Dear Heartcry friends,      

This letter comes with a big hug and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

In fact, I am amazed that I am writing the Christmas edition of our Heartcry News for 2023 already! It feels astounding that this year has already been lived and we are now dreaming of 2024. However, as this year comes to an end, I have such a sense of overwhelming gratitude for the many miracles that God has done. God is so faithful and kind! It has been a busy year: again we have traveled to many nations, traversed the cities of the UK and invested in many leaders in person or on zoom. 

As I have thought about Christmas this year, I have realised that it gives us a fantastic opportunity to have a time for thanksgiving and celebration. More and more as I have read my Bible in recent days, I have noticed that there is a theme of thanksgiving that seems to happen around tables of feasting! All through the Old Testament there is a rhythm of thanks and feasts! Times of expressing gratitude took place around tables of food and celebrations. There are seven Hebrew Feasts mentioned in the Bible and each one had its specific significance and purpose. These times of commemoration were times of remembrance. They helped the people remember God’s faithfulness, His acts of deliverance, and reminded them once again of their identity as God’s people. These feasts provided occasions for people to come together as a community and worship God. They were times of joy, laughter, music and singing. These times of celebration gave an opportunity to share the stories of life and the goodness of God. They provided a space in the hectic pace of life to reflect on the kindness of God and share testimonies. Our thanksgiving needs to be two-dimensional – we need to thank God and the people around us.  

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. Psalm 105:1-4

We praise God and show people around us our gratitude. We need to thank God but also remember to thank significant people in our world too. So in this Christmas season, take time to GIVE THANKS. Let it be a time of true celebration and feasting! Give thanks! 

November was a month of home and away. Early November saw us in the USA, first in Spokane, Washington state, for a time with Victory Faith church when we ministered to the business people. Helen and I prophesied over 30 couples in two sessions, asking God for words of breakthrough, direction, comfort, and alignment. It is always so humbling but deeply encouraging to watch the word of God restore, encourage vision and awaken hope in people’s lives. Already we have had several testimonies from couples concerning their words and how God has brought a turnaround in personal and family situations. So encouraging! After Spokane we flew to Dallas, Texas, for the Global Prophetic Summit with Cindy Jacobs and many other friends. Holding this type of consultation with so many global prophets in the midst of the uncertainty of the Israel-Hamas war brought its own intensity of focus and sense of heightened urgency. This time had a strong intercessory theme as we spent many hours talking, prophesying and praying for Israel and the Middle East crisis. There was also a strong sense that God was preparing us in the church for a new move of Jesus on our university and college campuses. Students are hungry, even “hangry”, for a new authenticity in their lives. They are spiritually hungry and searching – we need to get ready. After a special time of relational connections with many, especially those in Australia and New Zealand, we left happy. We stayed in America for another weekend and in fact returned to east Washington state again. We spent the Friday with a new church plant, Neuma church, sharing with leaders and teaching on prayer and the prophetic. Then on Saturday and Sunday we had the privilege to be part of the Legacy weekend when Pastors Craig and Monie Lotze transitioned their leadership of Victory Faith, after 33 years, to Pastor Trevor Seaman and his wife Heidi. This church has a special place in our hearts and it was so wonderful to be able to be with them on this significant occasion. Then we flew back to the UK. 

The second half of this month has been UK-focussed. Gordon and I have ministered in Birmingham at the Betel gathering.  This has been such a time of great joy!  At last the Anchor Point building is coming into the last lap of completion. The final money to pay for the completion of the building has been financed and in the next few weeks the whole centre will be totally opened for use. It has offices, conference and event facilities, the Infinite Arts’ studio for dance and theatre training, a kids soft play area, a hair salon and nail bar, a furniture restoration area, and a cafe and restaurant.  The Betel church and 4 other churches in the area all meet in the building. It is a light of hope in Aston, a broken area of Birmingham. The businesses, cafe, hair salon etc provide work for the people going through the Betel programme and revenue for the charity. The excellence of design and the atmosphere in this building provides hope for many. So we finish this year with great joy, watching the gracious provision of God for our friends. 

Helen has also been busy teaching in various church services, here in Oxford and in Rotherham. Gordon has continued pastoring many couples and church leaders, giving them wisdom and guidance.  I have preached in Birmingham, Oxford and Leicester. We have had our Heartcry board meetings both in the USA and UK and can only celebrate the faithfulness of God. We have had to move our bank account from Barclays due to the changes in their definitions. So please note: if you give regularly to Heartcry for Change in the UK the bank details have changed for everyone. The new bank account details are:  

Co-operative Bank

Account name: Heartcry Trust
Sort code: 08-92-99
Account number: 67314917
IBAN: GB05CPBK08929967314917
SWIFT BIC: CPBKGB22

Please check that you have the right bank account details before you send any donations or ministry gifts by BACS as Barclays are not allowing us to use the bank switching service that forwards payments automatically so we are having to do this all manually and will not receive anything sent to the old account. We are sorry for any inconvenience but if you have a standing order with us please can you change the details your end to ensure we are able to receive your generous gift. Thank you so much!

We are also working on the final print draft of my new book HOPE FILLED which we trust we will have ready for Christmas. I am sorry but we were not able to get this book ready for Thanksgiving this year but it should be available on Amazon in time for Christmas 2023. Exciting! Gordon is also working on a book, his second, which we believe will be available in print by Easter 2024. So life is busy! But before we will be ready to celebrate Christmas Helen, Gordon and I still have some  travelling to do. We will be speaking in Slovenia, Moldova, Vienna, Austria and visiting Egypt. We will finally return to the UK on the 19th December and then we will rapidly get ready for Christmas and the family fun. We will be sharing a New Year message for 2024 in January and our Christmas chat on YouTube and Facebook at the end of the year so do look out for these.  Please also remember to book in for our new year Legacy Day, Pray 2024, in Oxford on Saturday 13 January 2024. Details and tickets can be found here. We are delighted that James Aladiran will be with us so book early to avoid disappointment! 

Here is our schedule for December 2023 and January 2024:

Ministry Dates December 2023 & January 2024
1-5 Dec Moldova (Rachel & Gordon)
3 Dec Fresh Bread message, Heartcry social media platforms (Rachel)
1-3 Dec Slovenia (Helen)
6-9 Dec Life Church Vienna, Austria (Rachel & Gordon)
11 Dec Fleet Baptist Church, UK (Helen)
12-19 Dec Overseas trip (Rachel & Helen)
22 Dec – 2 Jan Heartcry office closed for Christmas and New Year
6 Dec Life Church team training day, Bath, UK (Rachel, Gordon and Helen)
7 Jan Fleet Baptist Church, UK (Rachel & Gordon)
7 Jan Fresh Bread message, Heartcry social media platforms (Helen)
13 Jan Pray 2024 Heartcry Legacy Day, Oxford, UK
16-17 Jan Heartcry Roundhouse gathering, Oxford. UK
19-21 Jan Rhema Restoration Ministries, Belfast, N. Ireland (Rachel & Gordon)
21 Jan Life Church, Hoddesdon, UK (Helen)
27-28 Jan Wellspring Church, Watford, UK (Rachel, Gordon, Helen)

Thank you so much for all your love and encouragement throughout this last year. You are amazing and we appreciate you all. So have a wonderful Christmas and may God really bless you, your homes and your families. Happy New Year for 2024. 

Every blessing, 
Rachel & Gordon with Helen and the Heartcry family.