Travel Blog

Invite Bob

Following is a report on my (Bob Sorge’s) travels.

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Oct. 3-5, Christian Center, Karlsruhe, Germany:

Thursday morning: I'm heading out this morning for Frankfurt, Germany, and then by car from there to Karlsruhe, Germany, to a conference hosted by Christian Center in Karlsruhe (www.czk.de). I'll be joined by Gary & Marie Wiens and Pablo Perez, all of whom have been to this ministry several times in years past, but for me it'll be a first time. The conference theme is "Maintain Your Faith," with a desire to lean into divine healing and signs and wonders. Rom. 15:19. This is something into which my heart presses every day. I am scheduled to speak each evening, Friday/Saturday/Sunday. I believe they are 7 hours later than USA Central Time, so our Friday night meeting will be launching around Friday noon, Central. Thanks for your prayers! I have a course charted already for my 3 sessions, and will be leaning on the Lord for clarity of message and direction. Please agree with me also for abundant vocal strength and for a powerful anointing in the Holy Spirit. May the name of Jesus be glorified through signs that accompany the preaching of the word! Pray also for the Wiens' and for Pablo, that the Lord would anoint the team and that we might labor together effectively for His glory. Lord Jesus, visit Europe with Your glory! Friday 10 a.m.: We made the 90-minute drive from Frankfurt to Karlsruhe, and now I'm situated in my hotel room. I've already hugged Gary Wiens' neck, haven't seen Marie yet, nor Pablo Perez. I got a couple hours sleep on the plane, which I'm quite pleased about, a good move in the right direction for getting acclimated to European time. Going east is always the hardest adjustment, when I return home on Monday the time change will be easier. Our hotel is just a 10-minute walk from the church venue, I'm told, nice and close. They are holding morning and afternoon sessions today, but I think I'll hang close to my pillow today, and then head over to the church around 5 pm. Friday midnight: Great time tonight. I was jet-lagging pretty strongly during worship, but when I got up to speak all that seemed to lift off me and I was fine. I was leaning hard on the Lord, and he helped me. My interpreter Isaac flowed well with me. I spoke on Joab's penetration of the stronghold of Zion, and its application to the overcoming of the stronghold of infirmity that is in the midst of the church. The saints were very attentive, connected, absorbing. At the close, Pablo got on the keys and led in some response worship. Then Gary Wiens took the mic and gave leadership to the response time. The Lord hit him personally in a strong way during that time, and he was groaning and gasping deeply as he kept saying "more Lord," it was contagious in the room. Then there was some focused prayer, especially for a brother with cancer and for me. Marie Wiens prayed very passionately over both of us, way sweet. The saints just hung out and leaned into the thing in prayer, the atmosphere was heavy with the Lord's presence. We had church, smile. I'm going to bed now. I'm tired, but need the Lord to help me to get a proper night's sleep. Thanks for the prayers. And pray me into a strong anointing for Saturday night. I'm feeling inclined to speak on Heb. 11-12 and the chastening of the Lord, it's not a topic that I've addressed before in a context like this, and my emotions are a bit unsteady on it, but in my spirit I keep returning to Heb. 12. So I think I'm supposed to do it. Thanks for praying me into clarity and power. Saturday 7:30 a.m.: Victory--I slept 6.5 hours last night, which is excellent for the first night's sleep in a new time zone like this. I received a couple encouraging notes from y'all this morning regarding Heb. 12, thank you, I'm encouraged to go for it tonight. Saturday 9:30 a.m.: Just in from a delightful walk. A river runs nearby, which has walking/riding paths all along it, with playground areas for children dotted along the way. A number of elderly passed me, riding their bicycles. I could tell from a landmark that the pathway was once a railroad, in an earlier industrial age. They've taken great pains to preserve the beauty of the area and make it a delightful trail for exercise and commuting. I even saw a couple outdoor, cement ping pong tables. Munched on some rose hips. Everything is wet--they receive a lot of rain here. Saturday 11:30 p.m.: Another great night. I had some trepidation in my soul about speaking on Heb. 11-12 and the chastening of the Lord, because it's a controversial topic and not the kind of topic that is typical conference fare. As the day went on, though, my confidence only grew that I was to speak on that topic. So I just went for it. The Lord really enabled me, and I believe the message came forward in a way that people could receive. I really didn't sense any resistance in the room, there was good openness. I delivered my heart as speaking the oracles of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit entered into it with me and helped. The pastor connected well with the message, and in a context like this, that's 90% of the issue, because if you bring a word the pastor isn't ready to receive then the flock in turn doesn't know how to process it. Gary Wiens brought an excellent message this afternoon on how to walk out the time delay between promise and fulfillment, and specifically, how to deal with disappointment in prayer. Dovetailed great with my message. Pray for him, he is speaking again tomorrow 2:30 p.m. And pray for Marie, she wasn't feeling 100% tonight. One more meeting to go (for me, that is): Sunday afternoon, 5:00 p.m., which is Sunday 10:00 a.m. Central. Thanks for your prayers, as I also bless your Lord's Day! Sunday 10 p.m.: Good closing service tonight. When I started to speak, the group was distracted and scattered in their attentiveness--it was obviously the last session of an intense weekend of meetings. But as we got into it, they found their focus and we got into a groove. By the end, many hearts were stirred with the call to endure in faith. So I am leaving Germany in the morning with much thanksgiving for a meaningful weekend of ministry -- and also for the joy of reconnecting with my dear friends, Gary & Marie Wiens and Pablo Perez. After the message, the entire group spent a good chunk of time praying for healing for both myself and a brother with cancer. It was very heartwarming. I am being picked up at 4:45 a.m., will be driven back to Frankfurt (1.5 hours), and then will check in for my flight which leaves at 8:25 a.m. As you receive this email, speak a blessing over Isaac please, who served in an uncommon way. He provided car transportation both from and back to Frankfurt, to all the meetings, and also interpreted for my 3 sessions. Bless him, Lord! This Friday I head to Davenport, IA, for a pastors' retreat. Back to you in a few days.

