Evan Brown

Back Home

2011-04-08T16:00:00.002+01:00

Hey everyone,

Jemma and I just got back from about 3 weeks in the States visiting some friends and family, it was a great time!!! We had some exciting news to share with everyone, JEMMA IS PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!! We are going to be parents, how exciting!!! The baby is due sometime in early November. It was really great to see my family and some of the guys back in the States that I haven't seen in a couple years. I hadn't been back in the USA since November of 2009, a pretty long time for sure. I am starting my new job with Halifax bank on the 18th of this month, and we just bought a car, (a 2000 Fiat Punto ELX) so a lot has been happening. I have a short video up on youtube with some fun testimonies from some of my friends over here, this is the link if you want to go check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/user/iamsodownwiththat?feature=mhum
It is a little video I put together just a week before we left, I am going to try and put together some more videos in the future and post them to youtube. So yeah, other than that we are still going to Exchange Church Belfast, and I am still being involved with stuff there, and working on getting the House of Prayer integrated into the church among other things. It is really exciting to be a part of what God is doing here. Their website is
www.exchangechurchbelfast.co.uk
If you want to check that out, also check them out on itunes you can get the weekly podcast for free, it is really good stuff. Just type in Exchange Church Belfast in the podcast search on itunes. Jo has had mixed reports from the doctors, so please keep praying and standing with us in believing for healing for her. Other than that, I am gonna try and put some pictures of the car and other fun stuff up soon, and hopefully some more about whats going on over here. Much love to everyone who has been reading and praying for us!!!
Blessings,
Evan

Update

2011-02-28T14:43:00.002Z

Hey guys,
Not so bad this time huh? Only a month. Definite improvement!!! :P Basically, I just wanted to give a bit of an update to everyone/anyone who is interested. I am in the process of getting a job at Halifax, which is a bank over here in the U.K. The Lord has really blessed me with favor to get me this far, and at the minute I have a provisional start date of April 18th, there is just a few more technicalities to get through and it will all be official. The House of Prayer is still meeting together once a week and praying for the city and nation as well as other things the Lord lays on our hearts. We are exploring the possibility of linking the House of Prayer with the church Jemma and I are attending, Exchange Church Belfast, which is an exciting possibility. I am meeting with a couple of the younger guys from church once a week and working through different practicalities of Bible study and prayer, and just trying to help them in any way I can to continue to grow their relationship with the Lord, it is going really well and we are really enjoying it which is very exciting. I really love seeing young people catch a vision for what their relationship with the Lord can be like, and just getting passionate about His presence and seeing God's Kingdom come in their lives and their situations. There are a couple other projects that I am working on and will give more of an update on in the near future. Other than that, there is no new news about Jo, so please everyone keep praying and declaring the Lord's goodness and faithfulness over that situation. Also, Jemma and I are hoping to get a chance to go to America and visit friends and family in late March for 2 weeks, so please be praying for great ticket prices and the provision to be able to go!!!
Blessings,
Evan

3 Months..........wow

2011-01-24T11:58:00.006Z

Hey everyone,
I can't actually believe it has been 3 months since I last blogged. Soooooooo sorry about that, I keep meaning to then stuff keeps happening and I forget. I hope you all had a great holiday season. Since my last blog, I got a temp job over the Christmas season working in a clothing retail company called River Island. I started in the last week of October and worked till the last week of December. It was a very interesting experience to be sure!!! It kept me quite busy and provided us with some much needed funds so that was great. I turned 25 on the 28th of October, so that was interesting...I am now half way through my 20's and half way around the world from where I started them out. :P We had a Thanksgiving day celebration at the House of Prayer since my friend Charles and I are both from America, it was really good fun. December was busy busy busy for us, I was working all the time and there was a lot of snow which made getting to work on public transportation a bit of a nightmare at times. It got really cold here, in fact it was record breaking cold, which isn't really the kind of cold you want to be part of usually. It got so cold that there was a week where it warmed up and so many people's pipes had burst that half of Belfast didn't have any water for about 3 or 4 days. We had a quiet Christmas just Jemma, myself, and my friend Charles at our little house here on Sefton Park. It was really nice though, we just shared presents, sat around chatting and eating food, and watching some Christmas movies, it was really good times. Jemma got to go and see her family on Boxing Day (26th of December) for a couple of days and do Christmas with them, so that was nice. There is no major good news to report about her sister yet, and the kids have been having a rough time as well, so please keep them all in your prayers as we continue to do the same. Our New Year's Eve we spent with our church Exchange, they had a big party for everyone and it turned out to be good fun. We had a meal, and played some games, and then had a big worship set to welcome in the New Year.
My temp. job ran out just before the new year and I have been looking for a new one for the past few weeks. Jemma put her CV (resume) in for a couple jobs on a Monday and literally the next day had a couple calls, the following day she did a group interview, the day after they called her back for a second interview, and Friday they told her she had the job and she started Monday!!! God is good!!! She is working in a call centre doing outbound sales calls at the moment, and she really enjoys it. I am continuing to look for a job while I work on House of Prayer stuff, and get more involved with out local church. If anyone is interested you can download the sermons from our church for free on i-tunes, just type in Exchange Church Belfast in the podcasts section. It is really good teaching, and great to be a part of a church that is bringing the good news of God's love and grace to Ireland. Today is Jemma's birthday and she is......well I probably shouldn't say how old she is you know how women are like about their age :P haha she is 27 today and as lovely as ever.
I am going to get my lovely wife Jemma involved in helping find a rhythm to doing these blogs since she is more administratively minded than I am, so that should help things move along a bit more. :P I am sorry to all of you who take time to read that it has taken me so long to post again, I really will make an effort to post more regularly. Thank you so much to everyone who reads, and is praying for us.

Happy October!!!

2010-10-14T12:24:00.002+01:00

Flip, I can't believe it has been 2 months since I have last blogged!!! I really need to get better at blogging on a regular basis. A lot of things have been changing lately. I have been looking for a part time job a lot in the last several weeks, because of different situations it has become necessary for us to supplement our income. Jemma has still been going back and forth to England to help her sister out with her chemo sessions, though she is back here at the minute and probably will be back for at least 6 weeks!!! Jo is still going through chemo and there has not been any substantial good news to share yet, so please keep praying and just declaring the Lord's goodness over her and her family!!! House of Prayer has been ongoing and there might be some big changes coming up soon. I can't give any specifics yet, but hopefully I will be able to share some more exciting news again soon!!! I have been getting more involved with Exchange Church, which is my local fellowship. That has been great just getting to know more people there, and help out with the different things they are doing. We have been seeing more healing lately, which is very exciting!!! As I said, I am hoping to do another blog in the next week or so with some more details and some more testimonies, I just wanted to update real quick since I hadn't in about 2 months, again sorry about that!!! :P So I will update again real soon with more news, much love.

Evan

"...hope does not dissapoint"

2010-08-17T12:47:00.007+01:00

Sooooo this blog is probably going to be more about where I am at with the Lord, and some things the Lord is taking me through than just about circumstances. Basically the circumstances look like this: My wife's sister still has cancer and Jemma is currently back over in England helping with her family while Jo is in hospital for round two of chemotherapy, we find out this week what the prognosis is so that is a big one, we are still doing House of Prayer on Thursday nights and working on following the vision that the Lord has put in our hearts for that, I have started working part time for my mom with her medical transcription business to make some money for the House of Prayer so that we can hopefully move forward with some things that require finance, and I am talking to our pastor about how I can best help out at our local church (Exchange Church Belfast).

