Diane Chamberlain-Butt
During the past 20 years I have often been called to pray over land and to witness how the Lord has changed atmospheres, physically transformed places and opened hearts to receive more of the Kingdom of God. This is often a process and takes time for anything to be evident, so patience is sometimes needed before we see the results of those assignments.
It really began in 2,001 when I moved to Grenoside. I was aware of pagan practices in the woods and how this affected the local church. So, I (and other friends) would often go on top of St. Helena (the highest place in Grenoside) to worship and pray. This for me is no hardship as I love worshipping outdoors and I really enjoy walking, so it became a bit of a hobby. While we were there, we often prayed over Sheffield as this was a good spot for viewing the city. I had been called to Sheffield in 1974 after I heard the audible voice of God and have been passionate about it ever since.
We also used to pray along the A61 towards Grenoside on Halifax Road as someone had shared that the A61 went all the way through the city and that the Lord had shown them that they were to proclaim Isaiah 61 all the way along this road. I was intrigued as this was an incredibly special piece of scripture for me, given to me at a time when I was coming through a marriage break up in the 1980’s.
After several years of prayer walking and worshipping on the hill, the local Anglican church made some progress and became established with a reordering of the inside of the building. Also, more young families from the local community felt able to attend the more informal and gospel centred services. Later I was delighted to discover that Bushfire church moved into a building on Halifax road; the same stretch as we had prayer walked on the A61.
In 2009 I Married John and we soon discovered that we were both often asked to pray and bless actual geographical areas. (John has some interesting stories about Wincobank Hill too). In 2010 we came to live in Brampton-en-le Morthen. When we arrived in the village, people were generally friendly, and we attended a picnic in Joyce’s garden. It was not long before we discovered that underneath the friendly exterior there was an air of victimhood and defensiveness over this community. We asked the Lord what to do. Did he want us to evangelise the people? We certainly did not feel like evangelists. We had faith to begin to pray for the residents in each house on our road (of which there are about 7! -this was as far as our faith reached). We prayer walked and got to know people gradually. We felt we needed to build relationships and that we were committed for the long haul. At Christmas that first year the Lord encouraged us to invite everyone in the village round for food and singalong carols. People who came were keen to meet again. So, we did another one over Easter and introduced them to a buffet type Passover. This was a great success and there was a group of people who were very keen to start a village committee to organise community events and improvements in the environment. We became part of the village association and soon the Christmas get together moved out of our house and became established as an annual event that most people hold dear (and we always include carols that mention Jesus).
We prayed about a troublesome family who seemed to be holding everyone in fear for what they might do next. Shall we pray the ‘improve or remove’ prayer we thought. We did and the whole family moved out of the village and their house was up for auction. With our friend Wendy (who was staying with us at the time) we took wine and oil prayed round poured it around the empty house. We asked for righteous, law abiding citizens to move in; a family who would bless our community. We were amused to find out that they called themselves ‘The White family’ and that the lady of the house was a policewoman! They really do bless our community and keep us feeling safe. They now have two lovely children which is wonderful as most residents are over 50. There are now 4 young children in the village under 16 and this is a sign of life to us.
We began to pray over derelict buildings. We saw these being transformed into much sort after unique homes and new people moved in who have brought fresh ideas to our village. On one of the roads into the village was a contaminated area full of waterlogged rubbish which was a danger to everyone’s health. As a village association we worked on improving this spot, but all our initiatives failed. We prayer walked round it several times and after a while we were delighted to see the land filled in and a proper entrance installed for the bridleway beside it.
Minstrels at the Gate
Outside our house there are gates that open into a field. While we were on holiday visiting castles and ancient houses, the Lord began to speak to us about being Minstrels at the Gate. He showed us that as we worship, we can open the gates of heaven for others to enter in. This year in lockdown we have
had three opportunities to worship in front of these gates and invite others in the village to participate (from a distance). We also did a Vera Lynne singalong at a distance on VE day which was quite emotional and kept us feeling like we were all together, caring for one another amidst the crisis.
We pray every week to bless the village and before any events. We have witnessed negative attitudes turn into positive ones at committee meetings and good will and friendship promoted amongst neighbours. The Lord said there was a choir in the village- a year later we started one. This promotes wellbeing and we all experience joy on those nights. We got concerned that everyone who came seemed worried about health issues, so we began to share stories about supernatural healing. Our friends Debbie and Martin Plura who minister healing all over the world came to join us on a few occasions and then asked if anyone would like prayer for healing. All the group agreed to stay behind after the rehearsal and the Holy Spirit moved powerfully on those people’s lives. Some felt their physical bodies change. One lady stopped having arthritis pain for a full fortnight. Another found that her walking improved. One man who has dementia said yes to receiving Jesus. Others said that they already believed. It seemed that the Lord had sent us those people in the village who already had some sort of faith. We try and encourage them individually now as the rules say we cannot sing in groups.
Others in our village know where to come if they need prayer for difficult situations or relatives in need. We have had a few requests during this present pandemic. The Lord has resolved every issue brought to us.
