DID IT COUNT? - Morris E. Ruddick

Morris Ruddick

Note from Morris: Today is a day of remembrance in America: to give honor and memory to those who served, to those who have sacrificed for the cause of freedom. SIGN is a part of Global Initiatives, a non-profit with its main thrust of equipping and mobilizing the brethren in lands where religious freedom is most challenged.   God used my service as a US Marine in a Vietnamese unit during the Vietnam conflict to give me a special love for and rapport with the Vietnamese people, who are now the prime focus of our efforts with Global Initiatives.   What the Lord is doing among these remarkable brethren today is extraordinary. Yet, there has been a cost, a high cost, not unlike the cost paid by those this day serves to honor and remember, who risked their all for the cause of freedom.   For those who who either didn't understand or those who simply were never exposed to the realities of the Vietnam conflict, the question remains: did it count?  I pray that this testimony will stir you to pray regularly for our brethren in Vietnam and any other members of the household of faith where religious freedom is at risk. Morris         DID IT COUNT?  (c) Morris E. Ruddick Growing up in the sixties in South Vietnam was a struggle. Phuc (name changed) shares that he was almost always hungry. His first remembrance of not being hungry was after a meal served at his primary school by a group of Marines from the Danang air base. It was Christmas. The children were exposed to some very different, but tasty food they had never before experienced and there was plenty. Members from the Marine band played festive Christmas songs. The program for local kids was sponsored by Toys for Tots. Each left not only with their belly full and toys from the Marines, but the memory of the kindness of the Americans. Not many years later, Phuc's village, known to be friendly to the Americans, came under attack from the VC. Five members of Phuc's family were killed in one night, including his mother and grandparents. With little to hope for, Phuc now a teen and his father, heard a radio message about the God of hope and His son Jesus. Phuc remembered the Christmas meal provided by the Marines years before. Despite their Buddhist background, Phuc and his dad began praying and believing the message of Jesus. With 1975 and the change of governments, things became much worse. People were afraid. Many told things to the authorities in order to gain favor. Phuc was a young man now and began looking for others who believed as he did, to pray with them. Then his father disappeared. Like many others in those days, no one knew what happened to him. He never saw his father again. Phuc read his Bible and prayed. It was his source of hope for the future. Even within the church, people would inform on one another, so finding people you could trust became a necessity of life. Phuc began meeting and praying regularly with trusted friends. Since he was a natural leader and was growing in his faith, soon other believers began looking to Phuc for spiritual answers. As time progressed into the eighties, these were very hard times for the Vietnamese, as many lived according to the law of the jungle in order to survive. Many risked everything to escape, in their quest for freedom. For believers, prayer made a difference. However, those meeting together for prayer had to be planned carefully, as authorities accused them of conspiring against the government. By now, Phuc was recognized as a pastor. As time progressed, these gatherings were happening all over and became the basis of what became known as the "house-church" movement. It spread across the entire land, not just in the newly occupied south, but across the north as well. Authorities began questioning Phuc and accusing him of being CIA. With the inception of the 90s, Phuc's spiritual leadership was deemed a threat and he was arrested and put in a hard-labor prison. Conditions were terrible. His day began before daybreak with the only provided meal, a watered-down bowl of rice gruel. Daylight hours were spent toiling in sweltering fields. Hunger, starvation and sickness were the mode. Prisoners, ravished by hunger, ate the bark off trees. Families slipped scraps of foods through chain-link fences in the middle of the night. Men died fighting over a piece of food. Something happened to Phuc during those 31 months in the prison-work camp. His faith took him beyond himself. Despite the degrading humiliations and physical hardships, there came a wisdom, and with that, a fearlessness of what man could do to him. At one point, certain camp authorities tried to break him. He was put in a cramped solitary confinement cell without food or light. His physical condition went from bad to critical. He was told he was dying, but that by signing the paper before him, he would be released that day. It was a statement renouncing his faith. His stubborn faith prevailed. He straightened up and looked his captors in the eye and told them: "I'll die before signing that paper." When the camp commander learned of his plight he gave the command to take him out of solitary, saying "he is not a criminal." What Phuc also had no way of knowing was a humanitarian group was also working on his full release. It happened one week later. When released, he was given the option of going to the US. He chose to stay and help his people. Since that time, he has become the founder of a network of house-churches that are located from the far north of Vietnam to deep into the Mekong Delta. Through his efforts, the poor are fed and orphanages are supported. He lives humbly, yet tirelessly in helping the poor and disadvantaged. When I first met this man and he learned I had served twenty-five months in Vietnam as a US Marine in the sixties, he stood at attention, sharply saluted me and thanked me for my service to his nation. In mid-1966, as an I-Corps grunt, I frequently heard the admonishment to give heed to "the hearts and minds of the people." Rules of engagement determined whether we could shoot back or not -- a tough standard when you're under fire. Yet, almost 50 years later that standard, along with the not-forgotten kindnesses from efforts like Toys for Tots is precisely what we're seeing transcend the years in the response of the Vietnamese to America. In 1998, it took courage and it took leadership for Vietnam's Prime Minister Kiet to go before the people of Vietnam and tell them it was time to put the past behind them and invite the Americans back. From the north to the south of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people will tell you that everything began changing for the better, from the horrible conditions of that day, as word that the Americans were coming back spread across the land. In the business world, it's what is referred to as value-added. It's the meal eaten by the hungry kid who years later became a pastor. It's the Toys for Tots Christmas program that will always be remembered by thousands. It is the integrity and discipline and honor that make the Marines what they are known for in combat that endures to establish who they are in the hearts and minds of the people, a generation later. To answer the question "did it count?" Yeah! Without a doubt, you bet it did.

