ARRIVAL
INTO SRI LANKA!
Dee's Diary and Some Photos
• The man at the
airport was picking up Mr. Dee Copem
and Mr. Lorin
but the sign was close enough to know it was us! The spiritual
atmosphere is different here than India. The women that we’ve seen are
stunningly beautiful.
• The driver took us to a very nice place, Silva's
Beach Hotel in
Negombo, about a 20 minute drive. There was a
large population of Muslims at the
hotel which was very different. A quiet air
conditioner, a quiet fan overhead, only a few mosquitos in the room, a
real shower (although no hot water) and a western toilet. The beach was
right across the street. Oh, God is so good! I took a needed shower
and hand washed some more clothes! I have a problem because none of my
electrical adapters work in Sri Lanka! Help me Jesus.
Note
to self – next time bring more hangers with swivel tops and clasp
bottoms for hand washing things out and hanging them more easily.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
• Lorien finally had a good night’s sleep. Praise the
Lord! We met
up with Winnie Bauer and Ronnie Shockney in the restaurant at the
Silva's
Beach Hotel and had a cup of coffee with them. Immediately it was a
delightful time!
• They moved us to another hotel closer to where the
family camp is
going to be. It turns out that we don’t have to do anything tonight.
They are arriving at the family camp and we’ll head over tomorrow
morning. So we met together for some lunch.
• Lorien asked around and I got to borrow an adapter
that works so I
can re-charge my cell phone, my computer and the camera battery. Thank
you Jesus! Everything was getting low on battery.
• This place is like an island paradise. It seems
very similar to
pictures of Hawaii, but I took a nap and had a warning dream which
included witchcraft and demonic. I text messaged the intercessors back
home to keep them alerted.
• We had a delightful supper with Winnie and Ronnie
and sat at the
table and shared and talked for a long time. We’re all bonding together
so this thing can really flow. It’s going to be a great couple of
weeks. Winnie comes here 2 to 4 times a year. This feels like a divine
set
up. Some real relationship is happening here.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
• There was evidently bad rice or bad food that I ate
for that
supper because I got dreadfully sick starting about 1am. At first my
stomach was queasy so I took some pepto. Then my bowels turned to
absolute liquid so I took some imodium but I was up all night. Lorien
slept through it all. I was glad that she was getting some rest.
• I tried to continue on because Winnie said that
traveler’s diarhea
usually only lasts a few hours and I was probably through it so I tried
to continue on and we went to the family camp. The back roads, although
paved are extremely bumpy and it was the longest car ride I have ever
been on, although it was probably only about 30 minutes.
• We walked into a glory cloud of worship. It had the
same feeling
as being at home. After not being in it for so many days in India, it
was like a drink of cold refreshing water to Lorien and me.
• I managed to worship some
hoping that I just needed
to break
through this in faith and victory and I was going to feel better at any
moment… but then a wave hit me and I was losing the battle. They were
supposed to feed us breakfast when we came, and because our ride was
late, we didn’t get anything to eat. So, sick with no sleep or
nourishment, I was an accident waiting to happen. I told Lorien and
Ronnie that I didn’t know what to do because I felt like I was going to
pass out and we were on the front row. (Praise the Lord that I wasn’t
on the platform like in India!) Ronnie came over and sat on the other
side of me and that was all there was. It all went dark. At times I
could hear and even start to rouse, but then I would lose it again, and
darkness rolled over me again. I think I passed out 3 times. By then we
thought perhaps it was something bacterial and so I took one of the
medicines that the travel clinic gave us. I asked Ronnie to help me
down and I laid on the ground. (Between the two of them, Lorien and
Ronnie had managed to keep me in a chair through all of this.) So I
layed down on the mat in front of my and threw up! So much for taking
the medicine. By then, it’s coming out the 
other end as well. They
managed to get me into a near by cottage and Lorien helped clean me and
put me in some spare clothes that I had the foresight to bring. And I
lay in the cottage and two sweet women from the church took care of me.
As the Lord would have it, there was a doctor at the meeting on that
day! So, they got some electrolyte solution into me, some more imodium
and I rested. Then stomach pain would go in waves. I started to do
better enough that they could get me back to the hotel. Lorien went
back with me and stayed with me. Cleaned out my clothes, God bless her.
That’s called “above and beyond armor bearing!!”
Friday, February 2, 2007
• Although still pretty weak,
I pressed through the
next morning,
we went to the family camp and I praised some to break through to the
victory. Given the shape that I was in the day before, I must have
looked like I was resurrected from the dead.
