WAITING FOR A DREAM

Even as we were in our home church in those early days, we always had a heart for Sydney. So in 1975, when I was pregnant with our second son, Daniel, we went to have a look at Sydney. We visited our friend's church there and stayed on. However, five months later, after Daniel was born, we returned to New Zealand because it wasn't the right timing and we didn't feel right to stay on in Sydney.

It was probably the darkest period—just being obedient to God and not knowing what the future held for us, especially for Phil. He was so discouraged and demoralized that he would not go back to work in the church. He even put a sign out at the front of our house that said "Paintings to order." He thought he had heard wrongly from God, but he didn't; it was just the wrong timing.

About eighteen months later, the Lord spoke to him about starting a prayer group out in Littleton, a tiny community on the coast of Christchurch where we eventually moved to. We pioneered a small church there, which we pastored for the next three years.

At the end of 1978, Phil was in Sydney on transit, en route to India on a mission trip when the Lord spoke to him, "Now, I've given you this city." Phil was terrified because we had sowed in Sydney but given it away. He had just said no. He thought he had gotten it wrong, thought he had heard wrong and he had buried it. We had both buried it.

The Bible says that unless a seed of grain falls in the ground and dies, it abides alone ... but if you let it die, something amazing can happen. And that's exactly what happened. Phil was away for six weeks and I kept praying and fasting for him in Littleton. Every time I went to pray, I saw one word—"Enlarge."

I had no idea what it was about. I thought it was about Indians coming to Jesus (because Phil was preaching in India) so I prayed for God to enlarge Phil's work in India, but it wasn't about that at all. He was lying awake in the early hours of the morning, under the mosquito nets in India, dreaming of Sydney. He resisted it at first but in the end he figured it MUST be God.

He was quiet when he got home and after he unpacked, he finally told me about Sydney. I was horrified and so stunned I said nothing to the Lord for three days. Finally, I stood in front of the mirror in the new house Phil had built and I said, "Lord, if this is You, I say yes," and I got great peace in my heart.

We went to see our pastor and he said it feels good now but told us to sit on it for another six months. We went to see another pastor that we adore in the city, Peter Morrow, and he said the same, "Pray for six months." We used those six months to go through the universities in Christchurch and to dream. Phil drew our dream church on a piece of serviette and it was a university campus with an arts and Bible college.

In January 1980, we moved to Sydney with a dream and seventeen hundred dollars in our pockets. Like Kong Hee, we started very small. Northside Christian Center started with twelve people in the DeeWhy Surf Club on the northern beaches of Sydney. Bit by bit, our dream grew as God brought key people to us.

The key to our growth in those early years was definitely Phils amazing leadership. Young men and women came and they saw the vision, caught the vision and ran with the vision to build the church.

In the early 1980s, we had a period of prayer and fasting among our teens. The girls fasted for ten days and the men for twenty. After that, we came together and prayed, and that's when the conception for our vision happened—to have 10 churches in 10 major cities. We changed our name to Christian City Church and from then till today, we have started over 160 churches in our movement.

COLORING THE VISION

I have always loved people and I've always had this dream as a little girl to build a big house and live altogether with people. That's why I wanted to create with Phil. I think as a woman, that's what we do. We color the vision and we interpret the dream. Because I was worship leading, I was very much a part of it from the start. To me, building the house of God feels like the most natural thing to do.

There're so many dreams that Phil has and it's fantastic just interpreting those dreams and coloring them in. I think it's important to give your flavor of who you are. Phil calls me the "champagne" of the movement. I'm like the bubbles. I add that warmth, that hug around Phil's leadership gift. We complement each other though we're very different.

We just celebrated 25 years together and it's marvelous to see our children grow up and shoulder the load with us! The greatest reward is having our sons and daughter loving what we do and being involved in the work of the Lord. I feel we've laid a strong foundation in our "business," which in our case, is a church and our movement of churches. Now that we have sent out and planted a movement that has brought about churches all over the world, we feel that our focus and our hearts are back to the city of Sydney. It's very exciting, because for the future, we see Sydney as a city for Christ.

Now we see the new generation coming to God—babies that we dedicated to the Lord are now working with us in the ministry. It's the joy of a grandparent to see the third generation serving the Lord.

IMPARTING TO OTHERS

One of my key messages comes out of Song of Solomon 6:10. It's an identity for women, to give them a vision for their lives and worth. I speak vision into women, telling them that God has a vision for their lives. I share often on having dreams for their future and dreaming for their children. At the end of conferences, I have a time called an "Anointing Service" where they bring their dreams to the altar and I pray over them. From those moments, I've seen many, many dreams come true.

One of the most important and tender messages that I share is from my book, "Jesse—Found in Heaven," written specially for women who have experienced child loss. I've had the privilege of dedicating many babies to the Lord and hearing hundreds and hundreds of stories in which women have had their hearts healed from the grief of their losses.

I love to speak into the young women leaders I mentor, and give them the real story about facing the joys and pressures of being in leadership. You wouldn't call me a teacher. I'm an imparter and an inspirer, so I love to prophesy words into girls and women. Recently I've a burden to pray for the sick and I've started holding healing services in church on Sunday afternoons. This is something that I'm very excited about.

I think we all need to stay fresh and get fresh impartations from the Lord. No matter how old I get, I always want to make a difference with my life and really help others. I'm about to take a trip to Uganda to visit our church and orphanage there, and raise money for them. I'd also like to help the graduates from our school develop their own small businesses. These are my future roles. I move through seasons in my walk with the Lord and I feel I'm at a very rich season in my life right now. HT