One of the things that has really been on my heart lately, that I wanted to write about is the seemingly paradoxical nature of hope....without it we die inside "Hope deferred makes the heart sick..." Prov. 13:12a, but we also know that "...desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Prov. 13:12b so in other words when the thing we have been hoping for comes to pass, it is life to us; but here is the tricky part, apparently to get hope you must suffer!!! Let me explain, firstly in Romans 5 we see that, "...we exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint..." (vs 3-5a) so apparently the road to hope leads through tribulation which by its very definition is "a cause of great trouble or suffering". Firstly, let me make it abundantly clear what I am NOT saying, I am not saying that God makes us suffer so that we can have hope, that is clearly not the Lord's character. What I AM saying is that everyone (Christian and pre-Christian) experiences tribulations aka troubles, in the words of Jesus "...In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:28b David wrote in the Psalms, "Remember the word and promise to your servant, in which You have caused me to hope." 119:49 (Amplified Version) We see from this reference and from other Biblical passages that hope is a gift from God. In the Bible the word hope literally means, "a confident expectation of impending good", hope is in essence a gift FROM God to allow belief IN God's good intentions for your life. Basically, what I am trying to say so far is, 1. That all people on earth will go through tribulations and trials, frustrations and disappointments, that is part of life on this planet. 2. That only God can take these trials and tribulations, frustrations and disappointments and in the midst of them give you hope, which according to the Bible "does not disappoint" and 3. This happens when we have become so fully convinced of God's character and of His intentions for us, through reading His word and encountering Him that our "faith" allows us to receive the gift of hope in the midst of seemingly contradictory circumstances.

Allow me to expound on this point. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Heb. 11:1. Faith is what assures us that the character of God is "in agreement" if you will, with what we are hoping for. It is our understanding of who God is, our "faith", correctly established in the revealed will and character of God that enables us to receive hope. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Rom. 10:17 It is when we hear the words of Christ that faith is ignited in our hearts. When we hear of what Christ has done for us, and what He says about us it ignites faith in our hearts for we know from scripture that Christ is, "...the exact representation of His (the Father's) nature..." Heb. 1:3a So if Christ did it or said it, then it is exactly what the Father is doing or saying, after all He only did what He saw His father doing didn't He?

We can encounter the words of Christ in the scriptures and also through the gift of prophecy. Let me give an example, suppose that someone comes to you with a prophetic word concerning the Lord's desire to use you in really big ways, impacting thousands of people through your business, or your ministry, or even while you are at school etc. You can see throughout the Bible how the Lord has revealed His hearts desire to prosper you and bless you and make you a blessing; there are many scriptures to back this up, so therefore you are empowered to receive hope for the fulfillment of this prophetic word because it lines up with your faith in the character of God. In other words, you would be thinking, "Yes, I know that this sounds like something my Father would say, because I know what my Father's heart is." Even though at that particular moment, your circumstances might make the prophetic word seem a bit far fetched.

So to sum it all up, I believe that some of the key things the Lord has been showing me in this season are that even though everyone goes through disappointments and hard times and things that don't seem to make sense, when we give those to the Lord and allow our faith in His character to ignite the gift of hope in our hearts it will not disappoint, even though it may not look exactly the way we thought or happen in exactly the time that we wanted it to. Faith is different than hope, and we need to have faith in who God is, which allows us in turn to have hope in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Because, our father would never leave us or forsake us, He would not leave us as orphans, He has loved us with an everlasting love, and every good and perfect gift comes from Him!!! (Just in case you didn't realize, that last sentence was a long string of personal paraphrases from the Bible that I just couldn't be bothered to look all the references up for!!! :P)

I have a lot more to say, and will probably blog again soon, but I realize this is a monster blog so I will leave it at that for now and hope that it somehow encourages you. I would love to hear your thoughts or feedback. Thanks for reading.

Blessings,
Evan

Another month gone by?!

2010-07-05T17:31:00.003+01:00

Hey guys,

I can't believe how quickly that month just went by. I hope you are all doing wonderfully!!! It has been a very surprising month to say the least. We found out that my sister-in-law Jo has cancer, and that it is already secondary, having spread to both her lungs. Jemma has been over in England for the last two weeks trying to help her sister out however possible. Jo is supposed to go into chemotherapy this week; the doctors do not seem to be terribly optimistic about the whole thing, but we continue to expect a miracle. We greatly appreciate your prayers in this. As you can imagine that has taken us very much by surprise and created quite a change in "normal routine" for the time being.

Other than that, we have continued on with the House of Prayer. We are finishing up designing our logo, and we are in the middle of trying to work out a rental agreement with Maystreet Presbyterian Church for the more permanent location of their lecture hall. If you could keep this in your prayers that would be wonderful. We really need a more stable location to move forward with what the Lord has put in our hearts to do, and we are hoping this could be a real answer to prayer. We are continuing to meet every week, but we have felt the Lord shift us towards just worshiping Him and focusing on His presence in our meetings for now. There are so many things in our hearts for the House of Prayer, but for now we really want to focus on intimacy with the Father, and we want that to be the primary theme for people who are just getting involved with what we are doing.

I will keep you guys updated on the progress of the House of Prayer and especially with Jo, I pray that I will have wonderfully exciting news to rant about very soon!!!

Thanks for reading and please be praying,
Evan

I'm back!!!

2010-05-24T13:48:00.002+01:00

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to say hi, sorry its been so long. I am a married man now, and officially in our new house and back from honeymoon and all that jazz. Plus I have my SPOUSAL VISA WOO HOO praise God!!! So it is a crazy new season. There are a lot of changes coming for the House of Prayer. We are gonna be pursuing getting charity status from the government over the next couple months, trying to transition into some more harp and bowl style worship (for those unfamiliar with harp and bowl reference IHOP K.C. worship style), working on hopefully getting an internship type program up and running in the next year..... and the list goes on. In other words...a lot of work :P A lot of it will be boring yet necessary stuff ( aka paperwork ) to enable us to continue to move forward into what the Lord has for us. We are really excited about the fresh vision the Lord has given us and the new possibilities that are opening up for us. Please be praying for us as this is definitely a hugely transitional season, and there are several miracle sized answers to prayer that we are needing in the very near future. I am glad that the Lord is a God of miracles, and that He is radically in love with us and more committed to us than we could ever be to Him...it makes things a lot less stressful :P I got a chance to meet with Corey Russell just this last weekend one of the senior leaders of IHOP KC while he was over at the London IHOP doing a conference. It was really encouraging, and I am excited about what the Lord is doing with the different connections he is bringing us. I also got a chance to chat with some of the guys who are helping run the London IHOP and hopefully we will be doing more with them in the near future. It is always great to have friends with similar hearts, especially when they are fairly close to home.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who sent cards, best wishes, or even themselves to our wedding, it was an incredibly special day.... The honeymoon was amazing as well, and a great time of refreshment. I feel extremely expectant for this next season, and look forward to being able to share the incredible stories of what I am sure the Lord will do with us, through us, and for us. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Blessings,

Evan

Here, There....and EVERYWHERE!!!

