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By Bill Gowey of Reztoration

I want to thank all of you who prayed for this trip from Yavapai Apache to San Carlos Apache reservation and back. The trip was great and God's grace opened some new doors for us to be His light and share His love, hope, healing and forgiveness in new Native circles.

My plan was to start in Prescott then to Yavapai Apache in the Verde Valley, then to Tonto Apache near Payson and ending up in San Carlos, then traveling back to Prescott on Friday. But things change and I began the prayer journey on the Clarkdale Yavapai Apache Rez gifting an Apache elder and asking his permission to offer my prayers. I shared about the nationwide Tribal Prayer Journey and that I wanted to start it on his Rez. He then told me, "I don't own this Rez." To which I responded, "Ya, but you are an elder." He said, "Ya, I am" and took my gifts and gave me his blessing and thanked us for praying for the land and peoples.

My second stop was to gift the acting president of the Rez Riders motorcycle club and share about the prayer journey. I was about a mile away from where we had planned to meet and a Redtail Hawk flew up from the side of the road and flew right over me, it was close enough to spook me a little.

As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed another hawk circling 100 yards east of me and the Rez Riders president. He looked at the hawk and said that is a sign that this prayer journey is a good thing. I reached out to shake his hand and he grabbed me and gave me a hug. I shared my gifts and talked with him about things and as I was getting ready to go he told me that the Rez Riders were going to sponsor a motorcycle ride for spinal cord injuries among native peoples and asked if I would come the day before the ride and do a prayer ceremony for the riders. I said yes and thought to myself that I will change my schedule any way I needed to to be there. This is only the 3rd time I ever talked with this guy and he is really open and supportive of our ministry and wants me to hang out with him and the Rez Riders. As we shook hands we both noticed that there were two Redtail Hawks circling near us, one just to our east and one just to our west. He shook his head and said this is a good sign.

I spent the first night in Payson and attended a coffee shop church and met some new friends and reconnected with a man I had met about 10 years ago in Mesa. He had just moved back from years of ministering on the Navajo Rez. It was a good time and I got a lot of encouragement about the nation wide tribal prayer journey.

On Thursday morning I prayed on the Tonto Apache Nation and headed to San Carlos. As I rode into the Tonto Basin there were two more Redtail Hawks, one circling and one that flew over me and landed on a rock ledge. I was thinking about all the birds of prey that I have seen on this prayer journey and on the 2009 prayer journey as well. I rode about another mile and a mature Bald Eagle was circling just off the road on my left. I was praying and asking God what was up. It came to me that something had happened to the Apache people in that basin. Then, at the south end of the Tonto Basin two Bald Eagles sat in a tree over the lake. I knew this was something I needed to share with someone at San Carlos.

When I got to San Carlos I visited the traditional elder I had met in 2009. It was a good reunion. I shared about the Hawks and Eagles and asked about the history of Tonto Basin. I asked if something bad had happened there and he said nothing but shook his head as to say yes. He thanked me for coming back to visit him and gave encouragement about the nation wide tribal prayer journey.

Then I rode out to Old San Carlos. It was a prison camp for Apache, Yavapai, and other tribes who had been removed from their homeland in the late 1800's. I found a place filled with 1000's of broken beer and liquor bottles. They covered the ground at the place God sent me to pray to break the strongholds of "Drug Abuse, Alcoholism, and Suicide." I could feel the hopelessness and death. It is a place where 100's of Native people died in captivity and now it was still a place of death. I offered my prayers and then rode back to New San Carlos speaking words of life, forgiveness, and healing to the land.

A month ago I met an Apache man who is a follower of Christ. He had asked me to call when I came to San Carlos so I did and left a message. We ended up having dinner where he shared his heart for his Apache people. We talked about many things and I shared some thoughts with him and about how God had us do ministry here in northern Arizona. Then he told me of a dream he had. He said that in the dream a spiritual person had come to the Rez and talked with him and when that person had left he saw himself guiding traditional and medicine people in following Jesus. Then he said, "You are the one who has come." I did not know what to say and felt very humbled because I did not let anyone on the San Carlos Rez know that I was coming. I just went and trusted God to make the right connections.

As we finished our time together this Apache man asked if I would come back and share my story in the high school there on the Rez and asked me to come back in early fall to speak at a men's wellness camp and to run a talking circle there. I accepted his invitations and look forward to what God has in store.

