Travel Report: Intercession trip to the west: November 15th – 25th 2007. Washington and Mexico.
It’s time for intercession in the most western part of the world from Jerusalem. We ourselves thought that San Diego was the farthest West. But the Holy Spirit showed us that we needed to be 100 kilometers more to the south, in La Bufadora at a hot spring nearby the Mexican coastal town, Ensenada.
First we went to Washington DC for to do some intercessory prayer, from 1 Timothy 2:1-2, at the White House (president) and the Capitol (parliament).
It took a lot of effort to get the right travel plans. Most of all, we were warned about criminal activity at the Mexican border. The Holy Spirit led us to travel by local public transportation as much as possible. It was an exciting new challenge.
We contacted the White House by email and requested to pray personally with the President. They responded with a letter, saying that he really appreciated the offer but didn’t have time to personally receive us.
After a few months of preparing, we finished working the travel schedule and the reservations for the hotels. It was special to see that we were able to travel to the other side of the world and tour with only a few printed pages! That was all we needed for our reservations.
Thursday November 15th, 2007
Scripture of the day: 2 Chronicles 16:9:
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
We left early in the morning. We started praying for a blessing for this trip. The travel went smoothly, as if all the obstacles were removed. But we still needed to think everything through carefully, being alert and trusting on God completely.
During the train trip our mission was confirmed: Micah 4:3
He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Micah 4:5
All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods;
we will walk in the name of the LORD
our God for ever and ever.
Proverbs 2:6-11
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
We were also encouraged to write everything down: Jeremiah 30:2 :
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.
At the airport we prayed again for this intercession trip. In the plane God speaks to us: Proverbs 22: 1-2: A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.
“This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)
Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. (Joshua 3:4)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
After a trip of about 16 hours we arrived at the hotel in Washington.
Friday November 16th, 2007.
Scripture of the day: 1 Corinthians 1:31: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
It was pretty cold when we went to the White House. We walked through some streets and asked around. After a while we see the place where we need to be. It’s still quite a distance. After walking quite a while we arrived at the department of finance. This building is right next to the White House. The property of the White House itself is not accessible. We took possession of the property by walking around it and proclaiming the following scriptures: 1 Corinthians 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 15; Psalm 29 and Daniel 6:17-29: all very applicable scriptures for breaking down stronholds and impurities. We are strongly pointed to manipulation, the power of mammon and idolatry.
After taking possession of the property we take a short break. We warmed ourselves in the lounge of Hotel ‘Washington.’
At the terrace side of the White House we bless the president and his government with 1 Corinthians 13: the Love and we prayed the Lord’s Prayer that God’s will be done here also.
All together it took about two and a half hours.
On our way back we already see the Capitol. The hotel doesn’t have capabilities to use the internet. So we go to an internet location, which we find very easily. We go to inform our support group through our weblog: ‘TogetherinthenameofJesus.com.’
We encounter resistance; twice the complete text was deleted without any demonstrable reasons. It did work the third time.
One of the things we asked for is prayer to have a good night of sleep and for healing of the persistent cold and bronchitis. The next day we already see results. We slept much better and are clearly more awake.
Saturday November 17th, 2007.
Scripture of the day: Colossians 2: 8-10
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Today we went to the Capitol. The representation of the people. Arriving at the Capitol we find we left the Bible in our hotel room. So we went back, also it took some pain walking there. First we prayed and after that we walked back. In total we walked an hour extra because of this delay.
Back again we take possession of the area. The Capitol: the parliament. Behind the Capitol is the supreme court and the Library of Congress (Worldly wisdom). In this area we break down all kinds of strongholds of power thinking, manipulation, humanism, pride etc. We declared this area to be God’s possession by proclaiming the following scriptures: Colossians 1 – 4, Hebrews 11 – 13, Haggai 2 and Zechariah 4, mainly verse 6: So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
On the way back we go by the place where we had our internet connection to contact the people in our support group through the weblog.
This day was physically tough because of walking so much, but accomplished we arrived at 3pm back at the hotel.
We are going to prepare ourselves for the next day.
Sunday November 18th, 2007.
Scripture of the day: Zechariah 7:9,10.
