RAEWYNNE
“I clearly heard a voice and knew it was the Lord. He said to me, ‘I need you to feed them, I want you to go and want you to buy bacon, eggs, sausages, coffee, tea, milk and sugar. I want you to get the bread rolls and go at the end of the Saturday shift when the bread rolls are cheaper.’ A detailed list.
“My husband, Dean and I were living in the town part of Tauranga at that time, and I had seen so many people hanging around the main bus shelter and in doorways. I was shocked as I had never encountered so many needy people before. Although I was shocked, my upbringing had taught me that you feed people in need. So, I just knew I had to go and feed these people.
“The very next morning we went downtown in our little car, and I saw them in the old bus terminal. The druggies, the alcoholics, some of them still drinking from their bottles. When the ones who had bottles saw me, they tried to hide them behind their backs. I said to them, ‘you don’t have to do that. I have come to bring you fellas some kai, are you hungry!’ When we opened the boot of the car with all the food in it, they asked, ‘Who are you?’ I said to them ‘I am Jesus, and I’ve come to take care of you’.
“I remember this beautiful old pakeha gentleman who told me he didn’t have a bed to sleep in. I haven’t got any clean underwear or socks. I told him to wait until after we had finished feeding the men, I would return with what he needed. He cried.
“God provided the finances for all we were led to do. When we told people what we were doing, they would give us stuff and bless us. The doors opened and we knew we were doing what God called us to do. At that time there was no one doing this.
“So, every Sunday morning for several years, we would turn up with the food God had detailed for us to provide.
“As the needs became known, kind people would provide. One man brought foldout trestle tables. Lord, I prayed, I need urns for the hot water for the tea and coffee. One of the restaurants told us if we got extension cords we could plug into their power point. A bakery invited us to come at the end of their day and take all the left-over cakes and pies. I would get up at 4am and heat them in my oven and to take to the hungry men. God brought us in touch with the most amazing giving people, who I called whanau (family) who came to that place on a Sunday morning.
“One day a well-dressed lady with a long warm coat arrived, said hello and that she had come to help us. Our team started to grow. Another man would arrive towing his trailer packed with pews for the men to sit on. Dean would get up and minister and bring the word while I served on the tables and asked each one what their needs were.
“We became Jesus to all of them. We noticed some of the men would go into the public toilets and tidy themselves up as best they could. I would go to hug them but they would say ‘no whaea (aunty), don’t hug me, I stink’. I would say ‘I don’t care what you smell like, are you hungry’?
“One morning this beautiful family arrived and they brought their granddaughter. We had cornflakes and weetbix but this little girl said to her nana, she wanted porridge. The following Sunday I made sure I had a pot of porridge and served it up with cream and lots of brown sugar. I took a plate and a spoon from home for this little girl.
“Another week a lady arrived in a beautiful, flash white car. I wondered what church she was from. She had come from the Mount with the biggest pancakes and pikelets I had ever seen. She also brought maple syrup, jam and real butter. I cried. I didn’t ask if she was Christian, but she told me, she heard this voice telling her to do that. Those dirty stinking street men came up and shook her hand and thanked her. I have seen God do so many things in my life. God was there and blessed everything we did as we put our hands to the plough.
“Many years before whilst living in Auckland, God gave me a vision of an old-fashioned wooden plough with the horse. When I asked Him what that meant, he said I want you to go and plow up that land. I didn’t understand at the time, but I can clearly see now, He meant Tauranga. It is only now after walking through the valley of the shadow of death, I realise how deeply I needed the foundation God laid in my life, and the steadfast presence of my husband and my church whanau.
