spiritual warfare

We got 18 riders for our Tuapiro beach trek. Someone had made a complaint to the council about us riding on Tuapiro beach and charging for it.  This was on Thursday. Saturday was our ride.. Diana Wilson( from Waihi) was waiting for us already there and Julie Witte spoke to her, and Diana was saying she was there to make sure we all " stuck to the rules." Julie said it does you know good to be a narker.
Then we waiting for some more riders to arrive. Diana took four of my new riders away on her own little trek, told them lies about me and ( found that out later) and after our trek she was there again talking ( spreading lies) to my members trying to influence against me. Julie Witte said she was a narker and she is spoiling for herself as well as for all of us.
Well then later I saw Diana putting her horse dung under a little tree, so I said " that's not allowed Diana, take it home with you" Well, she then went off at me , right into my face yelling at me saying i shouldn't be charging people on council land, and I said "we are not, people can give a donation, but I don't charge them." Then she said I lied and that I was charging them. So I said " what's that to you anyway? " So she said " well, I pay my rates, and don't want to see you making money from public land" well, I also pay rates and  we do not charge but people can make a donation", then I said" I used to charge but not now that I know it's not allowed, so now we just run on voluntary donation, if people want. Then I prayed out loud and said " I rebuke you, spirit of witch craft and jezebel, in Jesus name, I bind you and all your works! She was fuming, I had my friend Marj with me( you haven't met her yet but she will move to katiKati soon she is lovely!) and we just prayed together , and then she latched on to that, and then her ugly demonic spirits manifested in her and yelled" don't bring this f***ing G-d into it, and she went" F*** God!! out so loud, every one heard it! Unbelievable, I said " I don't want to see your face ever again, just go, and then she said" I will go  before I punch your lights out!"
Everyone heard it and was disgusted with Diana. She went over to the group and " apologied for the noise" and they just said " Go away!!!" Now it's a good thing this has happened as everyone( including the 4 she took away on her own little trek) how evil she really is! There were 3 other christians in today's trek that were quietly praying for me in the background!!! Praise God!( the most I have ever had)
So that was today. Not nice aye? I'm glad you didn't have to be exposed to this, but everyone supported me and Marie  said to me" I can't offer you a stiff whiskey, but would you like to have a coffee?, I'll  make it for you now and she gave me a warm hug.She is lovely! She told me that Diana is like that at her job too, and that she is not just like that to me, but other people too.She has a bad reputation !
She is one very bitter old woman. Sad really!!! Pauline, Stella and all the others were so nice to me, they said I did well, and hopefully this is the end of it. Julie said obviously Diana was out for blood to try and disrupt the group and to divide and conquer, but it didn't work!!!
One of the 4 ladies that went with Diana just rang now, and she said she felt she had been misled and manipulated by Diana. She wished she h ad been with us now as she actually led them along a busy road with vehicles and machinery ( kiwifruit pickers) and not along the beach like we did. Also  Diana told  them" don't pay her( me) any money! and they replied" we don't have to pay her any money!!! So Diana knows that they don't have to pay anything!!
So now you knowwhat happened today! When souls are being saved  the devil is furious!

Must go to bed and let the the Lord strengthen me on the inside, but I kept saying all the time" Greater is He that is within me, than he that is in her!!!!!" The vistory belongs to the Lord!!! Pray for Diana's salvation, for her obvious broken up and painful past and that the hurt, unforgiveness and bitterness will be replaced by the power of God, his healing in her life!!!!

Marianna.

Michal becomes born again

Hi there
It's been a long time again. Michal ( from Czech republic) has been with us now for 6 months. He has recently become a believer in Jesus Christ. He is so hungry for the word of God he is reading it every day for about an hour. He devoures every word. He recently went down to the river and baptized himself. When I said that was good but can we do it again with some others so as to make it a witness he was ok with that. So now we will be doing that again ( when the weather improves).

I have been going to a lot of horse camps. A few of them are at Omahu valley which is 15 minutes north of Paeroa towards Thames. It is a place going back in time.
Most of the people going are riders from all over the country and it is rare or never to find a christian amoungst them. A lot of them are cussing and blaspheming which is hard to swallow.  Also a lot of drinking going on and the consecqences thereof.
I have found it hard to be alone as a christian in that group. I have prayed for so long for an on fire christian to come alongside me and to be a participant and fellow supporter in prayer and in the camps because the word says" one can put a thousand to flight and 2 can put 10.000 to flight. The sweet influence of the presence of Christ makes all the difference.
Well that christian has turned up. We had a trek with a nice Maori lady and her 3 grand children. She  had seen our little poster on the toilet wall: John 3:16" For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever belies in him should not perish but have everlasting life."
She went for the trek with us and halfway through the trek she couldn't hold back any longer and asked me" Are you believers?" I said yes! So after that we had a great long chat. All the things we do here she wanted to do and felt very much on her heart. Passion for horses and riding, loves people and doing outreaches, etc etc.
But... They live in Te Puke. Then after a few weeks I heard the news that they got a house ( for free) on their daguhters orchard here in katiKati and can move here in a few weeks.

a few riders on the hill

So I am looking forward to praying and riding with her and also with our pastors wife Sharon who has the same passion.
Meanwhile we had our Omahu weekend last weekend( 16th to18th of March.)
So my vision is to have this kind of horsecamp but with many more born again on fire christians who are passionate horse riders and love tio reach out to the horsey community.