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’
Zechariah 8:1
“I am very jealous for Zion (America); I am burning with jealousy for her.”
We went to the church right across the street from the hotel. There we got a paper with the scripture Jeremiah 29:11-12: The Lord says: My plans for you are peace and no disaster when you call to me I will listen to you.
This is exactly the scriputere we received in the airplane. We know that God has plans with us, plans of peace and not to harm us and if we call to God, He will hear us. A beautiful promise and encouragement. During the service we clearly feel the anointing. After this we go to the Capitol again. The weather is good, physically it’s a heavy day again. First we ‘laid’ the cross over the area. In the corners we proclaimed 1 Corinthians: the Love of God.
In the center there is a fountain. Walking around it we proclaimed the Lord’s Prayer. This we did towards the four directions of the wind. It took about an hour. After this we went to the four corners of the area, starting in the middle, in this way we again laid the cross over the area.
We proclaim the gospels to the passing people and cars.
Matthew 27 and 28 to the East,
Mark 15 and 16 to the South,
Luke 23 and 24 to the West,
John 19 and 20 to the North.
All the time we started in the center praying the Lord’s Prayer. We fill the complete area with the Word of God. After more than 2 hours we are finished with our assignment and we are also very tired. Again we make contact with our support group through the weblog.
Monday, November 19th, 2007.
Scripture of the Day: Isaiah 40:31.
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
At 4 in the morning we wake up, because we need to take the taxi at 5am to the airport. The taxi driver listens to gospel radio. We are enjoying this. When he changes the frequency we ask him to return it to the gospel radio. He loves God and His voice too.
After a flight of about 5 hours we arrive in San Diego. Here it’s three hours earlier. At the airport someone talked to us in Dutch. It was an English woman who was married to a Belgian man. She helps us to go with the trolley to the border with Mexico. She shows us where we need to transfer. After the transfer to the other trolley, another Dutch person started talking to us. He is in San Diego with a cruiseship. It’s the ship from ‘HAL De Zaandam’, this is where my oldest daughter has her internship. We resist the temptation to visit her. We stay focused on our goal. We cross the border walking. This went without problems. But finding the bus station is much harder, certainly with a lot of screaming taxi drivers around us. They try to take the suitcases, hoping that we would go with them.
After searching for a while and asking people, we arrive at the place to be. The bus is already there. It’s a bus from the safest company: ABC.
It’s about 90 kilometers to Ensenada, about a one and a half hour drive. From the center of Ensenada we take a taxi to the hotel. A nice hotel from the colonial age with a stunning interior. With our last strength we went out eating. A delicious meal after four days of American food, where eating fast is more important than eating good.
The time difference increased with three hours. In total there is a nine hour difference from the Netherlands.
Tuesday November 20th, 2007.
Scripture of the Day: 1 Thessalonians 1: 4,5
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
At 4:00 AM we were already awake. We stayed in bed till about 7:00 AM. There should have been a breakfast at 8:00 AM, but it wasn’t there, unfortunately.
Although there was no internet, we could use a computer to contact our support group. By their prayers we are clearly carried. Corrie is feeling much better now after having had pain for days. I myself have some pain in my head and neck. We ask our support group to pray for our health and for strength. Evil is present all around us. On the street there is even a statue of a native idol, a man with the hat. There is ancestor worship. Also there was a procession at the moment we arrived.
It takes a long long time before the bus comes. While at the other side there is a taxi (easyness) waiting. We ask the Holy Spirit how long we need to wait. Still 10 minutes. And yes, the bus came. We bought a ticket for a dollar.
The trip took about 45 minutes. At the transfer point there was a traffic detour. It took some searching and patience to find the right place. From there we went with the second bus to La Bufadora. These were little vans that you know from old American B-movies. Vans where you need tools at hand. After about half an hour we arrived in La Bufadora.
After walking through the only street, that is full with stalls, we arrived at the point where we needed to be. Indeed, the waves came pretty high. During our proclamation we felt the drips of seawater. We procalimed the scriptures of Ezekiel 40 – 46. There needs to come a new temple where God is honored in a pure and holy manner. 1 Peter 1,2,3 and Jude. The rules of life need to become pure again and the people need to be like gold and silver.
