Personal stories from Ian’s life that are included in Gems and available to read and search as stand-alone stories here.
God Tailor-Made My Training
I have experience at spotting this kind of religious spirit and self-serving attitude. God set me on a course from the beginning of this work in which we are involved, where I would come face to face with this kind of heart attitude frequently. The reason is the way God predetermined my training for this work. When we knew what God wanted us to do, He told us very clearly that we needed training for work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. God spoke to me very clearly via a prophetic word delivered by one of my pastors, that I was to attend a conference I was questioning whether to attend or not, and there I would see the next step very clearly and would see the big picture ahead of us in overview. I laughed because it sounded so spiritual because in actual fact I was to attend a Geography Conference. However a series of events led me to attend the first morning of a missions conference. God spoke to me very clearly and then allowed me to meet David Cummings, the International Director of Wycliffe. David told me our next step was to go to Bible College for two years and study Hebrew and Greek and exegesis. Then he laid out the steps we would need to take over the next several years – yes it was a large big picture. After the Geography Conference I returned to Matamata determined to follow God’s input.
Playing Academic Games
We want to serve your God!
There's a story of young soldier in the army in the former Soviet Union who was constantly humiliated because he believed in God. One day the captain wanted to humiliate him before the troops. He called the young man and told him to take the keys and go and park the Jeep in front of the troops. The soldier said that he could not drive! The captain told him to "ask for assistance from your God! Show us that He exists!" The soldier took the keys and walked to the vehicle and began to pray. Then He parked the jeep as the captain wanted. When the soldier got out of the jeep he saw the troops all crying. They all said together, "We want to serve your God!" The young soldier was astonished, and asked what was going on. The Captain opened the hood of the jeep to show the young man that the car had no engine. Then the soldier said, "See. This is the God I serve."
Disarming the Spirits
It happened in Nepal when a new missionary to the area went into a darkened local spirit house and saw a man chanting while hovering and spinning in the air at the same time. When the missionary entered, the shaman, who was hovering in the air while spinning and chanting, spoke authoritatively and told all those present that this one was a messenger of the Christian God and warned the missionary to go. The inference being that the shaman had ultimate power and the missionary should leave. The new missionary wisely interpreted this as a power encounter over who had the right to be called the Most High God. He then spoke out in a voice that all could hear and in Jesus Name he “disarmed or came against the power that held the shaman up” whereupon the shaman crashed to the ground. Now who is in control?
Opposed to Christianity
I was opposed to Christianity and to Christ. I was a staunch atheist and I would boast that there was no way I was going to become a Christian. I was set on that course as a nine year old. At that time I didn't use the word atheist. I didn't know what it meant. But I wanted nothing to do with God. It was all caused by my alcoholic father’s attitudes. He hated religion because on occasions my mother went to church. But then he would play the religious card when it suited him. One particular Saturday night crystallised my stand for me when I was nine. I remember standing behind my bedroom door with my baseball bat in my hand vowing to whack my father over the head as he yelled and screamed at my mother. I was summoning up the resolve and was waiting for him to come past my bedroom door. He came out of the lounge but turned the other way to the bathroom and I lost my resolve and stood shaking behind the door.
The next morning I took my rugby ball and was kicking it in the air and catch it as a sign to my friend across the road to come and play. My father burst out of the front door and yelled at me not to kick the rugby ball in the front yard as it was the Lord’s Day. That moment set me on a collision course with God. I thought I hated God and religion but in reality I hated my father’s hypocrisy. God at the right time pursued me and won me over to Himself. But along the journey on occasions I could be paranoid about religion and the Bible which would bring out my irrational responses. Like thinking that Tania was moving and placing her Bible around her house so I would see it and it bugged me. It wasn’t Tania’s conspiracy it was God pursuing me.
