Valencia Bohol 2008
We were invited to Valencia Bohol to speak at a church sectional meeting. The meeting was a three day event. I spoke each day in the morning session and every evening I ministered to the community. It was in one of the evening services that God spoke to the pastor of the church. Pastor Joshua Gultimo was the lead pastor of the church, and he and his wife Jocelyn approached me and began to tell me that they had tried for five years to have a baby and would we please pray for them. I told them that when we got to the prayer time I would have them come forward and we would definitely pray that God would cause them to have a baby.
During the service God stopped me and I turned to Pastor Joshua and told him what God had told me. I remember telling him that God said that they would indeed have a baby but that he needed to slow down. I had no explanation for what slow down meant but that was what God had said.
Let's fast forward to November 2010 for the rest of the story.
I had made another trip to the Philippines but this time I went with a very good friend of mine and his wife who operate an organization called International Children's Network. Don and Jenny help orphans and at risk kids around the world get sponsors and it just so happened, they had around sixty sponsored kids in the Philippines. They had never been to the Philippines so they invited me to come with them. I really had nothing to do other than help Don and Jenny with the things they had to do. They had to take pictures and meet the kids and we even got the opportunity to speak at Faith Tabernacle Church.
Near the end of our trip, we went to the island of Bohol and then traveled down the coast to the town of Valencia. It seems that Faith Tabernacle Church was having another sectional meeting and the reason I was there was to be their speaker for the two days. No problem though; the bible tells us to ready in season and out of season and even though I had no idea I was going to speak, I was ready.
As soon as we arrived at the church I was met by Pastor Joshua and the first thing he had to say was that it had been two years and they still had no baby. I told Joshua that God had not changed his plans and that if He said they would have a baby then they would. We went about our day and then came the evening service. There were about two hundred people there and God was definitely in the house. During the service God spoke to me as He had done two years earlier. I immediately stopped preaching and turned to Joshua and told him God had not changed his mind and that I finally understood what slow down meant. I told him that slow down meant that he had neglected his wife, neglected his church and that he needed to get out of city government and get back to what God had called him to do. Besides that He said that they would indeed have not one but twins.
After the service my friend Don took me aside and said to me are you nuts? Have you completely lost your mind? Do you realize what you have said? All to which I responded, "I know exactly what I said and I will stand on it to my death." Don told me that my reputation would be completely destroyed if it was not true. First of all I had no idea I had a reputation and second of all, God had said it and that was good enough for me.
We returned to the US and got back to whatever it was we do. It was February and I was at home getting ready to start my day and thought that I would check my email before getting down to business. I opened an email from Pastor Joshua Gultimo and the first thing he said was God did a miracle and that he and his wife Jocelyn were pregnant with twins. On October 11, 2011, Joshua and Jocelyn became the parents of two very healthy boys. When I told my friend Don he almost passed out. He said you are kidding me and I told him that I knew that day when I spoke that God had spoken to me and because I did not doubt or let others influence what I would say, God answered their prayer. We still talk about it every now and then when we get together and now the ongoing joke at Faith Tabernacle is, watch out Pastor Steve is here and if you want to have a baby go see him and you will have twins or even triplets. HaHa!
I have always taken the words that God gives me very seriously and this time I stepped way out on a limb but I knew that I knew God was going to answer their prayer.
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During the service God stopped me and I turned to Pastor Joshua and told him what God had told me. I remember telling him that God said that they would indeed have a baby but that he needed to slow down. I had no explanation for what slow down meant but that was what God had said.
Let's fast forward to November 2010 for the rest of the story.
I had made another trip to the Philippines but this time I went with a very good friend of mine and his wife who operate an organization called International Children's Network. Don and Jenny help orphans and at risk kids around the world get sponsors and it just so happened, they had around sixty sponsored kids in the Philippines. They had never been to the Philippines so they invited me to come with them. I really had nothing to do other than help Don and Jenny with the things they had to do. They had to take pictures and meet the kids and we even got the opportunity to speak at Faith Tabernacle Church.
Near the end of our trip, we went to the island of Bohol and then traveled down the coast to the town of Valencia. It seems that Faith Tabernacle Church was having another sectional meeting and the reason I was there was to be their speaker for the two days. No problem though; the bible tells us to ready in season and out of season and even though I had no idea I was going to speak, I was ready.
As soon as we arrived at the church I was met by Pastor Joshua and the first thing he had to say was that it had been two years and they still had no baby. I told Joshua that God had not changed his plans and that if He said they would have a baby then they would. We went about our day and then came the evening service. There were about two hundred people there and God was definitely in the house. During the service God spoke to me as He had done two years earlier. I immediately stopped preaching and turned to Joshua and told him God had not changed his mind and that I finally understood what slow down meant. I told him that slow down meant that he had neglected his wife, neglected his church and that he needed to get out of city government and get back to what God had called him to do. Besides that He said that they would indeed have not one but twins.
After the service my friend Don took me aside and said to me are you nuts? Have you completely lost your mind? Do you realize what you have said? All to which I responded, "I know exactly what I said and I will stand on it to my death." Don told me that my reputation would be completely destroyed if it was not true. First of all I had no idea I had a reputation and second of all, God had said it and that was good enough for me.
We returned to the US and got back to whatever it was we do. It was February and I was at home getting ready to start my day and thought that I would check my email before getting down to business. I opened an email from Pastor Joshua Gultimo and the first thing he said was God did a miracle and that he and his wife Jocelyn were pregnant with twins. On October 11, 2011, Joshua and Jocelyn became the parents of two very healthy boys. When I told my friend Don he almost passed out. He said you are kidding me and I told him that I knew that day when I spoke that God had spoken to me and because I did not doubt or let others influence what I would say, God answered their prayer. We still talk about it every now and then when we get together and now the ongoing joke at Faith Tabernacle is, watch out Pastor Steve is here and if you want to have a baby go see him and you will have twins or even triplets. HaHa!
I have always taken the words that God gives me very seriously and this time I stepped way out on a limb but I knew that I knew God was going to answer their prayer.
Back to Stories To Intrigue
Say Hello to the twins