The Praise Report: Summer 2017

Ministry in Canada

We just returned from ministering in the city of Victoria, Canada as well as surrounding areas on Vancouver Island. We ministered at different church services as well as at some midweek and home meetings. The Lord met us in power and filled many people with the Holy Spirit, and there was healing and deliverance that took place as well.

Divine Intervention on the Way

When we were driving through Canada towards Victoria we received a call from our friend Daniel in Sweden. As we talked and shared about our upcoming ministry in Victoria, Canada, we ended up praying together on the phone. Our friend got a word and a picture of me using the guitar in upcoming meetings. Feeling it was from the Lord, I employed the guitar in some of the smaller meetings for a few worship songs to powerful effect.

Both of us sharing at the Feed the Flame event
at Salvation House in Victoria, Canada.

In fact, we were taking a walk before the meeting one evening when the wind began to blow very hard, which I keenly took notice of. That night, as I began playing the guitar and leading worship in the meeting, the Lord laid an old song on my heart about the wind of the Holy Spirit. This then led me after that to share on the verse in John 3:8: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

We did some worship in some of the midweek meetings 
after getting a word from our friend in Sweden about doing so.

A guy who had come to the meeting that night, whose background was not Spirit-filled, and who normally does not attend that particular meeting, had been studying on this and came to the realization, then and there, that the Lord was preparing him and that he needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We began to pray for him and the Holy Spirit came upon him in great power for the first time in his life and he was powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit and couldn’t continue to stand and had to be held up by others, he was so touched! He also prayed in the Spirit, receiving the gift of tongues for the first time in his life! There was a lady who also got powerfully ministered to and experienced a lot of deep healing in her heart and deliverance. She got touched again at another meeting and said, “I really didn’t think it could get any better or be more powerful after the other night, but it did tonight!”

Praying and ministering as the Holy Spirit filled, 
refreshed, delivered, and healed 
many of those who came.

At a meeting at another church, a guy from England who had experienced many recent struggles in life happened to just wander into the meeting as we ministered. Someone asked me to talk and pray with him during the ministry time. It turned out he’d recently lost his dogs and hurt his back. We talked and shared with him and he ended up praying to receive Christ with us. I had a word for him, that “he didn’t need to maintain a stiff upper lip before the Lord.” And as I spoke it, tears began to flow from his eyes and the Lord brought healing to his heart. He was very thankful that he had received the Lord and that we were willing to take the time to talk and pray with him, hallelujah! We went to lunch one afternoon with our friend Bob Brasset, who was a mutual friend of Harald Bredesen’s. Harald was one of the leaders and fathers of the Charismatic Renewal and a mentor figure to us before he passed away. We ended up sharing some Holy Ghost Surf Stories with Bob and his wife Sue and their friends and then also witnessed to the waitress. The waitress listened intently as we explained the Gospel to her and she then opened her heart to pray with us and receive Christ! Somebody in the restaurant was obviously listening in, and got blessed, for when we asked for the bill we were told someone in the restaurant had already anonymously picked up the tab for us! Wow!

Divine Appointment

I had a divine appointment at the beach shortly after our return to California from Canada. While trying to cool off from the intense So Cal (Southern California) heat and taking a walk on the pier, I noticed a young woman and the Holy Spirit moved on my heart to talk to her. Turned out she was a new believer who was in need of a touch from God at the moment; in fact she thanked me before anything even happened for just talking to her, she was so hungry for God to do something in her life. After sharing a bit about my own experience being filled with the Holy Spirit, I began to pray for her and the tears streamed greatly down her face. She was so touched she gave me a hamburger that she was taking home from a local diner where she worked. Patrick had gotten ahead of me and was waiting in the car; he was excited to hear about the divine appointment and also to be able to share a big juicy double bacon cheeseburger, hallelujah!

25 Years of Marriage!!

We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, wow! Crazy how time goes by! Twenty-five years of marriage is definitely something to celebrate!

Taking a little time to celebrate 25 years of marriage 
up in Banff and Jasper National Parks. 
Since it was Canada's 150-year anniversary itself,
we got to enter the parks for free!

One of the first things God did for man was give him a mate and create marriage. Becoming one flesh in marriage is God’s original plan before the fall. In redemption He puts the plan back into operation, but our fallen natures make it a struggle. We thus must listen to and yield to Jesus’ work and the empowering of the Holy Spirit to walk towards fulfilling that unity and oneness in marriage!

We are thankful for the grace of God sustaining us all these years, especially in these days of massive marriage wreckage everywhere. Traditional Christian marriage is hugely under attack these days and divorce rates also continue to soar. Thus, it is all the more important to take time out to celebrate God’s grace and mercy in our lives. We took a little time and left early on our recent ministry trip into Canada and went out to visit a couple of their National Parks. We were blessed to take in some of the spectacular views and get a few hikes in at Banff and Jasper National Parks, which are right next to each other with the drive between them being especially scenic. Time flies and life goes by fast so it is important to take some time to celebrate those important milestones in life! Furthermore, we see in the Bible that God commanded that His people celebrate and commemorate events that involved His hand of deliverance and blessing. For example, Passover and numerous other events were celebrated to commemorate God’s intervention in their lives.

Europe

We will be traveling to Europe again soon. We will be doing an evangelistic outreach in London, England, as well as other ministry in other countries. Europe is in the midst of a spiritual battle for the soul of the continent. What we see happening in the natural reflects the spiritual battle in the heavenly realms for the very heart and soul of the continent. This Gospel of the Kingdom must be preached in all the world! The Lord is highlighting Europe in our day! Please consider praying and giving to help us as we step out on another mission. 

Blessings and grace, 
Bryan, Mercedes, and Patrick Marleaux