Oct. 10-11, Open Bible Church Pastors Retreat, Davenport:

Friday 7:00 a.m.: Greetings from KC airport, I'm sitting here with my travel partner, Steve Bunkoff, waiting for our flight to Chicago to board. We fly to Moline, IL, and then by car from there to Davenport. I'm speaking at an annual pastors/leaders retreat for the Open Bible denomination, Central Region. At last count there were close to 90 leaders planning to attend. It will be held at a Davenport hotel. I am speaking tonight (Friday), Saturday morning, and then Sunday morning in one of their churches in western Illinois. I have a couple messages prepared. But even so, pray for clarity of thought and direction, please. And for power of impartation. And vocal strength. Thanks so much! My travel partner, Steve, is on staff at IHOP, and will be an excellent partner for this trip, he himself having served as a pastor for many years. Friday 10 pm: Sweet time tonight. There's a sweet grace on the worship leader, true sincerity, non-hype, easy to enter in with him. I spoke on Loyalty, and sensed the Lord's presence with me, and yet I never really felt a strong anointing. Those things can be very subjective--sometimes I can feel a strong anointing but it doesn't necessarily always impact others that way. The Lord was clearly with us tonight, I did my best to follow Him, and so now I trust Him to be working in hearts in ways I don't see. Saturday 4:30 p.m.: Excellent conclusion this morning. I was really restless in my soul last night as I went to bed, and when I got up this morning, I wondered if the restlessness might be because I didn't have the right word prepared for the Saturday morning session. (I had an entire outline ready to go.) As I prayed, it seemed that indeed I needed to change the message. So I quickly scratched out an outline before the 9 a.m. meeting, and was actually a bit late in getting to the meeting as a result. But it was the right message. The Lord really honored it. "It's not business, it's personal." The grace of the Lord was on me and the message, and it came forward in clarity and conviction. Now we're resting in our hotel room in Galesburg, IL, and will be having supper at the pastor's home in a little bit. This pastor is one of the leaders in the Open Bible churches. So he brought us back from the retreat, so we could stay over for Sunday morning at his church in Galesburg. We're in the middle flat corn country here! This feels more heartland-ish than Kansas City. They have used my book, Secrets, in a study here at this church, and they're looking forward (I'm told) to having the author with them for a Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to sharing.

