England's mission July & August 2006 + PHOTOS

I arrived to London on the 13th of July after ending the mission in Italy. The first venue I participated in was the "Life is for Joy" ecumenical weekend conference at Wintershall estates, on the 15th and 16th of July. I had the opportunity to share with Peter and Ann Hutley, whose great spiritual inspirations led them to use their beautiful property in the country for the service of the Lord. They hold numerous events, among them the dramatization of the nativity and the life of our Lord Jesus. Events that take place all around the many acres of land they own, giving it a perfect scenario around the lakes and numerous barns and fields, for a display of sacred Christian history, supported by actors and actresses that with great love perform their parts, making the faithful live a true experience of Christ. So much of this is missing in our church today. Thanks God for the Hutleys and their team, that make it possible for such anointed activities to take place. I'll extend an invitation to Catholics and Christians of all orientations, around the world, to imitate them and for sure we'll expose our faith to all, making it more accessible to people of this busy world, who will not be interested to read or find out much about the faith and in some cases their own faith. A great tool for evangelization, a great way of celebrating the wonders of Christianity, a powerful way to worship and praise our Mighty God in Jesus our Savior. Please visit their web site at:
www.wintershall-estate.com
May the Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary bless them and their team, so that they keep on celebrating the gifts of our faith.

On the 17th I visited the Church of Christ The King. A Charismatic & ecumenical group. It was the second time I preached there. I spoke about being a true soldier of Christ. It is wonderful to follow-up on these missions with the parishes one has visited. It gives one a sense of continuity, which is necessary for the spiritual growth of the speaker and the whole congregation, which at the end are nothing more than one body in Christ. I find as a speaker, that what I speak is nothing less than what is in everyone's heart; except that I am the instrument whose voice is the congregations' inner life of the heart in a mystical way, fusing it together into one train of thought, turning everybody's gifts of the spirit into one. God is wonderful!. The magnificent work of The Holy Spirit among us!

On the 19th I visited for the first time the parish of Saint Peter the Apostle in southeast London. A beautiful church with the blessing of a very anointed and faithful parish priest who has his church on fire with the spirit!
We had adoration for one hour before mass and after mass we gathered together in the hall. The turnout was great and father introduced me with great encouraging words and his blessing. I gave my testimony of conversion and we had a very inspiring questions and answers hour. We agreed on meeting again on my next visit God willing next summer 2007.

On the 18th I visited Saint Joseph's church in Highgate Hill in Northern London.
Mass was at 6:30 p.m. and after, a beautiful venue with a good turnout, after which I shared my testimony followed by a time for prayers and healing.

On the 20th I visited Saint Ignatius Church prayer group on Stanford Hill, Northern London. We had mass at 7:00 p.m. and then a talk furthering my last visit. Again, we had a good turnout and a very attentive congregation hungry enough for the Lord to assimilate everything given by the Holy Spirit with love and humility. It was a joy to be there.

On the 21th I visited the city of Pool and spoke for the first time at Saint Mary's church. I gave my testimony of conversion. I was welcomed by a very anointed prayer group of ladies who are courageous soldiers of the church. We had a great turnout filled with a spirit of contemplation throughout the conference; a very attentive and respectful congregation. We spoke afterwards about getting together for a one day retreat for my next visit next year God willing. It was a very nice visit. We had a private retreat on the following Saturday and concluded the visit with prayer and healing ministry. A joy to be there among them!

On Sunday the 23rd I went to Bristol and spoke at Saint Anthony's church. We had a four hour meeting between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. I was able to present extensively my experience with the Lord. We had plenty time to share all questions and answers and to do a closing to the meeting with anointing and grace from the Holy Spirit.
The Parish priest kindly donated a monstrance for the poor parishes of South America where I mission, I was also given rosaries and medals for the poor. It was a very generous parish, with a heart open for the poor and very sensitive to my mission. May the Lord continue to bless them. I enjoyed their Latin Mass prior to the meeting.

On the 25th I visited Our Lady of Willesden Shrine and gave a talk in reflection to being a true soldier of God. It was my third time visiting them. A prayer group working very hard on interceding for the city of London; true prayer warriors. In union with our Lady of Willesden, they truly rebuke great legions of demons from the city. Without groups like this one, the city would have been in flames a long time ago. Please pray for them, they are an important part of our army.