2010-03-01T10:51:00.005Z

Hey everyone,

I hope you are enjoying 2010 and being majorly blessed in it as well. I have been running all over the place in the last month or so; what with trying to organize our wedding, continuing to establish the House of Prayer, and still maintain relationships with everyone it has been a very crazy time. That being said, things are really progressing along quite nicely. The wedding plans and legal documents (aka visa) are getting there, and there are several exciting things happening with the House of Prayer.
The Lord has been helping us put some more structure into place at the House of Prayer which is very exciting and encouraging. There have been several new people showing up lately and taking a serious interest in the vision the Lord has laid on our hearts for the HOP in Belfast. We are splitting our Thursday nights up into 4 specific prayer focus' each month. Something that has influenced us a lot is the so called "7 Mountain Top Strategy" which a man named Lance Wallnau (among others) really focuses on. The basic premise being that there are 7 areas or "mountains" of influence in society that shape and direct the nations culture. The 7 being: Government, Business, Arts, Entertainment, Family, Education, and of course Church. Lance maintains that as Christians over the past several generations we have tried to get everyone saved and then into the "Church" and out of the "World" or in other words all the other areas of influence in a nation. Because of this vacuum left in these important areas of society, the devil has of course put his own people up into positions of power and influence. I believe we can see the truth of this in our world today quite easily. Long story short, we believe that we should be praying into all these areas of society, and believing God for men and women to go into all these "mountains" and bring Godly leadership to the nations. So for every Thursday we focus on two of the "mountains" and then on the last Thursday we focus on the Church and Revival.
We are still going forward with having a prayer weekend the last weekend of every month, so our next big push is towards March's prayer weekend. A very exciting thing that came up last week in the House of Prayer as we were walking around City Hall and praying for it was the idea of some open air acoustic worship on Saturday's to minister to the young people that throng there on the weekends. Literally hundreds of young people show up in front of City Hall on the weekends and just drink, do drugs, and generally act crazy. So last Saturday we went down there and just started worshiping the Lord in the middle of all this mayhem. It was incredible!!! At least one kid got led to the Lord, one kid got healed, and several others got ministered to. By the end of it, we had lots of them asking us if we would come back next week. It was so exciting to see the Lord just begin to invade a place that is so incredibly anti-church and not interested in God. The Lord is really breaking our hearts for these young guys, and we hope to go out there on a regular basis.
As things get some more routine to them, I am going to try and update this blog on a more regular basis. Until next time, thanks for reading guys, and please feel free to leave comments or feedback.
Blessings,
Evan

Crazy Busy Month!!!

2010-01-30T11:41:00.003Z

Hey guys,

Sorry its been awhile since I last blogged. January has been a really busy month. Getting ready for my wedding, working on House of Prayer stuff, and still trying to maintain relationships with people have definitely filled my weeks. Just so everyone knows we are getting married on May 1st!!! Things are going well with the wedding plans, lots of stuff has been sorted out, but we still have more stuff to sort out. The House of Prayer is going well, we are actually in the middle of a prayer weekend at the minute. One thing we really felt led to do was try and have a prayer weekend the last weekend of every month this year. We are still doing Thursday night intercession and worship, which is going really well. In the next few months we are looking to start Saturday nights back up again, continue on with Thursday nights, really establish the prayer weekend's in our routine, and go from there. There have been a lot of new people coming in lately and getting excited about what we are doing, which has been really encouraging. A scripture that the Lord has really given us for this year is Isaiah 45:2-3 we have been praying it and believing it for ourselves and for the House of Prayer. Thank you all so much for your prayers, and support. I will post again soon, hopefully with some pictures!!!

Blessings,

Evan

Merry Christmas....and a Happy New Year from Belfast!!!

2009-12-30T17:53:00.002Z

Hey everyone,

I hope you have all been really well this holiday season and that you have all been blessed more than you could possibly have hoped for. December was a somewhat quite month here. We still were having our Thursday night prayer meetings, but for the most part I was just reconnecting with people and enjoying the holidays here in NI. It is my first time to be in the U.K. for Christmas, so that has been an experience in and of itself. We had a nice little Christmas tree at our house, and we even had a spontaneous snowfall one night at about 3 o'clock in the morning a few days before Christmas; which naturally enough led to an impromptu snowball fight for me and my two housemates. We had presents, fun, and even a small snowman.....though not exactly in that order. I spent Christmas day itself in England with Jemma's family; which was the first time I had actually properly met them. It was an enjoyable, though somewhat unique experience to be sure; my first time meeting Jemma's family combined with my first Christmas in England. They didn't actually kick me out of the house and refuse to ever speak to me again, so I would say all things considered it was an overwhelming success!!! :P No but in all seriousness it was a lovely time, in a lovely little English town called Winchester. I am really excited about some of the possibilities that are ahead for the House of Prayer in the New Year, and will keep you all updated as regularly as can be managed. Thank you all for your prayers and support over the past year, you have been incredible and may the Lord truly bless you a 100 times over for everything you have done for me!!! I have included a few pics from Christmas time around here, I hope you enjoy them!!!

Love,
Evan

A Few Pictures from Wales

2009-12-02T17:26:00.001Z

ENJOY!!!

Wales and Back Again...... a Revivalists Tale

2009-11-24T10:49:00.003Z

Hey everyone,

So I had to write a blog about my experiences in Wales, just because it is such a profound part of my personal journey with the Lord. My middle name is Evan, and I was named after Evan Roberts the man who the Lord used in mighty ways to spark the Welsh Revival into a national and then international phenomenon in 1904-05. When I moved from Alaska to the Carolinas to pursue an internship in the Zadok House of Prayer, I had a powerful encounter with the Lord where He told me that it was a name changing time for me, and that I was to go by Evan because that is what He called me, and that is what He saw me as.......a revivalist. Over the next couple of years I have literally had many prophetic words from Lou Engle to random people I did not know, saying in effect exactly what the Lord had told me.....that the Lord was gonna use me as a modern day Evan Roberts, release a similar mantle and use me mightily. I have read several accounts of the Welsh Revival and Evan Roberts and it has always been a burning desire in my heart for the Lord to do a similar work in me. As you can imagine I never really thought I would get the chance to go to Wales and see the places the revival happened, and hear the stories from people whose families took part in the revival. When I moved to Northern Ireland I realized I was a lot closer to actually taking this personal pilgrimage, but I wanted to wait for just the right timing of the Lord. Three different times I was supposed to go and it ended up falling through. Then in the fall David Killingsworth told me he was taking a couple guys to the Hebrides and then to Wales for a conference and I was welcome to come along if I was back in the U.K. by that time. I only found out I had my visa about ten days before their trip, and only just got back in the country about 4 days before I was supposed to go meet them in Wales, so basically I say all that to give you a grid for the impact the trip had on me.
For me the trip is very hard to put into words in a lot of ways. To sit in a place that you have read about, and heard about, and thought about, and in essence has encouraged you profoundly along the way in your Christian walk is an experience hard to explain to someone else. To sing along with "Here is Love" (the anthem of the revival) in the very Chapel where the Lord started one of the greatest visitations in human history, to stand in the same pulpit as the man you were named after and has hugely influenced your destiny, to visit the sights and hear the sounds......it was in short awesome. I mean awesome in the truest sense of the word, it inspired awe in me as to the greatness of God, and his love for man, and His willingness and desire to invade our lives and our countries. It stirred faith in me to see something like this and bigger in our day and age in Ireland, in Europe, and in the world. We got to see Moriah Chapel where the revival started, and on the Friday we got to go and have a tour of most of the major sites that influenced the beginning of the Welsh Revival. That night we actually got to stay in Evan Roberts house as well which has been turned into a sort of bed and breakfast. As I have said before I am not going to even try and explain how significant it was for me, but I am guessing you can kind of somewhat imagine.
I heard a couple comments on the trip from different people about how we should not just "worship the past" and visit these "shrines" but that we should be more interested in what the Lord is doing today, that the past is cool but we need to move on. I thought about it for awhile and I decided that I understand what they are getting at but at the same time I have a slightly different view on it. I thought back to the Old Testament and remembered that not only did the Lord encourage the Children of Israel to remember their past, he commanded them to!!! He had them build monuments and altars, and He told them to tell their children's children the stories of the mighty deeds of God. Now obviously we do not worship the movement, or the location, or even the people; but I believe that it is right and honoring to the Lord when we remember and take seriously the things that the Lord has done both in our lives and in the history of the world. As I have mentioned before, this trip was hugely impacting on me; but not because I worshiped the places or the people or the stories, but because they became so much more real to me. They encouraged my faith for the future. They helped solidify some of my dreams and expectations from God; and most importantly of all they helped me fall a little more in love with my Creator and Father......and I think that is what they are supposed to do.

