Dear Friends & Prayer Partners,

As you read this newsletter Canadian Thanksgiving will have come and gone. Families will have gathered, delicious dinners enjoyed amidst the banter of healthy family fun. Many families will have taken a few minutes out of their enjoyment to consider all the things in life that they are thankful for and will give thanks to our loving heavenly Father.

But in the midst of our well-earned rest and enjoyment thousands around the world are dying, homeless and desolate. We actually don’t have to look outside of Canada to see the pain of hunger and deprivation. As we look into our fridges crammed with leftovers we need to take a moment not only to thank God for His abundant blessing and provision in our lives, but to lift up those who are not able to go to overflowing fridges for a snack. Want to go beyond the surface meaning of thanksgiving to the depth of why we are thankful.

There is a hymn written by A.B. Simpson entitled ‘Himself ’. It is a wonderful old song that contains a golden message about the true worth of all spiritual blessings being Jesus Christ Himself. Two of the lines go ‘ Once His gifts I wanted, now the Giver own’. That is what we are truly thankful for, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. It is wonderful and right to thank God for His provision, but that is only one small part of His blessing to us. Jesus Christ is available to us as Life itself and that is why the children of God celebrate Thanksgiving.

365 days a year we want to be reminded that there are those needing our help and we want to step up and fulfill the heart of the Father in this area, but even beyond this we want to live moment by moment in a heart of thanksgiving for all that is truly available to us through Jesus Himself.

December 9th during the course, Touching the Throne, we are inviting all the Singing Waters intercessors to come together for a time of fellowship, sharing vision with Donna and prayer. We want to hear from you and shape the ongoing development of this vital part of the ministry together.

We will be contacting you with more details as the time draws closer, but we wanted to let you know so you can set aside this time now.

HEALING OF THE HEART
Gratitude Shapes Life
Will and Madeleine Walker
Ministry Centre Managers

It was getting late and we needed to bring the ministry session to a close very soon. You could feel the discouragement and disappointment in the air. We just weren’t getting anywhere. Our silent, desperate prayers for help seemed to go unheeded.

And then it happened. A breakthrough. “Thank you God. You are faithful.”

There have been many occasions when we have felt like giving up and quitting this thing called ministry. But seeing God’s faithfulness demonstrated over and over has cultivated in us a heart of gratitude. Someone wrote: “Gratitude is an attitude, a personal quality that moulds and shapes our lives – not just something we do or say.” I love it!

“Gratitude … shapes and moulds our lives” It’s true. Our gratitude to God for what He does in the ministry room –even at the eleventh hour - has given us an attitude of the heart that carries us through those difficult ministry sessions. It’s an attitude of thankfulness for what He is about to do.

It is difficult to convey our sense of awe and wonder at the goodness and grace of God in bringing us to live and work at Singing Waters.

Just a short six months ago we would have considered it impossible, but daily we are reminded of Mark 10:27. We are grateful, excited and humbled as we step into our new positions and watch expectantly what God will do.

In this YLIT (Young Leader in Training) section we’re sharing the testimony of Ketisha Alexander from Brampton and originally from St.Vincent. She has been a YLIT since February of this year:

“I am thankful for being at Singing Waters because the presence of God is here. Being here has given me the opportunity to gain knowledge from attending courses and just picking up wisdom from different people on the base. The Holy Spirit is my teacher and Singing Waters is school to me. There are Spirit filled people here who know the voice of God that can counsel me in personal ministry. I am also really thankful that I’ve learned about healthy relationships where Jesus is Lord.

I was greatly impacted by Ivan and Isabel, prophets from Stratford, who prophesied over me here at Singing Waters half a year ago. This guided me onto the path that God has for me and I can already see parts of the prophecy being fulfilled.”

OUR TRIP TO THE ARCTIC by Dawn Veldman I want to write this quickly while everything is still fresh in my mind and my heart. It was truly a trip of a lifetime, and I’ve been on many. Angola, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Soweto, and different homelands; they were all great and wonderful but this trip was awesome and great in so many ways. The people, their hospitality and care were unmatchable;. their enthusiasm for everything, spiritually, physically, and every other way.

