Dear Friends:

The Saturday morning before Easter we were leaving the chapel with the idea of a visit to Tenby, about an hour away. But before we got to the end of the drive a text came in from some friends from Singapore. They were staying in North Wales, and suggested we try and meet somewhere in the middle for a late lunch.

You may recall that for several years we were going up to Blaenau Ffestiniog in the north each month to pray for revival with a small group that we started in 2009. They continue those meetings, but we hadn't been able to go in a long while.

We had been wanting to visit, so a quick change of plans was in order. Not long afterwards we had arranged to stay with some old friends there, were packed for a night or two and jumped into the car. It looked like a few days with no rain ahead and and off we went!

We met up with our friends Joon and Flo as planned, and had lots to share about. We hadn't seen them for nearly three years, when they came on a prayer assignment to Wales with a small group from Singapore.

We were having such a great time of fellowship, and there was so much to talk about, they decided stay stay over with us at our friends' place for the night rather than going all the way back to the north coast of Wales. We realized again how the Lord has blessed us with so many wonderful friends around this land.

After breakfast the next morning we went together to one of our favorite prayer places overlooking the village. It was a real joy and privilege to be joined by these seasoned intercessory warriors who have been on many such assignments around the world. And this totally spontaneous meeting made for an awesome time of prayer and prophetic proclamations over the area.

I found my heart really stirred again for what God's plans are for this part of Wales. It hasn't been an easy time for the believers here, but they are persistent and some good things are happening. There is a long and rich history of powerful movings of God here in the past, and the need Jesus is desperate. So please do remember to keep Blaenau Ffestiniog in your prayers, and especially that the Christians here begin to see the fruit of their patience, their prayers and their labors in and for the community.

And speaking of prayer, I was reading the other morning in Ecclesiastes 8, and I was really struck by the beginning of verse 3. "Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases."

How many times do we find ourselves really engaged in prayer, or just connecting with the Lord in the word, and suddenly a thought comes of something we need to do and we suddenly just cut our time short? Or maybe it's a text message asking for a response, or any other distraction. How easy it is to just say a quick "Amen" and we're gone.

I just thought this was a really good reminder of keeping the really important things in first place. Prayer really does bring about change. Prayer can bring God's light into even the darkest situations, and we need to stay on target and stick with it.

So remember, "Don't be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence." What a privilege it is to even be there in the first place!

Thank you for your continued interest in and prayers for God's plans Wales. And may His plans for your life too bring you the joy of good fruit in His name,

Dick & Gladys

Dear Praying Friends and Saints:

"Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb." John 20:1

The rest, as they say, is history, and our future!

Enough said!

Dick and Gladys

Dear Friends and Prayers:

At this time of year we are gloriously bombarded with colors of every shade and hue. There are tender new leaves, fattening buds and flowers are blooming everywhere. All this is accompanied by a constant chorus of singing of birds in the river valley where we live.

This newness of life that surrounds us in springtime always cheers us up and points us to the things that really matter. Romans 6:4-5 says, "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection..."

This  is the amazing message of Jesus' resurrection and triumph over sin and death that will celebrated around the world this Easter Sunday. And far greater than this splendid unfolding of nature around us, the new life that Jesus brings keeps us going for much more that just a season!

Let's face it, seasons come and seasons go. But it is this ongoing newness of life that by far outshines the beauty of even the most glorious springtime! In John 10:10, Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

I have always like Paul's description of what this means when he prays in Ephesians 1:17-21.

"...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."

So this is the kind of newness of life that will stick with us through season after season. When we keep our eyes on Jesus and our hope fixed on Him and not the passing things of this brief world, "The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." Isaiah 58:11.

We wish you every blessing for a joy-filled Easter!

Dick & Gladys