Be Blessed,

Evan

Back Home......FINALLY

2009-11-16T15:34:00.002Z

Hey guys,

Great news....I am finally back in NI!!! After 2 months of waiting, they finally issued my visa, and told me I had a week to get back in the UK!!! So I rushed around and got a flight for the next week, and before you knew it, here I am back in good old Belfast. I am going to Wales tomorrow for a conference at Moriah Chapel in Swansea, the site where the famous Welsh Revival officially kicked off. The conference is focused on a group of people from around the UK and in some cases the world coming together to cry out for revival to again sweep through this region of the world. Since I am named after Evan Roberts, the man God used to be a catalyst for the Welsh Revival this is a pretty significant personal pilgrimage which I am very excited about. We will actually be staying in Evan Roberts' house on Friday night, again something I am really excited about. So it is a very crazy season of transition for me at the moment. I will update again soon, and try and post some pictures ASAP. Please be praying for clear direction and vision for this next season for the Belfast House of Prayer, we are really excited about the possibilities, but just want to hear the Lord clearly before launching something full force. Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for me, and for us here in Belfast, it is so good to be back, and I am very excited about being a part of what the Lord is doing here in Northern Ireland.

be blessed,

Evan

Its been a looooooooooong month

2009-10-24T03:18:00.000+01:00

Hey guys,

Its been a little over a month since I last wrote on here, and it seems like it has been an incredibly long month. I am STILL waiting on hearing back from the visa people. Apparently settlement visa's take a lot longer than three weeks to process. So please be praying for the visa to come through as quickly as possible. I am down in Arkansas again with the guys here at the Forerunner House of Prayer. It is really great to be here with them, even though my heart is still in Belfast. I am trying to help them get their new coffee shop Cafe 9 up and running. All things are pretty much in order and we should be able to get off the ground very soon. Since being here, there has been a huge tragedy that has played itself out. Without getting into any details, one of my friends here went missing, and several weeks later his body was found.........so we are in the midst of trying to deal with the loss of a great man, and the overwhelming emotions of a homicide no less. As you can well imagine it is a very trying time, so we really appreciate all your guys prayers for everyone involved!!! So until I hear about my visa, I will be here in Arkansas trying to help and serve as best as I can. I will definitely update again as soon as there is something to report. Thank you all for reading and please be praying.

Blessings,

Evan

An Update......before the Update

2009-09-17T19:42:00.002+01:00

Hey guys,

Just to let you all know. I have officially applied for my visa and am currently waiting to hear back from the immigration office!!! So needless to say I am pretty excited. Hopefully I should know within the next couple weeks. Jemma came over for about two weeks at the end of August/ beginning of September, so that was really nice to get a chance to spend some time together since I hadn't seen her in two months. Other than that I have just been spending time with the Lord and trying to get some more direction/download for where He is taking me and the guys back in Belfast on this crazy journey He has us on. The Lord has been showing me so much wonderful stuff this summer about who He really is, and who we really are to Him, and about the finished work of the cross. The more I get to know who He really is, the more I fall in love with Him!!! Anyways, I will write again as soon as I know the visa situation.

Every Blessing,

Evan

Its Been Awhile....

2009-08-18T20:58:00.002+01:00

Hey guys,

I hope you are all doing well. It has been a little while since I have updated the blog, so let me catch you up with some of the happenings. I have been doing quite a bit of traveling around in the last month or so visiting different friends, and family. I went to Arkansas for about two weeks visiting with David Killingsworth and the guys out there at Forerunner House of Prayer. As always it was great to catch up with them and see what they are up to out there in NW Arkansas. They are really pressing in for revival in their region, and continuing to faithfully pray for and sow into what is going on in Northern Ireland. I really love those guys, they are a huge encouragement. I also got a chance to go to Springfield, Illinois and visit all my friends at the International House of Prayer there. I lived in Springfield for about 6 months back in 2007, and hadn't seen some of those guys since then, so it was really neat to get a chance to fellowship with them and catch them up on a little of what the Lord is doing in my life. Other than that I have been hanging out with my family in Oklahoma, spending time with the Lord, and waiting to get this visa situation sorted out. I am actually working on the forms for the visa this week, I hope to send it in the first week of Sept. as it only takes about 2 weeks to process applications normally. The fiance visa is only good for about 6 months, and since Jemma and I are planning on getting married on April 18th, they probably won't issue me the visa till mid Oct. some time. My hope is to be back in Belfast by the 20th or so of Oct. If you guys could all be praying for smooth sailing in the visa dept. that would be greatly appreciated!!! Other than that, I am just really excited about Jemma getting to come visit in just a little over a week now!!! Also we started a facebook for the House of Prayer in Belfast, so if any of you are on facebook and aren't already friends, check it out...... the url is facebook.com/belfast.hop
I think that is all the news for now, I will try and be more punctual with my updates up until the time I go back, hopefully I will be back on soon with good news.

Be blessed,
Evan

A Series of Unfortunate Events.....Or Is It?!

2009-07-06T21:34:00.009+01:00

Hey everybody, I hope this finds you well. As some of you may have heard this has been a rather crazy time for me. I have had to come back to the States sooner than I expected to work on my visa for the U.K. Fortunately though, since I had a leadership team in place at the House of Prayer, things are continuing on in Belfast while I am back here. If you guys could be praying for wisdom and favor for me as I navigate this time in the States it would be muchly appreciated!!! I am gonna spend some time with my family, try and raise some more support, and fellowship with some good friends in a couple different places, who are furthering the kingdom in their own locality. It has been quite an unexpected turn, that is for sure. I am also sure that the enemy would like to use this as a time to discourage me and convince me that the Lord is not good, but I am firmly convinced that the Lord is working in the midst of this, and that good things will come from this season. My heart is still firmly settled on getting back to Belfast ASAP and continuing on the work that the Lord is doing there. It looks as though I will be getting a fiancee visa, oh by the way... Jemma and I are planning on getting married on APRIL 18th!!! I miss all the guys back in Belfast a lot, and of course my beautiful fiancee who I love more than anything else......except Jesus!!! :P I know, I know...that was horribly cliche and cheesy Christianese but it is actually true, believe me or not!!! I will continue to blog to let you guys know about my status updates and any exciting news, both here and back in Belfast. I firmly believe in what the Lord is doing back there, and I know it will continue on until I get back!!!
Thanks for reading, and please be praying!!!
Evan

Dwelling in the Land......Cultivating Faithfulness

2009-06-08T10:42:00.003+01:00

Hello everyone, I hope that you are doing well. As you know, there is a lot going on in Belfast House of Prayer at the moment, a lot of good stuff though I would say. We had a Vision Night, last Thursday just to state who we are and where we are going, so that was really positive. We have started doing two early morning sessions this week, Monday and Wednesday mornings. Saturday Nights have been going really good as well. The Lord is really moving in our group, and in the city. We have seen a lot of healings in our meetings lately, which is always exciting. We are pressing in more and more for the prophetic, and we are planning on going out as a group on the 4th Saturday of every month, just to do " Treasure Hunts" where we just listen to what we think the Lord is telling us to do, and then we go do it. We are learning how to just invite the Kingdom into everyday circumstances. June is going to be a very busy, yet exciting month for us. Two Psalms that I have been praying for myself and the House of Prayer for months are, Ps. 37 and 91, as a group we are trying to "dwell in the land, and cultivate faithfulness..." and " Live in the shelter of the Most High, and abide in the shadow of the Almighty..." You can join with us in praying these things over the group. There will be more updates on the way soon.

