Author: missionspaul

Look what God has done!
Acts 21:19 “Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.”

If we are always moving forward then we are never able to look back. If we never look back we are never able to give thanks for what God has done. A vision of the past is so important, for if we don’t have one, then we can be as guilty as the other 9 lepers in Jesus’ parable.
Paul had much to look back on how God had brought salvation to Gentiles and how the Spirit had fallen on them just as at Pentecost.
What can you give thanks for?

I give God thanks for:

the conception of a church in Boston USA;

the leadership growth in Honduras;

successful team visits in Guyana;

great conferences held in Brazil;

the ideas regarding missions coming from Chile;

the 2 churches in Argentina planted by Chile.

John and Rachel taking the gospel in the forests of Paraguay;

Oscar and Rachel commencing a church with children and young people in Guatemala;

the only Pentecostal denomination in Estonia coming into Elim;

the new church plants in the south of France;

the amazing fast-growing church in Cologne, Germany;

the development of youth leadership in Romania;

the new churches in Spain;

the 10,400 members of the expanding Elim Italy;

the new churches in Macedonia;

the 93 churches in Burkina Faso and the many visions of Christ that Muslims have been having before converting;

the new Fulani church plants in northern Ghana, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal and Togo, all in Islamic strongholds.

the uniting of the 2 denominations that had split in Kenya and also in Zambia.

Janine and her team in Kenya who in a single week had 91, 921 children in their Sunday school;

the new vision and strategy developing in Malawi;

the conversions of Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria;

James and Joanna leading young people to Christ in Rwanda;

the church in Kenya sending missionaries to plant churches in Somalia and Sudan;

Daniel and Hani taking the gospel in order to plant churches in northern Ethiopia amongst the Eritrean refugees;

the love of the Tanzanians and that John and Debbie are piloting a new concept of church planting;

all 5 Ugandan denominations but especially Moses who I ministered with and how we saw the supernatural move of God changing the weather before our eyes and those of the witchdoctors;

the courage of the rape survivors and ex-child soldiers of the DRC;

Pastor Cafuliza of Mozambique who singlehandedly went and planted a new church in a new area even though he overseas 4,500 people;

for the conversions amongst the poorest people and the new churches planted in Swaziland, South Africa and Cote D’Ivoire;

for £5,000 that a small church in the UK gave for a new church land in Burundi;

for the fresh honour and memory of missionaries massacred in Zimbabwe;

for the courageous passion in the Christians in Myanmar;

for the rehabilitation of the trafficked woman of Cambodia and further church plants;

for the faithfulness of the church in Hong Kong and the fearlessness of the church in Lebanon;

for Chris and Carmelitta who did what others just talk about and went to China;

the amazing passion, courage, signs and wonders, healings, miracles and resurrections found in the churches of all the 12 denominations of India;

James and Andrea deciding to move to Sri Lanka to work with the 2 denominations in taking the gospel to those who have never heard;

the desire of Sheryl and Novi to travel each month in Indonesia to a smaller island to oversea 2 new churches;

the 200 new church plants in Nepal;

the suffering church of Pakistan who know what it is to be brave;

the work amongst the poorest of the poor in the Philippines from the 2 denominations we have with a renewed desire to go on mission to the hundreds of inhabited islands in their nation;

the Church in Japan which has less than 1% Christian in the nation;

the friendship and missionary zeal of New Zealand who have planted 4 churches in Samoa and keep reaching other nations too.

the 15 new UK missionaries who joined the existing 69 all around the world; 

the 1,000 people engaged in prayer and giving at least £1 per week who receive these and many more stories every 2 months of what God is doing; 

That’s my world at the moment and that’s what I report on and what I thank God for.

All over the world the Spirit is moving.

There is more coming too!

Paul would say the same. This is what God has done but He is going to do so much more!

What about you? Just look back and thank God for what He has done. Don’t just focus on the future. Pause and thank Him.

