Llangasty Retreat – Ministry of Leaning on Walls

We arrived at the Llangasty Retreat Center in Wales, UK, at 2:00 PM on Monday, September 28, 2015. The retreat lasted until noon on the following Friday. There were 13 participants in the retreat, including Judy and me; 6 from the States (actually 5 1/2, Kim is from the States but living in the UK) and 6 from the UK. Additionally, there were 3 retreat leaders: Mike Endicott and Helen taught; Sam (Samantha) was our spiritual guide.

There were three components to the retreat: teaching on the Kingdom of God (or the Gospel of the Kingdom of God) and healing (as you know, the two topics are interrelated); times for spiritual growth and personal encounters with God; and fellowship with everyone there.

As a lead into the description of the ministry of leaning on walls, I want to briefly mention the other participants at the retreat and our fellowship. All in all, we were a very ordinary group of folks, at least in the world’s view. But as I got to know each of them, as you can only do when you share a retreat for 4 days, I found each to be an extraordinary man or woman of God. Kind, gentle, compassionate, filled with the Holy Spirit and a deep love of Jesus. It was really an amazing group. You would not particularly notice any one of us if you saw us on the street. But below the surface there are deep currents of  spiritual passion and grace moving in each one.

I don’t think what I saw in this group at Llangasty was really so unusual in the Body of Christ. Remarkable, extraordinary people moving in the spirit, having a huge impact on their families, friends, and communities as they pray and proclaim the Kingdom of God, overlooked or ignored by the world because they don’t fit the world’s model of worthiness: money, power, beauty, fame, accomplishment, etc. They are all simple people who believe that Jesus is the most important person in their life and desire to love Him more each day. Jesus can use people like that. Judy and I were blessed to be in their presence.

We came from many different backgrounds and cultures. We all spoke English but, as the saying goes, sometimes found ourselves separated by a common language. But we had one great thing in common which transcended all of our differences: Jesus. Christ in us was the one unbreakable bond that united our hearts after the first afternoon together. “The Christ in me meets the Christ in you” as Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in ‘Life Together’. We instantly recognized that we had the same Father and same big Brother. We were family in a very real sense.

Here is a brief description of my fellow participants:

Patrick is a retired science teacher. He and I had a lot in common. Although his family were tradesmen in the UK, he impressed me as a typical English gentleman. A bit reserved, but kind, and filled with the Spirit. We were the two ‘weepers’ in the group.

Diane is a quiet and deep-spirited woman who smile and compassion made me feel comfortable from the moment I met her.

Marion is an Anglican Vicar who ministers to two churches. I could listen to her talk all day. She is a strong woman of God.

Mike is an American. Like us he lived in Houston for many years and recently retired to eastern Tennessee, not far from where we live now. After the retreat he was going to walk 120 miles or so on the Portuguese Way, an ancient pilgrimage route. That tells you about his heart.

Karen is a PCUSA associate Pastor from Florida. She lit up the room wherever she was. Her enthusiasm for the Lord is infectious.

Heinze is from Fort Worth. He found the Lord (or the Lord found him) recently. Like many who find Jesus late in life, He is on fire for God.

Kim grew up on a farm in the States but was called into ministry. Like me, he loves to learn about Jesus. He was the scholar in our group, wise and thoughtful.

Sue is from the UK. She is quiet but moved with the Holy Spirit. Judy and Sue hit it off.

Neville is wonderful guy. He is a 77-year old Methodist pastor who loves the Lord without reservation. When he prayed the power of God was evident in the room. He and I spent a lot of time together, including a walk along the lake; a beautiful, warm man of God who has no reservations at all about Jesus and His call on Neville’s life.

I should add a few words about Judy. She didn’t share much. But she had a huge impact on the group. All recognized Christ in her and were blown away by her kindness and gentleness. She ministered to some of the women quietly but to deep places. As we were leaving on Friday Mike said to me “you can leave, but we want to keep Judy”. I told him “she in not my better half; she is my better 4/5ths”. He didn’t laugh. I think he thought to himself “you are so right”.

