04 October - 05 October 2011

Gayle Claxton is visiting Finland again and has been ministering already in Seinäjoki on the west cost and in Jyväskylä in the middle of Finland before continuing in Tampere this weekend.

In Seinäjoki she was ministering as the guest speaker at a special whole day prayer event put up by the ICEJ Finland together with the local Pentecostal Church.

This Church is led by the Senior Pastor Martti Kallionpää, who has been working closely with the VITC from the very beginning of the ministry's landing onto the shores of this Northern country several years ago.

This day was set apart to learn intercessory prayer and then to pray especially for Israel and the whole situation surrounding the Middle East. Gayle's teaching about the power of our prayer when in line with the Word of God was received enthusiasticly and then put into practice in pairs of two people.

Gayle's message at the closing service on Sat about the storms of life and us going thru them with Jesus was a great comfort and a source of hope. "Just like Jesus came walking on the waves which the disciples were afraid of, the very thing we are afraid of is the thing upon which Jesus comes to bring His peace and presence to us".

She encouraged the local Church to seek to be such a meeting place with God where the non-believers will receive help and know that God is in the midst of His own children and manifesting His presence in concrete acts on behalf of the needy men and women. Also she pointed out how the Lord expects us to use what we have in our life for the miracles to happen. "When you place what you have from the Lord into a needy hand, the miracle of God happens. The same thing occurs as with the five loaves and the two fish of the little boy. When the disciples placed the bread and the fish in the hands of the needy people, the miracle took place".

On Wed night the service was broadcasted live via internet tv and recorded for a Christian radio-station to be aired later on thus making her message to reach out to several thousands Finnish people. This timely message for the listeners "to go over and cross the land between" the promise of God and the fulfillment of it greatly impacted the men and women; this could be seen in how the people were flowing towards the platform to receive prayer.

Gayle continued her timely messages in Jyväskylä by warning the people of God against drifting away from God's purpose and calling for our individual lives! The many people that filled the altars raised their voices to God for repentance and cleansing at the end of her preaching.

Juha Ketola

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On Tuesday we moved on to Jyväskylä, where we had a wonderfully blessed and well attended evening meeting. It was especially delightful to see a large group of teenagers and young adults sitting there attentively listening to the word.

Gayle did a series in Jyväskylä last year, and at that time ministered to the youth as well. Now they all came back to hear her again. Gayle’s title for the night was called “Are you drifting?”. She began by reading an important exhortation for us in Hebrews 2: 1. “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” Gayle reminded us that drifting requires no effort, it starts right away if we stop praying and reading the word. Therefore we need to take heed and watch out lest we drift away. She challenged us to allow the Holy Spirit to point out things in our lives that might possibly be pulling us away from God. What are the currents that are pulling you away from God? Undercurrents cannot be seen, their effects however can.

If the enemy can get us to a place where we’re driven und tossed by the undercurrents, we’re in a very dangerous place. Drifting takes us slowly away from God and finally destroys us – this is not an overnight process but one that takes time and develops slowly. We tend to think we can control the drifting but the longer we allow ourselves to drift, the more power it has over us.

Our drifting is dangerous not only to us but also to those around us. Drifting leads to diminished desire to pray and read the word, diminished desire to fellowship with God’s people and diminished desire to share the gospel. One can never drift up stream, it always takes us downwards. Sometimes remaining faithful to God means rowing up stream. It can be very tough. But when we remain faithful and don’t give up, and begin to use the spiritual oars and row against the stream, we succeed and overcome.

The stream has no more power over us. The only way to grow in faith is to apply the spiritual oars over and over again. So let’s keep rowing! Let’s not give up, let’s not put the oars down. God’ll never leave us when we keep on rowing. We’ll never drift if we have a strong anchor! Where is your anchor? Is it in your own abilities or in God?

As Gayle had asked this question, she invited those who recognized drifting in their lives to come forward. We had a wonderful time of repentance and restoration. God in His great mercy met many as they wanted to make it right with Him again and stop drifting away from Him. Praise God for this great evening and for the wonderful sisters and brothers in Jyväskylä!

Kaisa Koistinen