“Our journey took my husband and me to the Gold Coast, where we felt directed to a small church called Word of Life set amongst trees and bush. I also sensed this was the area where God was going to give us a house. But I wasn’t keen at all. I knew this was where snakes and creepy crawlies lived and the thought of them close by was very disturbing. On the first evening when we pulled up outside this little prefab church, I felt I could see them in the trees and in the grass. Lord, I cried, I can’t go in there! We turned around to drive away but just as we did the bright outdoor lights came on illuminating our exit. The power had gone off inside the church and in that moment they had switched on the generator. We could see people waving at us, smiling and beckoning us to come in. We parked, put on a brave face and went to meet them. It was beautiful inside, and we immediately felt the presence of God in the sanctuary. We returned the following Sunday carrying a large tray of cheesey cheese scones and date scones with an abundance of dates served with real butter. Our initial reluctance turned into such a blessing through this God led community.
“I was invited to study for a year at Rhema Bible College. God knew we didn’t have the money for fees. Dean applied for his first job, and the Lord showed me his boss was a tall man with red hair, named Peter. When the time came for the interview, my husband asked me to go with him, not to the interview but simply to drive with him for moral support. As we pulled into the carpark, I saw a man ahead of us and said – there he is. When I told my husband he was disbelieving, but he was offered the job and all the details were as God had shown me.
“He started work on the Wednesday morning and the deposit for Bible College had to be paid by 9am Friday morning. On that first day, Peter called my husband into his office and enquired how I was. Dean explained I was hoping to go to study and Peter, a non-believer said something like, oh well perhaps your God will provide. The church community were praying for a miracle and that night Peter phoned Dean and asked him for his bank account number. When my husband asked why, he was told, this money is for Raewynne to register for Bible college. Thank you, Jesus. What a lesson in faith. I believe this gave me the building blocks for my walk with the Lord. Operating in that gift of being able to see”.
“The just shall live by faith” Romans 1 :17
“Years later, on our faith journey, we were led back to Tauranga and met a couple from Iceland leading a local church. Who lives in Iceland other than Eskimos and seals I wondered? I was never taught about that as a child, I only knew it was up there, and we were down here.
“On our first visit to their church I genuinely thought Johnny Cash was up on the stage. There stood a tall slim man with blonde hair, black rimmed glasses, white shirt and little black tie, a long black jacket, black jeans with a guitar slung over his shoulder. It turned out not to be the famous Johnny Cash after all, but the Senior Pastor all the way from Iceland.
“When I heard him play guitar and sing, I felt I had walked into the presence of God. There was such an anointing on this man and his whole family. Tears streamed down my face. It reminded me of my own earthly Father, who I realised, now with Christian maturity that my own father was under the powerful anointing of God. He had a rare gift of hospitality and bringing people together.
“It was here in this moment I finally understood why God had opened doors and sent me to Bible college. When the Pastor came and stood before me, the Lord spoke and showed me something I had never seen or felt before. I asked the Pastor to take my hands, and as we stood facing one another, united in that moment, I shared what the Lord had revealed to me.
“‘As you were coming down from the platform, the Lord showed me an iceberg moving towards me with such precision. The Lord said, ‘Do not look at what is on top of the iceberg, look at what is underneath.’ The Pastors wife heard and began to weep. The Pastor hugged me, and we parted. Days later, he told me they were ready to book their return tickets to Iceland, but that moment marked a turning point for them. He said he felt a shift in the heavenly atmosphere when the word was spoken.
“God had sent me to Bible college so I would know Him more deeply, so His word would be anchored in my heart, and so I would recognise His voice and allow the Holy Spirit to work through me. In that moment, God used me to be His hands and feet, a messenger of His truth. Sharing that vision not only confirmed their decision to remain and continue to grow their ministry in New Zealand, but it also gave me the confidence to walk boldly in the anointing God had placed on my life.
“When New Zealand shut down due to covid, I was admitted to hospital with the virus. I felt unwell and while I was being assessed I had a vision of this powerful black figure with dark ringlets forcefully dragging this object along. He was dripping with sweat as he fought to hang onto his load. Next thing he screamed and picked up the load and hurled it at the light. The darkness disappeared. I was saved from the pits of hell by God’s angel Michael. I believe He was the light and caught me.