During our time of proclamation a person comes towards us. He asks if we are Christians. Because he saw us proclaiming from the Bible. He is there with a group of South Korean pastors to pray too. He tells us that when you put a needle in Jerusalem, through the earth you end up exactly close to Ensenada. So they have a similar mission to pray from on Jerusalem. It’s a wink from God and an encouragement to meet people from the far east of the world here in the most west part of the world, seen from the perspective of Jerusalem. And then also with a mission to pray.
After proclaiming for one and a half hours we return to the hotel. After asking some people and searching we wait alongside the road. And after a little while a van stops. At the transfer point the next bus is already waiting to drive us to the hotel.
A day that we walked on God’s hand and received answers when we asked: How further? Quo Vadis…..
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007.
Scripture of the Day: Daniel 6: 19-22.
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.
In the morning we had contact with our support group through the weblog. They wrote down some encouragements for us. The computer in the hotel is very slow. Only after the second attempt were we able to reply.
At 10:00 AM we left to La Bufadora. We resist the temptation to go with a luxury bus. Again we take the local bus that is also used by the local people. A few words of English, Spanish and using our hands and feet, and we arrive in La Bufadora again.
We are assigned to take possession of the area walking. Except for the main street that is full of touristic stalls, there is no path we can walk on. Walking across the area we break down all the powers of darkness. Again, the evil powers are strongly present and we feel it very clearly. Half way we could go to the other side of the stalls, to walk alongside the coast line to take possession of the area by proclaiming: Phillipians 1, Revelation 3 – 6, Hebrews 13, Psalms 11, 12 and 13. Walking back, we went behind the stalls via steep stairs and on top we keep on proclaiming.
Time and again it’s an adventure -how you are guided by God by pathways you would not normally go. We are going back to the hotel, after one and a half hours of proclaiming. This time the bus drives another route, but once again some people help us, and we arrive back at the hotel completely exhausted.
Thursday, November 22nd, 2007.
Scripture of the day: Ephesians 6: 10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Today, we go to La Bufadora again. We started to make a ‘cross-shape’ over the city. Over the road we go to the point where we can go sideways. There we pray the Lord’s Prayer, that His will be done also here.
First we go East. At the coast we proclaim from the gospel of Matthew and from 1 Corinthians 13: God’s love. From there we walk back to the center of the ‘cross’. Again we prayed the Lord’s Prayer there. After this we go South with Mark 15 and 16. We fill it with 1 Corinthians 13: God’s love. The same we did going West and going North. Going North proclaiming from the gospel of John.
We see and feel that this area is being filled more and more with God’s light. The darkness vanishes. The cross of God’s light lays over the whole area and it is covered with the blood of Jesus.
After working for about two hours on this assignment we go back to the hotel. A man from the tourist information desk explains to us how to travel back to San Diego. From there we can go to Washington and than back home.
For the last time during this trip we contact our support group.
Friday, November 23rd, 2007
Scripture of the day: Acts 18:1
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
We ask a blessing for our trip back.
In the morning we travel with the bus back to the border with the USA. It all goes smoothly. We are clearly protected at the border, when the police arrested two pick-pockets who were standing right next to us. With the trolley we go back to the center of San Diego. On our way, somebody helps us to come as close to the hotel as possible. We take the taxi for the last part. After four hours we arrive at the hotel.
The rest of the day we take some time to relax because we have been so tired! At the reception area of the hotel we are pleasantly surprised that they could already check us in and print our boarding tickets for the plane trip back home.
Also we celebrated Corrie’s birthday according to what time it was in Holland.
Saturday, November 24th, 2007.
Scripture of the day: 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
Again we wake up at 4am to go to the airport. The first part to Washington D.C. takes us about five hours by plane. Then we transfer to the flight to Amsterdam. About seven hours flying. It takes us all together more than 24 hours and in addition all together we also move forwards 11 hours in time because of the time difference. We arrive home at 11am. That night we go to our home service, there they prayed for us and cleansed us from all we experienced during our trip. It’s good to be back in our spiritual home.
Corrie and Hans van der Have