Newsletters
Beginning of 'The FORGE' journey in Israel
(17th – 24th January 2011)
Korean Workers Conference in Israel
Three days after I came back from Kyrgyzstan, I flew to Israel. There was a Korean workers conference in Galilee. It was a very encouraging time meeting and sharing with other workers from the Middle East and we were refreshed.
When I heard about the fire in Haifa, I wanted to visit Mt. Carmel after the Korean conference because there are some friends of Nations there. Although Gail, my colleague, emailed them, there was no-reply for two weeks. So I gave up on going to Haifa while I was in Galilee. The last day of our conference, I felt that God might lead me to Jerusalem even though I had already made up my mind not to go to Jerusalem this time. Even though I had no contact in Jerusalem I had a conviction to go to Jerusalem.
In Israel and Rees Howells
I just followed friends of mine who had already made an arrangement with a Korean Prayer House group which is called Sukkat Davida. They were so hospitable and prayerful. I learned a lot from them about the biblical perspective of Israel, Jewish traditional way of prayer and the Sabbath. We visited two Prayer houses which are Rick Ridings’ Sukkat Hallel and Tom Hess’ Prayer House. We were so welcomed as brothers.
Our God is awesome! When I arrived in Galilee the first day, a Korean-American man talked about Rees Howells and the Bible College of Wales. Through the whole journey in Israel, nearly every day people talked about Rees Howells and the BCW. I don’t think it was a co-incidence, but a God-incidence. Even when we went to Tom Hess’ prayer house to have the Sabbath meal, a lady came to our table to talk to us. She thought we were talking in English. I took her to the next table and introduced myself as coming from Wales. Then she said she was reading the Rees Howells’ book. Even when I went up to Haifa (Mt. Carmel) in the end, Colin who came to pick me up, immediately talked about Rees Howells. Also when I got the centre on Mt Carmel, Peter Tsukahira mentioned about the Bible College. Nearly everyday people were mentioned about Rees Howells and BCW.
Meeting with Jan Willem
Before I left the UK, a friend of mine, Sally, gave me the name of someone who lives in Jerusalem. So I thought God might want me to meet the man in Jerusalem. When I looked at the man’s address, there was only P.O. Box address and his name. But I got the full address from Rick Ridings when we visited his prayer house.
I phoned Jan a few times but he wasn’t there. The next day I got hold of him. He was excited to hear from someone who came from Wales and praying for the Bible College of Wales. The next day, I wanted to stay at Mt. Carmel but I needed to come back to Jerusalem to meet Jan. He encouraged me and prayed for me. It’s so encouraging because I felt I wasn’t alone in this battle.
Korean Businessmen
When I came back to the Korean Prayer Centre, two Korean businessmen were there as if they were waiting for me. They are not only good Christian businessmen but also have got Kingdom’s mind. As they shared, I was very touched and encouraged. Of course they mentioned about Rees Howells and the Bible College of Wales.
Israel
I knew in my head Israel was so important in His eternal purpose. Now I do understand about it more in my heart. We should pray for Israel; her protections as well as finding her destiny.
A Beginning of Conclusion
Two years ago, we started to go to a local fellowship in the Bible College of Wales grounds according to what God had put in my heart. And he wanted me to be silent in the fellowship. I and my family have been going to the fellowship in the BCW grounds every Sunday. Last December Bridget had a dream about praying for BCW and I got a couple of Scriptures for Alan Scotland who is a chairman of former-BCW trust and the end of December I sent it to him. I feel it is time for the BCW grounds to be purchased and re-opened for God’s eternal purposes.
Last June I went to the Black Mountain to fast and pray for ten days and I had a burden for three different places; Glanmor Nations Centre (building project), Gelli Aur (local stately home near here, also being purchased for use as Christian Arts centre), Bible College of Wales. I am still carrying the burdens for these three places. Interestingly enough, we Nations team have prayed for all these places. Still I don’t know many things but I am walking step by step in His eternal purpose because my destiny has already been set up through the Cross.
