Travelin’ Man

The picture (taken, I believe, by Tanya Storer), is of Cherry County, NE in the spring. I’ve been out there twice so far and hope to make another trip in July. I love to travel to new places, meet new people, and experience new things. I love seeing how people and cultures are the same and how they differ.

Traveling for work, however, isn’t the same as traveling for fun. Traveling for work isn’t all that it’s often made out to be. I used to think that those who traveled as part of their ministry were to be envied. They get to do all kinds of things that a local pastor doesn’t get to do too often. On top of it all, when the visiting minister comes in they often seemed to bring a special anointing with them. They are often recognized as having unique gifting and people want to see them, be close to them, have meals with them, etc. People even come to church early to get a seat. I am sure it feels good. When they preach, memorable things seemed to happen, at least that seemed to be the way it was when I was a Senior Pastor.

However, being an exorcist (deliverance minister) is not the same thing as being an evangelist or Bible teacher. Our work is low profile. One time I was invited to come to a couple’s house for two or three days to work with their extended family. After I met most of them and talked a little about deliverance they put me in the library. Twelve hours and five deliverances later I crawled out of the room wondering if we were going to have lunch or dinner anytime soon. The family had already eaten. I was so low profile that they had forgotten that I was back there. They apologized and whipped up some scrambled for my dinner. I promise you that that would never have happened with an evangelist or a Bible teacher.

I’ve never been part of a traveling ministry in the traditional sense. Now I sometimes have the chance to go places and teach on deliverance and maybe do one or two just to demonstrate. Other times we just slip into town and do nothing but deliverances, one after another. No one except my clients and their families knows that we are there.

I have been blessed to have met so many wonderful people as I’ve traveled around the country. The glamour usually isn’t there though. But that’s okay. Most of my work takes place with a small ministry team. Usually, I find myself sitting with one or two people (who often rotate out) in a room at the church or hotel working with one client after another. One 3-4 hour session in the morning. One 3-4 hour session in the afternoon. Sometimes one 3-4 hour session in the evening.

One church even got me a two-room hotel suite. I thought that they were just being gracious until I was informed that I would spend the next few days there, as they didn’t want me in their church building. They were afraid that the demons that I removed would stay in their building. It really didn’t matter anyway because a fresh batch came in every Sunday. I never did get to meet the pastor. When I travel I usually get to see the airport, my hotel room, a few restaurants, and the ministry center. That’s about it. We are not doing it for the glamor.

In recent years I haven’t been traveling too much, maybe once or twice a year to train and minister. You’ve probably noticed that exorcism isn’t a hot topic in most church circles. Recently, however, I have had more invitations than normal and have been asked to stay for longer periods of time. As many of you know, my colleague, Alistair McPherson and I spent seven days on a huge ranch near Hyannis (Nowhere), NE in January and worked with 13 people (pleasant weather in the 50s and sunny). We also got to train seven people from Kansas, Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska. We fell in love with the Nebraska Sand Hills and its people.

In February we went back to the same place for seven days and worked with 12 people. We had temperatures as low as -11 and horizontal snow. Again God showed up and loved on his kids. He appears to have a special place in his heart for those folks.

In mid-July, we will be back on the ranch for eight days. I am told that the weather in mid-July in north-central Nebraska is a lot different than the weather in January and February. It is supposed to be pretty warm and the grass will be waist-high. It should be beautiful. We are expecting God to show up and set his kids free again; just as he always does.

Next week Alistair and I will be spending a few days in Leesburg, VA, just outside of Washington, DC. working with a few people. We will be with more great people but in an entirely different culture.

So why travel doing clinics? It would be so much easier just to stay home and have people come to us. But, if there is any interest in starting a deliverance team in any of these various locations we have to give them a concentrated exposure to the ministry if they are going to learn how to do it. They can’t get that by coming one at a time to Virginia. I want to share this with as many people as I can.

There are also some other practical reasons. First, it keeps the client’s cost down. It is much less expensive for a group of people to share the cost of housing, plane tickets, and food for two people traveling than it is for ten people traveling. It also doesn’t require that people take two or three days off from work to make the trip. It works out well for everyone.

Another reason we sponsor clinics is that we get to touch more lives in a shorter period of time than we can in Lynchburg. We get to minister to two or three people a day, rather than two or three people a week. We want to see as many of God’s kids set free from demonic oppression as we can. Isn’t that what we all are called to do? Because that is our heart we look for opportunities to minister anywhere we can.

The last reason why we travel is that we love it. We love the ministry. We love people. We love to see instantaneous changes in people’s lives. We love to see Jesus lifted up and to have the opportunity to witness taking place before our eyes the same things that Jesus saw when he set his people free and performed miracles. Who wouldn’t love to see such a thing daily?

We also love to receive feedback from those who have experienced God’s touch such as this young want-to-be pastor who responded to my follow-up email:

“I am doing really well. Ever since the deliverance took place I have not had that crushing suicidal mindset as I did beforehand. Things aren’t exactly how I would want them to be but I’ve drawn closer to God, sought his counsel as best I can and he assures me he’s putting the pieces together for a well future of serving him. So right now it’s a time of waiting as well as learning patience. I’m not where I need to be yet and the puzzle isn’t fully built but it is moving forward. I look back and see how far God has brought me and I am amazed, awestruck honestly. He really is amazing! So now I’m just fighting through winnable darkness, nothing like before. And I have God as well as you guys to thank for that. I appreciate all that you do and even for checking in on me. I know there are many more blessings down the road for me, and many more opportunities to share the good news now that I’m not so trapped by the enemy. The enemy still bites at me but now I have the ground and means to fight back. So I pray God blesses you for giving me that ground and this opportunity at life”

It doesn’t get any better than this.

Prayer Update
Please pray for us as we travel to Northern Virginia this week.
Please pray for our upcoming trip back to Nebraska in July.
Please pray for more opportunities to travel and to demonstrate the truth of deliverance.
Please pray that God will continue to bring us people who need to be set free from demonic involvement.
Please pray that God will bring us team members who are willing to join us in this work in Lynchburg and around the country.
Please pray for me as I am scheduled to have cataract surgery on both eyes in the next couple of weeks.