You ask what my most gratifying moment was? Oh, there were so many but one stands out amongst them all. The second last night several of us ministered to a young teen age girl whose mouth was literally closed by the demonic. The team around her persevered until she finally opened her eyes and smiled.

We knew victory had finally come. Then the next night as we were praying for another young girl about the same age (12 or 13)( who had the same symptoms and literally couldn't’t open her mouth to say the Name above all Names, Jesus); all of a sudden Debbie, with tears streaming down her cheeks, (the one who had been set free the night before) came and laid hands on her. She wanted so much to see her friend set free and she was! Yes, she too opened her eyes, smiled, and said I love Jesus ! How we rejoiced!

It was wonderful to see not only the adults responding to all God was doing but the way the children waited for their turn to be “slain the in the Spirit” - they also wanted all that God had for them. I was told that 80% of Quaqtag’s 300 plus people were under the age of 25 which in itself is an awesome figure.

My friend Mary Lou had me walking all over the place, painfully at first but then joyfully. I started to walk everywhere we went, which wasn’t too far as it is a very small community, with no roads to anywhere. You fly out or you don’t go.

There is so much more I could tell you about: e.g. the beautiful Northern Lights, the fantastic worship music, the very special canoe ride out into the Bay with Elijah, and on and on and on.

On the last day as we were ready to depart, the fog had rolled in which meant that the plane couldn't’t land. No problem, just call the President of the Airlines and another plane would be sent winging on it’s way to fetch us. How we rejoiced, but with very mixed feelings. Not wanting to leave but then again, to get home to our loved ones to tell them of our wonderful trip to the North and all that God had done, not just in the Inuit’s’ lives but in our lives also.

We are grateful to God for His promise to lead us every step of the way. September was indeed a month of birthing, divine birthing of things long promised.

We started to get truly excited as we found ourselves confronted over and over again with words such as “…as labor pains upon a woman..” 1Thes. 5:3. “”Pangs have taken hold of me, like a woman in labor.” Isaiah 21:3. “…They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth…” Isaiah 13:8b. “Now I will cry like a woman in labor. I will pant and gasp at once…” Isaiah 42:14.

We ended August with the clear call for us to, “Prepare the Way” for His coming. Safely into the month of September, it suddenly dawned on us, that September is the ninth month. The implication being that we had completed the time of gestation, and were now ready to give birth to God’s divine plans and purposes.

September 16th, will be a day those present will never forget. We were shocked and awed by the overwhelming sense of God’s Presence.

We now wait to see what the Holy Spirit gave birth to that eventful morning. Like that bird sitting on a branch, totally alert to what is going on in its immediate environment, we heed God’s instruction to, “Watch and Wait!”

The Lord asks,”Shall I bring to the point of birth, and not give delivery?” Or will I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God. Isaiah 66:9 Thank you for your continued partnership in this prayer ministry.

Your Singing Waters Prayer Team

As each bird flaps its wings it creates uplift for the bird immediately following it. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock can fly at least 71% farther than if each bird flew on its own.

People who share a common direction can get where they are going quicker and easier if they co-operate. Whenever a goose falls out of formation it feels the resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly returns to the formation to take advantage of flying with the flock. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will work with others who are going in the same direction.

When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates in the wing and another goose flies on the poing. It pays to take turns doing hard jobs for our group. These geese honk behind to ‘encourage’ those up front to keep up their speed.

Finally, when the goose weakens or is wounded and falls out of formation, 2 geese fall out and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and they then set out on their own or with another formation until they catch up with their group. If we all had the sense of the goose we would stand by each other like that.

Your Singing Waters Prayer Team

We are so grateful to our gracious Lord for His rich presence at our Singing Waters Advanced Training School. Everything from the blending of the various speakers to the smooth operation of the facility gave testimony to God’s faithfulness. The students left with a vibrant experience of the Holy Spirit and a greater understanding of the ministry of healing.