Tell others of your encounters with God
When I became a Christian and later on starting work with Wycliffe Bible Translators I began to understand that being a witness is what life is all about. We took seriously the Biblical injunction in Deut 6:6-9 to teach our children to recognise the footprints of God and help them to see God moving in our lives. As our testimony has developed throughout our lives, we taught our children to see God’s hand in our lives when we walked in the way, when we were on the road, we sat down at home, when we were going to bed, when we were getting up. Reminding ourselves and them of our glimpses of God. Do you realise every time you tell a portion of your testimony to God’s hand in your life you encourage another to see God in life and you encourage yourself by reminding yourself of what God has done? The more you do it the more you are built up and the more you build others.
I have found it easy to pick up hitch hikers and introduce them to God. Travel with seat companions on a plane journey flying around the world and share God moments with them. Oh not all responded favourably but I spread the good news anyway. Some wanted out of the car – like the two I picked up to take to Auckland city and when the guy in the front saw my sticker (Warning: you ride in this car at your own risk, the driver could vanish at any instant). He asked to be let out on the next corner after I had only just picked them up. Or the woman who travelled beside me on a plane from Auckland to LA and if she could she would have wanted to get off right then. She kept her back to me all through the journey. But for every negative moment there have been hundreds of positive ones when God came into human lives and changed them. Much like He has changed me. Simply tell others of your encounters with God. But before you can do that you have to learn to recognise that you have moments when God steps into your life. The more you see them the more tuned to seeing them you become.
A Visit From An Indonesian Angel
Thinking about this makes me think of something which happened here in Auckland last weekend. I don’t have time to check with the two individuals as to whether I have permission to tell their story because I am just writing this Gem and the incident comes to mind. So I will take my courage in my two hands and believe that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to tell the story now. Julie was struggling as to whether she would carry on and do Deeper Bible 301 or not. She felt she needed time to recoup and get her thoughts together and maybe spend more time gathering the details of 201 before she launched into 301. But had been vacillating back and forth on whether to do 301 or not now. She attended a teaching series last Saturday on something totally unrelated when a woman came and sat down next to her at a break and said, “Hi, I am Indonesian.” An interesting thing to say, that and nothing more. That made Julie say, “Do you know Ian?” To which this Indonesian woman said, “Do you mean Ian Vail?” “Yes" said Julie “I have been doing Deeper Bible with Ian. He is going to start Deeper Bible 301 tomorrow.” To which this Indonesian angel said “Oh you should do 301, don’t wait. Do it now” and then left. Talk about an angelic encounter! Julie was left thinking oh my goodness, I don’t believe what just happened. This Indonesian woman appears out of the blue and gives me a message to make sure I attend the course tomorrow and then she is gone. Julie doesn't know who the woman was but I think I do. I am sure it was Lily Mulianah. So sure that I am writing this writing little encounter up in today’s Gems. Lily has indeed done Deeper Bible to higher levels back in Jakarta and I know she has been studying here in Auckland at Elim College and is staying in Manukau City. I will bet it was Lily who sat down beside Julie to tell her something the Lord wanted her to know and then go off on her next Spirit-led assignment. It is like that in God. I will be watching my inbox after sending this Gems to see what response I get. But can you see that was the way in which events were unfolding for the early apostles and disciples from Jerusalem out to the ends of the earth. The LORD himself was orchestrating all that was happening. The news spread all over the region.
Stuck in Your Rut
It made me think of something that we experienced when we lived in a certain village on the field. The road to the village as so bad in rainy season that it was really just a sea of mud. The road was used by heavy vehicles to haul heavy stone up to the lower reaches of the river valley. They would carve out huge ruts under the sea of mud. To get through with a four wheel drive you had to chose your rut carefully because you would be in it for a long while. The ruts put you on a set course as long as you had to drive through the sea of mud. You could not change course part way through the journey because you couldn’t climb out of the rut in order to navigate a smoother track on the road. You were forced to keep going in the rut you chose. It is much like that with our prejudices and biases. If we have a left leaning tendency then we are locked into seeing things from the left (politically, religiously etc). If we have a right leaning tendency we are set with a bias toward the right. It is so hard to change our point of view.
