New Jersey, New York & Connecticut
After overcoming in Dulles and flying into Newark, New Jersey, Kathy and I headed straight into New York City. We engaged in spiritual warfare immediately, which was fine, because that is what God had sent us to do. We were sent to pray for this nation and overcome principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness over these areas. Although, I have been in New York City before, I found myself in somewhat the same state that I had encountered in Washington, DC. It was like we were trapped in a web, and we couldn't get out. I am reminded in Ecclesiastes 7:26 as Solomon states,
"I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands bands; whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her."
We were endeavoring to go uptown toward Manhattan, and we kept coming in a circle back downtown to the Staten Island Ferry! It was as though I could not get out of this certain area. There was much warfare with intense pressure, and honestly I was encountering spirits that I knew I had experienced, but definitely not to this degree. On the previous trips to pray for our nation, I was the designated driver, and even though I was praying with the rest of the group, there was someone else in the car heading off the principalities and powers. In those particular situations, that was Doyle. Now the Spirit of God had sent me to overcome. There were times of great pressures and trials, but we watched God bring us through every one of them. One thing Kathy and I both believe is that if God sends you somewhere, he will get you home. That is a proven fact in our lives over the past 28 years. When I stopped, got hold of my heart, and made that declaration, immediately I began to overcome, and we got clear direction toward Manhattan. As we continued to drive through the heart of the city, there was strong intercession in our hearts for the people as we passed by way of Park Ave. into Harlem. We spent quite some time praying here and compassion was in our hearts as we were driving through what is considered the poor areas of New York City. I understood more about this later. As we emerged out of the north edge of the city and were heading toward New Rochelle, where we would spend the night, I was overwhelmed by a spirit. My eyes were burning and blurring, and I was in a tremendous contest. Kathy said, "Terry, you better get a hold of yourself!" I wanted to say, "Shut up, woman!" Now some of you women will think whatever, but Kathy knows me. She does not let a whole lot bother her, especially if she realizes she should have been still. I did begin to tell her what I was experiencing, and as I began to talk to her, my eyes cleared up, I overcame the spirit I was wrestling with, and I found myself headed in the right direction. After I had overcome the tremendous spiritual contest as we were coming out of the city, a gentle rain began to fall on us, and we began to thank God for his mercy and grace upon our lives. Early the next morning we headed on up toward Connecticut. As we passed by White Plains, NY, one of the richest communities per capita in the nation, I was led by the Spirit of God to bless the Clintons and pray especially for Hillary, as they live just a few miles north. Also the Lord led me to pray, "Let not the rich oppress the poor.." several times, and "will not the judge of the whole do right!!" I was reminded the last time we came this direction from New York into Connecticut it was snowing, and the snow came down harder as we entered the state. It took us over 3 hours to return to Newark Airport in about 6 inches of snow by the time we returned about 35 miles. It was reported the next day that only 5 planes were able to take off from Newark Airport that day, and all the other airfields in New York and New Jersey were closed. We were one of the 5 planes. This time it was raining and increasing in strength, and we knew we needed to head back to New Jersey. There was a lot of rain and a very low ceiling. Fortunately, we got back quite a while before our flight, so we sat in a parking lot in New Jersey praying, and it appeared the harder we prayed, the harder it rained, but we gave it all we had for another 45 minutes or so. Finally, we could tell we were breaking through in the Spirit, and it began to clear up a bit. We then headed on to the airport, checked in our bag, and got our boarding passes. While we were sitting in the Newark Airport, we began to see a very dense fog move in. Kathy sat there praying and resisting the devil while I was up walking and praying in the terminal. We watched that fog move in and out. The planes were lining up sometimes 10 to 12 deep waiting for clearance to take off. The devil was saying,"You're not going home this time!", and I told Kathy, "We are going home!! We have done what God sent us to do!" Interestingly, I came eye to eye with a pilot who flew us on Charter flights about 6 years ago, and we exchanged greetings and updates. Actually, he was flying back on our flight and expressed concern about cancellation, and I reminded him about some of our experiences when he flew us several years ago like the plane trying to go into a roll on a return trip from South Bend, IN. He replied, "Yes, I remember!" I boldly declared, "We'll make it!" Our flight went from possibly cancelled to a minimum 2-hour delay to boarding in 45 minutes, and as it was announced for boarding, I looked at our pilot friend, and he just smiled. However, when we finally boarded the plane, it was like they were moving in slow motion. Kathy said in her heart to the Lord, "If you don't care that we get out of here, then neither do I, but I will remind you of this one thing. You have always gotten us home!" Right as she finished saying that to the Lord, our plane began to back out. Not only that, but there were only a couple of planes in front of us waiting for clearance to take off. As we were flying home, our daughter, Candace, heard that flights were delayed over 2 hours coming out of Newark as the rain intensified after we left. In fact, it continued to rain throughout the entire area for several days with floods following. Once again we saw God demonstrate his power on our behalf. We encourage all who read these testimonies of our experiences to believe the gospel. The power of God works in anyone who believes. I would like to add something here. The morning we were leaving for Washington DC the Lord spoke to us out of Romans 11:22,
Behold the goodness and severity of God.
I will not get into it, you can read it for yourself, but God was saying he was showing his goodness toward us. If we don't continue to believe, then we can fall into his severity, and I don't want God on my case. Hopefully, none of you who read these writings do either. This is what provokes me to obey his voice, because I can read what happens to people that don't believe. Trust me I have had to fight unbelief just like anyone, but the Lord has always granted me the grace it overcome. You know how to overcome unbelief? Repent, and believe the gospel.