Me and Michal in front of Hill Billy haven 

Michal on Cheyenne

Please contact me if you are wanting to be part of this outreach.

Summer

Michal on Cheyenne

Again, a long time since I last wrote.
Our spring was nice and in November it was hot and dry. I went to the Eastern Bay of Plenty hunt trek . It was a 3 day camp. I went last year as well. Michal also came and he could help with the horses and setting tables.

going over the cut down pinehill

Doreen also came in her campervan and she rode Prince. The weather was very good. We camped at Waiotahe valley, somewhere between Whakatane and Opotiki.
This time where were 80 riders at the most.
Doreen and I always prayed together before each trek , while on our horses we would hold hands and pray.
At this trek there were no accidents. I rode Cheyenne on day one. She was super excited and pranced most of the time which made me very tired.

me swimming with Snoopy

The next day I rode Cheyenne for half a day and then Michal rode her back and I went back to camp with the lunch team. In this way I could rest and swim with Snoopy in the river.

view from our lunch spot

Camp was great, awesome spit roast dinners, and meeting new people. Michal( from Czech republic) is warming up to the gospel now and to the idea of coming to church. He actually asked to come with us to church!!!
 So he came and enjoyed it.
So gently with love and genuineness, people can see that the Lord is real.

Lunchtime

dinner for the first night was ours to cook

me on Cheyenne and Doreen on Prince

Winter riding

Well, long time since I last wrote.
Winter is almost done, one more month and we have spring.
Winter riding hasn't really happened that much as we had so much rain.
We also didn't have any workers/helpers during our winter as there isn't much to do.
The only one we had was a lovely and sweet quiet Taiwanese lady ( 27) who helped me with the cleaning .
We have kiwifruit workers, genuine tourists who are staying at our hostel and who are working in this area.
The Horsesforfun has been going quietly along with a fortnightly trek organized by me, but because we had a lot of rain we've had to postpone a few, and the ones when it was sunny we rode on the beach.
We've used our stables when it was really wet. ( yes we have stables now, Brian made a double stable for 2 horses from our old garage. ( see my other website for photos) http://horsesforfun.webs.com
That was a real blessing.
Parminder came to see me the other day, ( I led her to the Lord a few years ago) and she is doing great. She has grown heaps in the Lord.
We did a beach ride yesterday at Tuapiro beach and 15 riders came!!! That was quite a lot for a winter ride...We took our tourists and today, we had an other trek with 2 tourists.
As we ride out I quietly pray for a safe trip. The Taiwanese girl who ride today had never been on a horse before. She rode Freckles and I lead reined her off Snoopy. On the way back after a 2 hour trek she rode alone and managed quite well and she really enjoyed it.
I must say Freckles is a very good and bombproof pony.
Didn't go to church today as I had to prepare the horses but God knows my heart, He knows I love Him.
And there are other days to catch up like mid week study and next week church.
PS By the way, meet our new horse, Cheyenne, a black and white pinto mare, who is going to be part of our horses team. She is still quite unfit but we already have 3 volunteers to make her fit by regular riding her.

Me riding Cheyenne

Kim riding Cheyenne

Me riding Cheyenne, all at home.

Photos of her on left and below.

We started by going to Ongare point.

after we came back we went onn the mudflats behind the beach

Going around the deep part

Me giving a briefing  before going on the trek

The group of Horsesforfun starting the 2 hour trek

Me in blue cardi on Snoopy

Going back around the corner through some water

Julian( our French guest ) sat on the rock waiting for us to come back

Beautiful scenery

Getting one of our tourists ready

so much more

Hi there friends and readers,

So much more has happened since my last post.
I have helped out as " Camp Mum" at lakes Ranch at the July school holiday program camp, 5 days of camp .
I was asked to bring some horses so I brought Prince, Freedom, Lady and Snoopy.

They were used by the campers and I rode Snoopy.
I had the tourist flat near the lounge/reception area and I admministered the medications for the kids that were on medication.
I also supervised the kids that were on insulin, and made sure their blood/sugar level tests were done and the sugar levels were ok. It determens how much insulin she would need.

The camp had 25 teenage girls and 3 teenage boys. Yes, I really think horses is a girl thing, but the biys that like horses too aren't "strange" as some would think. They are just as normal as any boy, they just like the horses.
During the camp we had Guido as our directior. There were camp leaders and every day we would have prayer in the morning at 7.30 am. The cabin leaders would be about 17 years old, the campers are from 12 years to 16 years.

