Category Archives: Uncategorized

Marching On!!

March 12, 2014UncategorizedBill Johnson, Columbia County Arts Council, Healing Prayer Workshop, Hudson Chamber of Commerce, Pope Francis, Randy Clark, Saint Luke's ChurchChristine Hales

Hello Friends and Family:

Yes, Marching on! It’s about to start snowing again but SPRING is marching on! It is still light at 6:16PM today and there has been more rain than snow so far today. Ha! After what seemed like an endless February, March, April, and May are flying by already. There are a few things coming up that we want to invite you to:

Saturday. March 15, 9:30-4:15pm “Healing Prayer Workshop” at Saint Luke’s Church in Cambridge, NY- Michael will be teaching on Healing Prayer and there will be opportunities for folks to receive healing prayer ministry.

“Faces” Portrait exhibition curated by myself and in cooperation with the Hudson Chamber of Commerce and the Columbia County Arts Counci l, featuring 4 women artists showing portraits they have painted. My Nelson Mandela portrait will be in that show among others. Opens March 22. Opening reception April 12, 6-8PM

Icon Exhibition at Saint Gregory’s Episcopal Church, Woodstock, New York : myself, some of my students, and others have contributed to a beautiful array of icons for the Lenten observation at Saint Gregory’s. Call the church for viewing times.

Voice of the Prophets Conference in Lancaster, PA will host Patricia King, Larry Randolph, Bob Hazlet, Randy Clark, Mavesh Chavda among others and worship with Martin Smith!!! We’re going, with our students – hope you can come too.

I’ve been exploring the art of community over the winter and am experiencing some wonderful relationships and activities as a result. The message of community building is up this month not only with Bill Johnson at Bethel Church in Redding, PA for his March 2 sermon, but also with Pope Francis. I’ve been reading a great biography of him “Francis, Bishop of Rome”, by Michael Collins. I love drawing his portrait – here’s an early drawing – there will be more!

In “Only Love Can Save Us,” by Pope Francis, talking about Crossing the Threshold of Faith, says ” Crossing the threshold of faith leads us to seek for each individual the same mind as Christ Jesus. (see Phil 2:5), so that each one of us may experience a new way of thinking, of communicating with and looking at each other, of respecting one another, of being together as a family, of planning our futures, of living out our love for each other and our vocation.”

In Christ, all things are new. Our ways of sharing with each other can constantly change to reflect our needs, values, and hopes. My prayer for us all is that we grow ever better at showing this love for each other, closer together in sharing the challenges and joys of life, our vocations, and our love of God.

Know that Michael and I hold each of you in our prayers. This newsletter is our away of reminding you that we ARE HERE for you! Please keep us in your prayers, too – it makes all the difference!

Love and prayers,

Christine and Michael

Healing Prayer Teaching in Cambridge, NY

February 26, 2014UncategorizedBethel, Healing Prayer, Michael Hales, propheticChristine Hales

Dear Friends and Family:

Just a quick note to invite all who live in the New York area to come to St. Luke’s Church in Cambridge, New York on Saturday, March 15, 9:30-4PM where we will be hosted by Fr. Jim French and teaching more about how God desires to move in our midst and how we can co-labor with him to bring more of Heaven to New York!

There is no cost for the conference, however a free will offering will be taken. Please bring a bag lunch. Drinks and refreshments will be provided. The conference will include time for worship, teaching on Words of Knowledge, a Five Step Healing Prayer Model and Deliverance as well as opportunities for ministry.

There will be an opportunity to receive healing prayer in the afternoon after the teaching sessions so bring those you know who would be blessed by this opportunity.

Also a quick mention that Bill Johnson’s Church in Redding, CA is hosting a conference starting tomorrow on “Developing Prophetic Communities” . For a small fee you can watch on line – increase your knowledge while still here in the frozen North!

Love to you all,

Michael and Christine

Month of Snow!

February 12, 2014UncategorizedChristine Hales, Global Awakeing, Mick Hales, prayerChristine Hales

Dear Family and Friends:

Does our blog always coincide with a major snowstorm? Since we have one once or twice a week now, it is very likely! I’m including some snow photos this month for our friends and family in the UK. I’m even painting snow landscapes!!! Never before, but now one has to find beauty in the snow!

