Bristol's Blog

Hello Dear Friends and Family:

August has been blessed for us with having some time to go camping .  We never did that in the States, but really love it here !  We have a tiny tent, we bring our Bibles, some food, and go off for a few days of praying, praising God, and seeking to hear His voice.

We’ve been getting excited about the possibility of starting a different kind of church in Philmont, NY. We are also getting excited about being ordained in October at Randy Clark’s Global Awakening ministry.

Christine’s been looking to do some icons based on what she learned about the thirteenth century Italian School of Iconography and wants to give talks and slide shows about God in art to anyone who will listen!

We had a powerful House of Prayer meeting last week, with Brother Nicodemus from Uganda asking “Where are the watchmen of the City?”  With the Bristol Prayer Network, Bristol Networks, and Churches like Elim, Carmel, Woodlands and many others praying individually and collectively for Revival in Britain we are very encouraged by the obvious commitment to the power of prayer here.

We are planning on going to New York in October to be ordained and see about starting a community based non denominational church in Philmont. This will give us a chance to regroup financially, and at the same time sow into our local community. Since God seems intent on us keeping our house, we will explore what He might have in mind there, with a hope to coming back to Bristol in the Spring.

Bristol may well claim to be a leader in ‘Street Art’ on the world stage. Recently the city council supported a Street Art festival called, interestingly, ‘See no Evil’. Many artists came and painted buildings in one of the city center streets. As a whole the images were less demonic than the more underground grafiti which is done without official blessing but is certainly tolerated and centers around an area called Stokes Croft. Stokes Croft has been historically a place of strife going back hundreds of years and is where the Tesco riots broke out in May and in the recent riots across England was the center of the riots in Bristol. There is a spirit of rebellion and a mocking spirit in residence there with squatters and street artists proudly pushing an independent and demonic lifestyle. People come from across the country to visit Stokes Croft and admire the art and ambiance.

As our ministry is based on using art for the Lord we realize how powerful it can be for good or for bad. Certainly there were crowds of people admiring the ‘See no Evil’ street art festival as there is a constant flow of people going to Stokes Croft. The demonic images have become so normative in this society that people can not perceive there is a force for evil behind them. What does one do as a Christian when people do not realize they are playing with death? In fact the ‘skull’ image is so prevelent now it is used in main stream advertising. Well the answer to that question is to bring life and love back into art. To love and support the people who are creative to use their art for life and not death, whether that is on the street, in the movies, television, newspapers or where ever. If we live in a landscape of deathly images we will get drawn to riot as a natural response.

“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous: Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord  your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

We love to pray for you so please email us with your prayer requests!

Lots of love, Christine and Michael     

Lots of love to you all! xxxoxox

Hello Friends and Family:

God is so good! This month we have both experienced a new freedom in being able to operate in our arts ministry in the world, not just in the Church. Yay! My month at the Florence Academy of Art was a real breakthrough for me in discovering Italian iconography from 1200-1450 and developing a method of drawing and painting portraits which is very beautiful, classic and powerful. I hope to have examples of what I can do now in future Blogs.

Also got very close to Michael Angelo, visiting his sculptures and reading his biographies.  He was God’s man for sure, showing a devotion and commitment to God that is rare.  His last work of art was a pieta which shows a large hooded figure holding the limp body of Christ, next to Mary.  That figure was Nicodemus, who took Christ down from the cross, and Michaelangelo identified himself with Nicodemus.  This was his last monument to his abiding maturity in his love for God.

My charcoal drawing of Michaelangelo from a plaster cast of him.

I have two opportunities to sell my work one this month and one next.  This month I will be volunteering at the Veritasse art booth at the New Wine Conference and presenting some of my icons for sale.

Next month I will have a store front in Bristol to exhibit and sell my paintings to raise money for our ministry here. Keep me in your prayers, please!

Michael has been active as usual while I was away!

Here’s his post:

Bristol is a key to this Nation turning back to God.

I believe that Bristol has been assigned by God as a gate to a revival in this nation, England. That is a word Christine and I received, and left our family, home and careers to come here to Bristol. Many others have as well, most recently Roy and Melanie Fields who have been at Carmel Centre for the last 5 weeks pushing into heaven and bringing people with them.

We were in a Spiritual Mapping prayer meeting praying over the map of Bristol some seven weeks ago and God spoke through Sheena Tranter, to ‘Watch Carmel, I will do a work there, watch Carmel.’