And then there were Rachel and Mary. Wow!! Judy and I loved them both from the first day of the retreat. Both are relatively quiet, but both shine with the love of God within them. God gave me a word for Rachel: “bright”. You should see them worship side-by-side. Mary is Rachel’s Mom. For some reason, Mary and Rachel in particular found a kindred soul in me. We loved to sit next to each other.

It was Mary who shared her ministry with the group. She called it ‘the ministry of leaning on walls”. Mary is Rachel’s, Mom so is probably in her 70’s. Mild mannered, she is a prototypical English Grandmother (at least to me). Kind, quiet, reserved, at least until she got to know you, but not shy. There is a sparkle and a fearlessness in her eyes. Like all of the rest of us, you would not pick her out in a crowd. You certainly would not identify her as a Warrior, but that is exactly what she is.

The last night of the retreat, Mike asked Mary to share some of her ministry experiences, which she did. For context, Mary took a training course from Mike about spiritual warfare and healing. He taught her to pray against the enemy by proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Not by rebuking and casting out, but by simply proclaiming God’s Kingdom expectantly and then waiting for God to work.

She took this guidance back to her village in Yorkshire where she lives in a small community of 400 houses. (From here on I might not get the details exactly correct, but what I am about to say is directionally accurate).

Her Pastor called and told her that there was some darkness in the church, some demonic force. The cleaning crew would not go into the church at night and the evening bingo group would not meet there either. He was particularly concerned about the bingo. Mary enlisted another strong woman of God to join her. The two of them, armed with Scriptures, went down to the church, carrying a cross. When they got to the church they each put one hand on an outer wall of the church, and in their other hands they held a cross. They literally leaned on the wall of the church. After they recited scripture they began to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. They thanked God for His Kingdom, for the cross which opened the door into the Kingdom, for Jesus – His life, death, and resurrection – and for begin the door into the Kingdom. They thanked God for restoration and for all of His promises. And more, but you get the point. This went on for some time (I don’t know how long) and then a very strange phenomenon occurred. The building began to shake. Actually physically move. Mary and her friend were stunned, shocked, and quite unnerved. But they continued proclaiming until the building stood still once again. And then they left, got in the car, and sat – “what just happened” they asked.

A week or so later the Pastor called and asked “what did you do?”. Whatever the problem was, it was gone. The cleaning crew were quite happy to resume cleaning at night and bingo was back, stronger than ever. He was so impressed, he asked if they would pray over another building. This time is was the youth center. That ministry was in decline and no one could explain why.

Once again Mary and her friend prepared themselves with Scriptures, grabbed their cross, and leaned against this new building. Mary took one side of the building; her friend the other. With one hand on the building and the cross in the other they proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, just as they had done before. This time the building did not move. It became very, very hot. Mary had to remove her hand. Her friend did not – when she joined Mary after the prayer time, she held her hand out – it was blistered from the heat.

After this ministry of leaning on the the wall of the building, the youth group began to grow in numbers. Whatever spiritual force in that building that was hindering the youth ministry was gone, thanks to Mary’s ministry of leaning on walls. To be clear, it was not Mary who released power. Mary and her friend proclaimed the Kingdom of God. These prayers created space for God to come into the situation and for His power to miraculously ‘heal’ the buildings.

Mary told me that these types of manifestations are rare. But these events did occur. Even if I have not described them accurately in every detail, I believe I have captured basically what Mary shared with our group that evening. Most of her ministry is more mundane, but no less important. She and her friend regularly pray over all 400 houses in their part of England. I am not sure if they put their hand on each house, but they are committed to pray for each one. They pray the same way they did over the two buildings: they proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God over each house, expecting that God will move and work in that house to bring healing and wholeness. This is a beautiful example of what it means to release the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of the world: it is restorative, gives God all the glory, brings healing and wholeness, and is something that only the Church can do. It is a witness to the power of God, His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

And that is the ministry of leaning on walls.

Next I want to share some of my encounters with Jesus and the Holy Spirit as I was led deep into the heart of God by Sam, our Spiritual Guide and the Holy Spirit that she helped us make room in or hearts to hear and see. I heard a message that is really for all of us. And it is powerful. She used a method called ‘Imaginative Contemplative Prayer’. More on that tomorrow.