Clarice's Wise Word: We All Have Leanings Ian
Over these last weeks I have been visiting a precious saint of God who has supported us in our work for a long time. Now she is in an aged care facility and not doing well. I visit her every time I go down to teach Deeper Bible in Matamata. We have had some funny times together when I come and find her leaning over to her right and unable to get up again. I regularly ask her if she would like me to prop her up straight again and she comes out with some funny comments. She has told me. “Yes Ian I would like to be set straight again but I have a natural lean toward Te Poi. That is where I come from. I am leaning toward Te Poi aren’t I?” Te Poi is a little country hamlet out of Matamata to the east. I tell her, "Yes Clarice, you are indeed leaning toward Te Poi, staying true to your Te Poi roots.” But then she said one day “My leanings make me aware that I have to stay balanced and not have any errors that I take on board. We all have leanings you know Ian.” Oh what a wise lady. Indeed we do. Be careful that your leanings or your life bias doesn't set you on the wrong road. We all need constant correction to navigate life on this earth. There are too many temptations or errors in judgement which can lead us away from the truth. We need little course corrections along the way.
From the God Who Said 'Let There Be Light'
What made me chuckle was that Sunday I had shared our story about God providing light for us when all around was in darkness. It was the time when we were leaving Sulawesi and there were so many things office-wise I had to do before we left. So I worked at the office longer than I should have. Tania kept reminding me that we needed to be packing our house up in readiness for sending a container back to New Zealand. Finally with just a week to spare before we left I had finished at the office and could focus my time on getting things ready at home. I was working on the principle of focusing first on the kingdom of God and all the other things will fall into place. Only this time I realised I had blown it. The time factor was going to be tight to say the least.
Then we heard that the state electricity corporation (PLN) were planning rolling power outages across the city. One half of the city would be without power while the other half would have power. Surprise Ian and Tania, you will be without power on Monday but will have it Tuesday night, be without it Wednesday night and so on. Now that had really thrown a spanner in the works. We were not going to get our sorting done in time if we lost two nights to work at a crucial time. We decided to just get into the task and leave the outcome to God. Monday night we were expecting the power to go out but just kept working until it did. Strangely our power stayed on all night. I said to Tania, clearly they have allowed us power tonight but tomorrow night (Tuesday) we wont have it. So we made the most of what we had on Monday night and worked late. Tuesday night came and similarly we had power so again we just worked as long as possible. Again I had it figured – the rolling outages had been postponed. Praise the Lord. Wednesday night came and again we had light so we worked again as much as possible and were making inroads into the task to be ready for Friday.
Wednesday night a couple, colleagues, dropped in to see us and find out what was going on. Why was it we had power when all this side of the city was in darkness? How then was it possible that only our house had power in all this side of the city. They had driven over from the other side of the city where they lived and sure enough, in accord with the PLN plan, this side of the city was in darkness. I said I didn't know but what I did know is that we had power and we were making the most of it. I told them how I figured PLN had changed their plan and clearly this half of the city had power Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Our friends told us that was not possible. They had venture into our half of the city on Monday night and found it in darkness. PLN had followed the plan as notified. Our friends invited us outside to look at our street and sure enough the street was in darkness except for our house. How did I explain it? I didn't know how but I realised that God had given us the time of light that we needed. Another Ian and Tania God story.
Ah, It’s the Voice, not the Face
After my years of telling God stories on Radio Rhema, I would travel NZ and get in conversation with others who had introduced me to a new person only to have that new acquaintance looking at me strangely for a while before declaring, “I know how I know you. Ah, it’s the voice, not the face. You tell those stories on Radio Rhema.” One woman said to me, "I have a bone to pick with you Ian Vail. Those Rhema stories are so infuriating."
I said, "That's sad, most people find them inspiring and exciting and look forward to them."