Unfortunately there is not a hunger for revival in this city. Yet. The meetings were not well attended. There is a complacency which is all rapt up in the spirit of stupor, spirit of unbelief, spirit of control, spirit of mockery and spirit of poverty but most significant is an overriding humanism even within the church. People are unable to break out of this blanket which is so familiar that many do not realize it exists. There is a powerful pride in the British stiff upper lip which is really a trap of the enemy. It stops movement in the spirit, the natural and maintains a tepid status quo just above bearable.

But Christ came to give us life and life in abundance, that’s why this country needs revival, it’s forgotten that Christ is a powerful living God who calls us to an abundant life.

So when a couple of evangelists come to a city to do a work of God there is an intellectual rejection and passive resistance, the pastors of the city do not rise up and join together with it but for whatever reason stay silent. For those who have attended the meetings it has been a strong move forward.  But as God said watch Carmel, it shows me that Bristol is not yet hungry for a work of God. It is warm under its blanket and happy to stay there.

We know that God is concerned with land as well as people. We know that where things good and bad have happened in the past that location takes on a spiritual force for good or bad to people in that place there after. This can be redeemed through prayer or left to continue to have an affect spiritually on the people in that place. The land gives out the spiritual forces that have been created and licensed to be here by the people of this nation, they have been accepted for generations and have a strong quiet hold.

There is a whole lot of redeeming that needs to take place in this city and this nation for it to have the fear of God on it again and people to recognize there is a desperate need for a turning back to God. There have been missionaries coming over here to Bristol from Africa, Korea, America, the Philipines since we moved here 15 months ago all calling out for Christians to awake. They recognize that God has more to do with this nation, another movement of the Holy Spirit that will spearhead a movement into Europe. The prophetic words are consistent from many different sources that there will be a move of God in this nation soon.

It will take God to cut through the blanket that lays over this nation. We need prayer houses, evangelists and a fire in the belly of latent Christians to beseech God and stand in the gap for the sins of this nation, past and present. We need the Christian community working together in a way which is real not just a lip service. The churches are like castles open to the heavens but closed to one another, with enthusiastic worship going up to heaven but very little lateral connection or working together. There are some who are working for this but it needs to be all the churches.

That being said there are signs of  change in Bristol. There are networking Christian movements underway, the different prayer groups are being identified and brought together under the Bristol Prayer Network. There is movement forward, more and more reports of healings are coming in and I have seen several myself in this last week. More people are praying for healing in and outside of church. But I yearn to see the fires of the Holy Spirit burn brighter and then come together as one. That will happen but I do not know how long it will take for that hunger for God to be ignited and the blanket torn off England. Sometimes it seems so far off yet our God works in mysterious ways, often suddenly. We are blessed.

Love to you guys! We are praying for you, too!

Christine and Michael

Hello Friends and Family:

This June has been a month of so many blessings for us, and we hope for you too.  We began with our trip to New York and our daughter Micah’s wedding, congratulations Micah and Tore Knos!   Next weekend, each of us gave workshops at the Albany Episcopal Diocesan Convention and enjoyed seeing so many good friends in Christ.  Our next week was spent in Boston where Mick was photographing the beautiful and amazing WAFA Conference – World Association of Flower Arrangers- at the World Trade Center  for our very good friends.  It was an inspiring event with people from all the nations coming to contribute and share their talents.  We felt the Lord’s blessing all through this and sill retain fond memories from the Gala of the stirring music which started with “When the Saints Come marching In”!  I just love when God’s Kingdom is brought into everyday reality! To me that’s the purpose of an arts ministry – to make art that brings God into secular places where people can encounter God in surprising and unusual ways.

While fasting,praying and walking in Boston, I felt a tug to cross Boylston Street and go inside the old Public Library building.  As I went inside, I saw the two lion statues on either side of the great staircase in the building designed by McKim, and each step of the way, God revealed more and more art about His Kingdom.  Heaven breaking through reality again in the form of art – most of these images are from the Puvis de Chavannes mural and  the John Singleton Copley mural at the Library..

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Coming home to England, we received a text message that Revival had come to Bristol!  What?? Yes, and it’s still going on.  Roy Fields from Lakeland, has been called to Bristol – because he believes it is Bristol’s time for breakthrough to Revival. You can watch it on livestream – today is day 11.    http://www.runwithfire.com/

We’ve gone several times and feel the anointing of the Holy Spirit each time.  Please continue to pray with us for Revival to break out here.  Still so many people are uninterested in being in Revival.  Are they suspicious, critical, reserved, thinking it’s not quite their style? They’re not hungry.   I believe God’s not done yet with His church. This is a  prophetic painting the Lord gave me at Woodlands Church which shows the Spirit flying over a sleeping city, but the Cross on the church is glowing and there is one light on.  Lord let us be your watchmen, keeping watch over the city , interceding for Your Kingdom to come in our day.