Please welcome Nancy Harper to Singing Waters in the role of House Supervisor. We are excited about Trish Hanrahan’s return as Assistant Supervisor.

Lise’ Berube has moved from supervising the House to organizing a project to translate some of Singing Waters material into French for teaching and ministry in Quebec and France. It has been a joy to have Cheryl Astley, from New Zealand, join the Young People’s group. Her enthusiasm is contagious!

Sadly, we say farewell to Nathan Walker, our summer co-op student, as he moves to B.C. to further his education. We end with a warm welcome to Alexis Widrick our most recent addition to the Young People’s team. Alexis is coming to us from New York. Noah Critchley is also a welcome addition to the maintenance crew.

• Please continue to pray for Tony Delahunty as he recovers from an aggressive bacterial infection. We are asking the Lord to restore total function to all his major organs.
  
  
• Linda Riesbury gave an excellent report on God’s answer to prayer. We had prayed asking the Lord to completely contain the cancer in Linda’s leg. Jesus did exactly that, all the cancer cells formed a tight ball in soft tissue. THe lymph system was completely free of any trace of cancer. Please continue to pray for the surgical site to healing completely and be free from any infection.
  
  
• Gail McGillivray is continuing to ask for our prayer support as she seeks to rebuild her strength and stamina.
  
  
• Emily & Wes Mann are in the midst of finalizing their arrangements for their move to England. Please continue to ask for God’s protection over each step of the journey and that they are in His light each step.
  
  
• Emily’s mom, Pam Cundick, is fighting bone cancer and requires our prayer support to remain strong through this battle for her life. We are joining together to ask God for a complete healing and restoration.
  
  
• Please join us in praying for full restoration for Dawn Veldman from her surgery on Oct 5th. Dawn is not only an intercessor and leads our soaking ministry, she is also family and we want to rally round her asking the Holy Spirit to release full restoration.
  
  
• Ken Reeves, a life time member of Singing Waters and member of the Board of Directors of Singing Waters, is undergoing a course of chemotherapy and we ask the Lord to make the treatment 100% effective and protect this treasure who is such a tower of strength and righteousness to the body of Christ.
  
  
• Praise God, the trip to the Arctic was glorious! No one can compare with the loving kindness of our Lord and Saviour. He showed up and lives were changed forever! Please refer to the article in this newsletter by Dawn Veldman for more detail.
  
  
• Please cover the upcoming trip to England by Donna and Steve in prayer. They will be leaving Oct 12th and returning Oct 20th. We ask the Lord’s rich blessings, grace and protection for this trip and that Jesus would be seen by everyone the team encounters.
  
  
• Penny from our Training Office & her husband, Billy Gumulja are traveling to Indonesia leaving Oct 10th and returning Oct 24th. Please pray for God’s protection and blessings. Especially during the first 4 days, as they are in Bali, site of the most recent terrorist attacks. Billy & Penny will be ministering at several churches throughout the region as well as small groups and families. Lets join together in asking the Holy Spirit to have His full way during this trip.
  
  
• We are grateful Mary van Maaren’s landed application has reached in final stage. We are asking our Father to continue to show His favour on this process. Ching The is also requesting continued prayer as there has had a change in lawyers handling her landed application and we are praying the hand-off is seamless and the process continues uninterrupted.
  
  
• Please prayer for the following events:
  1.Outside Groups – Oct 9 & 10, 12 – 14 & 28 –30
  2.PMA Workshop – Oct 21 – 23
  3.Healing Service – Oct 30th
  4.November 25– 27 is a new course, Living in the Presence of God with Donna & Mark Virkler
  
  Please come and join us, especially for the new course, Living in the Presence of God, it will be a practical ‘how-to’ as well as an experience during the course.
  
  Thank you faithful Friends, you really are appreciated and valued. We genuinely realize without you, God could not do everything He desires.
  
  Bless you.