We are expecting 8-12 inches tomorrow and we had that x2 last week, so today we will go to Hudson and celebrate our twenty year wedding anniversary, then get ready to get some serious work done in the snow tomorrow!

Here are a few photos of an outreach of our Kingdom School at the Schenectady soup kitchen last month. We love our students and so much enjoy our worship times together.

Michael has been visiting local area churches each Sunday as well as continuing to develop relationships with other Pastors at the Capital District Ministers’ Fellowship.

We will be meeting with our mentors, the Litteers, soon. They pour so much wisdom into us – we are so blessed.

I’m excited about painting – a gallery in NJ just sold a large one and I expect to curate an exhibition in Hudson next month. It’s part of a project building relationships with local businesses and the CCCA to promote and value artists and their value as economic stimulators. I believe that my church right now is the art world and I am having fun carrying the atmosphere of heaven to folks who might not otherwise get to experience it.

This cross is in our back garden and you can see the deer tracks running through!

I’m teaching an extra icon writing class here in Philmont and that is a joy. Here is one of my egg tempera portraits of Nelson Mandela. I’ve been reading his biographies since Christmas and have learned so much about the spiritual walk through him. His strength and ability to keep his eye on the goal is inspiring.

He reminds me of the words of Saint Paul:

“You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 Mandela was educated by Methodists in his youth and I believe that early faith and education was a foundation for his ability to persevere and uphold his belief in freedom for all people.

Our prayer requests this month center around our need for more relationships with people who are excited to love and serve God in this area. We look to the Lord for direction and discernment and we give thanks for the blossoming of our careers in photography and painting to be all that God has destined for them to be.

Many thanks to all f you who support this ministry with your gifts and prayers. You are daily in our prayers,

Love, Michael and Christine

Michael’s Photography website:

www.mickhales.com

Christine’s Painting Websites: www.christinehales.com

www.newchristianicons.com

Radical Generosity

January 11, 2014UncategorizedAlbany, Bill Johnson, CCCA, Global Awakening, GSSM, iBethel, Mick Hales, New YorkChristine Hales

Greetings Friends and Family:

While it is sad taking down the sparkly Christmas decorations and all the holiday get togethers are now in the past, it is also exciting to dig in, once again, to WORK!! We are so blessed to love our work. Work certainly is not easy, but it is stimulating and interesting to research new icons, begin drawings, prepare for the new school semester for iconography and Kingdom School and visiting new clients.

Last night in Kingdom School, we watched a talk by Bill Johnson from Bethel Church, Redding, CA. It was one of the most important talks for me in a long while. In it, he shares about how walking in power attracts rejection. He talks about how to respond and he also talks about Daniel and his ability to have favor in a very hostile environment. Radical generosity was demonstrated when God sent His only son to be born in a manger to bless a world full of sinners. Bill is such an inspiration of one who holds a vision for Revival locally and internationally and who demonstrates the ways of effective and honorable leadership. We are so thankful to be part of that Apostolic Network and look forward to the day that more of that is alive here in the Albany area.

God is inspiring me to paint icons the way He is showing me now, and that is allowing me to evolve an individual style. It is so exciting partnering with God – highly recommended way to go! This small Christ study and the Saint Benedict icon are on the path to what I’m developing. I Can’t tell you how exciting that is to see where He will take it. I feel the way my little granddaughter must have felt the other day on her first sled ride in Boston!

I now have an icon blog and will be teaching two additional classes this winter in order to fund a project I have in mind for next winter. I’ll be giving a demonstration of icon writing in Troy later this month at the Art Center as part of an opening reception for an exhibition of my and my students icons which is part of a larger three gallery show. I’m looking forward to all the new people to share God’s love with!! Yippee! How different from when I used to have artist openings, BC (Before Christ :)). I always have had Christ in my life, but being transformed is another story. As you know.

My wonderful, spirit filled husband is taking three of our students to the Pursuit Conference in PA this month – they will have an amazing time! He is also working on developing new clients and navigating promotion in the social networking world. His website is always developing and looking stunning.

Michael’s birthday was Christmas Eve, so we went to the Boston Ballet for the Nutcracker Suite and then on to Trinity Church in Boston for Christmas Eve serve. Truly a night to remember.

For Christmas we were blessed to share christmas stockings in Boston on christmas morning with our lovely daughter in law, Kristi, brilliant son, Mark and beautiful granddaughter Carwen. I made Yorkshire puddings in honor of Michael and the UK!