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org P.O. Box 370291 Denver, CO 80237 USA SIGN is a part of Global Initiatives, a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 ministry

NO-SPIN OPPORTUNITY: VIETNAM - Morris Ruddick

Morris & Carol Ruddick Having spent almost three decades working alongside some of the best from the advertising world, I know the fine line that can exist between the perception and the reality. In a world wrought with information clutter, as God's representatives, we need to follow the standard upheld by Jesus: eschew hypocrisy and avoid the spin. I spend prayerful time before the Lord both in preparing and during our venues. Then afterward, I prayerfully evaluate both the tactical and strategic results and implications from these "assignments." In order not to allow these opportunities to take on a life of their own, or if I could express it this way, to avoid a spin that reduces God-opportunity into the precepts of men, I view each venue as a standalone assignment and a sacred trust. The Pharisees had all the right foundations, but allowed what should have been God-opportunity to digress into a spin of a self-serving, self-promotional focus. In their zeal, human efforts bypassed the supernatural, blinding them in missing the forest for the trees. That is why I consider it so important to prayerfully ponder the impact of these "assignments," to grasp the difference between the tactical and strategic. The Realities and the Response It reduces the spin and keeps the focus on the God-opportunity. Solomon said that a dead fly would make the perfumer's oil stink (Eccl 10:1) and that a little foolishness can be weightier than wisdom and honor: a strong word for those whose ambitions have convinced them that the end justifies the means. "Unless the Lord builds a house, the builders labor in vain." Ps 127:1 For more than seven years, we've been exposed to the full range of the realities underway in Vietnam: spiritually, economically and politically -- within the Vietnamese infrastructure, within the church in Vietnam and within those attempting to come alongside those emerging as the "true players" in what God is doing. In a talk I gave not long after the doors had opened to us in Vietnam in early 2008, I framed the observation that God chooses the most unlikely candidates, to employ the most unlikely strategies, to bring about the most extraordinary results. Whether it has been the penetration of a society to redeem God's people during the time of Joseph, the leadership model to forge community unity through David or the Kingdom empowerment to conquer darkness through Jesus, this has been God's pattern. God uses the simple things to confound the wise. It has always been and it remains: no-spin, righteous opportunity. Compromise, phoniness and self-promotion are dead flies in the ointment. "Teach me Your ways O Lord and I will walk in Your truth. Unite my heart to fear Your name." Ps 86:11 The Big Picture Vietnam is on the cusp of revival. Not in any way to disparage the importance of evangelization, but revival does not equate with evangelization efforts. True revival is nothing short of the sovereign outpouring of God's presence. I recall in the early 70s that the consciousness of God's presence was everywhere. Even non-believers acknowledged it. People were hungry for God. It was the result of the amassing of prayers of people tired of the traditions of men, who were fervently reaching out to God as the psalmist advises (above) in Ps 86:11. With the exception of China, I know of no other place like Vietnam, where grass-roots prayer has manifested to such a level in this hour. The Vietnam house-church movement which began in the 1980s, for the most part, continues as a movement of prayer. The Least Likely Within that context, we've planted God's economy, often among some of the most unlikely. In one of our recent workshops, we ministered to a group of over a hundred, most of whom had come from pretty rough backgrounds on the streets. Among its members are ones who have been totally healed from the final stages of HIV. Yet now, set free as some of the most mobilized and sold-out of followers and leaders, they are zealously and strategically penetrating the darkness with new businesses and even a private Christian school. Along those same lines, a key part of what we do is to mobilize community builders, ones who are committed to be blessed to be a blessing through their businesses and enterprises. From the simplicity of these efforts, we're seeing fruit emerge. Because these efforts involve God's timing in this nation, we're seeing them dovetail with big-picture developments that only God could have orchestrated. Other than being busted at immigration for bringing in a small plastic sword among the toys, Carol's work with the orphans exceeded expectations and her efforts resulted in being asked how soon she could return. Carol was a part of a Vietnamese team that brought in food and also ministered to the leaders in this remote, rural orphanage. In all these efforts, not only are we seeing the most unlikely becoming the head and not the tail, but we are seeing change in the spiritual climate. Most importantly, our efforts have become aligned with the cusp of revival taking root from one end of this country to another. We likewise have been pursuing efforts with venues in which brethren from one region of the nation are reaching out to others in other regions -- Vietnamese helping Vietnamese. Heeding the spiritual realities faced by these brethren, we've targeted those who have made prayer a lifestyle and building their communities as their goal. It's what the Apostle Paul referred to as "the principle (law) of Christ" in bearing one another's burdens. The foundation has been firm and what is now emerging has bypassed not only our expectations, but even what is considered conventional wisdom within believing-circles. Again, it is God's most unlikely candidates, employing God's most unlikely strategies, to accomplish the most remarkable results. Thank you so very much for your faithful prayers and role in making these efforts possible. Gratefully in His service,

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation 3838 South Wabash Denver, CO 80237 USA www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org Global Initiatives is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization

