Encountering God and Discovering our Call

I was born and raised in Plainview, New York, in a wonderful Christian family. In the late 60’s and early 70’s I began to seek God in a greater way. I read the bible that my grandfather gave me and desired to see for myself what the early church had. I hungered to know God, but didn’t really know Him.

While attending a Bible study at age 13, I discovered a book, “They Speak with Other Tongues,” and read about others experiencing the Christian life that I desired. Soon after, I visited a church that my friend’s grandmother attended nearby and met others who were encountering God that way. That experience made a big impact on me; however, the biggest impact happened soon after graduating High School.

Visiting a home meeting in Hicksville, New York, I was “born again.” A Swedish missionary on his way to Africa named, Kurt Johansson, ministered on John 3:16. As he preached in accented English, I heard Jesus Himself speak to me: “You have been seeking me; but now I am coming for you.”

God’s love flooded my heart, and Christ’s power changed me forever. My life was radically changed, and I returned to revival at Westminster Choir College and in the Princeton area. We saw many saved, supernaturally healed, and delivered as we met in the powerful presence of God on campus. I attended a prophetic house church nearby and responded to God’s call while pursuing my studies at music school. Mary Anne and I became friends, and we wrote and recorded many original worship songs in our prophetic community. She was saved and filled with the Spirit in the revival at Wilmington, Delaware a few years before.

We made plans in 1979 to marry and settle in New Jersey, but the Lord clearly directed us to Martinsville, Virginia to join a newly formed church, which we now pastor. We continued ministering, writing and producing worship music, and our church saw signs and wonders locally and as our leaders traveled internationally. Soon, we were made a part of the leadership team of a thriving, young church.

In 1985, while leading worship in Danville, Virginia, Apostle Costa Deir invited us to be Music Directors at Elim Bible Institute in Lima, New York. At Elim from 1985-1989, we were licensed and trained future leaders in worship for revival. We then spent a year as Music Directors at Evangel Cathedral with Bishop Houston Miles in Spartanburg, South Carolina. We were ordained and planned to stay some time; however, our former church asked us to pastor the following year in Eden, North Carolina, and we accepted.

We continued to work with Elim Fellowship and produced and trained Highest Call, their full time traveling prophetic worship team that we started with Phil McNeil. God then called us back on staff of the Martinsville church in 1994 as Worship and Children’s pastors. The Martinsville church had grown and was making a significant impact in the community in worship, through a crisis pregnancy center, a free medical clinic, and a facility for men with substance abuse in addition to nurturing revival in Europe. However, we were not aware of the challenges that awaited us.

Between 1997 through 1999, our congregation endured two serious tragedies: one, the paralysis of our co-pastor through an accident during brain surgery, and second, the sudden departure of our founding pastor. I was set in as Senior Pastor and asked to lead the church through sorrow, healing, and restoration. Several other tragedies followed, and members scattered; some to other churches, and others to disillusionment. God was faithful during this time of pain, and we began the slow process of healing and restoration.

On January 1, 2000, at a New Year’s conference in Toronto, the Lord promised that revival was coming soon. Revival came with great power on St. Patrick’s Day, attracting people from all over the country. Through this revival, God began restoring us and preparing us for His purposes in the new millennium.

In 2001, our daughter Elizabeth heard Randy Clark speak at Elim Bible Institute where she studied. He talked about the first Youth Power Invasion to Brazil, and several of our youth attended. This began our association with Randy and Global Awakening, whom we are now ordained with and a part of their apostolic network.

We continued pastoring, training leaders, and witnessing the supernatural power and amazing love of God through Christ Jesus to our community as God restored our church back to health. We also worked to bring churches in our community together in prayer and worship with National Day of Prayer.

As our church grew and made strong again, the Holy Spirit began to release us to minister outside our community in other parts of the USA, and to other nations, including nations in the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and Asia. This is how Oxbow Ministries was birthed. This is our story.