• I preached on High Praise and Dance, Worship &
the Glory and
we went into the most wonderful praise and dancing after that with the
musicians. In the anointing, I came up to the task.
• They were doing extended morning meetings and the
afternoons free,
so then I sat because I was pretty weak and taught on the Lord wanting
a nation of priests. The Family Camp was called “Tabernacle of David”
so it felt good to come in alignment with what they had named it and
Winnie said that he hadn’t said anything about it the day before. I
taught on Levites and Priests and the symbols of the duties of the
priests and how the duties of the Levites changed under David and how
they brought the arc into Jerusalem. It was more line upon line
teaching but they were very receptive.
• I ate a little something that the mommas here would
let me eat,
again, they took me to the same cottage and I slept for a few hours.
• Winnie spoke that night on
the apostolic church and
told the two
churches that they they needed to release their pastors to go and none
of them wanted to do it! Evidently there was some confusion. They
thought that Winnie was asking to let them go and even though he was
telling them to release them to God, it was a concept that they
couldn’t grasp. But, they did rally around and they lifted both Pastor
George and Pastor Ranil up on mats over their heads to the Lord. The
pictures are too dark to see it clearly, but it was an amazing moment.
The Lord ministered to the two men powerfully!
• There was a bonfire afterwards lit by fireworks,
one after another
going towards the bonfire. They had skits around the bonfire and we
stayed for a while but it was late and we were all tired.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
• Winnie had asked me if I had anything for the next
day, so while
Lorien packed up our bag since we were leaving the hotel, I hurriedly
put together some notes on the apostolic church and moving in
transition.
• Saturday morning was the last day of the family
camp and they were
to break down camp after lunch. It was clear that there was confusion
and hurt over what had happened the night before. Winnie again tried to
clear things up a little more and then he turned the long session over
to me.
• During praise Pastor Ranil started to sing and
prophesy about
breakthrough and it was a very similar anointing that was at the Mt.
Snow event. It felt like somehow the Break through angel had appeared
with us here, so when I got the microphone, I shared that with them.
• I told them about the apostolic anointing of
Jehovah Nike. Humor
in different cultures sometimes doesn’t translate well, but they
appreciated the Nike “just do it” anointing in the backside and had a
good laugh. I said, so they sent in the pastor to clean up things after
the apostolic anointing.
• So, I taught about apostolic
teams that go out,
establish and
follow up, and the relationships that develop between the sending
church and the local church. Then I still had some more time, so I
taught about transition and going from revelation, through
confrontation to transformation and manifestation. I noticed a lot of
folks taking notes and I had folks come up and tell me how much they
appreciated the teaching and how it made sense for the season that they
were in.
• We prayed for folks and we had a blast. The joy
kept hitting and
at times, my catchers were falling out and people were trying to catch
the catchers, the person that I was ministering to and me!! We were
laughing and people were having a good time watching the antics of the
Holy Ghost. There was one who had a cough up a critter moment in my
group of
folks, but for the most part if was filled with love and power and joy.
• We hung around while they tore things down and then
they brought
us back to Negombo to the Silva’s Beach Hotel and we went back into the
same room that we had before. We had a long time sitting around Silva’s
gorgeous house in back of the hotel chatting with two couples and again
explaining about apostolic sending churches and the five fold
ministries.
• The four of us ate supper at the restaurant
afterwards and turned
in. The wonderful team and bonding that has happened between the four
of us has been phenomenal. It is amazing to me that God can take the
four of us and fit us together so perfectly. Winnie and the Americans.
It’s quite a hoot.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
• We got up early this morning and had breakfast down
in the
restaurant at 7:30 and we were picked up for church at 8:15. When we
arrived a little before 8:30 they were already worshipping. Winnie
taught on the apostolic church.
• A Buddhist monk had gotten saved the week before
and was at church still in his Buddhist robes. Winnie prayed for him.
(I can't put his photo on the web page because it would be too
dangerous.)
• We ministered to the people again and again there
were a few more
critters. Deliverance is easy here, but physical healing doesn’t seem
to come quite as easily, although, I was praying for a lady with asthma
and I could feel her rattling as I laid hands on her back. I prayed for
a few minutes and I realized that I couldn’t feel the rattling anymore,
so I told her to take a deep breath, and she took a few breaths about
half way. I told her to breath deeper and she did, taking big
deep
breaths filling up her whole lung capacity. She seemed a little stunned
but I could tell it was a lot better. So, I said, praise the Lord! And
she did!
