We have moved into a wonderful, furnished 2 bedroom flat that is perfect for our family.  The Lord provided a flat where the landlord was willing to waive the bulk of the deposit and not tie us into a long term lease.   Thanks for all your prayers. Pray that God would provide for us to pay for the place.  It costs almost 3 times what we were paying for our flat in Tacoma. 

 Things continue to move forward with opportunities to teach and minister.   Suzanna and Erin are leading a women’s teaching time on breaking through insignificance next week and Suzanna and I are teaching freedom to the married couples.

Now things are getting interesting, friends! If you’ve read any of the previous blogs, you’ve probably enjoyed the sense of harmony and peace that have marked the mission so far. But things are heating up! The scoop is that our trip was planned in response to an invitation to our church to put on a conference in England this summer. Initially, the main thrust of our trip here was to travel to European YWAM bases meeting missionaries, praying for them, and doing a little teaching as preparation for that conference in June. Graciously, the Lord has put the brakes on that particular plan, saying it’s not His time. However, we are already here.

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After a 7 hour drive with the team, we made it to YWAM Seamill at about 9 p.m.  I know what you’re thinking:  you must have found at least one Starbucks between England and Scotland.  But no…just a nifty restaurant called “Little Chef” which would be the equivalent of a Shoney’s, but with a lot more vinegar.  So with tired kiddos and a little bit of indigestion, we pulled up to the castle on the coast.  It is not a real ancient castle, but was actually built in the 1800’s as a convalescent home, a place for the sick to come heal.  That legacy lives on in Seamill’s destiny, and their function still is to bring healing to folks who come from all over the world.  It’s simply part of their spiritual DNA. 

We felt instantly welcomed and overwhelmed with gratitude to have been brought to this place.  The base leader met us at the door, and from the get-go, it was obvious that we were in the company of like hearts and minds.  It was also obvious that we were all very tired.  So Dave (the base leader) took OJ to the airport to return the rental van, and the rest of us settled down to bed.  Pete and Erin were in their own rooms, and we were on a different wing, having two rooms across the hall from each other. 

 Over the next day or so, we got to know the base leadership more and talked over the heart of the base, their mission, and what God had brought us there for.  They had experienced a week of transformation a few months before at a conference for missionaries from all over the UK, which our pastor had taught.  They’d personally received prayer ministry several times at the conference, and have such an eagerness to hear from the Lord, which marks the entire environment of the base here…a hunger for the Lord’s voice. 

We set up prayer times as the schedule allowed, OJ and I praying for married couples, and Pete and Erin for singles.  I would liken those days to living like a superhero with a secret identity.  Chasing the kids around, trying to feed them an unknown diet, changing diapers, trying to quiet them (there is no doubt–Americans are loud, and our kids are the proof!), and then laying them down for a nap and meeting in the lounge with a new couple we’ve never met.  “Hi, we have approximately 1 hour before one of our kids is up and at ‘em…let’s go!”  And because Jesus loves loud kids and diapers and obedience, you jump right into the miracle zone.  Over the course of the past couple weeks, we’ve prayed for several couples on staff here, and several more who are in national leadership or used to lead this base.  One couple we prayed for were the founders of the base that we’re staying at.  Through faith, they purchased the castle here for 120,000 GBP, when the asking price was 750,000 GBP.  We sat humbled in front of them, knowing the Lord had used them profoundly for many years, and feeling so honored to get to pray for them. 

We’ve been starting every prayer time asking the Lord for His “Original Design” for the person, or some ways that He designed them uniquely.    We know we are only getting a tiny taste of the knowledge of these amazing people, but it’s such a joy to see mature, faithful faces light up at the sense of intimacy that comes from the Lord describing you like a proud papa to a complete stranger.  We always ask the Lord for ways that this design has been opposed or hindered by the enemy, usually linked to a stronghold or blind area. 