How can I be in a room full of Giants?Acts 21:18 “The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.”
Paul, Luke and the rest of the team all go to see the brother of Jesus, James. He was most probably the leader of the church in Jerusalem as all the other apostles had gone to different parts of the world. 
They take with them the offering they had gathered for the poor in Jerusalem and they also take with them their stories.

I wonder if ever we will see a film from the archives of heaven? This would be one of those amazing scenes. The apostle Paul, apostle James, Luke the writer and the elders of the church altogether in one room. Such powerful men, but men.

In my early years of ministry I was given some advice which kind of said I should try and walk with Giants. So I tried to mix with the leaders I thought were Giants. The only problem was I was so small the Giants didn’t want to speak to me. I wrote a letter to one Giant leader and he never replied. I went into a room of Giants and I stumbled over my words and at worst didn’t know what to say. Twelve years ago I received a prophecy that I would be a leader of leaders. Four years ago I became the Elim International Missions Director. I am working with the International leaders of over 4,000 churches around the world in 53 nations. Recently I was having dinner with an International Giant of all Giants, that’s all I can say about him. I handled my anxiety quite well but I was boosted with peace when this great man of God told me he was nervous going into a nation that I had been in a few times. He was asking me for advice! Suddenly his gigantism seemed small! Here I was trying to bring some comfort to this great man of God! 

When I began this job I had to report to the UK Elim national leaders every 2 months and I still do. That first year I remember walking down the corridor to that meeting sweating with nervous desire that my plans and hopes would be accepted by the Giants. Four years on I still pray before I enter the room but I never sweat. Why? The Giants have become men in my eyes, very nice men though (I thought I would put those last few words in case any decide to read my blog!). So what have I learnt about having dinner and being in rooms with Giants? 

How to walk with Giants?

1. See their humanity. Apostle Paul had murdered Christians and even Jesus’ own brother, James, had a time when he refused to believe Jesus was who he is. Giants have their own skeletons and present sins. 

2. Giants have weaknesses where you are strong. Be comfortable in who you are. Be you and how God has made you. Don’t change for man. Never change for man.

3. Become a Giant, decide to let God grow you.

4. Never become so big the small can never walk with you. Always take others with you. 

5. Always look up and realise there is no one like God. Even Giants have to bow the knee.

Free Hugs
Acts 21:17 “When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly.”

Travelling a lot means I am forever being welcomed. Thankfully I have never had a bad welcome. My most outlandish reception was that of a brass band who could not be faltered for their noise! Amongst the many garlands of flowers and head dresses, scarves, plaques and other trinkets, the stand-out gift has to be a knitted tie I received from an African church which has the words “We love Rev Paul Hudson” down the front. I have never found the right occasion to wear that tie! 
Today is a Sunday and people will arrive at Church and be met by the usher or the welcome team or the doormen or the bouncers, (whichever part of the world and the Church you are from!)

I think those people who stand at the church door have the biggest job in the church. Get this job wrong or give it to the wrong person and you may find no one comes to church. The welcome is crucial. Not a sloppy welcome neither an austere one, it has to be just right.

Do you live your life embracing warmly those who come near you?

What about the ungodly? Or even the strangers to you? Are you warm towards them?

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” Matthew 5:46-48 

The Message translates today’s verse, “In Jerusalem, our friends, glad to see us, received us with open arms.”

That is our position. Open arms. 

We worship Jesus who opened his arms and was crucified for our sins. We worship with hands open and arms wide. And in the same way when whoever approaches us, our friends, strangers and even our enemies then let us open our arms and receive warmly. It is the position of God.

Several years ago there was a new craze called ‘Free hugs’ and I remember showing a film clip of some people on the streets of the USA giving hugs to complete strangers if they wanted one. The idea was that it was a way of expressing the love of God to them. It appeared to be very successful. We tried this on the streets of my town for awhile but it fizzled out fairly quickly. Maybe our town were not ready for such liberation!

Today is a Sunday. It is a good day to hug someone. But tomorrow is Monday and perhaps people need a hug more then than today!