She laughed and said, "My problem is that I live in Wellington and head to work at the right to hear your stories. But then often along the journey I reach one of the tunnels and the Rhema reception fades and I lose the end of the story." Then she added, "And those tear-jerking stories are a problem too. I arrive at work with a tear stained face and all of my make-up run."
To which I replied, "But that is not my fault. All you have to do is leave for work earlier and don't wear make-up."
Seat Belts in Church
I used to tell people in God’s Awesome Book seminars around New Zealand and in Indonesia, if we really caught the importance of praying, believed the Word of God and realised Who it is that we are praying to, we would equip our churches with seat belts. Praying is dangerous. Believing God has the potential to shake your world and everyone around you. Don’t allow yourself to get trapped in the dulling sedative of routine and stop looking for God’s intervention in human affairs. It can happen quicker that you realise and without a warning.Always be prepared for the miraculous and make sure you fasten your seat belt at church.
That was a Word from the Lord was it?
In one church we have been a part of during our training, it would often happen after a certain chord sequence of music when these words from the Lord would come forth. One morning after it had happened and had left me grieved in my spirit I was approached by an elder who said, “Wow that was a wonderful morning wasn’t it Ian? We had a whole series of 'words from the Lord’. I responded by saying, “Those were words from the Lord were they?” “You believe in God speaking through the prophetic voice don’t you?” “I certainly do but I question whether they were truly words from the Lord. If they were then what did He say?” Whereupon the elder proceeded to tell me a series of vague, rambling generalities about the God’s love and compassion for His people. I said, "I rest my case.” If God really spoke wouldn't we hang on every word and take seriously what was said through the body?" Rather than sum up what God said with some vague sense that God spoke and not be able to recall the words but instead boil them down to some vague generalities or Christian platitudes?
Specific Words from the LORD we have received
“You are to go to Wellington and in Wellington you will see the next step really clearly and see all things in perspective.” I laughed at this Word from the Lord the first time I heard it and told the speaker, Weston Finlay, not to be so spiritual, I was only going to a Geography Conference.
“I see you and Tania standing on the bridge of ship and it is like the Lord is saying you are going to lead a significant work. Furthermore I see that there will be bigger and bigger ships following this. This is just the beginning.” A prophetic word spoken out after the speaker saw a vision of us while we were all praying.
"I will pour out My Spirit afresh and anew to this body, afresh and anew to this mind. My son, I the Lord say to you I have called you to be My own and to stand before Me. I am going to use you My son by My grace and My glory. I am going to cause you to bring yourself together an army that I am raising up for the glory of thy God. I’m going to cause a consuming fire to burn within you and that fire is going to be uncontrollable by the hands of the adversary. Like a maverick shall you be before the LORD your God; untameable by the forces of the adversary but tameable by My power and My Spirit. I am going to cause you to thrust forth your household, thrust forth your life and your being into the harvest field for the glory of your God and I am going to reap a harvest by My power and My Spirit my son. I shall use thee. I shall use you, so get into My Word! Learn the strategy , take hold of the manual and apply it your life and I’ll open doors for you, I’ll make moves for you. I’m going to make some changes in your business affairs for the glory of the LORD your God. I have seen the need in these areas. I am going to bring prosperity My son that you know not of. I am going to make you a steward before the LORD thy God to refresh and to renew My power and My Spirit in your life. Fear not, I have seen the revival of your heart.” (A prophetic word received via a visiting speaker, Larry Allen, 20 Dec 1980)
“The LORD says unto you that as you will seek Me, seek Me as you Father, the Lord says that He will prove Himself to you. It is through this proving Himself to you that He will use you because you have an ability to convey to others the things that the LORD can do. You will have a surety and a faith that will not be shaken. For the LORD says unto you, seek Me and prove Me and know that I the LORD am true to My Word and I will use this as a blessing through you in the lives of others.” An unexpected prophetic word spoken by Graeme Coad after a prayer for healing that happened three days later.
There have been many others over the years. The two longer prophetic words from Larry Allen and Graeme Coad were recorded on the church sound system and then transcribed and printed for us.