There are many ways the enemy has closed down this nation from taking up its true position following Christ. The ‘English Reserve’ which has been formed over hundreds of years prevents real freedom for a movement of the Holy Spirit. We can see how much the spirit of humanism keeps pulling people into a place of human reasoning rather than living and flowing in the Spirit of a living Christ. This nation desperately is in need of Revival but that will take the churches acting as one for it to break through. At the moment churches appear as castles one to another, it is hard to go between and for them to interact as one body. There are some pushing for this but as a whole when God is breaking out in one area people are not able to cross unseen lines and join in with that work. So the work dies from lack of support and people return to praying for God to do a work here.

We are in a period of assessment as to what God has called us to.  Is there a way forward for us in Bristol or should we return to the USA.  It is so expensive in terms of family, business, and relationships for us to be here.  Is there something else we can do which will make  a difference? Where can we be fruitful for the Kingdom? We have come a long way but want to be sure we are doing what God has for us to do. God has provided for us, and each time we asked Him for clarity He has responded.  Please hold us in prayer as we continue to seek God’s will.

And our last blessing of the month, born June 28: Our beautiful new grandaughter!

Congratulations Mark and Kristi Simoneau!   Well done!

Lots of love to you all – I hope sharing our blessings with you increases the blessings in your own life!

Christine and Michael

Greetings Dearest Friends and Family:

For what seems like more than a month, it’s been like walking into a head wind – every day!  I saw a photo of Obama and his wife meeting the Queen and the wind almost blew the Queen’s hat off, while Michelle’s hair and dress were all akimbo!

We’re excited to be coming to New York and Boston in June.   In the last month we’ve seen answers to so many prayers, particularly in regard to Revival here in Bristol.  It seems that the atmosphere in the city is quickened, and people are eager to gather and pray together.

We participated in the South Bristol Arts Trail by enjoying the Chilean Cafe at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, where my icons were on display, Michael prayer walked and I went into artists homes to see their work.

The two watercolor classes I’ve been teaching are finishing up until the fall, so I’m praying for God to fill that space in the wonderful way He always does!   I have so much enjoyed the students in my classes – people over the age of 60 who have led interesting lives and have so much fun and joy to still share!

We finished up training for the Bethel Sozo at a conference in Nothampton, where the Holy Spirit made a powerful visit on the second morning which was really wonderful. Our House of Prayer meetings have been really powerful prayer sessions with a lot of travail and intercession. The spiritual mapping is being added to by a visit of one of World Trumpet Missions ministers from Uganda, Nicodemus, who has a lot of personal experience to draw on.

As I continue with my Prayer walks, God has been revealing to me how prevalent the demonic images are now in our culture. At the moment there seems to be a focus on the skull. It is interesting that Christ was crucified on Golgatha, the place of the skull. The skull is an emblem of death. Yesterday I saw a young boy of 5 running around the church  with a Tee shirt  which had 9 skulls on the front with different derivations on each one. I picked up a glossy magazine and there was a main line advert using many skulls to make up another image of their product. This is all over and not just skulls, bats, emblems of satan in one form or another. It is similar to the word, ‘wicked’ meaning good, and that is used in our society and in advertizing, like it is wicked good. The slow undermining of righteousness has disastrous consequences. This city  had riots over Tesco opening a shop in their area but does not complain or care that there are many sex trade locations, liquor stores, betting and pawn shops in the same area.

We are blessed with knowing so many Bristolians who are “fighting the good fight” each in their own way.  We ask for your prayers, more than ever now as we start moving with more effectiveness and purpose to claim Bristol and the UK for God’s Kingdom.  If any of you feels called to be part of an intercessory prayer team to pray for us here, please let us know!

We will be back in New York for our daughter’s wedding this week, and awaiting the birth of our first grandchild in June.  We will both be giving workshops at the Albany Diocesan Episcopal Convention June 11- mine will be on Painting with the Holy Spirit and Michael’s will be on spiritual mapping and prayer walking.   We will be at St. Michael’s Church in Colonie Sunday June 5, and Michael will be speaking at the Healing service at Christ the King  Spiritual Life Center, Tuesday, June 14.  We’d love to see you at any of these places!

It will be good to get some resolution on our house so we will be working to make something happen in that area on our trip.  Many thanks for your prayers as we seek God’s grace in it all!

