UK/Switzerland Mission: England, Part 1

Vassula and I arrived at the London airport early in the morning where we were warmly greeted by Anne Marie, one of the local organizers who drove us to a hotel not far from the monastery at Crawley Down where Vassula would first be sharing the message of Unity. The Lord gave us the grace of being reminded that Satan is always trying to stop this mission. For the very moment we sat down with the local TLIG group of organizers to discuss plans and such, the hotel alarms started blaring and the staff promptly asked us to move to a special room in the rear of the hotel.

	Firemen on the scene in the hotel parking lot

We were not fazed at all as this is rather typical on a mission like this. When asked what the problem was, we were informed that there was a large spill across the street at a petrol station. We were in the back of the hotel just in case there was an explosion. The street was lined with fire trucks.

Vassula was sent for the second time on her mission by the Holy Spirit, to the Monastery at Crawley Down where the Anglican monks of the “Community of the Will of God” were very pleased to welcome her. Many of the monks there have received and responded to the messages of “True Life in God” enthusiastically and are trying to live them out. Three of them have written testimonies about the messages.

The whole message was received very well and infused even more of a desire to LIVE unity.

Vassula speaking to Buddhists and Fr. Peter at the monastery at Crawley Down

After a period of prayer in the chapel, Vassula addressed the small community with a few invited guests from the area. She emphasized her talk on Unity and how to put it into action according to Jesus Christ’s message. She shared many messages from the Lord that encouraged the community, especially when they felt that the Lord is showing us indeed in clear words the way to Unity.

The community listened with intensity and asked many questions afterwards. There were even a few neighboring Buddhists that came to hear Vassula transmit the Lord’s messages, which reminds us of our Lord’s words: “And there are other sheep that I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to My Voice, and there will be one fold and one shepherd.” (Jn 10:16) The Lord Jesus’ presence was eminent and the whole message was received with grace, infusing in them even more the will to LIVE unity and to remain faithful to the Lord’s desires. Praised be to God!

Fr. Tony Churchill, Valerie and Vassula

The next day we came back to the Monastery, this time for meetings and interviews. The first was with Fr. Tony Churchill, representative from the office of Bishop Kieran Thomas Conry, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. It was reported by some that Bishop Kieran Conry had been negative about the messages of TLIG in the past. But, after the local TLIG people had delivered the CDF booklet to his office, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, his heart was opened.

Fr. Tony and Vassula had a candid, casual conversation. Vassula spoke much about unity and the experience she had with Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, and the CDF. Fr. Tony was open and supportive of the mission and had recommended that we inform people everywhere of the outcome of the CDF, but in lay terms.

	Olave Snelling from Premier Christian Radio interviews Vassula

Shortly after Fr. Tony left, we greeted Olave Snelling, a presenter and producer from Premier Christian Radio. According to Olave, Premier’s aim is to combat the proliferating spirit of the antichrist that has plagued the modern media. They do so by focusing their programming on God-centric themes. It was a slow start to the interview because the evil one did not want it to take place. Olave’s hi-tech, top-of-the-line digital recorder that she planned to use for the interview had malfunctioned for the first time in all the years she had been using it - malfunctioned beyond use. But, thanks be to God who came to our rescue; one of the monks, Brother Christopher Mark, is skilled in audio and video production and had the necessary equipment to record the interview for her.

“Why would God choose you and not some ‘thundering’ prophet from the Old Testament?”

While Olave was packing up her equipment, Trevor Barnes, from BBC Radio 4, one of the most listened-to talk radio channels in the UK, arrived for his interview with Vassula. The contrast in the type of questions that the two interviewers asked was evident. Trevor asked sharp, pointed questions from a “secular” point of view.

Trevor Barnes from BBC Radio 4 interviews Vassula

The Holy Spirit was ever present as Vassula, feeding on that “edgy” atmosphere of the interview, volleyed back with her simple, but pointed and neutralizing answers, disarming the man sitting opposite her.

The interview ended with Trevor asking, “Why would God choose you and not some ‘thundering’ prophet like you would read about in the Old Testament?“ Vassula responded with another question, “Why did Jesus choose a fisherman and not a Pharisee?” Silence. “Very well,” said Trevor followed by a chuckle.

Trevor’s comment made me ponder if any of the ‘thundering’ prophets were thundering at all before their unique call from God to serve Him. Here is an excerpt from a message the Lord gives us regarding prophets and prophecy.

“...I manifest, in a most ineffable manner, Myself to My prophets, yes, while they are still here on earth and they are aware of this grace; I array them with Myself, I array their nakedness, adorning them with Myself and they know it, they are conscious of My Divine Presence during contemplation;”

“I have anointed you to draw from My Heart all the divine inspirations for every need, to be given to My people as an unction and as a refreshing morning dew on a parched land; I have taught you by grace as well how to interpret My desires; I have said throughout this Divine Revelation, but as well as in former Revelations, that I, Myself, instruct My chosen ones, and I become their spiritual director, to teach them the way to go; I, for My part, celebrate My benevolence for bringing rescue to those I love and they, in turn, sing for joy the psalms of David in the shadow of My wings...” (February 12, 2000)

You can listen to an archive of the program here from BBC Radio 4 or go to this URL: http://www.tlig.org/en/background/multimedia/audio/long/.

After we rounded up our time in Crawley Down, we headed for the big city, London. Upon arrival, we wasted no time. We went straight away to the international offices of The Alpha Course, a non profit organization that offers a program of talks that address all aspects of the Christian Faith. It is also highly ecumenical since the course is run in many countries and in many denominations. We met with three representatives, both Anglican and Roman Catholic, including the assistant to Rev. Nicky Gumbel, the chaplain of Alpha Course since 1996. It was more of an informative meeting than anything else. Vassula told them about her mission of Unity and some of the aspects of the True Life in God apostolate. They were very interested and also shared some of the recent strides in the Alpha Course. In the Name of the Lord, we wished each other well and we were off again.