Be Blessed,

Evan

Update......part dos

2009-05-28T14:54:00.002+01:00

Hey everyone,

This is such a crazy season of transition here for us in Belfast. A lot of things have been changing. We are still doing Thursdays and Saturdays, and we are looking to start doing a couple morning sessions a week, for people who work or go to school during the day, to give them a place to start their mornings God focused. The building that we meet in (Maystreet Presbyterian) is going through a lot of transitions of its own right now, which is something that calls for a lot of prayer. We have gotten a leadership team together for the House of Prayer though, and we have a definite game plan going, so those are both good things. Transition is always uncomfortable, but it is also very necessary for things to continue to grow. So please be praying for the House of Prayer during this season of transition.
Some definite encouraging news though, we have seen several miracles in our group in the last couple of weeks. We have seen supernatural healings, of backs, ankles, and other such things, which is all very exciting and encouraging. The main desire as always though, is that people would be drawn ever closer to the Fathers heart through the House of Prayer. There is a group of people coming to visit from Arkansas in a couple of weeks, which should be really wonderful, as they are really excited to come, and they will have some good stuff to bring with them!!! I will blog again soon, as soon as I have some more definite information to add....

Please be praying!!!

Evan

Update....part 1

2009-05-07T13:08:00.005+01:00

Hey guys, this is a bit of an update for how things are going in Belfast.
In the last couple of months we have been trying to figure out what it looks like for us personally to be a House of Prayer for Belfast....in Belfast. We have several people from quite different backgrounds and different experiences with the Lord, so trying to find a way to stay true to what the Lord has called this house to, and bring as many people along as want to come is a very challenging thing as you might suspect. Thursday nights continue to be prayer (mainly intercession) focused, and Saturday nights continue to be a safe environment for people to step out in their giftings and use what they are being given. Whether that be a traditional church type gifting i.e. preaching, teaching, leading worship etc. or whether that is an more outside the box type gifting, such as painting, dance, poetry, etc. We have added a new spin on Saturday nights as well, we are going to do teaching and equipping on the first three Saturdays of the month, and then on the last Saturday we are going to do what Bethel Church in Redding calls a "treasure hunt", basically listening to the Lord and seeing what He is telling you to do and then going out and doing it. The teaching will be on things such as how the Lord speaks to us, why we pray for healing, the authority we have as children of God etc. and the last Saturday will be a chance to start stepping out in the things we are learning, and grow in it.
One interesting story about Saturday nights.....
The original idea for Saturday nights, came to me while I was watching the HBO series Band of Brothers. The series is a true story based on the experiences of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne during D-day and the rest of WWII. The story starts with a group of men, from all over America, who have volunteered to be paratroopers (men who jump out of airplanes, and parachute to where they are gonna fight) a very new concept for the military at that time. The men have really no idea what they are getting themselves into, and have literally no military experience. At the beginning they argue and fight a lot, don't really understand or get each other, and can't even decide wether they trust their officers or not. As the experiences of D-day, and the rest of the war take its toll on the group however, they begin to become so close that they escape from the hospital to get back on the front lines with their "brothers", a trust and comradery is built between them through their experiences that is incredible, and they end up being such a highly skilled unit that they are put in the fore front of every major battle for the rest of the war.
I say all that to say, that the Lord began speaking to me as I watched this about the way He wants His body to function. He wants them to know what it means to go to war together, to get over their petty differences and realize they are united by a huge common goal, to be a highly skilled group that He can put into the most difficult situations. I have shared this vision with the group many times in the several months that we have been doing Saturday nights. As we step out in our giftings, and become more vulnerable and transparent with our brothers and sisters, we are growing and maturing in our faith, and building trust in each other. We are becoming our own "Band of Brothers" in a sense........slowly becoming that is!!! :P
So a few weeks ago a couple of the guys in our group had to give Saturday night a miss to go to this prophetic conference they had been planning on going to for a while. While they were there the lady called out first one, then the other of the two and started prophecying over them. She literally said something to the effect of, "I see a Band of Brothers..." and there was a bit more about it being a monastic movement that was in hiddenness at the moment, but the Lord was gonna bring out. In other words, it was an amazing confirmation to us all, and an incredibly accurate word from the Lord!!!
I will write more soon.

God bless you all,

Evan

I AM....ENGAGED!!!

2009-04-27T16:19:00.001+01:00

Hey guys, its true, as of April 18th I am officially engaged to Miss Jemma Wesson. I am adding a couple random pictures of just some prayer stuff, and then in the next couple weeks I will be doing a mini series of blogs telling some different aspects of what is going on here. Much love to everyone.

Evan

The Vision.......as we see it for now

2009-03-13T14:23:00.004Z

 The last several weeks we have been asking the Lord what the heck He is doing here in Belfast, with us, and through us. What does it mean to be a house of prayer, and what does it look like here in Northern Ireland, in Belfast in particular, it is obvious to us that the Lord is moving, we just are just trying to figure out how best to steward what He is doing in our midst. The Lord released some revelation to me yesterday as I was waking up, and I just wrote stuff down as it came to me. You can honestly say that the entire gospel could be summed up in John 3:16 and it would be true, at the same time you could spend lifetimes writing and compiling understanding, revelation, and commentaries on the gospel and it would all be true, and beneficial. In that same way, this in no way encapsulates the entire vision and heart of what is going on here, and what will go on here. At the same time, it gives a very good rough idea of what we are, where we are going, and why we do what we do. Having said all that, I hope it makes sense to you, and you get something out of it.

What is Belfast House of Prayer?

Some of us are naturally closer friends
But we are all family
We may look entirely different
But we have the same heart
We may be from different areas
But the same blood flows in our veins
We may have different needs
But the same provider
We may have different names
But the same Father
Whether laughing, crying, shouting,jumping,shaking uncontrollably, or just silently staring up into the sky with a thankful heart
We will not judge, demean, or be torn apart because of what the world calls irreconcilable differences
Because we have an inescapable truth holding us together
The Love of Christ!!!

To be a house, a group, a tribe that seeks His face, 
not just his hand,
 Embraces and expresses the fullness of who God is, and what He does:
A house of healing, restoration, love, peace, joy, sacrifice, forgiveness,
Where the love of Christ is no longer just a theological argument, but a living reality transforming our lives and redeeming our communities. 

24.....3?

2009-03-12T12:13:00.006Z

Hello everyone near and far. So many things have happened since the last blog it has been truly incredible!!! The major event I am most exited about was our three days of day and night prayer (24/3) to kind of officially consecrate our hearts and our vision to the Lord of raising up a day and night house of prayer in Belfast. It was incredible!!! We did it on the last weekend of Feb./ first weekend of March, so the 27th, 28th, and 1st and 2nd. We started at 8 AM on Friday morning and went until 8 AM on Monday morning. We split it up into shifts and had corporate meetings at 8 o'clock every night. The presence of God was just so incredibly real, and it continued to get stronger as the days went on. We had 8 or 9 different people who spent 15 or more hours straight in the prayer room at one time or another throughout the weekend!!! There was such a peace and a grace to wait in the presence of the Lord. It was so amazing to be walking around this busy city in the midst of all the whirlwind of activity and craziness and then come into this place of stillness and peace and strong presence of the Lord. The corporate nights were amazing as well, we just came together and worshiped the Lord and cried out for ourselves and for our city and the nation. The Lord just kept drawing different people everyday, on Saturday night my friend Ned from the Traveling community came, and on Sunday night we had several friends from the Falls area as well as people from all over East Belfast. Anyone who knows the history of Belfast and Northern Ireland will know how incredibly powerful that is, that we had people from the west, from the east, and from the travelers coming together in the city centre worshiping and praying for unity and peace!!!