8th April 2011
Reclaiming the inheritance of Rees Howells (Bible College of Wales)
Rees Howells has left a spiritual inheritance, and a physical ground, for us to stand on, live by faith in the unfailing love of God, and through intercession and mission work, forcefully advance of the Kingdom of God.
Contrary to what many have assumed, THE BIBLE COLLEGE SITE HAS NOT BEEN SOLD YET. But it is in process of application for re-development, so it is time to start moving.
The purpose of this letter is to rally people who hold this in their hearts, and call them to action to restore the vision, reclaim the land (that is, purchase the former BCW site) and resume the work of intercession and world mission on that site.
God has led us from praying for this, to being ready to gather people to start moving towards actually doing it. Hence this letter.
If you feel stirred in your heart to be part of this incredible venture, we invite you to read the attached document which will give an introduction to the journey of spiritual revelation that has led us to this point, and an outline of where we are going.
Thank you.
Yours in anticipation,
Kyoo Dae & Bridget Lee
An Introduction to us
I (Kyoo Dae) was born in South Korea and served as Pastor in a Korean church in Seoul. I have been in the U.K. for 12 years and came here to do mission training at Nations in Wales. I had no direct relationship with BCW although I had read Rees Howells’ book when I was in Korea. Since my training I have been working with Nations in Wales and been involved in a local church. In 2006 I married Bridget, who was then working for World Horizons, and we settled in Llanelli.
In 2007 I felt God was moving us from that local fellowship and in 2009 my wife and I left, with the blessing of the leaders. God began to speak to me about BCW. I attended the service there, expecting just BCW staff and students, and found Swansea Community Church (The church belongs to Lifelink denomination, which is part of the Global Horizons Trust which still owns the Bible College site.)
At first even my wife did not want to commute to Swansea every Sunday, but I felt God had put BCW on my heart and I wanted to stand on the ground. Fortunately my wife accepted my call and we have continued there for 2 years 3 months now. In December 2010, my wife received a dream in which she believed God was asking her to pray so that the current plan for redevelopment of the site does not go ahead.
At first I had no interest or desire to purchase the land myself, but the Lord has changed my heart. I do believe the spiritual inheritance of Rees Howells is still waiting to be unfolded in God’s eternal purposes, and that He is calling me to call people together for that purpose.
Bridget’s Dream
In my dream I was at the Bible College grounds with quite a few other people. Although they weren't people I knew, in my dream we were all staff members of the college. The college was already closed down, we knew it was for sale and we were hanging around to see if the new owners would want to keep us on or not.
Then 2 ladies arrived. They had bought the college and come to interview everyone and look around. I talked to them and they explained they wanted to use it as a school for children with behavioural problems. In my mind I thought "that's a nice project, but it's not right. This place is meant to be for the nations." I saw it written on a sheet of paper "the nations, the nations, the nations" over and over.
Then I and some other staff were walking back from the main house and I asked them "what do you think about this? Is it right for these people to have the college?" and they didn't give a clear answer, just that they were hanging on, hoping to keep their jobs. I asked "But can't we stop it? If we get together and pray we can stop the sale, even though it has already been agreed." The man next to me looked at me and said "yes, if you believe." And I felt I MUST get everyone together and pray to stop this sale, that if we got together that night and prayed we could stop it going through. At the same time I was aware that the people in charge, who wanted to sell the place, would be angry with me if I got people together to pray against it, and this made me hesitate.
I woke up with a sense of urgency. Until now I haven't felt very strongly about the Bible College lands although we have been praying for some time, but now I feel it matters, it's very important that this land doesn't go to the wrong people who would cover up the legacy of Rees Howell and build something else on top of it. I need to be part of standing to keep the place for those who have that heart for the nations to come and take it possession of it.
Reclaiming the inheritance of Rees Howells (Bible College of Wales) 1
14th May 2011
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for your prayers and participation for the gathering on 30th April. 17 of us met in Parkland Church in Swansea and had lunch together. We thanked, repented, blessed, shared, prayed and walked on the Bible College of Wales ground. We finished at about 5 o’clock.