Oct. 12, First Church of the Open Bible, Galesburg, IL:

Sunday 6:00 p.m.: Had a great time this morning in Galesburg. A small town of around 32,000 tucked in the middle of cornfields. Ronald Reagan lived there for a bit. Sweet spirit in the church family, very open to the ministry of the word. They snapped up the books like folks with spiritual hunger. The Lord anointed me to minister the word, excellent response. Steve and I enjoyed our time with the pastors too, Ted and Vicky, we had delightful fellowship with them in their car and in their home. Coming home with gratefulness in our hearts. This Sunday I'm speaking locally in a church in Kansas City -- Harmony Vineyard. Two Sunday morning services. 9:00 & 10:45 a.m.

Oct. 19, Harmony Vineyard, Kansas City, MO:

Saturday: Tomorrow morning I'll be making the 40-minute drive up to Harmony Vineyard, located on the north side of Kansas City. They are in a new facility since I was last with them, and the congregation has about doubled in their new location, so it will be exciting to see the blessing of the Lord in their midst. The pastor, John Brown, is one of the leaders of the Midwest Ministers Fellowship here in KC, and is a real quality brother. Ben and Katie (my daughter and son-in-law) are coming with me as prayer partners and as booktable helpers. On a different note: We received this week our sample copies of the book, IN HIS FACE, just now released in the Russian language. Agree with us in prayer, please, that this book would equip and impact believers from one end of Russia to the other. Sunday 5:00 p.m.: Great time this morning. The saints were very open, easy to minister to. I had just 30 minutes in the first service which is hard for me personally, I struggle sometimes in that short a time to feel like I've really been able to get off the ground, but the folks hit the book table pretty hard so I take that as an indicator that the Lord came through despite my own feelings of inadequacy. In second service I had more time, which was easier for me. I talked about the sprinkling of blood, and living in the bosom of the Father. Seeking to entice the saints to the glory of abiding in the place of holiness. May the word bury into good soil and bear good fruit! I'm off to Manchester, NH first thing Tuesday morning -- back to you real soon.

Oct. 21-22, Grace Fellowship Church, Nashua, NH:

Tuesday: I'm heading out early this morning for Manchester, NH, and then the short drive to Nashua, where I'll be at Grace Fellowship Church once again for their GOIAM Conference. RT Kendall will also be ministering. Joe & Debi Lopes, who are part of our intercessory team, told me they're hoping to be there for the conference again also. (They don't live too awfully far away, in MA.) Will be great to have intercessors on the ground. Pastor Paul Berube has asked me to speak on "Fire Of Delayed Answers" and "Keys To Igniting Your Personal Time With God." Pray for a timely arrival on Continental, because I will be going directly from the plane to the podium. My first session is Tuesday 3:30 p.m.; my second session is Wednesday 9:00 a.m.; then I grab a Wednesday afternoon flight home. This gathering draws pastors and leaders from New England, as well as a few internationals. The conference happens in the context of the house of prayer that Grace Fellowship has established, which adds a special dimension to the gathering. I believe this is my third time to this conference. Thanks for coming with me in the Spirit! Tuesday 10 p.m.: Excellent session this afternoon. I brought a very strong word from Hebrews 12. The group looked a little bit like deer in headlights, it wasn't easy to interpret their responses, I think they were doing a lot of processing. My main theme was the chastening of the Lord, the forgotten doctrine in the church. I sensed the Lord's grace on me, so I knew the Lord was wanting it to have impact today. Had the added blessing of having supper afterwards with the pastor, Paul Berube, and the other guest for this event, RT Kendall and his wife Louise. Struck up a great connection with Kendall's, it was sweet. We'll have breakfast together in the hotel lobby in the morning, then head over together to the session. I speak tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Then have a 2:00 pm departure for KC. Thanks for being on the wall Wednesday morning! Wednesday 12:30 pm: Just finished our morning sessions, and now I'm in the car heading for the Manchester airport. Great time this morning. The Lord helped me, and gave me a strong intimacy anointing to share on the sprinkling of blood and coming into the bosom of the Father. Good connection. About 20 nations were represented at this event. May the word go forth now to many nations. I'm heading home now. And then Saturday head out to Antioch, CA. I'll be back in touch probably on Saturday.