Above all just warm up a bit. Nothing is achieved by being cold and stand-offish.

Pauls team with all their fears about coming to Jerusalem still prevalent would have been given a whole lot of peace by being received as they were. 

It’s amazing how disarming and empowering a warm welcome can bring. Go on be a great receptionist today, who knows you may even entertain Angels! 

The Church needs those with more of a past than a future. 
Acts 21:16 “Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.”

Okay so I confess (not good for the reputation!), though I have read the Bible through many times if someone had asked me ‘who is Mnason?’ I would have been thinking of some Old Testament obscure guy. 
Yet Mnason is a really important man.

Not only did he open up his home for the whole team when they arrived in Jerusalem. But he was one of the early disciples.

Luke includes this detail perhaps because he was indebted to some of the early historical events that either a) gave him the information needed regarding the first 5 years of the Jerusalem church because Mnason had become a believer under the preaching of the apostles, perhaps even Peter’s famous Pentecost sermon or b) Mnason was one of the 120 disciples that were following Jesus pre-Pentecost (see Acts 1:15). It is definitely one of these two and I actually favour the latter. 

What did Mnason have that Luke didn’t?

1. Stories of Jesus, first-hand perhaps, his stories. He was there.

2. The experience of devastation as the fledgling Church recovered from the betrayal and loss of Jesus.

3. The revival amongst the believers and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

4. The hard days of persecution and suffering as the Jerusalem church was scattered.

5. The stories of the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles.

I recently came back from Myanmar and our church there are predominantly all aged under 30yrs. It makes for an exciting and vibrant church. Many of them became Christians as children and remained following Christ into the young adulthood. When they speak of the early years they may talk about the time when they were 11 years of age and the Church had been going only 1 year but they became a follower of Christ.
There are churches in the UK that pride themselves on their youthfulness and they are amazing places.

I am not writing to promote young people or old people. I know some old people can be grumpy, stubborn and a real pain to the life of a Pastor/leader. But so can some young people!

But the Church needs people with experience.

The Church needs people like Mnason:

1. They have walked with Jesus for years.

2. They have walked through failure.

3. They have been in the revivals.

4. They have suffered.

5. They have missionary hearts and experience.

No matter what their age, if you have some people in the Church who have any of the above 5 then embrace them, don’t side-line them, love on them, encourage them. Do all that you can to make sure they stay and have a place in the Church. 
The Church needs the early disciples. 

We need to look after those who have gone before us.

If Luke hadn’t met Mnason then maybe he would not have written with such amazing detail. 

The growth of the Church is not only dependent on the future challenges it faces, but it is dependent on how it faces those challenges from its experiences of the past.

We need the Mnasons. 

Getting ready to go
Acts 21:15 “After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.”
Marmite? Yes some shout! Coffee and tea bags?! YES! HP Sauce?! YES definitely! 

These are some of the questions that new missionaries ask when they pack their suitcases! It can be quite stressful getting ready to go.

So we come to the end of Paul’s third and final missionary journey. He makes one more journey after Jerusalem, to Rome, but as a prisoner.
He has resisted calls not to go to Jerusalem. He has held his ground even when people said, “Thus says the Lord, don’t go!” Now his team agree to follow him.

Any one can lead people to the finishing line with crowds cheering the victory. It takes a gifted leader to lead people to that what they fear.

Shaka kaSenzangakhona (c. 1787 – c. 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu, was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom. He has been called a military genius for his reforms and innovations, and condemned for the brutality of his reign. Zulu impis (regiments of the Zulu Army) were supposed to be so brave and so dedicated to obeying orders that Shaka Zulu once ordered an impi to march off a cliff, to prove that they had no fear. And they did.