[RUDDICK UPDATE] VIETNAM: A NATION'S DESTINY - Morris Ruddick

Morris & Carol Ruddick A close friend recently observed that far too many don't really "read" emails anymore -- they selectively scan them. Many are plagued with -- shall we just call it what it is: spiritual ADD (attention deficit disorder). We've become a generation of Martha's: encumbered and distracted with the cares of serving. Simultaneously, we live in a time of being bombarded with distractions, when the tendency to slip into spiritual myopia -- majoring in minors -- is simply overwhelming. It all dovetails with my most recent SIGN post on the antics of the religious spirit, if you haven't seen it yet: http://strategicintercession.org/2015/04/the-religious-spirit/ In keeping the focus, we need more undistracted time with Him -- much more than ever before. That observation sets the tone for our current venue in Vietnam. We're already in-country and about His business. The time before leaving was a series of spiritual firestorms, each demanding priority over the priorities. That included not getting to this pre-trip prayer letter until now -- days after arriving. Another sign of the times is that the bar has been raised. Within the context of God clearly doing "new things," no longer can we rest on "more of the same harder" or past exploits. We need to overcompensate in our spiritual maintenance, in finding our rest, our priorities and our focus in Him. God's Timing and Opportunity Punctuating the tempo of the times, and not unlike the setting giving rise to Pharaoh's dreams, God clearly is unveiling dimensions of incredible opportunity, driven by His timing on things. In coming through Hong Kong, the front page of the Asian Wall Street Journal (April 29) had an amazing article titled: "Entrepreneurs Return as Vietnam Thrives."http://www.wsj.com/articles/forty-years-after-fall-of-saigon-entrepreneurs-return-to-vietnam-1430326981?KEYWORDS=Vietnam++Entrepreneurs It shouts to the importance and timing in our role of planting God's economy and the message we have for those called in the marketplace. While Vietnam still has its challenges, it is emerging with significance. This article unveils the amazing role that the Vietnamese Diaspora has played in Vietnam's recent economic development. The growth figures Vietnam now touts economically compares and in ways even overshadows heavyweights in the region such as Indonesia and China. Shared Values and the Destiny of a Nation It is why we're here, as Vietnam's praying Body prepares and assumes its role as the head and not the tail. To coin an adapted overused wakeup call unveiling the focus: "It's the marketplace, Stupid!" The Wall Street article highlights one of the shining stars, a Vietnamese-American, who came to the US as a toddler with his family after the regime-change in 1975 -- and the impact of his recent return and influence. It points to shared business values, but in the author's not incorrect, but short-sighted view, Confucian ones. What he has missed is that Vietnam in its wisdom has been developing closer and closer ties to Israel and has remarkable parallels in the values it shares with Jewish culture and those known over the centuries as THE people of business. That's why it's God's time for those who live their lives by the Book. http://www.strategic-initiatives.org/pages/publications/EnduringEconomies.htm So, here we are. What is unfolding is something bigger than us. And the pace is increasing. Strategic Agendas and the Soul of a Nation While continuing to impart and plant God's economy, we have transitioned into working with Vietnamese brethren, genuinely called as marketplace practitioners who, like the biblical Joseph, will change the spiritual climate in their spheres of influence. From that, God has anticipatory responses from which the spirit of poverty is broken, releasing God's destiny for His people. Carol's work with orphans is closely related. It is a key to God's heart and our Isaiah 58 mandate. The Vietnamese believers we work with take Isaiah 58 very seriously. There are 300,000 orphans in Vietnam. The soul of a nation is defined by ones such as these and those reaching out to them. It marks the future for all of them. It wasn't long ago, that we spent time with some Vietnamese orphans, schooled in God's economy, now believing adults turned entrepreneurs, who as trained, skilled hair-stylists were buying out the owner. Related and giving focus to raising the bar and working with "Vietnamese willing to help Vietnamese" includes an initiative, a fund, operated by committed believers, that targets youth from late teens into their 20s. It is modeled after the very positive accomplishments of Junior Achievement, a program in which teens start fledgling businesses sponsored and mentored by successful community businesses: (https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-usa/home), but in this case believer-owned businesses. We likewise have been working together with bridging and combining the strengths of marketplace practitioners in the north with those in the south -- with business agendas that bless the community while carving out the leadership role destined for the Body. Along those lines, we have serious discussions underway, with key people for other business-ministry agendas ripe for the groundswell and costs that have been paid for what is now taking place in this nation. Encapsulating all this, one of our closest Vietnamese associates, punctuated our efforts, encouraging us to bring more, with the words: "You bring the fire of God to us." The fire we bring is the authority for the mantle they wield. Pushing Beyond the Distractions But we need your prayers and support. What is converging is equally marvelous, extraordinary and timely. It's why we need to surmount the distractions! It's why we need your prayers. It involves the destiny of a people who bear the brandmarks of the Lord Jesus, who have been through the fire. Opportunity looms and the timing is now. It was in just such a time of turning that the prophet Samuel said: "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in failing to pray for you." (1 Sam 12:23) At another critical juncture -- and after Jesus told His disciples He no longer called them servants, but friends, that He found them asleep. He said to Peter: "Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?" (Matt 26:40) I'm not oblivious to the distractions, but this is a time to gird up the loins of our hearts and press past the distractions. Please, for God's destiny for this nation, will you vote with your prayers? Please, will you enable us to do more? Gratefully in His service,