On the 26th I went back to visit the Church of Saint Sebastian & Saint Pancras. we attended mass at 7:30p.m. followed by a talk on Angels of the Lord. It is always good to follow up on the teachings and in this opportunity, speaking of Angels, gave us a very good view of our relationship with them and how we are to unite ourselves with them to consciously fortify our strength against the enemy of the soul. Many Catholics unfortunately ignore this relationship and it is sad, because it could enrich greatly their spiritual lives and no telling about the amount of protection that it will bring into their lives. Let's pray for that intention, so that we are more conscious of the presence and action of our Angels in our lives.

On the 28th I visited the Padre Pio Bookstore in Central London close to Victoria Station. Here I was in a very blessed spot in the middle of a very busy and worldly area of the city, just like a pearl in the mud. What a great place of prayer. We had an enormous turnout for a little place, people were sitting anywhere where they could and many standing, the heat was high on a sunny day and we had mass prior to the talk. We had five priests at one time before all started; two concelebrated and another heard confessions, the other two left before the mass. A very hungry congregation, hungry for the right food, hungry for God. Oh it is the greatest pleasure to find a remnant like this in the midst of my mission, it gives me so much strength and it is like a feeding ground for me. There were also colorful characters along the activities. Some people were not able to enter, because there was physically no space left. One person who was standing outside had a gigantic picture of Divine Mercy hanging from his neck and another one was carrying a big statue of our Lady. Some people would find them odd, but I think that all of this is part of the impact this world made in some hearts, due to the materialistic and decadent ways of people living their lives away from God today. It gets some people to act in what appears to be unusual manners. I see this as a silent and incomprehensive grace for humanity. I admit that my view on this matter is merely a mystical one, far from being psychological, but I had to say it. Overall, Padre Pio's bookshop talk was a very special one filled with blessings for everyone that came. May the Lord bless them all!

Saturday 29th. From 10:00 am until 4:30 p.m. we gathered to share what the Pastor called: A quiet day led by Marino Restrepo. It was my third time to mission with father Paul at the Five Precious Wounds church in Stonebridge, London. Father has been a great support to my mission. We had two talks and then mass, confessions and adoration. It was a very anointed Saturday. It is an honor to have a priest like father Paul Brophy, he is in tune with the solid teachings of the Church and always comes across like a true servant of God, his great reverence to the sacred liturgy, his awareness of what the Church wants from him and his understanding of his mission as an apostle of Christ. May the Lord keep him among us for a long time to come. We need priests like him badly in our church today. I run into extremely sad cases where priests are in clear disobedience to the sacred traditions of the Church and send the most horrific messages to their congregations pushing the sheep entrusted to them by the Lord Jesus, to the hands of wolves, scattering them into the wide open dangers of this world of today. Praise the Lord for father Paul and all faithful priest of our Church. Lets truely pray hard for the conversion of the unfaithful!

On the 31st I began my first visit to the most important charismatic gathering in the Catholic UK: The New Dawn conference. A week of conferences in a little historical town 3 hours away from London called Walsingham, England's national Marian Shrine. This was their 20th anniversary. The week long gathering is held in the outskirts of town, on the fields of a land owner as they are known in England. They put up a very large tent as the main meeting one. Around in close by areas, you'll find a set of different size tents all dedicated to different activities, among them, one tent for the blessed sacrament adoration which is held for long periods during the day.Many families come with the children and camp in a designated camping area. It is a very different type of Catholic congress as one may call it. I found it very refreshing and uplifting, especially because of the families, which are the true salt of the Church. Seeing these loyal Catholic families with large numbers of children, gives one hope that vocations will be coming in the future, because these children are growing with in faith involved with Jesus and by the hand of our Lady the Virgin Mary.
Miles Dempsey who is the founder and organizer of this event, is a remarkable personality whose testimony I wouldn't be able to tell in a few sentences, I can only tell you that it was a joy and a blessing to be invited to participate in such a beautiful piece of work of God's gifts to the Church. Miles' work, shows you what following God's will is all about. A true soldier of God and an honorable servant of the Kingdom, that goes to all his team who have been with him for years going through all of the battles they have to weigh time after time, when setting the ground for each year's conference. May the Lord Jesus continue to bless this anointed work of Miles and his team and God willing I'll be back with them next year for the 21st conference.
Please visit their web site for more information at: www.newdawn.org.uk/introduction.htm