2 months, 3 continents, 5 countries and 38,000 km that was the theme for our trip.
It all started with a dream
Every Sunday evening I and Mari would go for our special weekly date night to Breakwaters. Really cool place in the capital of Maldives, Male’. We would order some cool food, get freshly squeezed watermelon juices, then we would start talking.
In the background, we would hear the waves crashing on the nearby beach that is just a few feet away. We could see fishing boats and passenger ferries passing by. Every now and then, there would be a massive cruiser lightened up like a giant Christmas tree. This restaurant has been our special dreaming place where would ask questions, we would imagine, we would get excited and we would plan the future.
Building Blocks of Our Dream
On that particular Sunday, we started dreaming about participating in an internet mastermind that was about to take place in Jamaica. The mastermind was super expensive, it was clearly way out of our reach but on that Sunday evening, we dared to dream. We pictured it, we vividly imagined, we spoke about it and suddenly it all seemed so much more possible.
A second super exciting part of the dream was that on the way to Jamaica, we could spend some time in London. That brought some extra emotions as Mari had not been in London for over 7 years.
Then the third part came out since we were to be in London we also added Poland to see my family. On the way back we had to move to Malaysia. We drew it on a paper and it becomes 2 months, 3 continents, 5 countries, and 38,000 km trip. The picture was getting more clear and more exciting to us but at the same time, we had no clue how to raise the necessary finances for the trip.
After the dream was born, we kept on coming on Sundays to the same place where we revisited the dream, we reignited it and added some more details. The dream was getting more and more alive, it continued to grow, it had feelings and it was becoming more and more clear.
Leap of Faith
The deadline was coming very close, we needed to confirm our mastermind reservations very soon. In order to do that we needed to have our flight tickets. We looked at our finances, they did not look any good. If we got our tickets we were pretty much without any cash left, additionally we still needed to pay off the mastermind, what was a massive amount. The conditions were very clear, we needed to have both the flight tickets and fully paid off mastermind before we could consider our reservation complete.
The clock was ticking fast and we did not know how to find a way to raise this huge amount of money. I have to admit, it was a place of uncertainty. Eventually, we found out that Air Canada would allow 48h reservation without making a payment, that would allow us to make the reservations and have our names on the list. But then we discovered that we needed a visa to transit in Canada, so this option was out. We’re back to square one.
Finally, we were running out of time so we took a leap of faith. We came in agreement, we prayed and we trusted that things would eventually work out.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” Matthew 18:19
We decided to spend our last money to buy the flights being fully aware that if we do not pay the mastermind on time we will lose the ticket money. We did it and we were officially on the list with one leg. We had just a couple of weeks to sort out the massive payment for the mastermind…
Ask and You Shall Receive
During one of the Sunday dreaming sessions at Breakwaters, I asked Mari “what gifts would you like to develop, what would you enjoy doing?” She took a moment and then she said, “I could speak”. We went back through memories and recalled the moments when in previous years Mari stepped up and shared during our seminars and webinars. She got really good feedback but she never pursued this gift. She had done it mainly because there were some technical parts of the business that she had knowledge on.
Guess what? Within the next few days, we got a message from a personal assistant to the CEO of the company asking if we would like to speak as they needed speakers… I paused, smiled and said “yes”.
“Ask and you shall receive…” Luke 11:9.
We immediately agreed that we would divide the presentation between both of us and both of us would speak.
Pay in 5 Days or Be Removed from the List
The deadline was closer and closer and we still could not pay for the mastermind. Finally, on the 9th of April, we received a really direct email saying that we only had 5 days to pay off the outstanding amount for the mastermind or we would be removed from the list. That would mean, we would lose our flight money and our big dreams would crash.
That was the time to use some of the spiritual principles I had learned so far.
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- Give thanks for what you do not have yet. – “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Psalm 100:4 When I had heard first time about it if felt illogical, how could I give thanks for something that I do not have yet. When I thought about it, giving thanks before receiving requires faith. Most people do the opposite, whine and complain.
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- Ask – “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” Mark 11:24
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- Declare & Confess
- Lift up in prayers and rest in faith – that was the hardest thing for me because I am a typical “A-type personality”, I believe in taking action and it’s hard for me to just leave it and expect things will work out.
On that particular day after reading the threatening email, I knew I could not do anything else about it, we had already gone through all the options that we could think of and we still could not solve it. We sat down on the edge of the bed, we closed our eyes and we decided to give up the control and give it all up to Him because “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7. We prayed “Lord, this is bigger than us, we do not know how, but we believe you are bigger than this problem.
“Everything is possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23
We had no idea how to raise such a massive amount of money in such a short period of time. Somehow, right after the simple prayer, we had this amazing peace that all would work out well. We could enjoy the rest of the weekend.