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org

[RUDDICK REPORT] GLORY FROM THE EAST MANIFESTING - Morris Ruddick

Morris Ruddick  GLORY FROM THE EAST MANIFESTING In the face of what seems unlikely and impossible, God's ways are always higher. Having spent over 21 months in Vietnam in the last 7 years, we have continually been amazed. God's ways simply defy natural efforts and the best of human capabilities. At the crux has been a remnant committed to prayer. Behind the Scenes We've long been acquainted with how over two decades ago the Vietnamese refugee camps in Hong Kong served as Bible training centers. Huge numbers of Vietnamese were coming to the Lord and then being prepared for what God knew, but those held there hardly expected: being returned to Vietnam when China took over Hong Kong. That difficult event for those in the camps changed the balance of power for the house church movement from one end of the country to the other. More than seventy percent of those interred had come from the North. During that same general time frame, beginning in the early 1990s, many from Vietnam's elite in the North were being sent to Russia for graduate work, business training and assignments, along with positions of influence. In Moscow alone, there was a community of over 100,000 Vietnamese. Most of Moscow's Vietnamese lived in one central high-rise area. THEN, during the time that the Vietnamese refugee camps across Asia started being disbanded, there came a radical spiritual climate change in Moscow. Almost overnight, in the expatriate Vietnamese community, everyone was talking about Jesus and reaching out to know Him. Parenthetically, the late 1980s to mid-90s in Vietnam were the most brutal for the persecuted house church movement. Raids were made, leaders were jailed. So it was that the prayers of the saints steadily and desperately became more intense. Anointed, high-level Western ministry leaders slipped in to pray in agreement with secret gatherings of Vietnamese leaders. Those fervent prayers of the righteous, oppressed and anointed were heard -- and from Hong Kong to Moscow, grand-strategy alignments from on High were set in motion. We tend to describe such big-picture alignments as God doing a new thing. While they are, they entail more. A very key factor involves the amassing of prayers from those most impacted, especially those being crushed for their faith. They entail the anticipatory response of a God whose ways are beyond the realm of our short-term perspectives of things. These highlights from more than the last two decades set the stage for what unfolded in our most recent sojourn in Vietnam as we have been privileged to serve as a part of these NEW dimensions being released in God. Current Parallels Upon arrival almost six weeks ago, we came out of the chute hard and fast. After a number of meetings in the Saigon area, we headed north. Domestic Vietnamese flights were a zoo this time of year, as we were traveling just prior to the Tet (Chinese New Year) holidays on our own, when there is a massive shift of the population returning to hometowns for family holiday visits. It was freezing when we arrived in the capital city. Not literally, but with it sunny and the highs in the Saigon area in the mid 90s, we were facing some days with the highs in the 50s, with it drizzly, overcast and damp. There's no heat in the buildings. The Vietnamese wear winter jackets in this type of weather. Our first workshop had a mix of leaders: business people, fledgling entrepreneurs, pastors, pastor's wives and even a graduate-school professor whose academic expertise (economic forecasting) closely paralleled my own professional experience. There were several minority group, village leader/ pastors who had traveled distances to attend. Forty to fifty were expected -- the number wound up being 75. The man who arranged it was amazed. The professor who came had such a positive response, that he has offered to have my books translated and published in Vietnam. This very significant offer is an important answer to prayer and our future potential in helping these brethren. I already knew core infrastructures were being deeply penetrated by the Lord, but this time in Hanoi demonstrated even more. We had dinner one night with a Vietnamese pastor our age, a former field-grade military type, also retired from a high-level position in a Russian firm, who is a product of the sweep of the Holy Spirit in Moscow during the 1990s. He now leads a fellowship attracting field-grade and above vets from the capital city. ONLY GOD, with the prayers of a remnant, could have done this. Our next workshops included all successful business people -- whose desire is to follow God's ways of business. When I learned of the makeup of those attending, I re-shuffled the presentation and raised the bar. The new format has been well received with invitations for more. Our final group teased us with their desire for "more" by telling us that they would allow us to go ONLY if we agreed to come back in May with additional teaching. We agreed! New Potentials and Challenges We visited two of the orphanages our chief host supports. One has 22 kids who were rescued from human trafficking. We usually come with a small supply of Hershey's chocolates. It brought tears to our eyes to see those kids take their first bite of chocolate and see their eyes get real big at the taste of it. The eagerness we're experiencing among business practitioners dovetails with another dimension of the big-picture alignment that ONLY GOD could be orchestrating. One of our earliest trips to Hanoi (2008) unveiled a move of God among the sons and daughters of high-ranking government officials, young professionals in their late 20s and 30s being completely delivered from hard-drug addictions after government drug-rehab programs had repeatedly failed. NOW! Now there is a shift underway by authorities in the acceptance of the role of local Christians working with addicts. As we've become a part of what is unfolding with business leaders in both Hanoi and Saigon -- it has brought the Joseph-Daniel Calling dimension of my message into sharp focus. So, in addition to our workshops to birth new businesses, we've begun to collaborate on bringing these business leaders together from across the regions to strategize on their joint mobilization. Discussions on plans to establish funds to train the youth entrepreneurially, as well as to help mobilize poor communities economically are in motion -- as Vietnamese leaders embrace the responsibility of helping their own. Advancing opportunity -- with God's proclamation of the Vietnamese brethren being the head and not the tail -- is being facilitated, cooperatively by both the North and the South. As we have witnessed these "beyond expectation" dynamics, I marvel at the rich, personal relationships we've come to enjoy with the brethren in the North. In line with these thoughts were some recent and very key Kingdom connections. One brother in particular is a genuine modern-day Joseph, a business-owner and product of the Vietnamese-Russian revival, who has an amazing story of how God supernaturally birthed his company and how he has intertwined his business with Kingdom purposes. His vision and zeal make him a major force for change in this simultaneously challenging, yet opportunistic spiritual environment. We found our burden to start a business-school of values for the secular marketplace shared by ones who we might collaborate with in the days ahead. Step by step, the Lord is bringing the pieces together. We visited and received feedback from a businessman who six years ago slipped us into a major stronghold of this nation. During that time we helped start businesses that have not only grown, but have built up the local body, as our self-sustaining program has continued to spawn new businesses. The "value-added" to what he shared was in the faith-filled way he now saw these brethren THINKING. Contrary to ones culturally tainted by Western doctrinal precepts and ambitions, these brethren culturally are very biblical in their thinking while retaining a faith that is Vietnamese in its identity. With a culture closer to the Jewish roots to the faith than most other Asian cultures, it explains their ready grasp of deep matters of faith. The Bible is culturally Jewish and from an Eastern mind-set. So it is that these brethren have embraced community-based mind-sets that look to the Lord, that are inclined to reach out and help one another AND to expect miracles. It's one of the reasons revival is taking root so strongly. In the face of adversity, these brethren have not only been prospering, but growing as a community spiritually. In so doing, they have become truly a light on a hill to their neighbors. Yet, alongside these positive developments is a reality and deep concern. It involves leaders whose hearts have strayed from the purity needed in the high stakes of this spiritual environment and have become ambitious. The impact ranges from those who inform on one another (to local authorities) for their own gain, to those whose out-dated and short-sighted grasp of the spiritual big-picture short-circuits the alignments emerging from the long-term amassing of prayer. I'm sharing these matters with the hope that it will engender prayer that supports the move of God underway, rather than the move of man. Overall however, what we've been witnessing is how uniquely and strategically the Spirit of the Lord orchestrates things when people are praying. Alliances are being mobilized and Kingdom strategies planned and set in motion. With such a unique intertwining of fervent prayer and developments over the last two to three decades, there is emerging today, against all odds, something vibrant that taps His glory with results beyond chance expectations. With our next trip in May, as well as our September trip almost filled up -- we are already setting up activities for after the first of the year in 2016. The exposure we've had has tapped not only all the major house-church networks, but most major denominations. God has helped us in discerning the true voices of wisdom in this volatile spiritual environment. I've been systematically tracking and mapping out these historical developments of the revival in Vietnam. Understanding the cultural overtones to the parallels between Vietnamese and biblical, Jewish culture is an important key to what lies ahead. God's ways are always higher. The prayers of a remnant have been triggering His glory. As they have, this fervent, effectual prayer combined with strategy impacts the spiritual atmosphere and brings change. It brings the change that only can be explained by God. Thank you. We deeply appreciate your prayers and support in our efforts to build up these most remarkable brethren.  With every blessing,

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org Global Initiatives Foundation is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the persecuted church to be the head and not the tail. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at http://strategicintercession.org/support/

MILESTONE WORDS © Morris E. Ruddick

MILESTONE WORDS

© Morris E. Ruddick

April 29, 2013 Note: About a month ago, I was uniquely led to go back and review milestone words the Lord has imparted to me over the years. I found it a riveting experience. Our natural tendency is to be either overwhelmed or side-tracked with short-sighted minutiae, rather than keeping our eyes on God’s big-picture goals.