During the week we had some great fellowship and talks and awesome treks. We did games on the horses, which Snoopy is good at.
I enjoyed them too. I had not really learned how to do the games but I learned like everyone else.
The main thing out of this whole week is that besides the main speaker,which was Simon, who shared his testimony on the first night, which was very moving, I also spoke and shared what was on my heart, which was eterity. I shared my sister's story, and Ian McGormich story, also Simon Makrell's life after death experience. They were all to do with, what happens when you die?
At the end of the week there were 15 girls that gave their lives to Christ!!! Praise God, what a harvest!!!

LakesRanch is always a haven for them( and me) and they can continue to grow in God as they get each a bible and given support in their decisions.

LAKESRANCH MARCH 19TH TO 21ST-A SALVATION!

Our Autumn weekend to Lakes Ranch was great. We had 17 riders.

One of my help exchange girl Saskia, a 29 year old,came with me and she had been helping me with the horses and on the farm was very excited to come and also very open to hear more about the gospel.

I shared with the group something every morning from the word of God. This was done after breakfast and usually a scripture from the Psalms. I called it" Something to think about for today".

On Sunday morning God directed me to a different portion of the Psalms as I had planned.It was taken from a devotional "Thrive" and the reading was from Psalm 73:3-3. After I read that God prompted me to share my testimony and then on God's creation. I must have spoken for a bout 10 minutes but the Lord's anointing was all over me. The words just flowed out and everyone was very quiet.

After we went to get the horses, there was a bit of time beore we saddled up and Saskia was asking a few more questions. So in the room where we stayed she asked Jesus into her heart. The Lord just showed up to her and now she has been baprized( one week later)God has been so good and really showed himself to her. When she was baptized and as she came up out of the water, she had a vision of Jesus on the cross and then she saw herself on the cross with Jesus. She didn't know the scripture of where it says that when we are baptized we die with Christ and ride again with Christ in baptism.

I know this is just the beginning of what He wants to do through the horses ministry but so far 3 have come to know Christ through the horses .( the Horses4theLord) As we ride through God's creation, there is no doubt in my mind that God is proving to the open minded his handiwork.
Keep praying as there are a lot more people that are hungry for God even though they don't admit it. They are empty inside .
Right Saskia riding Venus. Other photos are the baptism of Saskia on the 28th of March 2010.
Our pastor is Rob Holding, and I was surprized when he said: You baptize her. I said why not you? He said" It's your priveledge, so you led her to the Lord, so you baptize her."

Picture below, our pasor Rob Holding giving a little talk before Saskia is baptized.

MATAKANA ISLAND 3 DAY TREK IN SUMMER OUTREACH

Hi there friends,

This time we have the priveledge of going to Matakana island in the summer.
We have 25 riders that are here and are enjoying this 3 day trek.
We are assembled at the end of Matahui Road and then the guides arrive from the island. It is always so good to see them again.

We ride off on time and it is great to do this crossing again.With the guides in front and behind there is nothing to worry about.

The group splits up and we arrive way before the rest and wonder why we have to wait for so long.

When the rest finally arrives we asked what happened.
Turns out that Mike's horse Major sank in the bog and got a fright, and Mike fell in facedown in the mud and water. Well, that wasn't so nice for him.
He defenitely was soaked. And he still had to ride on again... Oh the joys of mudflats crossing.
When we arrive we can put our horses in the paddock and set up camp. Quite a few of us brought tents and others slept in the Marae.
We have a good dinner, and Hone let's me translate his saying grace into English which I do and also pray my own prayer for everyone. I say things like" Thank you father God for bringing us safely here and for the food the ladies prepared, bless it to our bodies  in Jesus name". I feel that I have much boldness now, and Hone is happy with it.

There is a couple of older men who always rode for their jobs and one of them is 79 years old, he sang some songs with the guitar which was nice.
The next day we have the big ride around and going through a lot of forest.

The highlight of this weekend was the fact that there was a tsunami warning, so instead of riding on our horses, we went by truck to the highest part of the island and had a look towards the ocean. We could clearly see a stripe or a ripple, but it didn't look big. The gead of the civil defence is my friend's boss so she was in touch all the time and he told us not to cross yet.
At lunch time we were back at the camp and Hone came over to ask me to pray for the situation and for safety for us all when we cross over to the mainland. So I did and also God gave me the interpretation to the speech he gave everyone at the farewell, he did in Maori and I gave the translation even though I had never learned Maori.
That was God's answers to prayer, they had defenitely opened up and are more open to the gospel and so I pray next time will be even more open and allowing me to read from the Word of God.

The sunset of Saturday night was stunning, and I took some amazing pictures of the sunset towards the Kamai ranges.
All the other photos you can see on www.picturetrail.com/horses4fun