In ourselves, we are experiencing the value of having had the Global Awakening training with it’s emphasis on healing both inner and physical. We have studied under the best teachers and are exploring how to bring that to the Albany area next year. We so much appreciate your prayers for God’s hand to be upon us not only for provision, but guidance and direction and fruitful partnerships.
There’s so much more I’d like to share but give us a call, write or get together with us. We love you and miss you,

Michael and Christine

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Merry Christmas!

December 10, 2013UncategorizedRandy ClarkChristine Hales

Hello Friends and Family:

We’ve just returned from the “Empowered” conference at Global Awakening in PA and are recharged and refreshed by the message and teachings of inner healing and evangelism. While there, during a time of impartation, Randy Clark blessed two of my icons: Mary of Egypt and the Madonna and Child. Mary of Egypt is an icon of Repentance and transformation. The story goes that Mary of Egypt was a prostitute who, upon seeing an icon of the Madonna and Child was delivered and set free from lust and dedicated the remainder of her life to serving Jesus. Since this was a healing conference those two icons were relevant, and for me to have them blessed by Randy gives spiritual validity to them as objects bearing God’s glory and grace in a contemporary tradition of Christianity. Here’s a link to the video Michael took of the blessing.

Michael and I are reviewing our mission statement to include training and establishing a healing prayer team that will function on a regular basis at one of the churches we have relationship with as part of our goal to bring Revival to the Albany area. I am also making an effort to include museum and gallery outreach events using icons and my paintings to affect the local culture with Holy Spirit inspired art.

We both participated in Our Savior’s Lutheran Church’s Holy Spirit Conference in Albany last month. I gave a very well attended and received prophetic art workshop and Michael ministered all day on that Saturday. It was a beautiful time of refreshment and revelation for God’s people in the Albany area. There were probably about 150 people attending which was a nice surprise for us all!

My new icon blog has begun and Michael will be starting a photographer’s blog soon.

After Thanksgiving, we hosted a Thanksgiving feast for our students and partners from last year and this year – it was great fun as you can see from these photos!

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So, with all the distractions and even sometimes sorrowful events that occur during this Christmas season, remember that Christ is with us, He is knocking on our door and His invitation is to experience heaven with Him now.

We send you our love and prayers. Please pray for us that God will send Michael enough photography work to get us through the winter and that my paintings sell to good collectors. We are believing for an abundant harvest !

Love and prayers,

Christine and Michael

October Pumpkin Time!

October 23, 2013UncategorizedArise Bristol, burning hearts, Christine Hales, Kingdom Arts Ministry, Michael Hales, Mick Hales, mission, prayer, Prophetic art, RevivalChristine Hales

“I love the Lord, because He hears and answers my prayers. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!” Psalm 116:1-2

Hello Friends and Family:

Just as October draws to a close, our Kingdom School students are preparing to travel to Baltimore for on site street ministry training from the amazing Burning Heart Ministry with Jay Baylor. Michael will be leading two of our second year students and four first year interns with a very full schedule of ministering to the poor and taking the Gospel to the streets in Baltimore, MD. We fully expect miracles to take place, so more on that next blog!

Kingdom School is going well, with merging second and first year students for many of the teachings, but each year having a separate curriculum and reading list. Only God could have orchestrated this combination but we are gratefully enjoying the interactions of our new group. Great people, all in Love with Jesus!

My iconography teaching is going well – loving the students and the devotion to prayer and sharing the Presence of God in icons. We have now formed the St. Luke’s Guild of Iconography with a FB page and lots of great photos of icons in progress. We are an ecumenical group of artist who share a similar vision for God’s Kingdom and how icons play a part in experiencing and bringing the Presence of God into our daily lives.

I’ve been blessed with the honor of having the Catholic Missal publication for 2014 using my Christ in Glory Icon. Michael has had an article recently in New York Cottage and Garden Magazine and we are having fun getting our images out into the world. Seed! Because God is in everything we do and we want more and more people to receive Him through images. The stealth method of Evangelization!