We send you our love and prayers, as always.

Much love,

Christine and Michael

Hello Everyone!

Hope a joyous Easter was had by all.  We were blessed to be able to spend Easter with three of Michael’s cousins in Sturminster Newton.  These are special folks we had visited five years ago when we first started hearing about our calling to come here.  It was especially wonderful to share Easter and our hopes, plans and dreams with them at this time.

Above are some of the Easter treats – The blue bowl holds Michael’s favorite clotted cream! His smile at seeing that was amazing!! Friends and family are truly some of God’s greatest blessings – you are all daily in our prayers!!

We held our Spiritual Mapping /House of Prayer on April 25.  Different people contributed from a historical understanding of Bristol as well as from a spiritual knowledge and Michael gave a good Scriptural reference list of how territory and land are important to God, and we are stewards spiritually as well as physically.   He will be coordinating another meeting in May with people going out to specific areas not only to pray to free the land from past sins, but to pray blessings too.

You may have been reading about the Bristol riots – first on April 22, then another Friday morning, April 29. They began as a protest against a Tesco’s supermarket opening in the area, but ended by being a melee of violence involving about 400 people and 200 police officers on Friday.  This has been happening in an area of the city which is a difficult area due to clubs, drugs and alcohol, and poverty. We have several good friends who live there and they are praying while actively being a positive Christian presence in the midst of it all.

 Quite oddly, a graffiti mural has gone up near our home in Arnos Vale (a neighborhood of the City of Bristol) in March which depicts the Bristol riots of 1831 and shows military on horseback fighting back the people.  It’s quite a large mural, and either it is prophetic or these apparently spontaneous riots have been planned for awhile.

Here’s Michael:

Well England continues to be a very complex mixture of poverty and wealth, great gardens and litter abounding in the streets, royal weddings and spiritual malaise.  In Bristol there is a strong sense that God is working here. There is going to be a movement of God here because it so desperately needs it. There is an overt anti establishment movement.  As we progress with our ministry here we find there is a real need for more  spiritual awakening. The daily prayer walks, the prayer house and other elements of our work here are all  born out of a yearning to see a movement of God increase in this city and then the nation.

Thank you all for your prayers and support – we so much appreciate your love and help.  We will be in New York in June for our daughter’s wedding and in Boston for a job for Michael and a chance to visit with our son and daughter in law who are expecting their first child in June. We look forward to hearing your feedback, comments, and ideas as we join together to bring God’s Kingdom here on earth.

 Love and Prayer, Michael and Christine

We send you all blessings and love from our post in Bristol.  More than ever, we are convinced of God’s goodness and faithfulness as we make our way along in this spiritual adventure. God has blessed us with some really good spiritual friends and companions here who provide the good food of the Gospel in our fellowship times together. We love that!!  It’s worth so much!

Our House of Prayer is continuing to bless this area of the UK on a monthly basis.  Michael feels led to develop  spiritual mapping and organize prayer walks in the different areas of Bristol to increase the prayer covering.  We are praying for an open heaven over Bristol, that God’s Kingdom will come in power.   We see signs of that all around, like our street is a much quieter, cleaner street than it used to be.  We know many of our neighbors and Michael brought tea to some brick layers last week who said they had never seen such a friendly street!   Further developments in teams of people praying in the streets are spreading out across the denominations all over Bristol .      People are uniting to pray for healing and God’s Presence everywhere!  Oh how good are the movements of God’s Holy Sprit amongst His people.  during a prayer session with Fr. Scott Evans when he was here, Michael heard God tell him to payer walk the streets for at least an hour a day, and he will take care of the rest.  Michael has been faithful to that and continues to have amazing experiences and is gaining a perspective of the hurting and lost in our area.  He walks miles all around Bristol declaring out loud ‘Jesus Christ is Lord of this nation’ and other prayers.  He now feels called to start picking up the work that has been done of spiritual mapping in Bristol and to take it to a place where we can initiate intercession into different areas of the past and present for the city. We feel God has been blessing us during this time in so many ways.    We’ve just returned from a two day trip to London, where Michael had been given a pass (worth £700!) to a two day workshop on the digital media revolution put on by the British Association of Film makers.  He feels that we as Christians need to know how fast technology is changing and the effects it is going to have on society. We need to have Christians speaking out and leading in these areas because the industry is going ahead as fast as it can often without thought of the direction and consequences of what is developing. He has gained quite a perspective which I’m sure will be put into practice in the days and weeks ahead.