• On our way back to the Hotel they stopped to grab
King Coconuts to
drink. They have these little stands by the side of the road. They stop
their cars and a man takes a machete to the top of an orange coconut
and you drink the milk inside. It doesn’t have much flavor, but it does
rejuvenate your body.
• We went back to the Hotel and we grabbed some
lunch at the
restaurant. The rest of them ate curry, but I just had some soup and
toast. It was just what the doctor ordered for me. Then they took a
walk and went shopping and I went to my room. I was just totally
fatigued. I fell asleep immediately.
• For supper we went over to
the Silva’s house
and
they spread a
feast like I have never seen before, rice noodles, pasta noodles, rice,
potatoes, and dish after dish of meat, fish, and every thing else to
put on it. We had a wonderful time with the pastor and two other
leadership couples. At the end of the evening, we prayed over all three
families. It was a very good night.
Monday, February 5, 2007
• We don’t have to do any ministry today until
tonight. Soruban
called and he’s going to come get us today in the afternoon. I hope
that we can introduce Winnie and Soruban.
• Soruban picked us up and we had a great afternoon.
He and a friend took us into Columbo and he thought it would be great
fun for us to eat
at McDonalds. So I can now say that I’ve eaten at a McDonalds in
SriLanka! 
• We toured around Columbo and I was surprised to see
the number of
soldiers everywhere and the number of check points. All they had to do
was see my white face though and they waved us on. It was interesting
to think that white middle aged women are so seen as not dangerous in
the natural that we could be a huge army for the Lord in dark skinned
places.
• The shipping port in Columbo is huge, the biggest
that I have ever
seen. Of course, most everything needs to be shipped in and shipped off
the island.
• We met Soruban’s dad, sister and brother. It feels
like the war
and losing his churches up north has taken a toll on Soruban’s dad, but
the young people are all full of life. We saw videos of their youth
camp and of the ministry and it all seemed very good. Soruban's sister
is working with the children of Muslim converts. The brother plays
guitar and leads worship. He also had some good technical skills with
his computer and made me copies of the DVD's.
• We ran back to Negombo, but got lost on the way
back to the hotel,
and so we just missed our ride to church, so we had to try to find
directions to the church, got lost again, but eventually managed to get
to the evening meeting. Winnie stayed on the teaching on the apostolic
church and the five fold ministries.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
• We had an awesome leaders
meeting with Ranil’s leaders in the
morning. It was a long meeting but time well spent. I think that they
are very excited to go to the next level of the apostolic church.
• We spent the afternoon shopping a little and had
another evening
meeting. During the evening meeting a lady came up and said that there
was someone there who was asking for me, and it was our friend Newton
from India and his wife. Soruban had talked to Newton and told him how
to connect
with me. It was wonderful to see them and they stayed for the evening
meeting.
• At the end of the evening Winnie had them separate
out based on
the callings that they have on their hearts. So, I prayed for those
with a shepherd’s heart, Lorien and Winnie prayed for the prophetic
folks and Ronnie prayed for the release of the evangelistic anointing.
Every time I looked at my line, it didn’t get any shorter. I think
Ranil has a flock of shepherds! It must mean that the church has much
growing to do!
Wednesday,
February 7, 2007
• We got up and had breakfast together. Some of the
leaders came and
hung out and said good bye to us. We were on the road about 10:30am. We
knew that we were going up into the mountains but we had no idea what
that meant.
• We went higher and higher and higher, with many
switch backs and
just curve after curve after curve. My stomach had been a little queasy
in the morning, so they put me in the front seat by the driver. Well,
everyone else had a very rough time with the drive.
• We stopped at a very nice, upscale tea room for
lunch, but we also
had to stop along the way by the side of the road because Winnie was so
sick to his stomach. Ronnie wasn’t doing much better. Lorien had to
keep her eyes closed to keep going which was too bad because the
scenery was stunning. So, I switched places with Winnie and gave him
the front seat, because I was actually feeling pretty good and the back
windows gave me better photo opps as well.
• About the time that we switched though, the road
was in pretty bad
shape, so we ended up going much slower after that. There were many
portions where the roads had dirt piled up on them from being washed
away in the storms of last month. Then we reached a part that hadn’t
been widened and paved, so it was slow going. 
• The hillside was straight down on one side
and up on the other
side in some places. The hills and greenery were stunning as well as
the waterfalls. And the road just kept curving and doing switchbacks
over and over as we went up in elevation.