Those at the forefront need to overcompensate for the seductive traps, whether personal, cultural or doctrinal. The bar has been raised. Imparting righteous power in corrupt, defiled settings is not possible without God. We’ve entered a season in which the Western hop-skip-halleluiah model will fall short. May these words from my journey stir you in yours.

Morris

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“Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

Jer 23:29

The heroes of faith operated in oneness with the priorities and issues of God’s heart, without any vestige of variation between Truth and what they heardfrom the Spirit. Their impact on history was defined by their view of things from a big-picture God perspective. They heard from God and they embraced His word, regardless the cost. That’s commitment that requires discipline. It’s also the foundation for maturity.

While intimately concerned with the details impacting the lives of individuals, the Lord’s priorities are strategic. He orchestrates things from the stance of generations and the community of His people within a generation. As I look back over four decades of walking with the Lord; that walk has been shaped by a series of milestone words God has imparted that have raised the bar with a long-term, big-picture perspective.

My walk with the Lord began in the early 70s with a dramatic encounter as I was seeking to know Him, to really know Him. I was serious and understood the realities. At that juncture, I had spent over two years of my life in heavy combat as a US Marine. I understood what it meant to believe in something bigger than myself and I understood the importance of the dynamics of discipline and commitment.

With the years that have passed since my salvation experience, I recently was prompted to outline key words the Lord has spoken to me over the years; personal milestone words shaping my calling, my priorities and who I am. As one of my mentors during those days once shared with me; if we can just get the door open sufficiently to capture a glimmer spiritually from God’s perspective, it will be enough.

The Priority

That first encounter; the first time I ever heard the voice of the Lord came from a time of spiritual seeking. Having been brought up in the church, I understood basic precepts of faith, but while I knew about Him, I really didn’t know God. Having met people who did, I was hungry for that reality. An old combat friend, Ted Gatchel, wisely just stuffed a New Testament in my shirt pocket, telling me that I’d find what I was looking for in God’s word of truth.

My spiritual hunger increased. Finally, I began plowing through Matthew, then Mark, Luke and John. After starting the book of Acts, I found myself pausing as I read the story of Stephen. Stephen was facing a life and death situation without hesitation or waffling. It was a commitment I could relate to. He knew what he believed in.

The combat encounters I had had in which I didn’t know whether I would come out of them alive probably numbered more than three dozen. As I reflected on Stephen’s story, one of a man willing to die for what he believed in, I began reflecting on what I believed in; what I had been willing to die for: my country, my Marine Corps, to be remembered for being able to face the ultimate test with honor.

At that point, I heard the voice of the Lord for the first time. In light of what had been going through my mind at the time, He simply asked me: “Would you be willing to do that for Me?” With that question, I understood who Jesus was and what was being asked of me; was I willing to make the Lord the priority I had made as a US Marine. Knowing the cost and commitment, my response was immediate: “Yes Sir!”

The Mission

My encounter with the Lord had taken place on a training mission in the Caribbean. Upon arriving home, I found that remarkably my wife Carol had had a similar personal, life-changing encounter with the Lord. Spiritually, we were like sponges. Then, having found an active Bible-believing church, we read great swaths of the Word of God, attended Bible studies, participated in fellowship gatherings and counseled with our pastor.

At that juncture, I came in contact with a simple phrase that became like a fire in my soul: “God has a perfect plan for your life.” I had chosen a good plan, one that I’d been excelling in with my military career; but what God began holding out before me was the prospect of a higher purpose, a plan for my life that would redirect my mission to one that served Him directly.

I really didn’t know what God had in store for me, other than the fact that I would be serving Him. I suspected my future and my calling might involve a role within what was at the time becoming known as the “para-church ministry,” but the reality is that when I resigned my Marine Corps commission, what Carol and I stepped into was something akin to an Abrahamic journey.

Knowing the importance of preparing, although I already had a college degree, I enrolled in Oral Roberts University where I could dig deeper into God’s word and be immersed in a Christian culture. In the interim, we served as full-time trainee-ministers for a small AG ministry, participated in intense Bible training and helped start a coffee-house ministry.

The time at Oral Roberts University was filled with studies, activities and relationships that laid the foundation. At the core of this setting was the mantle to “Train up young people who hear God’s voice to go to where God’s light is dim.” Additionally, the value of my time at ORU was punctuated by two mentors, Paul McClendon and Harold Fisher. These incredible men of the Spirit had prayer lives, a strategic outlook and a spiritual maturity that set the standard for what lay ahead. Toward the end of the year we spent at ORU, the Lord led me to enroll in a graduate program at a local secular university. Not long into this program, I began to realize I may have bitten off more than I could chew.

The Gift

The program I was in had required courses in statistics, which I had no background in. Somehow the school had overlooked this with my entrance into the program. I soon found myself scrambling and going to the professor for extra help.

Then in the midst of what seemed as sinking sands I was encountering with this required course work in research designs and statistics, the Lord spoke a clear word to me from Psalm 119. That word was: “I’ll make you wiser than your teachers.”

Yet, my efforts didn’t begin to approach what this word suggested. Despite rapt attention during classes, fervent study, getting extra help and praying, I was not grasping the subject matter. Then far too quickly, we were facing a mid-term exam.

My faith shaken, I began to think that somehow I had misfired with what I thought I had heard from God to enroll in this program. The night before the exam, having done all I knew to do, I repented for my presumption. The next day I felt no better as I walked into the exam. I placed my name on the exam paper and read the first question. The only way I can describe what happened was that it was like curtains were pulled back and I had complete understanding of what the question asked.

I went through the entire exam that way. As I read each question, not the answer but understanding was imparted. I was pretty excited as I turned in my paper and left the room. Outside were some of the better students in the class, complaining about how hard the exam was. The star pupil stated he thought it was the hardest test in the subject he had ever had. Doubt encroached at my door and my faith went through the floor.