When there is a village activity outside, we make it our business to pray for good weather. The day before the celebration of the Queens Jubilee it was very wet. It was a corporate decision not to cancel it and we said we would pray. The next day in the afternoon, everywhere else in the locality was wet. On the dot of the 3.00 o clock start there was a dry spot just over the village for the time of the celebration and then it continued raining when we had finished. They could not deny the power of prayer!
The reason we must hold gatherings outside is because we have no village hall or local pub, which brings me to another story. Ever since we moved here the Rising Deer was closed and inhabited by the ex-landlady who had become too frail to run it. Eventually, Pat moved to a care home and the pub owner put in an application to turn it into 2 dwelling houses.
Most of the villagers wanted it to remain a pub so that we have at least one communal public space. We raised objections to the owner’s plans with the council, and permission was not granted. Despite this the owner appeared unwilling to put it on the market to be sold as a pub. After their second failed attempt at planning permission, it all went quiet. Then one day there was a break in on someone’s van that was parked on the pub car park. John and I felt we needed to respond in warfare over the grounds and the building. We partook of bread and wine there, pouring some on the ground and declared that righteousness, love, and good community spirit should be established there by the blood of Jesus. We prayed for God s best plan for the building.
Some months later we got the good news that a reputable landlord who already managed a pub in Aston had bought it and it would be opening the following year when he had finished the renovations. He plans to make it a family friendly place with meals etc. Much hope and rejoicing could be heard in the village when we heard that good news. God is so generous when we pray even though people are probably not aware of it. We are expecting it to open in October or at least in time for our Christmas carols celebration as we turn on the newly acquired Christmas lights.
Our trips to Turkey
In 2017 went to visit Di and Vic in Turkey. During our stay they encouraged us to go to Ffald y Brenin (a Christian retreat centre) and we learnt about local houses of prayer. To our surprise we had unconsciously planted one. We had already converted an upstairs office into a prayer room. Having two spare bedrooms plus sofa beds in other functional rooms means that we are often able to accommodate visitors. While sharing this holiday with the Whitakers, we experienced what it was like to have a rhythm of prayer at certain times of day. We adopted something like this when we returned and found it fruitful.
We were of course fascinated by the back story of how the Lord had shown Vic and Di that they were to leave the UK and set up an international prayer retreat in Turkey. God had given Di a dream about the piece of land. They were renting a flat in Antalya while they explored the countryside to the north, looking for the spot that matched the clues God had given. We were intrigued to know where this plot of land was. We joined them on one of their expeditions and felt drawn towards the valleys at the foot of beautiful mountains. Turkey is rich with Christian heritage and there are many places where St Paul would have travelled and established churches. He had passed through the Antalya region. I was impressed by the abundant rivers and streams and felt that underneath the earth there were wells to be dug- an inheritance to build on and that God was placing Vic and Di in a strategic place in the middle East in which to intercede for the nations.
A year later (in 2018), Vic and Di came back to the UK and shared that they had found the piece of land they had been searching for and that they could purchase it upon return if they could raise enough funds. Christian friends generously gave and so they acquired the small farm from a French lady who had already been running a Yoga retreat centre. ‘Sh’li’ nestles at the foot of the mountains and is beautifully green and very peaceful apart from the occasional flock of goats that are herded across the valley.
We returned to Sh’li twice in 2019 and it was exciting to discover that the mountains above it housed the ruins of an ancient city, Cremna, dating back to the time of Paul. We discovered there the sites of several churches placed among amphitheatres, dwellings and arenas.
The first visit that year was with several other members of Sh’ma kingdom Dancers. We all visited the mountain top, danced among the ruins and declared release for the Kingdom of God over the land.
It was obvious there was a spiritual battle that week, but we declared the victory every day
as we sang ’Give me this mountain’ by Graham Kendrick in the bus as we travelled towards Sh’li. Later Virginia choreographed a dance which we recorded in Roche Abbey.
A breakthrough came the day when some of the dancers put on angels’ wings and posted themselves on hill tops above Sh’li. Worshipful declarations to God s glory were decreed and sung, echoing down the valley towards those of us sitting in the grounds of the farm. We responded to these declarations
and our praise was reflected to the ‘angels’ up the hill. It was one of the most powerful encounters with the presence of God I have ever had. It was interesting that I was in a broken place as I was going through a time of deep refining. When I was not worshipping, I was sobbing uncontrollably. After this encounter we were much stronger as a team and the Lord enabled us to push through with Him to a place of knowing the victory over some of our individual issues. One of the visitors said she could see actual angels over the mountains.
The reason we work with OK charity in the UK is because it supports this project in Turkey. We continue to fight with them to see God s sovereign plan fulfilled as they build on the Christian heritage established so long ago.
We are just ordinary believers; we have no special titles or fame, and like you, just follow the Lord step by step in our everyday lives. It’s only upon reflection that we realise what God has done here in this village. Maybe you have a story that will encourage others too?
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