• The tea plantations were everywhere, including
small garden beds
and flower beds everywhere. There are many, many shops. Everyone is in
an entrepreneur. They either have little mini-marts, garden bedding
plants, produce markets or something outside their homes.
• We arrived at our guest house. Like the whole
region it has a
European flair. This house was built by a ministry couple and the wife
was Swedish. Evidently it is still owned by them and they use the
revenue for their ministry. It is comfortable and two Sri Lankan cook
for us.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
• There’s a shower and HOT water at the guest house!
Oh my gosh. What a
gift. The guest house was built by a Swedish missionary and it had a
lot of European touches.
• We taught the ministry school during the day.
Winnie taught on the
kingdom and I taught on sonship versus the orphan spirit. Then we
ministered to the leaders after lunch. It’s harder going than
down at Negombo, but I’m pretty sure we’re doing the business that
needs to be done for the region.
• We went into town after the session. They have
little stalls and
businesses every where. One alley way was filled with stalls of
clothing particularly jackets and fleece. 
• We had a quiet night around the supper table and
we were in our
bedrooms early. I worked on a message on poverty/prosperity. It’s very
much an issue here. They see themselves as poor and just receive from
the western world. Winnie is paying for everything including rent on
the church building that we’re using and for food to feed the pastors
and workers who are at the event! They don’t have to pay even a minimal
amount to attend the School of Ministry or give any kind of offering to
the training.
• Winnie has a cold and he’s really not feeling so
well. It is very chilly up here in mountains.
Friday, February 9, 2007
• Again we taught during
the day. I talked about
poverty/prosperity and Winnie added some things on faith. Then the next
session I talked about Praise, Worship and the Glory and we tried to
get them to rest in the Lord some. It’s very hard. It’s hard to
understand the difference in the Tamil culture compared to the
Sinhalese. They look the same, but the culture is very different.
Anyway, they didn’t comprehend receiving and resting in the Lord at
all. To get them to be quiet was a huge deal. They only knew intense
intercession that sounded like an auctioneer. I managed to break
through to a certain degree and they were receiving visions almost
immediately. God is so good.
• After the afternoon session, instead of staying in
the guest house
another night, we packed up and went back down the mountains. Back
through all those switchbacks, but it was easier going down than it was
up. No one got sick, although I got a bit of a headache for a while, I
think from the altitude change. There was a place on the side of the
mountain where a landslide and left a huge rock on the road. Evidently
5 cars were crushed and 17 people died when it came down.
• We arrived at a home in Gambola (I believe is
the
name) where they
have 11 boys that they take care of. They fed us and treated us very
well. Although they do this work by faith, evidently they receive their
support from Europe so the house is quite nice. The boys seem to range
in age from 5 to about 10 and are delightful.
• The plans continue to change as we go along and
Pastor George in
Kandy has asked if I would be willing to work with the worship team in
the morning at 8:30am, so we need to leave this place by 8am.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
• We went to George Jacob’s church in the morning and
I taught on
the practicals of worship. Then we practiced with them for a bit and
Lorien helped me. We weren’t sure if we really had made much of an
impact, but it did seem better.
• We worked with them until
10:30 and then they had
another class so
we went off to the Elephant Orphanage. The ride was long and bumpy and
I was wondering if it could possibly be worth it, but it was so worth
it! In fact, I can’t imagine anything so enjoyable. We went shopping
for a while at the shops that lead down to the river, then we had lunch
right on the river until the elephants come down. It was wild. You
could go right down to them. We got into the water and put water on
them, patted them! Looking into their eyes and having their trunks come
around at you. It’s a little scary because they’re big and you have a
momma right there and you’re patting her baby. But, it was so much fun!
We were with a momma elephant that was 22 months pregnant. We were with
a baby elephant that was only a month old.
• We came back to George Jacob’s house for tea and
supper and we
went to see the girl’s home that they have about half finished. They
are believing that it will be for 20 girls. So far, it’s very nice!
They’ve had to stop because the price has increased so much and they
need another $50,000 to complete it. The 8 girls that they have with
them all seem to be very sweet and well taken care of. Lorien and I
gave them some money towards the home. Winnie had also brought some
money from Germany, but of course, it was just a drop in the bucket.
But little by little, I believe that they’ll see it. It’s such an act
of faith, certainly God will breathe on it!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
• George wanted to have a long service so I preached
and then Winnie
preached. We started around 9am got done around 12:30 by the time that
we prayed for people. I preached on what I had been receiving for them.
