city called Small Heath. The article said that Small Heath “has been identified as the worst place in the UK for accessing a life-saving defibrillator in the event of a cardiac arrest, according to the latest data from the British Heart Foundation”!! What an incredible sign that God had been speaking and what confirmation of the need for the Church to stand in the gap!
We passionately believe in the power of prayer to bring about change and release strangleholds. At our last Legacy Day in September, we prayed for some leaders from a smaller church who were very discouraged by the apparent lack of new believers. Although they had a baptism service the next day, they had been disappointed that only two people wanted to make a commitment. As we prayed with them in the room, we felt that this stranglehold would break and that there would be a sign of this shift with a new harvest of souls. When they got home, they heard that during that Saturday, while we had all been praying, the number of candidates had doubled to four. During the baptism service on the Sunday, the minister gave an appeal and five more people came forward to be baptised then and there! They had nine people being baptised! You can imagine their delight and the sense of the birthing of something new (9 is always symbolic of new birth!). Along with these stories to encourage you, we want to extend a very warm welcome to you to attend our new year Legacy Day “Pray 2025” on Saturday 18 January 2025 in Oxford. This will be a day of prophetic hope and encouragement and a time to pray together at the start of the new year. Our friend Sue Rinaldi will be leading worship for us and we expect that there will be more breakthroughs as we stand together for one another and for our nations. Tickets are availablethrough our website or via the event link on Facebook. A fifth of places have already been taken so please do consider booking in soon to avoid disappointment. Maybe you know friends who would also enjoy this day. Please do share the link with them and why not plan a day out together!
Looking ahead into the new year, we have a variety of other ministry engagements across the UK where we would love to see you…please see the schedule below. You will also see that later on in January Helen will be having some surgery on her ankle. Please pray that it is successful in resolving the significant pain and limitation she has struggled with. Recovery time can be fairly long after this kind of procedure, with six weeks non-weight bearing before being allowed to start to walk and, eventually, drive again over the following 6 weeks. We are believing for accelerated healing and rapid recovery…or of course a complete miracle before surgery! Helen also asks for prayer that the “enforced rest” off her feet will be fruitful and focussed. Please pray for us as the Heartcry team as we adjust the schedule to cover our commitments and support Helen’s recovery.
Here is an overview of our ministry schedule with links to the various church websites so that you can join us for any of the public meetings if you live nearby.
Ministry Dates December 2024 & January 2025
1 Dec Fresh Bread message, Heartcry social platforms (Rachel)
1-2 Dec Jesusfellesskapet, Bergen, Norway (Rachel & Gordon)
7-8 Dec Hillsong Church, Newcastle, UK (Rachel & Helen)
10-17 Dec Overseas trip (Rachel & Helen)
20-30 Dec Heartcry office closed for Christmas
31 Dec-6 Jan Heartcry new year retreat (team will be out of the office)
8-9 Jan South West Youth Ministries training, Lee Abbey, UK (Helen)
18 Jan PRAY 2025 Heartcry Legacy Day, Oxford, UK (Rachel, Gordon & Helen)
19 Jan Legacy Church, Walsall, UK (Rachel or Helen tbc)
22 Jan Helen ankle surgery
25-26 Jan Wellspring Church, Watford, UK
31 Jan – 2 Feb Mobilise Weekend, Kingdom Advance Network, Burton, UK (Rachel & Gordon)
As we come to the close of 2024, I have recorded a word for the December Fresh Bread message called STANDING at the CROSSROADS. I feel that it is so important that we do not rush ahead into the next season but really take time to hear what we should do. There are so many opinions but we need to upgrade our listening skills and really hear what God is saying and learn His rhythm and sound. This is not a time for hasty decisions and conversations. We need to lean in, listen attentively, and then do exactly what God is asking of us.
So have a wonderful Christmas celebrating JESUS our PRINCE of PEACE!
Blessings and hugs,
Rachel & Gordon – and Helen too!