We were blessed with a wonderful visit from our son Mark who came here on business.  We had such a good visit, with a day in London at the British Museum – his primary desire was to see the Rosetta Stone!     We also visited Assyrian and Egyptian art which took place during the time of the old testament – so fascinating to see the art that was created in those times.

God’s been giving me revelation about art, and the icons, which I need to process now in the studio.  I am being asked to re define with more clarity what my mission for the Kingdom is in art.  Part of that is a call to excellence so I am visiting museums, seeing old and contemporary art.  I will be studying at the Florence academy of Art in July classical portraiture.  I’m very excited.  I’m also volunteering next week to help sell Christian art at a major Christian conference called Spring Harvest.  I’m continuing to teach two watercolor classes each week and want to have a more full on teaching job for the fall.  We may be commuting to London on a weekly basis to get work.

Here are our prayer requests for the next month:

• that God will give us clear discernment about whether to stay here or return to NY where our house is.
• Financial breakthrough, in jobs, sales of paintings, and any other income stream the Lord wants to open up for us to finance our endeavors.  This is high priority!
• Successful resolution of our house in NY – either a good sale or a good rental.
• Spiritual Protection – particularly on financial and health issues.
• Prayer for the Christian community to play a part in the digital revolution which is underway, in healthcare, education, music, video and interactive games.
• Spiritual mapping of Bristol can come together through many people working together on it.
• That Christian videographers in Bristol would start working together to witness what God is doing here.

We continue to be blessed by serving as chaplains at Frenchay Hospital with a dedicated group from Woodlands Church.

So, we love you, value your prayers, and love to hear from you.  Blessings and love, Christine and Michael

We write to you to keep in touch, let you know what we’re doing, and we do this  with great joy because God is continuing to bless us on this amazing journey He has us on!  Below is a picture of the beautiful Bath Abbey which recently began selling Christine’s icon cards in their gift shop – praise God!

The City of Bath is  a few miles from Bristol and the most beautiful city to visit.

We’ve been blessed with new art teaching jobs for Christine and an opportunity to present our work at a city wide Church event. Michael will be able to outline his vision of “As One” a website which lists Christian events and news across the denominations, as well as having a page of  24-7 Prayer Slot sign up also interdenominational.  We’re looking for key people to connect and work with as well as for funding.     This would also support our House

of Prayer which is gaining ground too.  Our vision is to support prayer in every way that we can as we know this is key to Revival sweeping the land. And we see sprouts of it happening! We want more Lord!

Michael is enjoying his volunteering at the Crisis Center – a Christian run organization which feeds and supports the homeless in Bristol. He recently heard God ask him to go out into the streets and pray for one hour every day.  His daily journey to so many different parts of Bristol have shown him a broken world of people who are laid low by poverty,drugs, alcohol, or a culture which doesn’t support Godly principles. He is able to pray with people at times, and always he is praying his way through the streets. He wants our house of prayer to start doing spiritual mapping so we know what to pray into in each area.   

Christine has been blessed by joining the British Iconographers’ Association and they have run a notice of her teaching iconography at her Paintworks Studio.

Another fun thing this past month – we were blessed with two visits from great

friends in God’s world and ours!  First, our good friend from Randy Clark’s School, Chad Cromer came with his new fiance.  They were guests at our February House of Prayer meeting, met the minister of the church we are attending,  and gave some powerful healing prayer which resulted in at least two healings that night!     Our next visitor was Fr. Scott Evans from upstate New York who came for the London Alpha conference. We were blessed by a wonderful night of prayer and fellowship before he headed to London.   (You’ve got to love my icon of  ”Christ in Glory” behind them in the photograph.  It looks like they are right in God’s embrace, as indeed they are!)

We celebrated our wedding anniversary this month with a trip to the ballet in Bristol and saw Romeo and Juliette – very romantic!

And now for the really exciting news:  our son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Kristi are expecting their first child! AND our daughter Micah will be marrying her wonderful Tor Knos in New York in June!  How’s that for an amazing God!

So, we will be spending a good bit of June in New York.  We would love to come to give a talk at your church and share our vision.   We want to hear from you because it strengthens us so

much to know we are not alone.   We’re praying for changed lives, healed bodies, renewed minds and open hearts -AND a Revival! Do you have a heart to see the UK  filled once again to overflowing  with God’s love and Holy Spirit?  Won’t you join us?

Your prayers are an important part of our effort and we know we can’t do this without others. If you feel called to be part of our intercessory prayer team let us know.

We pray that God will bless you richly throughout 2011.     Love and Prayers,  Michael and Christine