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July
11 ,
2005
Cliff Bell Family Ministries
Dear Friends,
We know some of you are just returning to your homes after Hurricane Dennis
blew through Northwest Florida. I was home this last weekend, so I was
able to keep up with news reports and believe with you for God’s
protection. We praise God that (according to the news reports we have
seen) Dennis did not do the widespread destruction the weather forecasters
predicted. We thank God for His protection in these times.
May and June went by very fast! But God has done some awesome things.
Dianne and I appreciate your prayers. We are seeing more breakthrough,
more miracles, more of God’s hand in our lives and ministry.
- …and a little
child shall lead them…
- Removing the stops,
but maintaining the purity of the flow
- Deaf ears opened
at New Hope
- Methodists in Monclova
returning to the power of God
- Breakdowns, snakes
and scorpions
- Equipping Mexican
missionaries to the Muslim world
- Ministry to pastors
and their families
- Making needs known
… and a little child shall lead them…
I believe it was David Walters whom I first heard say that God doesn’t
give children a “Junior Holy Spirit.” If they are filled with
God’s Spirit, it is the same Holy Spirit that fills adult believers
and that filled Jesus with power from on high to do the miracles, signs
and wonders that marked His earthly ministry. This was brought home to
me again during a prophetic training seminar I held in Altamira, Tamaulipas,
near Tampico. The seminar went very well and I was blessed that a number
of area pastors participated in the meetings. One pastor of a very large
church in Mexico City traveled there to participate. Excellent ministry
took place during the activations. But the way God used one particular
six year old boy caught my attention. During one of the activations, this
little boy gave a prophetic word to one of the attending pastors. Everyone
was amazed at the depth of the prophetic word that came through this little
boy. The word said, “You are a good pastor (literally ‘shepherd’)
because you give good food to the sheep. And you are like a large tree
whose branches extend out and provide shade for many people. And the branches
are filled with good fruit.” This powerful word of encouragement
given through such a small boy was an inspiration to many of the adults
present – including the pastors who came. They could see the operation
of the true gifts of the Holy Spirit and appreciate the need for hearing
the voice of God and of equipping the saints in their gifts. We are praying
about the possibility of beginning a more formal prophetic training school
there in the Tampico area.
Removing the stops, but maintaining the purity of the flow
The next weekend we held a prophetic training event at Mision Divina Church
in Brownsville. We had a good group that also came from Matamoros to attend.
The Lord identified old mindsets that stop the flow of God’s Spirit
and imparted fresh revelation and insight to them to allow them to flow
in the gifts of the Spirit. One of the focuses of the teaching was discerning
the difference between soul and spirit, the emotional and the spiritual,
feelings and faith. Another focus was how to maintain the purity of the
prophetic word and how to discern when an apparent “prophetic word”
is actually coming from a spirit of divination, and how to discern a spirit
of religion, witchcraft and/ or manipulation. Because witchcraft is so
prevalent in Mexico and Latin America, these are important topics when
teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Deaf ears opened at New Hope
June 1 and 2 I had the privilege of ministering at the dedication of the
new building for New Hope (Nueva Esperanza) Church in Pharr, Texas with
Pastors Omar and Yolanda Hinojosa. They have a vision for equipping the
saints for the work of the ministry. The Lord gave me a prophetic message
to preach at their opening. The second night the anointing was so strong,
I began to minister in healing and miracles. There were at least two people
who confirmed that God healed them of severe hearing impairment. One man
had 70% hearing loss since a grenade attack during his tour of duty in
Viet Nam. The Lord opened his ears completely. He was crying and laughing
and thanking God enthusiastically. A lady present also was healed of significant
hearing impairment and noticed a dramatic immediate change. As I prayed
for others, one lady fell down as soon as I laid hands on her. But I knew
it was not God that caused her to go down. I sensed there was a demonic
stronghold there, and God wanted to deliver her. So I motioned for Dianne
and Angela to continue praying for her. The Lord showed Dianne and Angela
the spirit of infirmity that had bound the lady’s lower back. Angela
could actually see it. When they commanded it to go, it left. The lady
came to and asked what happened. She testified that the Lord had healed
her of severe back pain which she had experienced for years. I thank God
for the way He is using my family.