Second year students have just finished reading Danny Silk’s “Culture of Honor”and it is a must read, having to do with creating a culture amongst ourselves that allows us to make mistakes, repent and stay in relationship to God and each other. “Remember, the Old Covenant was an external covenant, a system of controls to keep sinners in line. But the New Covenant is an internal covenant for sons and daughters who, because of their new nature, can be trusted with the responsibility to govern themselves and have access to the power of self control through the Holy Spirit”. Isn’t that good? There’s so much more worth sharing – I hope you can get a copy of the book, too.

Our prayer requests for this season are: For more good clients for Michael’s Photography, for good galleries to represent and sell my paintings, and for our Kingdom Community to flourish, grow and multiply. We pray for wisdom to take all the steps God wants us to take to further His Kingdom in the realms He has placed before us.

Please pray especially for our team going to Baltimore, that they experience God’s Holy Spirit healing people today and that they bring that with them wherever they go!

We earnestly desire contact with each one of you, so please keep in touch and know that you are in our prayers, also.

Much love,

Christine and Michael

September Beginnings

September 24, 2013Uncategorizedchurch, Kingdom SchoolChristine Hales

“Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.” 2Thessalonians 1

Kingdom School has begun, but not as we thought it would! So many changes – location changed to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Colonie, the meeting times have changed as we moved from being a GSSM Satellite school to a school that uses teachings from several on line sources but still attends Global Awakening conferences as often as possible .

We have found that the process is more important than the end result. Through all these changes we have grown in our relationships with the Christians and men and women of God in our area and are understanding more of what role we can play in Revival in the Hudson Valley and Albany Region. The key is to listen and pay attention to what God is blessing and move in that direction. That usually means giving up some ideas we’ve had and making room for new ones!

This seems like a good time to look back over what our ministry has accomplished over the past year and we wanted to share with you some of the highlights:

*Taking a team of 15 people to the Global Awakening Conferences in Pennsylvania 3 times last year was an incredible experience. Watching our students grow in maturity in Christ and gain from the experienced leadership of Randy Clark and others was exciting and gratifying.

*Graduation with over 100 people from this area attending and outstanding pastors from this area: Pastors Stan Slager, Jay Francis, Bart Henegan, Chuck Englefield, Don & Nancy Childs,Rev. Susan Baker Borjeson,Fr. Steve & Lorrie Hart, Fr. Tyler & Audrey Slade, and many others all attesting to the impact the school is having in our area.

* Philmont Community Spirit Day and The Healing service on the Village Green in Philmont were such fun ways to join together with the pastors and people of Philmont who love God and enjoy each others’ company.

*Running Kingdom School 2013-2014 – a unique ministry training program for people to mature in their faith and become equipped to carry the message of the Gospel into everyday life.

*I’ve also identified my painting calling more specifically and have spent the summer working on a portfolio of landscapes with which to approach commercial galleries – these can be seen at: www.christinehales.com. Also I took an egg tempera workshop with Koo Schadler and for my class project I am copying a Raphael portrait. It isn’t finished yet, but am including a photo of its present state, then next month you will hopefully see it completed. Egg tempera skills have improved dramatically and I’m ready to do some new icons!

My icon class teaching is increasing this year to include teaching an icon class at The Art Center of the Capital Region in Troy, NY. The Woodstock class this past summer was great and will probably offer that again this summer. My ongoing Albany icon class is forming an iconography guild: St. Luke’s Guild of Iconographers and we are having our first Guild exhibition this November at the Slate Museum in Granville, NY.

Michael has updated his photography portfolio and is increasing his client base and seeking an agent. His website is: www.Mickhales.com. I don’t know how he does everything, but he is passionate about our school, preparing the lessons and working with Carol MacNaughton on outreach opportunities. The school will be going to an inner city church in Baltimore in October to practice praying on the streets with Jay Baylor. Very exciting!

Our prayer requests for this month consist of prayers for new business for both of us, blessings on the students of Kingdom School, continued good health, and financial provision that we may grow and expand according to the vision God has placed within us.

“We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1

Sending you our love, prayers, and thanks for your prayers,

Faithfully,

Michael and Christine

Philmont Healing Service

August 12, 2013UncategorizedChristine Hales

Hello Friends and Family:

Thank you all very much for your prayers. We had a blessed healing service, right at the same time a huge music festival was going on a mile away. Praying that God’s Holy Spirit blessed them too.

We were a small but mighty group, and our worship team did an amazing job of blessing us all. There were at least three healings and a least one couple came from the three nights Michael went knocking door to door in Philmont. The five Pastors of Philmont all worked together and everything was truly a gift from God. Bless you our great intercessors. Can’t do it without you! Next time we want more people!

