Berquist Ministries International PO Box 5339, Kent, WA March Dear Friends,

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1 Berquist Ministries International PO Box 5339, Kent, WA March 2017 Dear Friends, God bless you as you prepare for a wonderful springtime. I know it is still winter where most of you live, but the promises of God are sure springtime will indeed come. Projects: My book, The Greatest Physician, has been translated into French, the common language of Togo and other countries in West Africa. We can have it printed in Africa and given to ministers in pastors conferences for less than we can print it here and ship it overseas. The total cost to BMI is five thousand dollars and the ministers there will take care of the entire project. This is a great blessing to us and will place empowering teaching into the hands of one thousand African pastors. Thousands more will be taught and healed as the Lord confirms his word through these faithful men. Help me print the first one thousand copies for the Lord s work and pray as we seek God to enable more printings. We can bring the cost down even more with a larger order so pray for this project earnestly and God bless you for helping. The printer is a Christian book printer. Other estimates given from nationals went from fifteen to twenty dollars a copy. So let s use our faith to spread healing across West Africa and bless a Christian book printer at the same time. The next book, Somewhere with God (about being led by his Spirit), is now being translated too. We are also praying for several necessary computers, a couple of needed motorcycles, and another shipment of French Bibles as well. Souls are coming to Christ through these efforts, child evangelism, and the pastors conferences. Praise God with us. then give as God leads you. Ministries have office work not exciting to talk about. However, to accomplish what we do, the less exciting parts of ministry must be seen to. We bought two printers, one for our bookkeeper s office and one for my office. We both work out of home offices. Our ink costs are now cut in half because the newer models are more efficient. We will try and print a few things, like photos from the overseas work, in color, for you soon. Also, we trust to buy one new computer for the main office later this spring. The one I use has aged out. We also use a local print shop (at a great business discount) for our monthly newsletters. Items for small ministries represent major expenses so pray that God s faithful financial blessings will overtake us. I have much writing to edit and finish up this spring. Pray as I wade though chapters from three different projects. Your support and love means more than you can know and I wish I could help you feel my gratitude to you and to our Lord. I love you. Nita G. Berquist Home Front: I had four snow days when I could not get out. It became a blessing for it slowed me down and I needed the rest. Now the rains are here and the porch is becoming the place the kitties want to lounge again and watch the rain. That s good, for the rascals need to be out from under my feet sometimes - maybe lots of times. Spackle has decided he s a lap cat. This is a new thing. Lately he wants constant attention. No, he s a boy. He s not pregnant. Yes, he s well fed. He s not hungry. Have you ever tried to lean over your computer keyboard with a twelve-pound cat trying to cling to your lap? Or, worse yet, sit on your shoulder? He s a pest, but such a cute little pest. Cats! Sigh

2 Beam Me Up Chapter 2 Here s an account of a few trips I ve taken with the Holy Spirit. I realize that many Christians may have a difficult time with such stories, but I ask you to consider the word of God before you throw out what I am about to tell you. Perhaps your background and training did not prepare you to think that such things happen today. However, God has not changed and the Bible narrative continues today in the lives of God s people. Nothing new will ever be added to the scriptures yet God does new things as he leads us to follow him. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth. Shall you not know it (Isaiah 43:19). Many exciting experiences have happened to God s people since Jesus ascended to heaven. The things the Lord shows us and the scriptures he gives us are meant to confirm his word and work through us. The final decision on whether something is of God or not is found in the word of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit inside the Christian heart. Both must be present and acknowledged. These decisions are not decided through the will of men or the theological wrangling in branches of God s church. Learning to walk in the Spirit of God begins the moment we are born again. It is supposed to become a way of life. But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13). If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that believes not God has made him a liar, because he believes not the record (testimony) that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life, and he that has not the Son of God has not life (1 John 5:9-12). You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth, I call you not servants for the servant does not know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you (John 15:14-15). After saying this Jesus spoke about how he chose and ordained us to become fruitful as we learn to pray effectively. These are very important truths to know if you want to walk with God. You have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you (John 15:16). When we walk with Jesus, he calls us his friends because we are doing what he commands us to do and there is nothing more exciting or entertaining than an adventure with God. Let me tell you a few things I ve discovered about walking with our beloved Master and Lord. I will start with being translated. Sounds a bit like science fiction, doesn t it? The world and the devil say, Beam me up Well, guess where they got the idea? You are right. God revealed it in the Bible. It happened to Old Testament figures and shows up