Methodists in Monclova returning to the power of God
Monclova, Coahuila is home to one of the oldest Methodist churches in
Mexico. Monclova was actually the regional capitol city back in the days
when Texas belonged to Mexico. Pastor Homero Garcia, who previously pastored
in Monterrey and also attended the CI Mexico prophetic school, invited
me to his new pastorate in Monclova. Although this church has over one
hundred years of history, there is a renewed hunger for God and an openness
to embrace the apostolic and prophetic. The people soaked up the teaching
like sponges. They were primed and ready. They participated in the activations
and God used them in an awesome way. And God confirmed His Word there
also. There were several confirmed healings, but the one that I remember
most was an older gentleman who had been almost completely deaf. God opened
up his ears, and the man raised his hands and for about five minutes praised
and thanked God in a loud voice. I wish you could have heard him! This
was one of those cases where I had to press in some. There seemed to be
no result at first, but I pressed in and kept commanding the ears to open
up. I’m glad I did.
Breakdowns, heat, snakes and scorpions
The last week of May we experienced a series of interesting challenges.
I had to take our Suburban to the shop three times because of problems
with the air conditioner. At first we thought it might just be the tensioner,
but we had to replace the compressor as well. The lack of a working air
conditioner may not seem like a huge problem, but our temperatures here
in the Valley are consistently around 100 degrees or higher this time
of year. This last week we had temperatures up to 107 and the heat index
up to 115. At night it “cools down” to 80 to 85. These temperatures
continue from April through September. Right in the middle of dealing
with the car’s air conditioner, the house a/c unit broke down. We
attempted to have it repaired, but in the end had to get a new unit. Obviously,
this increased our expenses considerably more than what we had planned
on. But we thank God that He is our Source and Provider. He is always
faithful!
We had a few other experiences which I believe were attempts of Satan
to shake us up. I found a four-foot rattle snake in our garage. As I tried
to shoo it out, it found an opening in the wall and slithered up the wall
and into the attic. Knowing there is a sizeable rattle snake somewhere
up above our heads is not a peaceful thought. So before I went to bed
that night I spent an hour or so making sure any openings from the attic
into the house were closed up – so it couldn’t come into our
living area. Then we prayed about it and went to sleep. We haven’t
seen or heard from it since.
The same week we had an incident with a scorpion. It was late, and I was
about to carry Ashley to her bed (she had fallen asleep on our bed). Dianne
suddenly felt an urgency to take a flashlight and check the hall. While
this was not common practice for her, she acted on the sensing. She saw
the scorpion on the floor in the hall right in front of Ashley’s
bedroom – right where I would have been walking barefoot. Dianne
warned me just in time. So I put Ashley back down and “ministered
to” the scorpion and helped it find it’s eternal destiny. J
I thank God for a wife who hears God!
Equipping Mexican missionaries to the Muslim world
I recently had the opportunity to teach at a Missions Training Institute
in Matamoros with directors Jacques and Flor Goy. They have students
from all over Mexico who have calls to foreign missions. Their emphasis
is missions to the Muslim world. The train them in evangelism, discipleship,
cross-cultural ministry, languages (Arabic) and five-fold ministry.
Some of the graduates are preparing to go to Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia
and other countries. These students were well prepared to receive
and enter into the flow of the gifts of the Spirit. I ministered
an impartation of the prophetic anointing over their lives.
At the end of several of the activations I asked how many could testify
that the word they received was about something only God could know and
if they knew for certain God had spoken to them. It was incredible
to see the many hands that went up! I am excited at how God is using
this ministry to help equip these men and women of God with the prophetic
anointing to bring Muslims to Him!
Ministry to pastors and their families
This week my family and I will minister together to the Methodist pastors
(and their families) who are coming to their annual conference in Reynosa.
I will also have an opportunity to address and minister to all the pastors’
children on Saturday. Many of them have been going through some
difficult trials. But I know the Lord is going to pour out His Spirit
on them in a mighty way with renewed vision, anointing, comfort and hope.
Making needs known
We are still believing for an increase in monthly support. Many
of the places where I minister there is either no offering or the offering
is very low in comparison to our expenses. The average offering
in Mexico is less than one hundred dollars. Our monthly support
through Christian International has gone down in recent months.
We thank God for the timely one-time donations that He has used to keep
us afloat. We keep our eyes on the Lord as our Source, but
I also believe it is necessary to make needs known. So we ask that
you prayerfully consider adding us to your missions’ budget if you
have not already done so.
We are also still believing for a new vehicle to replace our 1996 Chevrolet
Lumina minivan. In the meantime I am using our family vehicle (which
leaves Dianne stranded when I am gone) or riding the bus.
If the Lord leads you to donate toward this special project I have included
giving information below. As we all listen to the Lord and obey
Him every need will be supplied.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support.
Your Servants,
Cliff & Dianne Bell
July 11, 2005
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