At some point, Mari started a sentence that looked like she was about to speak something contrary to what we prayed for, so I stopped her halfway through the sentence and said: “ please stop, do not say it”. Why? Because the tongue has the power of life and death…
Tongue Has The Power of Life and Death
I heard so many stories backing it up. It’s a very clear instruction, we should never speak against what we pray for. There are laws in the kingdom, one of them is the law of the tongue. (here is a bit more)
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” Proverbs 18:21
So it is super important to speak and declare life over what we want to happen and to avoid speaking death over our dreams, our health, our future and every aspect of our lives.
You’ve Got Mail
We made a decision not to worry about it, we decided not to speak any of the negative “what if it’s not going to work”, as that would be an act without faith and that would be opposite to what we prayed for.
Our weekend was filled with peace and joy. I think it was either Sunday night or Monday night when I got the idea and this idea was backed up by loads of certainty. I felt compelled, I decided to act on it fast.
I stepped out in faith, believe it or not, we sealed a deal. We got all the money we needed and additionally some extra cash for our travels. How could that work?
Jamaica Golf Course Prayer
When we arrived at Montego Bay, we got greeted by people living the Bob Marley days… dreadlocks, rasta clothes, ganja talk and reggae music.
Our hotel was facing deep blue Caribbean sea and our window overlooked an amazing golf course. It was gorgeous.
I loved the place so much that I made a decision to make the most out of the time we were there, I decided to wake up every morning to witness the miracle of the sun rising. Partly my clock was messed up after the long travels and partly because I wanted to start my day with God. Our schedule looked super busy, the mastermind would start early morning and last till late evening.
I had learned it from a Filipino pastor who visited one of the Malaysian churches I attended. He was a very successful businessman. He said that his very first appointment is not with his clients, not with his children, not with his wife but with God. I loved the idea and decided to adopt it. Instead of starting my day with facebook, twitter and/or other messengers, I created a special place for meeting God. That set a tone for the rest of the day and often I would receive downloads to progress my business.
Every day I woke up at the sunrise, I downloaded this particular song on my phone that I just love so much. I felt the morning due on my feet as I chose to walk barefoot and I had an absolutely glorious time. In one of these morning walks the Lord spoke to me very vividly “I will take you to many nations”, it was so strong that I had it on my heart for several days. It was also a reminder and a confirmation of a prophecy that I received a couple of years before. We stayed in Jamaica for over two weeks and I did not miss a single sunrise. I will treasure those memories.
Dinner Surprise Neighbours – Arranged Seats
Everyone was nicely dressed, waiters were walking around offering drinks and canapés and we were about to start our welcome dinner. I wanted to sit at that one particular table with the super producers but it was full so I and Mari sat at the next table. There were two couples and a single person, the tables were large and round. We were sitting in a way that even though we were at one table everyone was separate.
After a while one couple left and the single person left, so there were only two couples left. Then, I made a decision to start chatting to the couple on our right. I asked the man, what do you do? He said that he is a hair stylist for celebrities and that he has his own product line. It was me mainly asking questions. After a couple of minutes, he mentioned loosely that he is also a pastor…
In moments like that, I made a decision not to share that I am also a Christian, instead I choose to listen, because if I say anything, later I could try to justify that some things were shared because of what I said.
After a while Bernard said, he is not part of the business, he came there only as a guest with his friend. He did not want to come to Jamaica because his mum was very sick and he wanted to stay with her. But the Lord told him to go there, He told him “you will meet a man who traveled from very far and you will pray for his wife”. He said to the Holy Spirit “I would like him to sit at my table and speak to me first”. I thought I came for a business conference…
Throughout the conference, we spent some time with Bernard at breakfast, lunch and dinner tables. He shared with us loads of prophetic words and revealed information he should have not known about. That gave us assurance and totally changed the flow of the mastermind.
Prayer Night
Halfway through the mastermind, Bernard started fasting as God gave him the assignment to pray for Mari. We invited him to come to our room, he prayed with authority, so loudly that I was sure we would have hotel staff coming to our room.
After the prayer, both of us got knocked down with the power of the Holy Spirit and we went to sleep, I felt as if something was deposited into my spirit. That particular night we slept for around 15 hours.
Lord Use Me
In one of the days, our time came to get on the stage and speak. I felt nervous as I had not spoken for quite a while from the stage, also it was to be the longest seminar I would ever and to the biggest audience ever. Before coming on stage I went outside of the seminar room, I put myself into the state and I said this short prayer “Lord use me”.
The result was overwhelming, I was in my flow, I enjoyed it, I was playful and interactive. Loads of people came to me saying that the training meant a lot for them. And when I came to Mari she said with a smile, “You made me proud.” This speaking session opened several doors for us and we got blessed mightily.
I remember these words released by pastor Spencer, who runs a small prophetic church in Kuala Lumpur.
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land” Isaiah 1:19
The Fun Part
The fun part is that wherever we travel, we do not travel alone. God sends amazing people our way, arranges situations, events that make our trips so much more fun and interesting. I had never traveled like that before. All the glory goes to God. Read more posts: India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia…
Photo Credit: Scissors
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