Oct. 26, Fellowship Church, Antioch, CA:

Saturday: I'm heading out early this morning for Antioch, CA (Oakland airport). It's interesting how this one came together. I was scheduled to speak at a worship event at a church in the Bay area this weekend, but then they had to cancel. It so happened that I had an email from someone saying, "If you get a cancellation in November, email us." And it so happened that I would use the same airport (Oakland) in going to them. So I emailed them, and boom, it came together last Saturday. So I'm using my Oakland ticket as originally purchased, it's just that I'm in a different church than I was expecting, smile. The pastor of this church heard me when I was in Vacaville, CA recently, and has requested that I speak on the same topic that I did in Vacaville. (Multitude-Driven Worship) So I reworked the message this week, and am planning to speak on following the river of God in worship. Please pray me into a strong anointing. And pray for vocal strength, I'm feeling quite weak today. I'm speaking two Sunday morning services--pray for strength to go the distance. I have an early departure from Oakland, Sunday at 2:00 pm;  they're re-arranging the order of their second service so I can speak at the beginning of the service and then hit the road. They'll have a time of worship after the message in second service, may it be glorious! Mike Clark (who is part of our intercessory team) was going to join me in Berkeley, and he said he expects to make the switch with me, and join me Sunday morning in Antioch. So it'll be sweet to reconnect with him. Sunday 6:30 p.m.: Mike Clark made the 2-hour drive this morning to be with me in Antioch, it was great to have his partnership in the Spirit. I spoke on where God is taking us in worship, the glory of God that will be visiting His church, and articulated a vision for what is on God's heart in worship. The pastor had requested this message, and it seemed to be a timely word for this young congregation. The church is just 6 years old -- celebrating their anniversary today -- meeting in public schools, doing the set-up and tear-down of equipment and chairs every week, it's quite the task. The saints seemed eager to respond to the word of God, and to press into the Lord for the manifestation of the kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven." Good response, open hearts. There's a lot of potential in this work, the hand of the Lord is on the pastors in a clear way. What's next: This Friday I'm off to OH with my daughter, Katie. Back to you soon. Later: If you're interested, here's my airport fiasco of tonight: I received a couple coupons for a couple free days of parking at "Circle Parking" at the airport, which is a closer parking lot to the terminal, you can actually walk from the lot to the check-in counter. So this weekend I decided to use the coupons. It was my first time in the lot, E2, so I took careful note of where I parked. Upon my return, my car was GONE! Just not there. I walked in circles, hitting the Panic button, wondering if I might have parked a few spaces over or something. But it was to no avail, the car was gone. It was late and cold, and I had only my light windbreaker on, I wasn't dressed for being outside. So throughout my story I got chilled to the bone. I went to the exit station where they process your parking payment, and tried to communicate with the gal there via my notepad. She was able to learn that no cars had been towed from the lot over the past couple days to the place where they take towed cars (and you pay to get your car back). They'll tow your car if you're parked in a wrong place, but such was not the case. But we spent quite a while trying to figure out if my car had been towed. That process was compounded by the fact that I couldn't remember my license plate number! Finally, I asked them to contact the police for me, so I could report a stolen vehicle. I waited for the police to come, and they weren't coming. Finally, a supervisor for the parking attendants came over and said, "I found your car." It was in the adjacent lot, lot E1, which you could get to by going under an overpass and over to the next lot, maybe 600 yards away. Sure enough, she drove me over there, and there sat my van. No ticket, no note, just moved and set over in the adjacent lot. The lady definitely did not believe my story, she was convinced I had parked it where it was, and just hadn't remembered accurately. Even Marci wasn't convinced. But I knew where I had parked it, and it was moved to an area where I have never parked before. Using a new lot for the first time, I had made special note of where I was. Well, after about 70 minutes of trying to communicate on a notepad, trying to imagine where the car could, thinking it's stolen, etc., I actually ended up in my van and driving home. It unsettled me deeply, and I could only sit and mull it over during my drive home. What happened? I was certain I hadn't parked illegally. The next morning (this morning) it became clearer for me. When I went out to get the paper, I looked at the front of the van, which I couldn't see at night. There were the smudge marks where the mover's hands had been on my hood as he navigated moving my van. And then I saw what appeared to be spatterings of paint on the hood. My best guess: Since it was a construction area, they were painting something in the vicinity; when they saw the paint getting on my van, they moved the van so it wouldn't get more paint on it. That's my best guess. If that's not it, then I'm totally mystified. When you think your car is stolen, you certainly enjoy the relief when you find it!  Whew, what a night.