A week later the professor, with a scowl on his face, entered the classroom with our graded papers in hand. He growled that the median grade was a 62 and he then proceeded to call out the name of each student along with their grade, as he handed the graded exams out.

One doctoral candidate had a 29. The class star had a 73. Finally he called my name and stopped. He looked down again at the paper and then at me and back at the paper. I had a 98. Clearly something supernatural had taken place. Fulfilling the word from Psalm 119 I had to take independent studies in multivariate statistics and psychometric designs to complete the task I had embraced for my thesis. God had given me a gift that would become foundational in the work I was to do.

The Gateway

During this time, we had developed a unique relationship with a man who was a partner in a media ministry in South Africa. Our friend Peter Church had been visiting the US to gather information to help with his plans for a Christian media production and entertainment center. I had been invited to become General Manager of this operation upon completion of my graduate program coursework. Then with a matter of weeks before our intended departure, Peter’s plans changed. He and his partner had a falling out and Peter and his family had decided to immigrate to the land of milk and money (the US).

So, here I was having left a stable career in which I was excelling; approaching the end of my time of retooling, without any prospects whatsoever before me. While in prayer, I asked the Lord for an answer to what I should be expecting. He gave me one. With clarity, I heard Him say that I was going to be a consultant. Without even a realistic idea of what that meant and without any formal background in business, this word strangely gave me great peace.

Then, having put this “word” on a shelf, I found myself becoming very practical with the need to obtain employment to support my family. Following up on an interest in the advertising world, I learned from one executive I spoke with of an opening that existed within a firm that he seemed convinced that I’d be perfect for. His conclusion was based on the “gift” God had given me with research designs.

So, without really understanding what I was pursuing, I followed up on his suggestion. What unfolded was something of a whirlwind that resulted in my being hired by this firm. What I didn’t realize during this process was that I had just been hired by a research-based consulting firm.

The Calling

During those early days in my new “career,” again I was in prayer trying to grasp how this all fit together on this pathway, this adventure that was unfolding with the Lord at the helm. At that juncture, the Lord spoke a word to me that riveted me and subsequently defined the path of my calling. The words the Lord spoke to me were:
“Just as in the days of Joseph and Daniel, I am going to bring out mighty works at your hand. As you are led into the midst of the world, kings, rulers and leaders will be converted and humbled. You’ll work beside them and your counsel will be heeded for their good.”

Once again, I had received a word that I didn’t fully understand. However, I knew that I had heard from the Lord and it brought great peace.

The Spiritual Gift

Then came another unexpected word that has complemented the natural gift the Lord had given me. While on a business trip for my employer, I checked into my hotel. As I went into the room to drop my bags, I noticed an open Gideon Bible on a table across the room. The thought passed through my mind: “I wonder if the Lord has a word for me.” So I went over to this open Bible and my eyes fell upon Jeremiah 51:20:

“You are My battle-ax and weapon of war; for with you I will break nations in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms and strongholds.”

I was gripped by this word, but couldn’t seem to see its application in what the Lord had been telling me that I was to do. I left for the meetings I had set up. That evening, I opened my own Bible to read and it just happened to fall open to Jeremiah 51:20. I pondered it and prayed. The next morning as I opened my Bible; to spend some time in the word to start my day, it again opened to Jeremiah 51:20. I knew God was telling me something, but I just wasn’t sure what it was.

Upon returning from this business trip, we met with some friends who we prayed with who were older and much wiser in the things of God than we were. I shared my Jeremiah 51:20 experience. Connie replied that “Maybe the Lord is leading you into some type of intercession ministry.” My off-the-cuff response was “I know, but there’s something more to it than that.” Actually I hadn’t “known” that, but the process was serving as a catalyst to unveiling a prophetic and authority dimension to my calling as a consultant that would become very key in the days ahead.

During the next three years, I began learning the tools of the trade; the trade of being a consultant.

Faith and Risk

I then had a most unique encounter that I describe in the last chapter of my “God’s Economy” book. The Lord told me I was to start my own business. That first year of business I felt like Peter who had stepped out of the boat to walk on the water and had started sinking. Again, I was taking on something that was far beyond my experience level. I began realizing that faith involves risk and risk carries a cost.

I traveled the country, gave presentations and attended conferences. Yet, during that first year of being in business for myself, very little of what I did seemed to take root. I managed to sell one (underpriced) assignment during that time, along with compiling sufficient debt to seriously wonder if we were going to lose our home.

Then in a week in time came a most remarkable breakthrough. It began a time of favor and growth. The next several years the greatest challenge was in keeping up with the growth. We grew to have offices in three cities and 27 full-time employees. I was also beginning to realize the fulfillment of the words God had spoken to me before entering the consulting world about being called like Joseph and the influence I would have on my clientele.

I was doing assignments for Fortune 100 companies, as well as a number of respected media ministries. My firm was like a David amidst a group of Goliaths in terms of our competitors, consulting firms like Arthur D. Little and Booze Allen Hamilton. My role as the head of my firm resulted in exploits far beyond my natural abilities.

For example, in work I did for Xerox during the early 80s, I recommended that they enter the facsimile business. It proved to be their most profitable division. Feedback from clients included statements such as: “It’s like your recommendations were prophetic.” Such were the words that God had spoken to me years prior: “Your counsel will be heeded for their good.” Such is the calling of a modern-day Joseph.

The Shaking

There was a wonderful season of an upward spiral of opportunity and fast growth. But then came a sudden turn and the bottom dropped out of the primary market we served. We didn’t seem able to back-pedal and downsize fast enough. Sadly we eventually shut down this amazing God-birthed phenomenon. We shut down honorably, but not without much pain in the process.

Simultaneously one of my clients in the banking industry took over as President of a statewide financial institution with 34 branch locations that had just undergone serious losses the year before he joined them. He reached out to me to join him as his SVP of Marketing and Planning in his role as chief architect of a corporate turnaround. I’m still not sure which was the frying pan and which was the fire; between what I had left behind and this new “opportunity.” Details on that stage in my career are also found in my “God’s Economy” book.

