We are a little late with a recap this week because, honestly, we are exhausted! Now that we are finished with our ministry weekends, the pace we’ve kept over the past 6 weeks has caught up with us. We are so ready for time to rest and to process what has happened over the past several weeks.
Our final Dash Away was in Crieff which is in the central part of Scotland in Perthshire. It is the southern gate to The Highlands and a brilliant display of God’s creativity and color palate. We had two adjoining cottages that we filled to capacity.
The mirrored floor plan gave us two kitchens, one for snacking and one for meals, and two living rooms, one for meeting and one which we were able to transform into a labyrinth. If you read our last update, you know that this was a bit of a concern. Although not an ideal set up, it did end up working out just fine. Thanks for praying!
We had 11 ladies attend this weekend. They came from different directions but they all shared a connection with our friend, Dianne, who had invited them and who helped coordinate our venue. We had several young moms for whom the weekend provided a very welcomed break. We also had a young mom join us only on Saturday morning/afternoon along with her 6 month old daughter. She received prayer ministry in the afternoon before leaving and we heard back from her later that she saw a noticeable breakthrough. Yes!
We had a prayer minister from Edinburgh 
join us on Saturday to help pray for ladies. She met with 4, and because of the great interest in personal prayer, Melinda and I also prayed for 4 ladies. What a privilege to steward moments like these and to see God minister to them so uniquely and powerfully .
One beautiful testimony that we wanted to share with you from the weekend is from one of the ladies who is from Northern Ireland. When she arrived, she was distant and guarded. Throughout the weekend, she knew something was blocking her from fully engaging in the weekend. Something was in the way. She kept bringing it before the Lord, asking Him to reveal and remove it.
When we get to the Saturday night of a Dash Away, we are “off script.” We have a general plan in place for Friday night and Saturday but we keep Saturday night very loose. We watch what Holy Spirit is doing throughout the day and we ask Him how He wants the evening gathering to go. Although we were extremely fatigued by Saturday evening from running the weekend (and the culmination of the 4 leading up to it) and the full afternoon of prayer ministry, we felt led to do a little teaching; Cathy on the power of sound in our words and in our worship, and Melinda on 7 characteristics of God’s nature that we all carry in varying degrees, which translate into how we are wired and our strengths. Human beings carry them but cities and nations carry them as well, making them strong suited in one or more.
In a discussion at the end of that teaching, this woman began asking some questions. As she did, God began revealing to her what the blockage was. When she was 17, she was on an airplane flying back to Northern Ireland from California. An American sitting next to her said something to her that was very bigoted against her heritage as Northern Irish. His words wounded her and those wounds have been affecting her, and her view of Americans, ever since. The fact that she came to a weekend that two Americans were leading in the first place is a testimony to the Spirit’s leading, and her willingness to obey. God had something very special waiting for her.
As she was sharing, and as the revelation came, she began to feel a freedom well up within her. She realized the need to release forgiveness to this man and was willing to do so. Her countenance completely changed. Joy came into her eyes. As she was later sharing more details with us privately, she said, “I feel such freedom,” and “Now I can finally look you two in the eyes!”
We received another testimony from one of the ladies just this afternoon which she gave us permission to share:
“God did some real heart-work during this time…. I know that I am precious to and honoured to our holy God and he loves me – but somehow I have not been connecting with this in a way which impacts how I view myself and the way I live. The [prayer ministry] appointment helped to bring further insights and enabled me to hear from Jesus what He thinks of me. Though I spent most of the weekend in tears – they were important. Tears of revelation of what was wrong; tears of repentance, renouncing the destructive thought patterns and actions. …. I believe that Jesus has given me a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Thank-you for providing the space and the structure in which God has been able to address such tender and raw – but hugely important – areas in my life.”
Testimonies like this are why we do what we do. God wants His children free. He is moving powerfully and quickly. He is ready and waiting. Yay, God!
This week, we are laying low. We have not even begun to process all that we’ve experienced, all that we’ve seen God do, all of the powerful stories of freedom and wholeness coming to the ladies who have attended the 5 weekends, and the Taste of Dash Away we started with 6 weekends ago. It will take time. It will come. For now, however, we are enjoying some desperately needed rest before we make our journey back to the States next Tuesday.
Our hosts, Billy and Heather, are taking us to The Highlands this weekend. We are so excited to see the beauty The Highlands carry. We will also have the opportunity to visit the amazingly gorgeous Isle of Skye. We will post some photos!
Thank you again for holding our arms up during these 7 weeks of ministry. You all rock!
Simply-Worship 
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