We could give so many examples of the miracles God does in just an hour of prayer together . One couple we prayed for were pioneering a church planting work in another city in Scotland.  They were just in for one night, and after we put our five kids (3 for them and 2 for us) to bed, we met in a lounge with baby monitors on alert.  They were a beautiful couple, he from Africa and she from Denmark, with gorgeous, happy children.  We asked the Lord to speak, and He began to fill up pages, with truth about their design, and even the design of their marriage.  The Lord spoke to her natural, personal leadership of women, and an ability to speak truth for the development of another.  He spoke to his deep integrity and call to evangelism.  As the Lord began to reveal ways the enemy had opposed his design, he was literally stunned to hear so concisely and accurately about how his life had unfolded and how the enemy had worked to hinder his design.  He connected so thoroughly with what the Lord was speaking as did his wife.  They were both thrilled to pray and receive the Lord’s design over their lives and resist the longstanding schemes of the enemy.  Both walked away with a greater freedom in their lives and were so filled with faith and hope at the end of the time. 

This man was a part of the national leadership team here, and because of his testimony and the Lord’s grace, they extended an invitation for us to come share for a time at the national meeting.  What was supposed to be a 20 min introduction became three hours with these mighty people of God, as we shared the story of the miracles God has done in our lives and we got a chance to pray and hear the Lord’s design for this nation.  He spoke powerfully, and our time together ended up being only too short.  We are hoping to be able to stay and respond to their invitation to join them on their leadership retreat in May. 

Meanwhile, Pete and Erin were having great prayer times mainly with staff here, and making friends with many of the young, dynamic people based here.  They taught a couple of sessions to explain the concepts of original design and strongholds, laying a foundation for effective prayer.  Each one has been an invaluable member of the team, and it’s been easy to feel like family, working together really seamlessly.  On Friday, we took Pete to the airport, and sent him off to a conference with Reinhard Bonnke.  We miss him alot, but are confident that God’s going to use the time miraculously.  We hope that he will rejoin us later for possible trips to other bases in Europe. 

Shortly after arriving in England, we took a couple days to visit my dear roommate from college and meet her dashing new husband, David. We toured a bit around Nottingham, laughed a lot, totally took to the new hubby, and remembered why we love Eb. Oh, and, of course, we prayed. The kids got to see a real, old castle (from the outside), and we ate at a pub that claims to be the oldest inn in England. It was a fabulous visit. Here’s pic of the kiddos, with the real Robin Hood, whom they recognize thanks to classic Disney. “I thought Robin Hood was a fox, not a man!”

The Kids in Nottingham

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It has taken us a while to get this site up and running.  You may have noticed the mismatching of the dates with the events.  Sorry about that, but we’re hoping to catch up to current news pretty quick here before we send out the link.  So, unfortunately, we’ll probably move quickly through a lot to get to now.

We arrived at the missions base at Harpenden, England, in a happy haze of jetlag and excitement.  OJ began his secondary mission of scouring the streets for Starbucks as soon as we hit the road from the airport to Harpenden.  Unfortunately, this mission is not going as well as the primary one; I think he’s only found one so far.  The wonderful folks at Harpenden treated us like royalty, giving our family a whole flat to spread out in.  Good thing, as we brought enough luggage to clothe the base.  I realized as soon as I opened the first bag that during the flight my mind had mysteriously been healed from the trauma called ‘moving,’ and I was awakened to a new reality of ‘packing.’  If the healing had happened a day earlier, we would probably have 100 lbs. less of luggage.

So we spent a few days connecting with the team already on the ground, meeting new friends, and recognizing faces from our trip to Harpenden 2 years ago.  We saw so many people whom we had met only when praying for them an hour during those ten hour days of intensive prayer on our previous trip.  It’s fun to get to know people you only know from prophetic prayer the normal way.  I was thrilled to find a bunch of them with new babies in their arms!  One of them was an amazing lady who had two older children and was for all intents and purposes “done.”  I clearly remember praying for her and her husband, and was blown away to see her a couple years later filled with joy and showing off her beautiful daughter.  “This was my surprise fortieth birthday present!” she said.  So it’s not just Tacoma where prayer and babies go together!  Praise God!