We completed a successful corporate turnaround, putting the organization back in touch with the marketplace and restoring profitability. Then came the subtlety of corporate politics; the games people at my peer level had played that had brought this firm to the place where they needed the corporate turnaround in the first place. So it was that the man, who had recruited me and corporately had become my mentor, became the victim of the ambitions of a dog-eat-dog culture. Being on the wrong side of this political infighting, I also found myself without a job.

New Horizons

As I entered this transition, I became a partner with my old boss in a venture to acquire a failed Savings and Loan. The near-hit of this venture further expanded my horizons, despite the reality of approaching a survival mode financially. I recall when the venture came unraveled that I called the CBN prayer-line. Without any explanation other than the need for restoration, the prayer counselor began her prayer with the words that punctuated my Jeremiah 51:20 gift: “Lord, this man has been a warrior in the natural, but You have made Him a warrior in the spirit.” 

Without any knowledge of my background, this woman of God spoke words from the Spirit of the Lord that went deep within me and let me know that despite the circumstances, that I was not adrift, but still in the palm of His hand.

Then further into this transition time as the intensity of the turbulence seemed to be peaking, I took time to seek the Lord in fasting and prayer. I began asking the Lord some hard questions such as why my obedience seemed to be reaping such turbulent consequences. His very simple, but profound answer was because He called me into an “interlinking between secular enterprises with overriding Kingdom objectives.” Again, without much of an understanding of what that really meant, but because it was clearly a word from the Lord, it brought peace to my heart. What God was doing in my situation was progressively raising the bar.

Despite the darkness and hurdles of that season, recovery did come and after an interim as COO of a group of privately held firms, in a different type of corporate turnaround, I wound up back in the consulting business. This time the focus was different, without the goal of building an organization. Instead I found myself spending almost equal time between money-generating assignments and special projects I was doing pro-bono for mission organizations. My activities involved the start of several unique ministries tied to the prophetic and renewal movements.

Raising the Bar

However after almost a quarter of a century of walking with the Lord, it was in late 1995 that a major shift took place in my calling. It began at a time I discovered the potential wonder of an Internet search engine. With part of my consulting track record being within the media, I wanted to know if Christians were seizing the opportunity represented by this new medium of the Internet. Specifically, as I sat before my 14 inch computer screen and began putting words into this “tool” called a search engine, there was a burning in my heart to know if Christians were using the Internet to address strategic-level issues impacting the Body globally through intercession.

So, I began putting words into the search engine and coming up with web-sites. For each web-site I identified, I would write them and ask if they or anyone they knew were using the Internet to address strategic-level issues impacting the Body through intercession. I received over 50 negative replies before getting a response from a pastor named Rich Carey who also said no, but that he had a vision to do so. The next day, I received an email from a brother with a computer server and subsequently with a brother with a key role in the Messianic Jewish movement, we formed a group we called the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN).

My new partners came back to me with the wisdom that I had the anointing for this agenda, so it was to be my responsibility.

As I began asking the Lord for clarity on these strategic-level issues, I began realizing what I was seeking to identify were the issues closest to God’s heart. The Lord answered me and very clearly began showing me that the pivot point was Israel and the Jewish people. He let me know that the persecuted/ oppressed church was very close to His heart; and He began giving me a glimpse into a coming move of God in the marketplace that would culminate in a time not unlike the time of Joseph the Patriarch.

As I began praying into these issues, the Lord set the stage for my writing efforts by giving me a blackout in terms of reading books or listening to tapes of what others were saying about these things. In other words, the source for what I was praying into and then turning into articles for this growing SIGN list was to be my prayer closet and the Word of God. Period. Punto.

What the Lord began with this new initiative and the parameters I was to follow required a new level of trust in what I was hearing in my prayer closet. Over the handful of years that followed, I prayed and I wrote, creating articles that defined and gave perspective to strategic-level issues impacting the Body; ones I was discerning as being close to God’s heart. Because of the track record with my own calling, I gave special focus to the marketplace issues and those surrounding the Joseph-Daniel calling. Additionally, my confidence in hearing His voice increased as God was progressively raising the bar.

Applications for Change

All this involved more than just prayer. There were tangible steps bearing on applying what was being imparted in my prayer closet. In 1997 at the GCOWE mission gathering in Pretoria, South Africa that hosted almost 6000 mission delegates from 155 nations, I gave my first talk on the calling of Joseph.

During this time-frame, one of our Messianic Jewish friends, Barbara Fox brought a most unusual word to me. As a mature intercessor, she came to me with something she had received while praying for me. That word was that: “Your calling will map out, build up and bring wealth into Israel and the nations.”

In 1998, in Israel, I was a part of the planning and executive committee that birthed a Jewish believer-directed initiative called “The Joseph Project,” a consortium of Christians and Jews bringing humanitarian aid to assist new Israeli immigrants.

In 1999, I was sent to Ethiopia by my friend Bob Winer to make an evaluation of business opportunity for a persecuted group of believers whose heritage was Jewish. At that point, I had spent time in an array of underdeveloped nations. However, the level of poverty within this group of believers assaulted my sensibilities. I found myself crying out to the Lord with a prayer: “Lord, these are your people. I know You must have an answer and I know its not a Western MBA approach.”

Within a month, my regular Bible reading program had me back in the book of Deuteronomy. At that point in my walk with the Lord I had probably read through this book of the Bible close to 50 times. Yet, I have to confess that, aside from individual premises, I had never seen the big-picture of what this book outlined.

During this reading, however, it was like scales fell off my eyes and I began seeing the principles for operating a God-centered, entrepreneurial community. That was the model. I began realizing that these principles incorporate the wisdom that has made the Jewish people such overcomers in the face of adversity over the centuries.

The notes from that reading of Deuteronomy became the seedbed for the birth of the economic community development program that I was to begin taking to segments of the church living under persecution and oppression. Step by step, the Lord gave definition to the elements comprising the wisdom of the ages of how God has enabled His people, in business and government, to be the head and not the tail and to influence the communities and cultures around them.

Together with what I had already been uncovering through prayer concerning the mantles of Joseph and Daniel, this program that I began referring to as the God’s economy entrepreneurial program began making a difference in some of the most difficult spiritual and economic environments. Using the same approach I was employing for the SIGN ministry (giving primary focus to the Word of God and revelation through prayer), what evolved was a practical program to make God’s people, through business leadership to be the head and not the tail. Its Jewish foundations dovetailed uniquely with Jesus’ Kingdom message whereby God’s people become a true light to those around them, as they lead by serving.