There has definitely been some backlash from the prayer that has been going up all over Belfast and Ireland lately. In the last week, 2 British soldiers and 1 policeman have been shot by dissident republican groups claiming to be part of the IRA and trying to stir up the troubles again. So far they have had no luck, Sinn Feinn leaders have come out and condemned their actions and called the men who perpetrated them traitors to Ireland. So please keep praying this is such a crucial time in Ireland. The Lord is raising up an army and satan hates it, and is stirring up his own army. We are praying Zech. 9:11-13 over Belfast and Northern Ireland at the moment. That the Lord is stirring up the sons of Zion against the sons of Greece. It is becoming increasingly so very obvious that what is going on here is such a spiritual battle, we already know that from scripture but there are just times when the curtain is "pulled back" if you will, and you are allowed to look into things more for what they are then for what they appear, and the Lord is really releasing a grace to see things for what they are at the minute.
I will update with more information about how things are going and different aspects of life here as soon as possible.

Until then, please continue praying for us, it is so intense here at the minute.

Evan

Better Late Than Never....Its a Theory

2009-02-09T17:41:00.003Z

Hey guys sorry it has been so long between posts, things have been absolutely mad since getting back in Belfast. I arrived safe and sound on the 20th of January, and since then everything has been one crazy situation after another. I have been searching for a new place to live, me and a couple of guys that are probably gonna stay with me that is, and trying to catch back up with all of the friends and different ministries that I have met since coming here. Things are slowly but surely moving in the right direction I believe. We still don't know exactly what is going on with the housing situation, but there are a couple of really good possibilities. The house that I am staying in at the moment is being completely renovated, with me still inside unfortunately, so it has been a bit of a crazy situation. I have not had ready access to the internet, hence the lack of blogging. I need to be out of the place by the end of the month, and into a new place by March 1st, so lots of prayer is going into that. We are having a meeting this Wednesday about how we are going to move forward as a house of prayer/community of people who are loving the Lord and seeking Him with our whole hearts, it will be interesting to see the strategies He gives us for the city and for our lives.
This time has also been hugely influential in the personal sense, the Lord has really been taking me deep and setting me free of some things in my life that have held me back. It has been a somewhat painful process, but I know that it is for the best. I went to a conference type thing in Coleraine this weekend, led by a guy named Stefan Dreiss. It was incredible for me. He really shared a lot of prophetic insight, but the thing that hit me the most and really touched me where I was at, was his emphasis on the Father's heart for us, and needing to do everything out of the place of resting in the Father's love. The Lord is really setting me free, at a new level, to just be a son and do everything out of a relationship with Him, and with a view to serve others. I really want to honor Christ in others, and focus on the life Jesus is birthing in them and not the mistakes or remnants of the old man that are still trying to hang about.
So in conclusion, things are going good, really good, very very hard, but really really good. I know that at the end of the day the Lord is doing all this with a view to setting me more free, and equipping me to better run this race to which I have been called. I will try and update you all in a couple weeks, about housing and about house of prayer stuff, and hopefully some amazing testimonies of what the Lord is continuing to do in our midsts.

Thanks for reading, and please be praying,

Evan

I'm Leaving....yes yes on a jet plane

2009-01-13T19:13:00.000Z

Just a quick update to say that my official departure date from the good old US of A is the 20th of this month, and I will be back in Ireland!!! It has been great to see family and friends, and watch the Lord continue to orchestrate things from here, but I am definitely ready to be back!!! Once back there, I will obviously have a lot more to blog about on a regular basis. So goodbye to skyscrapers, fast food, and long road trips, hello glorious green Ireland!!!

To Whom It May Concern...

2008-12-22T14:47:00.000Z

Dear friends and family,
It has been wonderful to be back in America for a bit and rest up and see friends and family. So much stuff has changed in such a short time that in a lot of ways I am still trying to process it all. I will be going back to Ireland in January some time, but Alan will be staying in South Carolina for a season working with Kirk Bennett from the Zadok House of Prayer. The Lord led him to spend a time of close relationship with the director of Z-HOP who he knew from his time with them previously. It looks like that will be for at least a year, so he will be missed, but he is doing what he feels the Lord is telling him, even though it is not the easiest thing to do, so I am proud of him.
I am no longer in direct working relationship with Generation Won, though the relationship is still very much alive and well. The Lord has been leading us in different directions and we parted ways quite mutually and with much love on either side. There is definitely no hard feelings or bad blood involved, just simply following the Lord on both our parts. I still very much believe in what Generation Won stands for and believes in, and really appreciate and enjoy my relationship with Brian and Pamela Jourden.
I am going back to Ireland under the covering of Forerunner Ministries, which has been an interesting story as it continues to unfold. It seems like a real God thing, David Killingsworth, (the director of Forerunner) and I met in Ireland when he was on a missions trip with a team from his house of prayer, and we have become fast friends. I am really excited about this new working relationship that the Lord has brought into my life, and He continues to amaze me with His attention to every detail.

Back in Belfast,we will still be doing homeless outreach, (and there is a lot of stuff brewing on that front), working on our relationship with the Travellers and seeing how we can bless them, (it looks like setting up an English class for them to learn reading and writing and spelling is going to be a thing they will be interested in), but one of the main focuses of my attention will be establishing the house of prayer in Belfast, and working with Keith Drury and the group at May Street Presbyterian. The Lord has just been doing amazing/miraculous stuff there. I think in the next blog I will explain the story of May Street more fully. I realize this is a very brief overview and will try and be more detailed in my next couple blogs, just wanted to get the ball rolling again before the new year.
As you can see there has been a lot going on, and a lot to process, thank you all so much for praying for me, and Ireland. I hope that you all have an amazing Christmas, and that this new year will be filled with the revelation of God, and you will be closer than ever to the Lord.

Be blessed,

Evan Brown

Remember, Remember the 5th of November...

2008-11-05T15:44:00.000Z

It has been a really crazy last month..........we have been making more connections and trying to set up some plans for when we come back. We leave the 18th of November to go back to The America thru the new year. We have made so many amazing friendships and ministry connections in the last 4-5 months it is incredible. As excited as we are to get back and say hi to friends and family we also can't wait to get back here in January, we love Ireland so much, and what the Lord is doing in and through us here!!! We have to get our visas sorted while we are back, and we really need financial breakthrough, so we will have to raise some support while back also. The Lord has been so good and faithful to us, and we know that we will get the money we need to continue what he is calling us to do. There are a lot of people and ministries interested in the idea of pursuing a house of prayer for Belfast, so as soon as we get back that will be one of the main things we are working on. Also there have been some interesting developments in the homeless outreach and we have a couple different ministries wanting to find ways of helping us out there. When we get back we will try and get an English class going for the travelers that we have made friends with. Also plans for doing some sort of Call Ireland are moving forward, and we will potentially be working on mobilizing for that in the new year. The Saturday night group that we are doing for people to step out in their giftings is going really well, we have seen a couple healings and we are getting really positive feedback from it. All in all it has been a busy time. We will update again in America, and hopefully put up a slide show soon of some more pics.

Thanks for reading, and please be praying

Evan

Where we are for now...