3 again in the New Testament. What many in the church don t know is that time, space, and matter are God s creations and he can and does manipulate them as it pleases him. One time I became aware of this was on a Sunday morning. We were in our new church auditorium that was attached to our old chapel during a very strong windstorm. The noise grew louder as the building was buffeted and became so loud that the noise of the wind hitting the building began to drown out the pastor s voice. Inwardly I began to pray under my breath and asked God to protect our new building. Then I switched to praying in the Spirit. Suddenly, I was outside the building as the Spirit carried me around the entire structure. I was held about fifteen to twenty feet above the ground and could feel none of the buffeting winds. The auditorium was attached to the chapel in a way that produced five corners instead of four. I was directed somehow to look closely at each corner. As I did, recognition rolled through me. Each corner was held firmly by a large, tall angel. I stared in wonder and then just as suddenly, I became aware of being back in my seat inside the church. The pastor was still preaching but now I had an inward excitement. Peace rolled over me as I praised God in my heart for sending angels to guard our new building when it was full of people. Was I out of the body when moved around the building? Was it a vision? I don t know. It might not have been a physical translation but it certainly was a spiritual one of some kind. I only know that God used this method to show me how he answered my prayer. He sent his angels when I cried out. The angel of the Lord encamps around them that fear him and delivers them (Psalm 34:7). On another occasion, our pastor asked us to pray especially for a group of churches during the week but I promptly forgot. The following Saturday afternoon I suddenly remembered and felt ashamed for not doing it. So I went into my bedroom to pray. I had barely dropped to my knees when I found myself looking down on the first church on my list. As I prayed I saw the church, what the pastor was doing, and how he was preparing for Sunday morning. After asking God to visit that work, I was carried to the next church and prayed. How I moved I don t know for I was not aware of anything but being suddenly at each church where I continued to pray until every church had been covered. I observed construction, cleaning, studying, and other activities by the pastors and people in preparation for their Sunday morning services. In some miraculous form, as my knees hit the floor I had been carried to the first church and then to every church after that. During this time, it did not occur to me that my experience was odd or special. When I finished the prayers for the churches and their pastors, I realized that I was kneeling by my bed. So I stood and looked at the clock, expecting that I had prayed for perhaps half an hour. To my amazement, almost three hours had passed. I walked into my kitchen, still not fully comprehending but when I thought about what I had seen, my knees grew weak. God had carried me about the country from church to church and showed me what to pray for. I prayed to the Lord and this is the first thing he showed me. The Apostle Paul had many experiences with the Lord where he went places but did not know whether it was in the

4 flesh or not. God showed him visions and revelations and gave him trips to glory that he could not explain perfectly. He said it like this. It is not expedient (profitable) for me doubtless to glory (boast). I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell; God knows), such a one caught up to the third heaven he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory, but in my infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth; but now I forbear (refrain), lest any man should think of me above that which he sees me to be or that he hears of me (2 Corinthians 12:1-6). The Lord showed me other scriptures and Biblical events and how easy it is for him to reveal what he wants us to know. He can carry a person physically or in a vision to reveal his knowledge just like he did with the prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament. And it came to pass as I sat in my house and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber. And he put forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit lifted me up and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem to the door of the inner gate and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there (Ezekiel 8:1-4). God can move a person physically so people can no longer see him and he will find himself elsewhere. In the following passage he physically moved an evangelist in the New Testament. And the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning and sitting in his chariot Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and join yourself to this chariot. And Philip ran to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you read? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the scripture he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so he opened not his mouth And the eunuch asked of Philip, Of whom does the prophet speak, of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached to him Jesus. And as they went on their way they came to a certain water and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What hinders me to be baptized? And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that the eunuch saw him no