Set Times

Then, following the application of this program in regions ranging from Israel to Eastern Europe, Russia and Africa, I was in mainland China giving a talk on the call of God into business. It was early 2008. Early in this trip, I met a man, Gerry Denbok, who had just come back from a mission assignment in Vietnam.

Upon learning about our God’s economy entrepreneurial program, he made a strong case of the fertile ground and timely need that Vietnam had for this program’s potential. Within ten days, we had visas, flight reservations and an invitation to speak to an underground congregation on Easter Sunday.

Having spent 25 months of my life in this nation as a US Marine in the 60s, I loved the Vietnamese. Being acquainted with the plight of believers in China during the cultural revolution, as well as having had glimpses of the persecution in Vietnam since the 1975 communist takeover, I had given serious time to praying for the church in Vietnam. The joy I had with this opportunity was such that if this were the last opportunity I had to go there, I wanted it to be good and to be God. So, as I prayed about the message I would bring to this Vietnamese congregation, I simply asked the Lord what His word for the Vietnamese church was.

The Lord very clearly gave me a word for them. He said to tell His people in Vietnam that: “He had made them to be the head and not the tail.” With that as the theme of my Easter message, I shared with them about our unique economic community development program that had been transforming communities around the world.

That word spread through a network of underground churches. The schedule for my return trip filled up fast. Two additional month-long schedules with the God’s economy program in Vietnam followed in the remaining months of that year. With each trip, we were connected with more leaders intent on bringing our program to their region of Vietnam.

At the end of that year, I was taking an annual time alone with the Lord to seek Him in prayer and for reconsecration. I was 65 at that point in my life. I asked the Lord a simple question: why hadn’t these wonderful doors of opportunity reflected by the last few months in Vietnam happened when I was younger with more vitality to pursue these efforts. The Lord very clearly shot back at me that it was because: “In your weakness My strength will be more manifest.” There also were matters involving “set times” that were just then emerging for the Vietnamese church.

Then two months later, I was on a layover in Hong Kong, on my way back for still more of the opportunity unfolding in Vietnam. Our good friend Curtis Jones took us to a mid-week Bible study at the downtown offices of some committed believers. They had a special speaker from Australia who had a prophetic gift. After sharing a dramatic testimony about changing the spiritual climate of an area previously held in the bondage of witchcraft, this man began ministering prophetically to people in our group. Without any knowledge of my background, he came to me with a pointed finger and these words: “You sir, have a calling like Abraham. God is going to fulfill words He spoke to you decades ago in your old age. So keep your bags packed and keep going.”

Convergence and Preparedness

Since that time, our efforts in this unique nation have extended to 17 locales from the far north to deep within the Mekong Delta. In each region, we’ve witnessed change. Scores and scores of businesses have been started and leaders trained and mobilized to employ the enduring model God has used over the centuries to execute the mantle of Abraham, as His people are blessed to be a blessing; and serve a unique leadership role in impacting cultures and changing the spiritual climate around them.

Simultaneously during this time frame, through the books and writings that have come from my prayer-closet vigils have come connections with a new generation of leaders. These leaders grasp the dynamic between the Jewish roots and Jesus’ Kingdom message. They are ones who understand God’s heart. They are a generation prepared for the times I wrote about in 1996: “A time of great change in the infrastructures of the world’s system that will create discontinuities such as the world has never seen.” These are ones who reflect a key part of that word as a company of modern-day Josephs and Daniels, who would hear God’s voice and be prepared to prepare.

The Discipline: Actively Hearing God and Obeying

Our foundational work among the nations is converging with an outlook toward what God is doing in Israel. As the pivot point of God’s priorities, I see initiatives emerging that will undergird Israel with key roles served by believers from both the persecuted and oppressed segments of the church. It will parallel the time of Joseph, when God used Joseph to prepare in first harnessing the resources for a time a great reversals; but then in setting up a safe-place to administer those resources. Today, the world is marching toward a clash, a climax that will fulfill God’s word in Isaiah 60 with the restoration of His order, first to His covenant people and then to His creation.

The Word of God is holy. It simultaneously is Truth, God’s heart and His will. It has the power to define and shape. Yet, its fulfillment takes those willing to actively hear, embrace and obey His voice (Heb 3:15). The most significant words God has spoken to me, I didn’t fully grasp at the time. Yet, I embraced them just like Joseph embraced the dreams God gave him when he was 17. These are the words that will carry you through the preparation process. God has always entrusted His purposes to those willing to embrace the cost and discipline to know Him with listening hearts.

With these few examples of defining words the Lord has spoken in shaping my destiny, there is one that personally impacted me the most. At a time when I might have been considered spiritually mature. I was doing something that seemed to mark key stages of my walk with the Lord. I was reaching for something more than I could hope to accomplish in the natural. In doing so, I was searching my heart for any impurities that may have been lingering or lurking.

At that point, the Lord spoke as clearly as I have ever heard His voice. He said very simply: “I trust you, Morris.” Not unlike the experience described in Isaiah 6:1-6, I was undone, but simultaneously released into a dimension I’m not sure I can fully describe, except to say that my passions and priorities simply began flowing with His.

The heroes of faith of today will be no different from those outlined in the Bible. It will evolve from being faithful in the little, in giving priority to hearing and obeying. From this faithful stewardship will unfold the “something more” in each one’s sphere from the big-picture perspective of God’s heart. The dimension of trust will differentiate the maturity reflected between the many who are called and the few who are chosen; those who love not their lives to the death (Rev 12:11).

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Prov 3: 5-6

Milestone Words

by MORRIS RUDDICK on APRIL 29, 2013

Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program, Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;" "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;" and "Leadership by Anointing," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com,www.BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets. Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the persecuted church to be the head and not the tail. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card atsign@strategicintercession.org Likewise, email us to schedule a seminar for your congregation on the wisdom the persecuted church has for the times emerging in the West. 2014 Copyright Morris Ruddick - sign@strategicintercession.org Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org