2008-09-25T15:32:00.000+01:00

Soooooooooo, here we are again. The traveler party ended up going really really well. The weather was absolutely atrocious all that week, so naturally one of our main prayer requests all week was for the weather to break since it was to be an outdoor party. Come the day of, the sun broke through for the first time in probably ten days so that was a victory in and of itself. There ended up being a pretty fair sized gathering of travelers from two different camps. We had food, and music, and gave away some prizes through raffles. One of the ladies that ended up with one of the prizes from a raffle told a friend of ours that it was the first time in her life she had actually won anything, and that we didn't understand how much that meant to her. Just one testimony like that is enough for me to feel like it was a great success. It really was a lot of fun though, and all the people that came thanked us and genuinely seemed to enjoy it. So much stuff that these people ( the travelers aka gypsies) have had to live with their entire lives is astonishing and is honestly very similar to what the African Americans had to go through with the civil rights movement. They have been refused service in public areas, run out of certain towns, and lied to and used by any and all forms of government including even paramilitaries. Our heart is to continue building relationships with them and earning their trust. We want to bless them with the gospel, but we also want to find areas to bless them in practical ways, one thing we are currently trying to work on is a basic reading and writing class for them, as most of the grown ups in the camp have never been taught how, and that dramatically hurts their chances for employment, above and beyond the social prejudices already at work against them in the biased minds of most of society here.
Homeless outreach is really one of my favorite times, I think we will possibly start blogging briefly each week just to tell the testimonies from this night alone. One quick story, a couple of Tuesdays ago, one of our groups just happened to run into this homeless guy and as they told him about the love of Jesus he just broke down and started crying. They brought him back to the rest of the group and after spending several hours ministering to him and just loving on him, Alan and I ended up putting him up in our house for the evening, so that he would not have to sleep on the streets. He was an alcoholic and struggling with homosexuality for a long time, he genuinely wanted to give the Lord a chance though. Some lady had been trying to take him to her church to do rehab for a while but he would always refuse. That night though something broke through and when she just happened to call later on, he said he would go with her the next day!!! After going to the Vineyard church she had been wanting him to go to for a long time, he was telling them about what had happened to him the previous day (keep in mind this church is about 45 minutes away from Belfast and we have never met these people) as he tells them that the two guys he stayed with are originally from Alaska, one of the ladies tells a guy who is on staff there about us because she knows he is from Alaska originally also. Turns out he is from our same hometown in the AK and I even knew him and his whole family!!! How awesome is God?!?! Just so you know, the man is still going through rehab and doing well!!! Praise God!!!
I will try to wrap this up quickly, we are still working on starting a house of prayer and currently have weekly prayer meetings. We are going to be starting a “Spirit and Word” night on Saturdays soon, just a chance for all of our Christians friends that we have here to get together and have a safe environment to step out in their giftings. We will rotate who leads worship, who teaches, who preaches, who gives a word etc. each week according to what each person feels called to or just wants a chance to step out in. It should be a great way to encourage our brothers and sisters, and all move forward together. We are also in the middle of a semi-corporate 40 day fast, which is going really well for the most part, though your prayers are very much desired. We are at a point here in the ministry where we really need breakthrough in a couple areas to continue on. So yeah short but sweet huh? haha Thanks for your patience and we really are trying to find a way to blog every other week so that they won't be so long.

be blessed,

Evan

The Prayer Room....as it is now!!!

2008-08-31T11:36:00.000+01:00

Guess who's back...

2008-08-31T09:48:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, I am sooooooo sorry that it has taken us so long to post again, we still have limited access to the internet and time is just really flying by!!! However I am determined to try and blog at least twice a month because God is just doing to much amazing stuff to let it go that long.
That being said let me catch you up to date on all the amazing things God has been up to. First of all He has provided this amazing Church of Ireland building that was built in the 1800's for us to use as a house of prayer!!! The place has not been used for several years and the congregation now meets somewhere else, and literally we are allowed to use it for whatever we want FREE OF CHARGE!!! It is such an amazing opportunity and a total God send, seeing as one of the main things we felt called to do over here was establish some sort of prayer house. Not only that but it is literally located right on the Peace Wall, (the wall that was built to divide the extremely Protestant Shankill community and the notoriously Catholic Falls Rd. community.) How amazing is that? The Lord is up to something, and I am so excited to be a part. We had our first official prayer meeting there last Friday night and we are now meeting there for morning prayer at 630 A.M. Mon.-Fri. We are in the midst of trying to sort out the Lord's will and design for this particular house of prayer, and so we are taking it kinda slow right now. We have been gathering leadership for it, and really praying into how it should move forward, if you could keep us in your prayers for wisdom and provision that would be great. There are several churches that have shown a real interest in the house of prayer and want to know more and see how they can get involved, so I know that it is on the Lord's heart which is altogether exciting!!!
Other than that there has been some awesome things going on with the Travelers aka "Gypsies", several families of them have gotten saved which is wonderful, and we are currently building relationship with them and doing our best to help them in any way we can. We are actually throwing a huge party for them on Sat. the 6th of Sept. which should be quite amazing, a lot of the Travelers from different camps are supposed to be there, which would be good in and of itself. (They normally stay to themselves and don't really interact much with other camps.) It is so inspiring to see these mistreated and hated people come to know the love and acceptance of a perfect Father!!!
And on Tuesday nights our homeless outreach is going very well, there are probably close to 20 people that participate in it weekly from different churches and backgrounds, and we are seeing people touched and/or saved by God each week on the streets!!! Sometimes if there are not that many homeless people it just turns into an outreach night, which is so great to see and be a part of.
So long story short the Lord is really moving, and doing stuff here, and we know as sustained prayer goes up that the heavenly activity will only increase!!! We are so excited and honored to be a part of what the Lord is doing in Belfast, and all over the whole island of Ireland!!! Thank you so much for reading and please be praying for us!!!

Evan Brown

God is Love...

2008-07-30T14:38:00.000+01:00

Greetings friends and family! My sincere apologies for the span of time between our blogs. It seams like we are always busy with something. This including our move into our new house. God is amazing in his provision!! He has provided a 3 bedroom townhouse for Evan and I. It is just outside of the city centre on the west side. This place will be, and already has been, an amazing tool in ministering to people. We have been fortunate to further establish relationships with people while putting them up in the third room, and will continue to do so.
On the subject of furthering relationships with people. God is continually amazing us with his ability to network his body here. We are seeing this family, from all different backgrounds, come together. Catholics and Protestants. Even connecting Irish and British. We are really being used as a common ground, just as was our intention from the beginning.
It has been such an adventure, this life. As we set our faces daily to die to ourselves and chose to let God have full control of us. We are both continually being wrecked for the lost. Taking on the heart of God is a heavy burden. But it is worth it. My dreams, my ambitions, cannot compare to the satisfaction of a life laid down. It cannot compare to the pure Love of God!!
There are many things in the works as I write this. We are now working on organizing prayer gatherings on a regular basis. As this is the foundation of any work of God. Also, we feel called to the last, the least, and the lost. The door to minister to the "Irish Travelers" or "Gypsies" is swinging wide open. These are the most despised and avoided people in Europe. We are making amazing strides to being able to really express the love of God to these. Also, along with the call to the last, the least, and the lost is our ministering to the homeless. We just went out last night and were blessed to be able to show many the love of God with a simple sandwich and tea. We were able to pray with many of them. God is so good. Though it is a process, I am commited to seeing these beautiful people begin to dream and hope again.
Well I could go on and on. But I will have to leave you with this for now. I pray the very best on all of you!! And I am so very thankful for the ones who continue to support God's work in Ireland through your prayers and donations. As it is my privilege to serve.
All for Love, Alan Anderson

A Tale of Two Cities....

2008-07-03T09:28:00.000+01:00

So we arrived in Dublin on June the 10th, and immediately took a bus to Belfast. And since then everything else has been pretty much a surprise to us. Ireland is no doubt beautiful, and has many amazing lessons for us in its history, both Christian and secular, but the reality that most Northern Irish people live in especially in the city of Belfast is one that needs to change!!!
We have been spending the majority of our time in "West Belfast" or in other words the poorer Catholic side of the city. The amount of sectarianism that is still alive in people's mindsets and actions is quite stunning and un-believable to most Americans. The amount of hardships and pain that most people in Belfast had to go through during the times of "The Troubles" has created a people that are very divided, mistrusting, violent, and very hardened in their outlook on life. As I have been told many times since arriving, "You have to be tough to make it in Belfast." If you go on the west side you will see the tri-color flag of Ireland being flown, and murals dedicated to the hunger-strikers, and kids playing Hurley and Gaelic football. Where as if you go a couple miles to the east, you will see the Union Jack, and murals telling how evil the I.R.A. is and celebrating their own para-military organizations, and a lot of kids playing football (soccer). There are still people to this day that have lived their entire lives in Belfast and have never been to certain parts of town!!!