Initially we tried to let nature take its course in helping the kids with their jet lag, but when on our third night there Ariel didn’t fall asleep until sunup, we put them on a creative schedule to slowly move them by means of exhaustion closer to a normal schedule.  It involved many painful wakings of sleeping children (forgive me, Dr. Weissbluth), but it worked.  After a few days, they were much more on track, much more themselves.

We got a few chances to pray for the folks we came across over the next few days.  We experienced the kindest hospitality and warmth from so many there at Harpenden, and were so glad to be there as we got our feet underneath us.  We prayed mainly to encourage the teams that are trying to birth prayer team ministry there on the base, and lift them up in the battle to do so.  It is so easy to forget how opposed this ministry is, and so unveiling stuff coming against these mighty men and women was a huge treat.  Just to remind them how great they’re doing and why their job can be hard!  Since then, where we are in Scotland, we’ve come across folks who have been profoundly impacted by these new prayer teams born right here in the UK.  It’s the most exciting thing to come across–multiplication of initial investment made by our pastor and many other teams than us.  People being released in who they are being trained to do the prayer ministry, not merely receive it.

During our time at Harpenden the details for the first leg of the trip (destination Seamill, Scotland) were finalized, as well as the makeup of the team.  We sent off some amazing, beloved members who had travelled around England lighting people up before we arrived to their next adventures or some rest, and picked up Erin at Heathrow.  We jumped in a rental minivan to drive the seven hours up to Seamill.  The van crew was Pete, Erin, Ariel, Judah, OJ & me.  In a miraculous stuffing of our much downsized luggage (we stored a bunch at Harpenden), we all fit, most of us lodged in with various items around our feet and heads.  OJ drove, still searching the fields of sheep and sleepy towns we passed in vain for a Starbucks.  At the end of a long day, we made it to Seamill, Scotland, a missions base on the west coast of Scotland, home for the next little bit.

We spent our last days in Tacoma with sweet intentionality, visiting favorite places, taking long walks, remembering the spot where Ariel had sung nursery rhymes, Judah had first kicked a soccer ball (excuse me, a football), and OJ and I had frolicked in fields of flowers.  We shared our hearts for hours with soon to be missed friends over lattes and macchiatos (oh, for a decent cup of coffee!!!), hugged each other tightly, and journalled our feelings in preparation for our long journey.  Oh, wait, I haven’t done any of those things since I was an unemployed young adult.  Let me think back…it would have been in college, and probably most of those conversations with friends would have revolved around complaining about being too busy. 

No, actually, our last few days were manic, with a thousand details that had not or could not have been addressed previously.  Wow, moving overseas with two toddlers is a trip.  In the psychotic drug sense.  We moved (mostly) out of the condo the weekend before.  (In case you’re wondering, “the condo” refers to our abode for the past 8 mos, a place that was graciously provided by some dear friends since we sold our house.)  In another more removed graciously provided abode, we took a couple days to sleep, and then continued on with the preparations.  What preparations, you ask?  Mud masks?  Theology courses?  More like painting over the spots where the kids had drawn on the condo’s walls, throwing away thousands of dollars of we can’t remember what (man, I thought we purged after we sold the house!), trying to figure out how to pack me approximately four wardrobes to cover the many climates and growing-baby belly sizes we would encounter on the trip, handing over our business to be run by a cat called “Rusty,” selling furniture on craigslist, and not writing this blog.  Suffice it to say, I only just now cancelled the DSL online.  Well, sent them an email asking them to, anyway.  We’ll see how it works out. 

During that time, Ariel and Judah subsisted on chicken nuggets (I believe these have been mentioned in previous posts), cheeseburgers, and daily servings of Veggie Tales.  Those poor kiddos were champs, coaching semi-insane parents through the ups and downs and reminding us to eat fast food regularly. 