Way back in 331 B.C. Alexander the Great marched towards India with his armies. Alexander had already conquered much of the known world, and he would stop at nothing to have it all. Alexander was a strong leader, and every soldier was willing to follow him, no matter what the cost. He had a strong campaign to take over the world, yet encountered some difficulty upon the arrival at a certain walled city. As Alexander approached the great city, he peered up towards the King who stood firm upon the stone wall and shouted: “My name is Alexander the Great, and I demand you surrender immediately!” Laughing, the King asked, “Why should we surrender to you?” He then proceeded to explain how they outnumbered Alexander’s troops, and they were more than prepared to defend the city. In response, Alexander turned to his 100 choice troops and commanded them to line up in perfect order facing the cliff. Each did so obediently in respect for their leader. Alexander then ordered them to start moving. One by one they began marching toward the edge of the cliff. The first soldier stepped off the cliff and pummeled to his death, as did the second, third, fourth , all the way until the eleventh man. When Alexander finally yelled, “HALT!”, he gazed back at the King who was completely astonished by the obedience of the men-and the utter respect they had for Alexander. He surrendered immediately, and Alexander went on to conquer the civilized world.

Two historical war leaders with strange stories of total command of their armies. It doesn’t say how reluctant these soldiers were but they were obedient that’s for sure.
Our leader, Jesus, told us to take up our cross and follow him. 
Pauls team knew trouble was ahead and they got their baggage ready and made preparations to leave. 
Jesus told us that on this earth we will have trouble. Without being a doom-sayer, tomorrow contains trouble. What baggage are you preparing today that will take you into your tomorrow? What do you need to leave behind? What do you definitely need to take with you? Are there relationships that need to be ended? You see if tomorrow is a holiday then it doesn’t matter what you take, in fact you will take as much as you possibly can fit into the suitcase. But if it contains trouble then it focuses your mind to what is actually essential. What do I need that will help me to be who I can be in that situation? The truth is we do not know what tomorrow holds but we do know it won’t be easy.
I was talking to a leader this week who told me that everything in the past was preparation for the difficulty they were going through today. They didn’t mean everything, they meant that they had learnt lessons in the past and they chose to take these with them in to their tomorrow.

But tomorrow is not just about trouble. There are people in our tomorrow waiting for us. They may not know we are coming. We might not know who these people are yet, but God knows.
One of the things we know Pauls team would have got ready was the money and gifts they had accumulated to give to the poor in Jerusalem ( see Acts 24:17). We have been given yesterday and today enough blessings for tomorrow.

Our baggage contains many blessings we have been given. Tomorrow is a day of blessing for others and we need to get ready to be the blesser. We need to prepare to bless. Are you saving to give? Are you resisting wasting in order to be a blessing? 

So today, what will you pack to get ready to go? 

A letter from God – His will can be trusted.
Acts 21:14 “When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.”

God’s will is good, pleasing and perfect, Romans 12:1-2
God’s will, will prosper, Isaiah 53:10.
God’s will can be understood, Ephesians 5:17.
God’s will is to be desired, Psalm 40:8.
We worship the One who said, ‘Not my will but yours be done’.
When Jesus resolutely set about the course of his mission who tried to stop him? It was his closest friends. It was Peter who led Jesus to one side and said “No Lord this will never happen to you.” Who may have taken you to one side or what has tried to distract you? Jesus had to put Peter behind him.
A letter from God:
I am one who comforts you. I bought you and complete you. I delight in you and claim you as my own, rejoicing over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. I will never fail you or forsake you.
Your death is swallowed up in victory. I disarmed the evil rulers and authorities and broke the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Blessed are those who die in Me. Your citizenship is in heaven. Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you where I will remove all of your sorrows, and there will be no more death or sadness or crying or pain.
You are worried and troubled about many things; trust me with all your heart. I know how to rescue godly people from their trials. My Spirit helps you in your distress. Let me strengthen you with my glorious power. I did not spare my Son but gave him up for you. Won’t I give you everything else? March on, dear soul, with courage! Never give up. I will help you. I will uphold you.
Trust in me always. I am the eternal Rock, your Shepherd, the Guardian of your soul. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
So, don’t worry. I never tire or sleep. I stand beside you. My angel encamps around you. I hide you in the shelter of my presence. I will go ahead of you, directing your steps and delighting in every detail of your life. If you stumble, you will not fall, for I hold you by the hand. I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
Wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic. I have overcome the world. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. I surround you with a shield of love.
I will make you fruitful in the land of suffering, trading beauty for ashes, joy for mourning and praise for despair. I live with the low spirited and spirit crushed. I put a new spirit in you and get you on your feet again. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning. If I am for you, who can ever be against you?
I throw my arms around you, lavish attention on you, and guard you as the apple of my eye. I rejoice over you with great gladness. My thoughts of you cannot be counted; they outnumber the grains of sand! Nothing can separate you from my love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Your fears for today, your worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep my love away.
You sometimes say, “The Lord has deserted me; the Lord has forgotten me.” But can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? Even if that were possible I would not forget you! I paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, my sinless, spotless Lamb. No one will snatch you away from me. See, I have written your name on my hand. I call you my friend. Why, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are valuable to me.
Give me your burdens; I will take care of you. I know how weak you are, that you are made of dust. Give all your worries and cares to me, because I care about what happens to you.
Remember, I am at hand. Come to me when you are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. I delight in you, and I can be trusted to keep my promises.
“May the will of the Lord be done” Amen!