Here are a few more photos and a thousand thanks for your prayers. Sending you love,

Christine and Michael

Works in Progress!

August 8, 2013Uncategorizedchurch, Global Awakening, Kingdom SchoolChristine Hales

Hello Friends and Family:

I hope this August finds you well – what great weather we are having! Michael and I have been praying for two things that will both be happening on Saturday, August 10 and we would like to ask you to pray for these events too!

First, At Coxsackie Gospel Community Church at 10AM we will hold an informational meeting about the GSSM Satellite Kingdom School to see how many people may be interested in attending this year. Registration deadline is August 22 so we need to know soon if we will have enough people to run the school again this year.

Please keep that in your prayers, that God will open the hearts of those He wantxs to attend and that they would come forward with papplications. If we don’t get enough people, we are fine with whatever God wants to do.

God has been blessing both of us in our professions this month, me with some significant painting sales and two excellent icon classes to teach, and Mick with some jobs and new clients. We know it is so important to always be seeking what God is doing and come into agreement with that, so please pray for us to see and hear Him clearly.

The second event on Saturday, August 10 is the Philmont Healing Service to be held on the Village Green at 4PM. THe meeting Michael has been hosting of the Philmont Pastors believed they heard from God to hold this healing service on this date. “Coincidentally” there will be a huge punk-rock festival with thousands of people drinking and all the rest and it just a couple of miles away and it will be in full swing on August 10. Yay God! Something is going on in the heavenlies and our little band of four ministers are going to lead a healing service that we pray will change the atmosphere of this village forever. We are praying that all the young and neglected families from Main street will come with their children. Our friend Brenda has made some of her amazing posters which we now have all over town. SO, wherever you are, please lift us up in prayer on Saturday, August 10. We re praying for healings, restored relationships, and a changed atmosphere – that the spirits of poverty, addiction, mockery, unbelief and alcoholism be gone, in Jesus’ name.

We will be posting the photos and news from Philmont Healing Service Day. Thank you for your prayers!

Love you all!

Michael and Christine

Fourth of July Weekend!

July 5, 2013UncategorizedChristine Hales, Global Awakening, Kingdom School, Mick HalesChristine Hales

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Hot, beautiful, and and a four day weekend – yay! We’re working in the heat but also taking time to play at the Lake and go to the opening of the contemporary drawings in Kingston where I have a drawing on Sat eve. Looking forward to bringing God to the art world of Kingston, in abstract form! Good place to try it out, I say!

Fourth of July is a big deal in our home – my son was born on the Fourth of July, my grandfather on the 2 and my father and my son’s other grandfather on the 3rd of July. Michael and I are both on a “read the Bible through in a year” program and have just finished the Book of Numbers. It is so clear to us that we personally are on the verge of entering into God’s Promises for us as we step out into our fields of art and photography to be all that God has created us to be. As we read the story of Moses and the Israelites, there are so many lessons for us, to make sure we DO receive the Promises Go has for us. I am now inspired to create an icon of Joshua and Caleb! Such a good example for us to keep our minds fixed on the prize, not the problems!!!! I know you know what I mean!

Michael has a book proposal out that we are praying w ill come through, and some new clients this spring. Yay! His website: www.mickhales.com is receiving lots of international attention, too, praise God.

We both feel that we owe a great deal of our every and enthusiasm for achieving our unique destiny to our attending and then running a Global Awakening School. Words cannot express the many revelations we have received from the teachings and relationships we have formed are priceless. It is so worth all that we have paid to have that experience. We were stuck, before going to that school. We couldn’t figure out what to do to get unstuck. But the teachings and the school’s directors gradually gave us the insight and deeper connection with God that we needed to be able to see our lives and professions more clearly – through God’s eyes, not our own.

Michael Has created a beautiful video describing what our school does: Kingdom School PR.
The address is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuy2Zw-yXpM

SO, our news for now is that we are spreading news of the School for a fall start in September. Michael is in the middle of plans to hold another Philmont Revival here in August but more when those plans are finalized. I’m going to put our flyer that Michael designed here in the hopes you will share it with those you think would be blessed by our school. Sending you all lots of love and prayers, and we look forward to hearing from you soon,

Christine and Michael