It was a marathon to the end, Monday, March 24, the day our plane would take off at 10 in the evening.  OJ and I put the kids in the tender care of some good friends, and danced the day away in a delicate tango of phone calls, packing, and twisting our ankles.  No, I’m not kidding!  Both of us!  So when Brian Moberg (aka B Mobes) dropped us off at the airport that evening, Ariel was pushing Judah in the stroller, and OJ and I were both limping behind smart carts loaded with more luggage than we could see over.  We winced and pushed our way over to the desk, and prayed that our bags would not be too heavy.  The attendant had mercy and pretended that the airline didn’t charge for overweight bags, and so we hobbled through security and began to pray for our ankles.  By that point, we were just laughing.  Laughing at how many balls we had dropped, how badly we had failed all our own standards, how decidedly unglamorous we were, how rediculous our state, and the fact that in our exit we may have let everyone down we knew in one way or another, but we had managed to obey the Lord.  And that was all we could say on our own behalf.  And it was good.   Getting here was a birth, with all that entails, but as we got on the plane, there was such a relief.  “Here comes the good part.”

  And so we flew through the night, loving the British Airways hospitality, stretching the kids out on the empty seats next to us (thank you for empty seats, Jesus!), and feeling the post-partum high.  To Heathrow, England!

They always say that God will come through in the eleventh hour!  If you were to put the timeline of our leaving Tacoma for this trip onto the face of a clock, and we sold our house in the first hour, I’d say this miracle came at 11:59.  We planned for it somewhere around 7, and sweated through our shirts about it until 10:30, when things got so hairy that we didn’t even have time to think about it.  You see, there were about five million things to do to extract ourselves from our American lives and execute a McDowell migration, but the facilitator of it all was the money that we’d need to come from the sale of our car, in order to cover the expenses of the trip.  We tried to sell it for a couple of months.  It’s a comical thing to try to sell a car that you use to transport toddlers.  After multiple chicken nugget vaccuumings, amateur detailing, paint touch ups (we know a guy who does that), and car washes, we had sold a whole lot of nada.  Only one test drive.  So the time came for move out of the condo and pack the bags we’d put on the plane, and we still didn’t have money for the trip.  We did, however, have a sweet ride, which would have helped if the bridge to England were finished.  (Personally, I’m hoping for one to Hawaii first.) 

 So on the Wednesday before our plane departed, we received a mysterious voice mail.  According to this voice mail, our little crossover was eagerly desired by and locally unobtainable to a certain gentleman in the Ukraine, and he would like to buy it and put it on a transport ship to be the only Outlander in Kiev.  Or somewhere.  We were suspicious.  Experience with craiglist will do that to you.  Tentatively, we began negotiations, really having no choice. 

Long story short, on the very last business day before we left the country with a possibly empty bank account, we met our potential buyer (who was dealing on behalf of his friend overseas) at 8:30 am at 72nd street Starbucks, where, as we all know, many a shady deal has gone down.  The tall friendly redheaded guy we met there was about the least shady character yet to visit that Starbucks, and within 2 hours, we had signed every legal paper necessary, transferred the title at the DOL, authorized release of the lien, and tanked the bank account with necessary funds for eating in Europe for the next couple months.  I couldn’t believe the grace of God. 

Right before he drove away, I asked our new friend Yaroslav if he had ever been part of a miracle before.  He told us that right before he was to move to the USA from the Ukraine, he had no money for the trip and needed to sell his car.  He said that he had prayed, and 2 days before his departure date, his car had sold.  He was happy to have passed on the miracle.  We said farewell to the Outlander, and wished it a Bon Voyage.  Hopefully it is getting to experience 110 mph once in a while, and bringing something fresh to a faraway place, a place where the likes of it hasn’t been seen before.  Hmmm…wonder if there’s a deeper meaning there…