The ‘I am ready’ declaration of the missionary

Acts 21: 13 “Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’

I am ready.
This is my time. I don’t get another chance.
This is my time to stop blaming my enemies as the excuse for not being who I am.
This is my time to come from behind the scenes of failure and obscurity.
This is my time to stop pretending in order to escape facing reality.
This is my time to stop hiding, holding back what lies within me.
This is my time of finding strength in God.
This is my time for a new anointing.
This is my time of taking the good news to those in need.
This is my time to heal the heartbroken.
This is my time to announce freedom and grace to all who are captive.
This is my time to forgive those who are guilty
There’s no time like this time.
I am ready.
What matters is not where I live, but who I live for.
God is everything to me. No matter what happens I will survive.
If disaster comes tomorrow I am ready
I am living for God now and he will guide and protect me through the attacks of the enemy.
I don’t know what is around the corner but I am nearer to it today.
I am ready.
I have ‘10,000 reasons’ to be so.
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning, it’s time to sing MY song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, I WILL be singing when the evening comes.
And on that day when my strength is failing the end draws near and my time has come, still my soul will sing HIS praise unending, 10,000 years and then forevermore.
I am ready.
God is working in me and so I do not give up.
All things will work together so I will hang on.
Even though I stare defeat in the face I do not look away or back off, I keep staring.
I will never be intimidated by anyone.
If I become disabled or suffer a setback I will manage it, I will learn from it and change.
I will always try again.
If I am defeated it does not mean the battle has been lost
I will surrender to God no one else.
I am ready.

The missionary zeal
Acts 21:12 “When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.”

Luke and the team begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
It wasn’t because they believed the Holy Spirit had told them not to go.
It was because:
1. The Holy Spirit had told them that trouble was ahead.
2. As part of his team they would be going with Paul into that trouble.
Two things happened to me last night.
I had a skype call with a missionary couple who are 3 months away from leaving the UK to go to another nation. It was an exciting conversation but we also talked of family members who are struggling to let them go and who had hoped by now they would have changed their mind.
Later in the evening I was in conversation with a friend of a missionary who was describing how difficult it was for that missionary to be a witness in the nation they were in. They continued to try and explain to me that if they even tried to give out a Bible or talk about Jesus they would be arrested.
On reflection later laid in bed I was moved by both conversations. The pleas from family members and the advice of a friend were being played over in my mind. I committed myself to do all that I can to honour the role of the missionary by not down-playing the high cost that is to be paid. I will do all that I can to make sure that whilst the safety of the missionaries is important it will not fall into the area of comfort and fear stopping them from doing the will and call of God. I committed myself to make known the following:
1. The missionary is committed to laying their life down. Death for them is only negative in that it will stop their mission of sharing the gospel, not that it stops them being on earth.
2. The missionary has people who are cheering them on and they also have family and friends deeply concerned for them. That is how it is.
3. The missionary is a person with such strong conviction that nothing and no one will stop them.
This is why we must pray and give to the missionaries. We must do all that we can to cheer them on and encourage their zeal and not to dampen it.