1) Introduction of Meeting
We had decided not to criticise the past but to forgive, forget and bless. In fact, we did open by thanking God for what he has done through Rees Howells, Samuel Howells and Alan Scotland; with repentance for mistakes, bitterness of the past and with blessing for the people who have been involved in BCW in the past and now.
2) Time of Repentance and Blessings
A friend of ours sent an email on Friday and spoke to me on the phone about repentance on that day. We repented of our ignorance and repented on behalf of some others in order to clear the spiritual ground. Especially an ex-student and staff member of BCW attended and repented about his anger and hurt towards new trustees, and he blessed them. It was so beautiful, powerful and moving; a few of us were in tears through the time of repentance.
3) No Death, No Resurrection
One of us shared that BCW has died. It sounds sad but, in fact, it is good news. Because unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. No death, no resurrection! I believe that this is the time of resurrection!
4) Creating Forward Movement
A few people came to me (Kyoo Dae) after the meeting and said they would like to commit to this venture of God in order to restore the vision of intercession and mission and to resume the work of God on the site. One Korean lady told me that she had been waiting for this kind of action. She just finished 40 days fasting in Israel and she felt the anointing of God now has been released for BCW while she was fasting. So when she heard about this gathering, she decided to come. It is a real encouragement and confirmation from God. Now I am not alone but we are moving together. Also we are inviting you as well. There is plenty of room to work and to walk together for the Kingdom of God.
5) The Forge vision
Some people asked us whether we plan to restart another Bible college. I think we will not run as a Bible College but a centre for intercession, mission and worshipping God and also for training intercessors and missionaries. I mentioned about the ‘FORGE’ vision in my first document. God showed me an image of the blacksmith, the one who hammers out a sword, as the intercessor and the training in his word as the vital work of the blacksmith for our times.
6) Financial gifts/seeds
A few days before the gathering, I received a gift of £300. My wife and I agreed to give it as seed money for the Forge funds. On that day, one Korean-American professor gave us some more seed money; $100 and 50,000 won(=£25). And a Korean lady told us that last year she opened a Korean bank account for BCW and she has already received £7500.
Reclaiming the inheritance of Rees Howells (Bible College of Wales) 2
Calling for a War: Turn FORD Into FORT (Judges 3:27-30)
Ehud killed Eglon Moabite king single-handed, then he blew the trumpet to call Israelites for a war. Now it is our turn and our time to come together to fight as they did. They possessed the fords of the Jordan and destroyed their enemies, although they were vigorous and strong. Ehud and his followers turned the fords into forts through the battle.
Rees Howells turned a mansion into the Bible College; a spiritual fort through the battle of faith, although the enemy was very strong. The Bible College was not only a place for training young warriors but also itself was a battle field of intercession at a crucial time in history.
Now a property developer is trying to turn the spiritual FORT into physical forty houses. If this happens the forty houses will be useful for ordinary life but we will lose the spiritual FORT and we may give way to our enemy to attack and to possess us. But we have to keep the FORT to restore the legacy of Rees Howells and to resume the work of God, so that we may teach how to live by faith, how to fight the spiritual warfare for such a time as this and raise up this kind of warriors of God.
Reclaiming the inheritance of Rees Howells (Bible College of Wales) 3
Not Ability but Availability
When the Israelites cried out to God, he sent a deliverer whose name was Ehud, who was left-handed. (In Hebrew: ‘his right hand was closed up’). God sent a disabled man to deliver Israel from Moab. I thought God made a big mistake in choosing Ehud. But he had already made a double-edged sword even though his right hand was shut up. I felt that I wasn’t the right person to do this BCW job. I thought God made a big mistake again.