5 more. And he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea (Acts 8:26-40). It s amazing how seldom Christians think that such things still happen today; however, God often moves people as it pleases him. Those who know and experience such things seldom speak about it for the same reason that the Apostle Paul waited fourteen years before telling his own story about visiting heaven. Even today, human flesh still tends to make idols of just about anything that is outside the ordinary. People who talk of supernatural events in their lives often have followers who want to cling to them and not to God. Some preachers have fallen into the trap of letting themselves be exalted by men, but most men fall because of self-exaltation. Nevertheless, if God s church will walk humbly before him, he will reveal himself in and through millions of his children by such wonders and powerful works. He does these to confirm who he is, that what he says is true, and those who follow him are his blood-washed, faithful and loving children. Such wonders are testimonies also to the lost. Traveling by the Spirit of God is possible whenever it pleases God for the work of the gospel, or for another reason known only to him. Jesus has carried me so many times that I cannot count them. In fact, one time after a season of hard work and also some serious emotional events I called a friend about how tired I was feeling. She suggested I rise in the morning, pack a lunch and go for a country drive up into our mountains. In fact, she said this. Go drive up Mount Rainer. That struck a chord, for in the early 1990 s a prophetic word was spoken over me before we moved into the Pacific Northwest. Part of that word had to do with that specific mountain and what it represents to elements of society who use it as a symbol or as a site from which they derive power. Years later, I drove in our valley on a day when the air was clear and the mountain was easily seen. As I glanced at it the Lord suddenly spoke in my heart and I began to prophesy a verse as it came to me. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plan, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings crying, Grace, grace unto it (Zechariah 4:7). The effect on me was tremendous as a wave of the Spirit of God s presence swept through the car. Now I lived in the Pacific Northwest and, remembering the valley prophecy, I decided that my friend was probably right though I didn t really want to go on a drive. I only felt beat up and completely exhausted. Nevertheless, the following morning after my friend spoke with me, I packed my lunch and started on my drive. An hour later I was up in the mountains on a road that would take me over the range and down the other side into Yakima, WA. As I drove I tried to pray but I could not get past the terrible weariness I felt. Finally I said to the Lord, I m too tired to pray or think. I ll just speak again the words the prophetic man gave me about this mountain so many years ago about how God has given me authority in this area. So I spoke the words of the man s prophecy. Once again, as it had happened years earlier when I spoke the scripture against the powers of darkness using the mountain, my car was filled with God s presence. I was astonished for there was not a prayer bone in my body or

6 a speck of energy. There was only a thimble full of obedience that I had given to my friend s counsel. I continued to drive over the crest where I finally stopped, ate my sandwich and wondered if I should go to Yakima or turn and drive home again. Finally, I said, I m exhausted and want to go home. I turned the car around and prayed. Father, do you ever translate people when they are not in ministry. I m too tired to drive but if you don t do that, it s okay. I suddenly felt foolish, like a small child asking for a special cereal at the grocery when there were plenty of cereals at home already. The road was wide and I was pulling into a town although I had driven only about a block from the time I prayed. Out loud I wondered. I don t remember this highway on the mountain. I looked around and then the realization of what God had just done swept over me. He had answered my childish whimper and moved me off the mountain and into town. I pulled over into a store parking lot and began to thank him. Then I said, Wow, Lord, that s the forth time you ve done that. The Lord instantly rebuked me saying, You don t know how many times I ve done that. Shame covered me and the Lord brought to mind the sin of King David. The king sent men to do a census of Israel because he wanted to know the natural strength of Israel. In doing so he discounted God as his strength. That is why it was sin (2 Samuel 24). In the same way, my heart rejoiced in a few translations I knew about as though it were by my power and not God s. So his rebuke and his word brought me to lean again on the goodness of God. A rebuke from God is indeed a sign of his goodness because, the goodness of God leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). In a few minutes time I had experienced God answering the prayer of his child and was translated in my car. Then in delight I was excited and spoke from the folly of the human heart. My shame was real but it was followed with the knowledge of instant forgiveness and the knowledge of the word of God. Finally, a deep joy filled me and I finished the rest of my short drive home, softly worshipping the God who in wisdom and love sent Jesus to save me. At home I slept and rested for a few days and my strength was revived before I had to leave on a ministry trip across the country to speak. This mountain translation happened not long after I buried my husband. I was off-balance and searching for inward rest while continuing in ministry and dealing with so many natural issues. But God, he always knows how to heal, how to refresh, and when to send signs and wonders. He also knows why he does what he does when we often do not. I have more to share with you on the topic of God moving his people in visions, dreams, and in or out of the body as it pleases him. As you consider these things, remember that the Bible is the root of all truth and God s Spirit within his people is his witness. So read your Bible, pray often, and worship daily. Ask God to reveal himself to you in any way that pleases him. He waits to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect (at peace with or loyal) toward him (2 Chronicles 16:9). This perfection is forever settled in the perfect work of Christ at Calvary, who followed his Heavenly Father. So we do likewise for that is that is how we exhibit perfect faith (Matthew 5:48) we follow him Nita G Berquist