Live it out!
Acts 21:11 “Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, ‘The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.”’

Agabus acts out a prophetic message before Paul and the team. It is a demonstration of what will happen to Paul. This piece of theatre is not unusual in the biblical world of the prophet.
Isaiah took off his clothes and preached naked for 3 years.
Jeremiah hid his underwear under a rock and then after a long time went back for them! He also attached a cattle yoke to his shoulders for a season.
Hosea married a prostitute.
Ezekiel ate a scroll. He lay on his side for 390 days and then rolled over and repeated the action for a further 40 days.
It does make the actions of Agabus look quite normal!
But it is interesting that prophets acted out their messages. It was not because as some think that prophets are strange, off-the-wall kind of people. But at the centre of their lives is the core message that consumes their whole life. Their actions are the symbols for the truth.
The nudity of Isaiah was a sign that the Assyrians would make the Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners march naked into captivity.
Jeremiahs soiled underwear shows God’s thoughts on the worthlessness of His people who went against His word.
Hosea’s marriage decision shows God’s relationship with unfaithful Israel.
Ezekiel laying on his side was to show the years of the nation’s sin, 390 years for Israel and 40 years for Judah.
The prophet lives out the word that is in their hearts, they are more than preachers. They show us this that the Word of God can so consume our lives that it disrupts our behaviours and transforms our actions.
And they did all of these actions because God told them to. The ultimate embodiment was that of the coming of Christ who is the Word of God made flesh. Just like the prophets Christ’s behaviour seems eccentric as he spits on people and throws mud in their eyes, casts demons into pigs and promises to rebuild the temple in 3 days to name a few.
We need to let the Bible overwhelm our lives. It is not a reading book, a text book, a study book. It is the Word of God. We need to demonstrate how totally life-changing the Word of God is. People need to see the message of God in us. Some will never read the Bible but they can read us. If the Spirit is leading then show this. “I’m just the messenger. Don’t shoot the messenger,” is not good enough. Be more than the messenger, be the message! Be Christ’s letter of love!

We need the Prophet.
Acts 21:10 “After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.”

Paul and his team had been in Philips home a ‘number of days’. What was happening in that time? Luke doesn’t say but I can imagine them enjoying the environment of prophecy as the daughters engaged their gifting. We know prophecy is given to edify, encourage and comfort the people of God (1 Cor 14:3). They needed words that did this. They were heading to Jerusalem uncertain of what their fate would be. To have words that would stabilise them was so important. Paul had known for some time that prison and hardships faced him in the future but I am sure the team were hoping for a positive outcome. Maybe they received words that strengthened them, “God is with you” etc.
But then something shocking happens. Agabus arrives, the prophet. The one who in chapter 11 accurately prophesied a famine is standing amongst them.
A prophet is not only someone who can edify, encourage and comfort but they will warn of impending doom, bring correction and direction to the Church and do it all in love. The Church needs them. In a moving changing world the Church needs the office of prophets alongside teachers, pastors, evangelists and apostles to hold her steady and to remain faithful.
Prophets are before the face of God continually.
Prophets protect His presence by operating their lives in love and grace and have set in place appropriate boundaries.
Prophets minister under authority.
Prophets are not the same, each one is different to the other.
Prophets equip the Church with the ability to see and hear the mind and will of God.
I am sure the list is longer than this!
But the sight of Agabus meant that God was about to speak. They would know what was going to happen. If Agabus heard that a famine would happen he wasn’t afraid to declare that. So what would it be this time?
There are times when the Church needs more than edification, encouragement and comfort. We need the prophet.