On Friday morning I headed back to Clarkdale Rez where the journey started two days earlier. It was a nice day and as I prayed for healing for the land and people the burden I had felt on my way to San Carlos lifted. As I spoke words of life and blessing it was good for my soul. I turned on the highway to head towards Payson to start my journey back and there was a Redtail Hawk circling right over me, I was blessed and thanked God for His creation then another Redtail flew up off the ground and flew just a few feet above me right over me and my bike. I could not believe it, it was just exactly what happened as I was leaving the Yavapai Apache Rez on my way. I do not know exactly what that it means but I do know it was not just by chance. I know that God hears the cries of our hearts for Native people.

It was an awesome journey. I got invited to do prayers for the Rez Riders event, asked to come and speak in the high school on San Carlos Apache Rez, asked to share at the men's wellness camp, and I shared my testimony and about the Prayer Journey with many people. Then we ended the journey praying with a Yavapai elder and another brother at Pueblo Ruins near the Clarkdale Rez.

Thanks for you prayers, encouragement and support.

Pastor Bill & Jan Gowey

Reztoration
2500 West Route 66 #74
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

P.S. On March 16-18 I will be doing a prayer journey to Prescott Yavapai Nation, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Salt River Pima, and a few other reservations around the Valley of the Sun. I'll end back in Flagstaff on March 18 for a Marriage Tune-Up at Canyon Chapel.

Please pray for protection, favor, wisdom and for provision.

The walls go up at the Acosta home on September 27.

As Midwest communities along the Mississippi River face a difficult recovery from the worst flooding the region has seen in 15 years, Foursquare pastors, church leaders and congregants are on the scene to bring assistance to people and neighborhoods that are in the most need.

Iowa District Supervisor Jim Machen and Regional Supervisor Cliff Hanes are actively engaged in assessing the needs of our churches and the communities affected by the flooding. Assistant General Supervisor Jim Scott is also in the region, helping to mobilize Foursquare’s response as people determine how to clean up and rebuild their homes and their lives.

Two semi trailer-loads of supplies have been shipped to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of the hardest-hit areas to date. Cedar Rapids Christian Center, a Foursquare church pastored by Barry Foster, was flooded with nearly four feet of water. Jim Machen, who accompanied Pastor Barry as he walked through his church building, writes: “We had to wear boots and masks to go through the church building once the water receded. The four-and-a-half feet of water that was in the church many days did major damage.”

Other areas in Iowa impacted by the rising water include:

• Waterloo: Pastor Jerry Burrow’s home was inundated with three feet of floodwater.
• Waverly: Water flooded the home of a recent Foursquare church planter.
• Vinton: Scattered flooding caused much damage, but recovery efforts are going well.
• Iowa City: A trailer park and some businesses were flooded, and a large church in the community had water inside up to the roof. House of Praise Foursquare Church, pastored by Richard McCaslin is fine, but the homes of two families in the church were flooded.
• Fort Madison: Flooding of homes and businesses along the river was made worse by a semi-load of carbon dust inadvertently dispersed into the floodwater.

Several Iowa churches, while not directly affected by flooding, have strongly participated in local relief efforts. Foursquare congregants from both Living Hope Community Church in Davenport, pastored by Renee Holm, and Burlington Foursquare Church, pastored by Sam Fratt, are providing meals for relief workers. The city of Davenport alone received one initial damage estimate of $4.5 million. Cleanup and restoration of the damaged region could take four years or more to complete.

The Foursquare church family across the U.S. is encouraged to pray diligently for our pastors and fellow Christians, especially those serving the needs of people affected by the flooding, as well as those volunteers who are working tirelessly to help with cleanup and restoration.

The National Church Office released initial funding for flood relief in several communities in Iowa, and is accepting donations to assist as additional needs are identified and assessed.

Ways to help

1. Monetary donations may be made payable to The Foursquare Church and mailed to:

Disaster Relief
The Foursquare Church
1910 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Please clearly mark “Disaster Relief” on the memo line of each check.

2. The Iowa District office currently is establishing a process for coordination of work teams. Teams wishing to assist with cleanup and recovery should contact the Iowa District office by calling 563.243.0701.

3. Pray for God's grace to embrace those that mourn, “to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:2-4 (NKJV).

Foursquare News Service #337