However........ In the midst of all this the Lord is moving, the people in Belfast are beginning to realize that violence and hatred is not the answer and it isn't going to solve their problems. With the peace that they are now experiencing, they need somewhere to put all their energy, which was thrown into the war between Republicans, and Loyalists. The children of Belfast for the most part are not interested in carrying on a conflict that from what they have witnessed has only brought about pain and hardship on their families and friends. They are looking for a better way. The revival that has been going on in Lakeland has actually been brought to a church in Belfast where they have been having meetings nightly for several weeks now, and have seen signs and wonders!!! This is just the beginning, there is sooooooooooo much to do here in Belfast with the spreading of the gospel and seeing people's hearts and lives being healed. But the Lord is on the move, and He loves the people of Ireland very much, and has great plans for them.

I have personally been praying and believing Zech. 9:13 "...I will raise up your sons O Zion against your sons O Greece, and make you like a warrior's sword!!!" When the enemy comes in and wreaks havoc and raises up an army, and uses violence and hatred and manipulates people to try and solve their own problems in their own ways, and rely on the wisdom of man, which is apposed to the wisdom of God, when things look blackest, the Lord raises up His own army, to contend with the enemy, and He strengthens them, and they wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against demons, and principalities,and powers, and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God!!! And that is what the Lord is in the process of doing right now in Belfast!!! Thanks for reading, and please be praying!!!

Be Blessed,

Evan

Pictures from Ireland

2008-07-02T22:42:00.001+01:00

The end of the beginning.....

2008-06-09T18:07:00.000+01:00

Our first trip to California is now over and we are sitting in the hotel across the street from LAX preparing to say goodbye to the United States for a while.

We arrived in L.A. on the 28th of May and helped Generation Won with the first official conference they hosted as a ministry. They hosted Leslie Ann Leighton a friend of Heidi Bakers. Alan led worship at one of the sessions and I helped with the prayer teams and ushering. All in all it was a success especially for a first conference.
After the conference we had a chance to wander around the USC campus, and go around to a couple cool places in L.A. (if you are ever here I highly recommend a burger at IN-N-OUT) We took the subway up to Hollywood and wandered around a bit, and went to a Dodgers game,(my first major league game) it was really neat to get to say goodbye to America by seeing and doing a lot of things that we have not had the chance to experience yet. We even got to go down to the projects in south-central where the Bloods and Crypts started, and pray for the kids down there.
Sitting here getting ready to leave, the reality of what is going on is sinking in on us more and more, all the friends and family and familiarity that we are leaving behind is much more exaggerated than ever before. We are so humbled and overwhelmed that the Lord would choose us to go spread His gospel and love on His children in other countries, that the cause far out weighs the cost. Thanks for reading, and please be praying!!!

Be Blessed,

Evan

Glory!!!

2008-04-22T02:38:00.000+01:00

God has been opening so many doors to pave the way for Ireland, but in my opinion the most exciting door has been the increase of His manifest presence in our lives!!! We had the opportunity to go check out the Lakeland Revival that is currently being led by Todd Bentley. Honestly I went with such high expectations for something tagged "revival" that I kind of thought I might be disappointed......but I was completely rocked by what I experienced there. The presence of the Lord was so thick and there was such a grace to press in and go deeper that it didn't really surprise me as people began to get healed during the service. But as testimony after testimony kept pouring in about what the Lord had been doing just that night it brought tears to my eyes. I was fortunate enough to be in the church all day Saturday praying and preparing my heart for that nights meeting, and as the time drew closer for the service there were literally hundreds of people lined up outside waiting for the doors to be unlocked!!! When they finally were unlocked the people literally RAN into the place looking desperately for seats near the front, I have never seen such enthusiasm about a service in my entire life!!! As the night continued on healing after healing and deliverance after deliverance kept happening, then Todd started praying for impartation of the revival and things really went crazy!!! Alan and I both had Todd pray for us and feel that we definitely received impartation to bring with us to Ireland!!! I have been in a lot of good meetings, but after the experience I had with the Lord that night I felt as though for the first time in my life I began to truly grasp what the Christian life was really supposed to look like, and what has been stored up for us by our Father!!!

The fruit of the experience is already evident in our lives, the very next day we started prophesying and praying for a couple (we had just met through a friend), in a Starbucks, and they were rocked!!! We have really had a grace to continue pressing into the glory of God, and have felt Him moving in public places which is very exciting!!! We long to go deeper in the glory of God and see it manifest in our lives and in Ireland, and we are contending for that. We want to see revival break out in Ireland, bigger than even what is going on in Lakeland, and we are going to give our lives to that pursuit!!! Thanks for reading and please be praying!!!

be blessed,

Evan

It all started with a dream...

2008-03-24T02:01:00.000Z

On the first day of the new year I had a dream in which I was standing in front of a background of a map of the U.S. talking to Alan and telling him that although it would be hard I had to move and that it was the Lord and I must obey His call on my life. At the time I had no idea the total significance that dream would have on my life, I thought that maybe I would be moving to another state, not out of the entire country!!! A little while later I had a dream in which Lou Engle (a spiritual father to me) was driving a car and I was in the back seat and we were headed to L.A. and he was inviting me into his lifestyle of prayer and fasting. Again I had no idea the total meaning of the dream. Then in the very beginning of March stuff started moving very rapidly.

I had been just working the last several months and seeking the Lord as to the next step in my life and what it was to look like. All of a sudden I got a lot of answers. Alan and I were at a friends house and he showed us this show he had taped called "Over Ireland", (Now I have always had a heart for Ireland and wanted to go minister there, but I knew that it would have to be in the Lord's timing and it wouldn't be alone.) So as we watched this video it became apparent to me that it was having more than a passing effect on Alan, as he was literally on the edge of his seat the entire hour and a half!!! For the next several days it was all he could talk about, I began to seriously think that maybe the Lord was working us in that direction. Up to this point Alan's heart had been set on just working his career and serving the Lord through that for about the last 6 months, so to hear him talk like this I knew it must be the Lord.

We didn't have the slightest idea of where to start or who to talk to but we had the burning in our heart. As I was seeking the Lord for direction I remembered that the Jourden's (an awesome family who runs Generation Won a ministry based out of L.A. which helped make more sense out of the dream with Lou!!!) had been to Ireland the year before, and were possibly going back sometime this summer last I had heard. I had not even talked to them since July of 07 however and had no means of contacting them. So I began trying to hunt down their information. After a couple days I got their e-mail and hit them up with a little info. They wrote me back that same day and I called them up later that night. At this point I was excited but not quite sure what to expect. I told them somewhat of what had been going on and what our heart was and found out to my amazement that they had just sent out an e-mail a few days before announcing their plans to travel back to Ireland for the summer and asking people to pray about coming with them. Not only that but they felt like the Lord had promised them two men to stay over in Ireland full time and help run the base they are going to plant in Belfast this summer!!! Well from that point on all my doubts about whether or not this was totally the Lord's will were totally relieved, and since then it has just been a matter of how and not if!!! due to their connections over there we will be able to get by with only raising a combined 1200-1500 dollars a month, (Lord willing) which is really not that much at all to be full time missionaries. the Lord has continued to give us little affirmations and signs that we are on the right track, and open up doors that only He can, but I will not go into all of those little details right now, I am sure you guys have a pretty good reader's digest type idea of what is going on right now!!! And I am sure there will be more to follow, so thanks for reading and please be praying!!! If you would like to know more about the details or have any questions please feel free to contact us at rediggingthewells@gmail.com

Be blessed,

Evan