“For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep thee in all thy ways” Psalm 91:11
“The head nurse, accurately assessing the seriousness of my condition, ordered me to be taken to ICU separated from my husband, my whanau, my church family and my friends. In that moment I realised my whole life had been preparing me for this time. Everything else was stripped away including my dignity, until only my faith in God remained, and the deep knowing I was not alone, for He was with me.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”. Psalm 23:4
“I was gravely ill with tubes and monitors keeping me alive. Unable to even swallow I was fed by tube directly into my stomach.
“One Wednesday morning I looked at the clock and knew I was not getting better. The doctors came, all masked up and told me there was nothing more they could do. But in my head I was declaring ‘but my Jesus’. One Doctor took my hand and said they would make me as comfortable as possible, and they would contact Dean to tell him. I cried out to the Lord – where are you?
“In the early hours of the morning, hooked up to all the machines, unwashed and lying flat, I managed to open one eye and saw darkness in the upper corner of the room. I rested, then opened my eye once more. I saw a vision of Jesus hanging on the cross with the crown of thorns on His head, bleeding. He whispered ‘Raewynne, Raewynne, Raewynne I did this for you’.
“In my hour of need, in the early hours of that morning, in that watch time, alone and awake in hospital, you made yourself known to me, that you hung on that cross for me. You are the shepherd of our pastures, and I want to bring glory to your name. I believe He sent me to Bible college so I would know Him more. So, I would get the revelation in my heart and allow the Holy Spirit to work in me so He could use me, and I would be His hands and feet.
“I remained in ICU for a month but in all those long dark lonely days, God was faithful.
“One day a nurse asked me if I would like to listen to some music. I couldn’t talk but gave her a thumbs up. The Matron in charge was from my hometown and came, fully masked and gowned to wash me. Every moment of every day was carefully noted and monitored. I often didn’t know what day it was and struggled to hold on. The choice was the Lord’s, but I got to the point when I said to the Lord, I can’t take much more. I knew many were praying for me.
“That same morning when I woke, there was a new person busy around my bed. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. All the machines were still whirring and buzzing but I thought no, I am still alive because this little nurse has touched me. I thought it was a female because of their size, but it was a male who had been on holiday and was asked to return to me this special case., I believe he was sent to take care of me and pray for me. Later he told me his whole Filipino church was praying for me. Little by little, each day he came on shift he would remove another tube. The first was the tube down my throat and an early sign I was beginning to heal. Another shift nurse sent to care for me was a tall Chinese man and whilst he gently washed me in my bed, he was humming ‘what a friend we have in Jesus’.
“After 4 days I was able to sit up in my bed and tolerate small quantities of soft food. When I was asked if I would like some mashed potato, I was so thankful and asked if it could have gravy and real butter please.
“What joy in Jesus name the day I was wheeled in a chair to the window where I could see the street. I looked at the sky and the top of two trees. When I fell asleep on my tray, they put me back to bed.
“The nurse contacted my husband, and I was able to speak to him on their phone. What a journey he had been on believing he would never see me again alive.
“When I came out of ICU and was put into another ward, the Doctor came to me and said, ‘ I have read all the doctor’s reports and you know this was not good, but you have great faith Raewynne’.
“I prayed for all those around me including the hard-working, caring medical staff. One night the elderly woman in the bed next to me fell out of bed. I called on the emergency button and prayed. Miraculously she was uninjured! No broken bones or a single bruise on her body. Her daughter came and thanked me, but I was quick to respond, ‘I did nothing’. She said well someone did because the staff cannot believe she is uninjured. I thanked the Lord for answering prayers.
“Four weeks later I was discharged into the care of my husband. As he wheeled me out of the elevator and into the fresh air beneath blue sky, I saw people everywhere, living, moving, breathing. In that moment it struck me how close I had come to death. Isolated in hospital, I had truly believed the world had stopped, that if I was dying then surely everyone was dying too. Yet, here was life all around me. God spared me and it was not my time to die.
“I believe it was prayer that carried me, my own and the prayers of many others. In the silence, in my weakness and in the moments I could not speak, the Lord heard. He was faithful”.
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Psalm 118:17
“I am alive today by His grace, and my life is a testimony to His mercy”.