Nevertheless, I need to learn how to make a double-edged sword as Ehud did although I am disabled in some areas. I think God is not looking for my Ability but my Availability. Also the literal meaning of Ehud is united. Unity in Christ is so important in this reclaiming work. We are different but we can be united as long as we keep forgiving, forgetting and blessing each other. (Judges 3:15-30)
21st June 2011
Dear brothers & sisters,
Thank you for your prayers and standing with us although you could not make to come for various reasons. Some people sent emails and texts and also phoned me. Ten of us gathered, four of us who came last time and six of us were new ones. The combination of people was quite different from the last meeting. One of us used to be one of BCW lectures and another one used to be a house parent for Immanuel Grammar School children. Also we had a retired senior Barrister and another BCW graduate pastor, etc. Quite few number of people couldn’t make to come although they would like to come. My wife Bridget has not been well, so she stayed at home.
Repentance
A couple of people who came did not know about our personal journey of obedience but they heard about this meeting because they have been interested in BCW. While we were praying, one of them asked for forgiveness with tears for his ignorance and wrong attitude towards the former BCW trustees. It was absolutely beautiful and powerful. Our journey of forgiving and forgetting and blessing is being continued.
Discussing Time
We discussed quite a lot of the past, present and the future of BCW. Some people who were involved in the past shared about their lives and scriptures to do with BCW. There was some discussion about the technicalities of the transitional process BCW went through.
One of us talked about deposit; Abraham put a deposit through the sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah. On Abraham’s deposit, David prepared the ground and Solomon built the Temple of God. Likewise Rees Howells put a deposit in faith and built BCW. So we need to continue to build His Kingdom on Rees Howells deposit. The thing that God started should be finished. As we know it is not completed yet.
A couple of people mentioned about the relationship between Israel and BCW. One interesting thing is about 12 Jewish refugee children who came to Wales during the second World War. One of us said that these 12 Jewish children might represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Also Welsh troops were sent to Palestine during the British Mandate period.
One person strongly stressed that we don’t want to build a monument of Rees Howells but the movement of the Kingdom of God. We all agreed.
Prayer & Fellowship
We praised Him with singing and we prayed for an hour. It was very moving and powerful prayers and praises. We finished the meeting at about 4:15pm but people didn’t want to leave and talked one to one and prayed with each other. Some of us went to the BCW grounds and prayed.
We haven’t opened the bank account yet but God has brought us a retired barrister. Praise God!
Reclaiming the inheritance of Rees Howells (Bible College of Wales) 4
Faith requires Cost!
Faith always requires a cost as Abraham, David and Rees Howells paid. If there is no cost involved, certainly it is not the faith walk. We must not expect that we may buy the BCW property cheaply. We have to pay our own cost which is the requirement of the faith of God.
Paying Costs Not Playing with Emotion
Abraham was grieving for his wife’s death but he rose up and approached the Hittite to buy a burial place. The Hittite was sympathetic with Abraham., so they offered their cave to Abraham to bury her with no charge. But Abraham insisted on paying the market price and they agreed. Although Abraham was a foreigner, he now owned a property legally in Canaan. It was just the beginning of what God has planned here on earth. If Abraham had taken the Hittites’ kind offer to bury Sarah, he would have buried just her but NOT earthed God’s eternal purpose and the Kingdom of God. (Genesis 23:2-18)
After the counting of the number of the army, David had to sacrifice an offering on Araunah’s threshing floor. When David approached, Araunah kindly offered not only the threshing floor but also his oxen and threshing-sledge too. If David had taken Araunah’s kind offer, the site would have still been Araunah’s. The Temple of God was built on the site where David paid the proper price. (1Chronicles 21:22-25)
3rd July 2011
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for your prayers and encouragements. It seems to be relatively quiet regarding BCW because there are a lot of things happening here in Llanelli in South Wales. In our centre, a team of people had a big battle to get a huge property for accommodation. Last month, all three groups (Nations + Frontline Nations + Celebration Mobile Team) had three days fasting and prayer, also many of us handed over our two fish and five loaves of bread. Last Wednesday our team heard that the contract has been signed up and exchanged. Again last Thursday we all of us went to the property and started cleaning and rearranging things. It looked like impossible for us to get the property but was NOT for God. He intervened and has done it!