We arrived at our hotel and were immediately greeted by many other of the local TLIG organizers, readers and supporters, including The Rt. Rev. Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. Bishop Riah was to introduce Vassula at the meeting the next day. We all broke bread and communed like we were at a family reunion.

The next day final preparations were made while Methodist Central Hall waited in near silence for the crowds to come and hear the Lord’s message.

Methodist Central Hall waits in silence

When the footsteps of the Holy Spirit are heard from afar the evil one turns wild. A few minutes before the meeting, in the beautiful hall in which Vassula would address the people, a small part of the ornate, (but old), ceiling came down smashing just in front of the podium where Vassula would be standing. But there was no stopping the Lord’s work. The podium was moved back about 3 meters and the front rows were roped off to prevent any injuries during the meeting if the ceiling were to crumble some more. This reminds us that one must never lose confidence since God is on our side and is able to take care of His flock. As Scriptures say, “Yahweh guards you and shades you, with Yahweh at your right hand, sun cannot strike you down by day, nor moon at night.” (Ps 121:5-6).

Central Hall is located directly off the beautiful and tourist-dense, Westminster Square. And, it happened that on the day of the event, the film, The DaVinci Code, was also being shot immediately outside. As we know, luck does not exist in the Lord’s dictionary.

A Hindu woman travels 17 hours alone from Kerala to hear Vassula testify to what God is saying in our times.

This gave us the opportunity to pass out invitations to the many people gathered to catch a glimpse of a star on the set.

While doing so, the Lord arranged it so that I meet a young Hindu woman who, as it turned out, traveled 17 hours alone from Kerala, India to hear Vassula testify to what Jesus is saying in our times. She took a stack of invitations and passed them all out before I got through half of mine. Praised be to the Holy Spirit! Once we had evangelized the crowds, we left together to go to the hall.

Vassula, Rev. Rabjohns and Bishop Riah

When we entered, the hall was filled with about 800 people of all ages and from all walks of life. Anglican hymns streamed through the air while the people filed in and anxiously waited for Vassula’s address. Rev. Rabjohns and Bishop Riah delivered the introduction and Vassula addressed the people with fervor and purpose.

Vassula speaking to the attentive listeners

“Unmask the Evil one by unifying the dates of Easter as in the primitive Church.”

Among the array of subjects and messages she shared with the people, she saved the main message for last, that is, about the urgency for us (the Church) to unite. Here are a few excerpts from Messages that Vassula shared with us:

“...House of the East you have done well in maintaining the Tradition as I passed It on to you and as My primitive church exercised It, however, you are not allowing My Holy Spirit to nurture you enough for your salvation and the salvation of those who are in desperate need of salvation...”

“...and you, House of the West, you have realized, through the Light of My Spirit, that a body needs its two lungs to breath freely, and that My Body is imperfect with one lung; pray that My vivifying Spirit will join you together, but what have I to suffer before! the world transgresses and rejects My Commandments and Satan wants to destroy what I had instituted, he wants to destroy what I, the Lamb, left you with: My Church...”

“...so I implore you, House of the West, to go forward and unmask the Evil one by unifying the dates of Easter as in the primitive Church...” (November 27, 1996)

Vassula ended by saying,“These are the words that I heard from above. And, I was commanded to write them down and ordered by God to be His Echo. In echoing his words to cover the whole earth with them (the Messages) just like mist. I have not been asked I was ordered to fragrance this world with Christ’s Messages that will take root only into pure hearts. God does not reveal Himself to those that claim (they) have knowledge only on earthly things. 1 This is no knowledge at all, He says. The true knowledge is to know God. And this, dear friends, cannot be learned merely with your intellect. So God gave me a command to spread out His Words in rivers of mercy and hope. And this is what I am doing.”

You could hear in her own voice how desperately unity is desired by the Lord. She was truly echoing His Words.

Vassula ended with this final quote from Jesus:

“...the real Christian is the one who is inwardly a Christian, and the real Unity is and will be in the heart; Unity will not be of the letter but of the spirit...” (October 13, 1991)

The whole speech and message was received well and with many open hearts touched by the Spirit, evidenced by the swarms of people picking up their copies of the TLIG volumes afterwards. About 100 early volumes (My Angel Daniel and Volume 1) were purchased, showing that a good number of people were new to the messages too.

I interviewed some people after the conference was over. Everyone responded very positively, describing how they were very moved by the talk and were going to either start to read or continue reading the TLIG books. I would like to share with our readers also that a local priest, Fr. Ian, who attended the meeting wrote a thank you letter to the organizers of this event.

He writes, “Thank you very much indeed for all that you and your helpers did. The impact on me has remained with me. I am filled with thanksgiving to God for the great gift of the messages, for Vassula's prophetic ministry. An enormous deep peace has come upon me, and my doubts about the messages seem to have been banished. I now wonder how I could have doubted!”

“I feel renewed in my prayer, reading, and offering of the Mass in a truly remarkable way.”

Blessed be the Lord, for He is good indeed.

I could say much more and still fall short; I end up with what Scriptures say, “the Lord God is All” Allehluiah!

Report written by Mark Jordan

1 This reminded me of an excerpt from a Message dated September 12, 1990 where Jesus says, “...no, Wisdom will not show Herself to a crafty soul; She will come to instruct only the poor and the simple and pour out all Her Works on them, for these very souls know how to fear Me, the Lord, and cherish My Word.”