It was hard because it was more prophetic and what I had been receiving
rather than a teaching. But I was faithful to deliver what I had been
given. They give you no response so it’s hard to know what they took in
and what they didn’t.
• We had some lunch with the Jacobs and then
got in the van around
3pm and went to the market to buy spices. What an experience that was!
They remember Winnie and we were treated like kings. Quite fun.
• Then we started back on the long, bumpy road to
Negombo. It
definitely seemed longer than the four hours. The traffic and bumps,
the near misses. Oh my gosh.
• We arrived back at Silva’s Beach Hotel and it was
like arriving
back home. We got one room for us and we dropped off our luggage. We
had a wonderful supper at the restaurant and loads of our friends from
the church kept stopping by and seeing us and visiting with us.
• Winnie and Ronnie used our room to take a shower
while we waited
downstairs in the lobby. We had a swarm of mosquitos around us while we
sat and waited for them. I thought the grace must be lifting!
• We said goodbye to Winnie and Ronnie about 11pm.
It had been a wonderful team. What an experience! I'd go anywhere in
the world on a team with Winnie. He's really delightful, funny, honest
and real. And Ronnie was like being with one of the Cafe folks.
Although Ronnie and his family live in France, he's from Indiana
originally, so we had a lot in common. It was really a treat to be with
them both. God is so amazing. One of the men
from the church Raycheve (sp?) took them to the airport. We went up to
our room and there was hot water, so we thought we’d take a quick one
while we had the hot water. We were really sweaty from the journey.
Monday, February 12, 2007
• We had a good night’s sleep. It was the first night
that we slept
under mosquito neeting though. There were quite a few in our room. And
we had hot water for our shower when we woke up! We must be His
favorites!
• I had a dream that two statues were toppled over –
and that seemed
like a good sign that some work got done while we were in Sri Lanka.
• We had breakfast and waited
for Newton for a while,
then we went
down the street and did a little more shopping. Then we crossed the
street and went over to the beach. I hadn’t had a chance to get over to
it and it was a very nice beach. Winnie had spoken so poorly of it, I
hadn’t crossed the road to go over. Although there had been very little
time and when I first got here I was still in pretty poor health. Of
course, you do get hit with all the enterprising people trying to make
some money. It does get a little exhausting.
• Everyone thinks that we’re Germans, Australians or
Swedes. I guess
that they’re not as used to having Americans around as they are
Europeans. Either that, or Americans don’t walk.
• We had a wonderful lunch at the restaurant at the
hotel. The
manager said that they had just picked up some white fish this morning
and so we had that. It was incredible.
• Raycheve picked us up around 3:30pm and took us to
the Columbo
airport. We got through customs and ticketing. People were cutting in
front of us like we weren’t there and then they changed our line from
Chennai while we were in line. Then we had to go start standing in
another line.
• The flight was fine, we landed in Chennai and got
our luggage but
we couldn’t get into the terminal until 3 hours before our flight, so
we were sitting in a waiting area, kind of no man’s land. We weren’t
out on the street, but we’re not in the terminal yet either. At least
there was a toilet and a place that sells water. We were there for a
couple hours. Chennai is a very busy place.
• When it was 3 hours before our flight, we got
through security. We
actually got upgraded to business class for the trip from Chennai India
to Frankfort Germany. Thank you Father! What a blessing!
• We met up with Irving after customs and got the
whole story about
his two weeks in India. He had a great time out in the villages. And
they actually met up with Randy Clark and his team who were also in
Andre Pradesh!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
• The trip went well. We were in Frankfort for three
hours, but it
was just enough to get off, find our gate, get through security. I did
a quick wipe down in the bathroom and changed a few clothes. Irving
found an outlet for me, so I got to plug in my computer and downloaded
some e-mail quickly. The first time in three weeks! It wasn’t too bad
as far as quantity.
• I just set my watch back first to time in Germany
and then to
time at home. Lorien kept her watch on SriLanka time. It took us 34
hours to get home!
• The flights were great. We managed to get through
the United
States customs with ease and Tom was waiting for us to take us home. I
was glad he brought my coat! I mostly slept in the car on the way home.
Came home fell asleep on the sofa. Slept through most of the night as
well!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
• Got home just before a blizzard! Wow! Thank you
Lord! We didn’t
have to try to land in this! Still pretty discombobulated. This is
home, but everything requires thought! What are those passwords? I
haven’t driven a car in three weeks and I’ve been on the other side of
the road!
