Have you always wanted to go to Israel? Join Bob and Kathy March 19-30, 2011
OK, so you’re asking, why the cheesy ancient photo headlining the update?!!! Well, it’s been 25 years ago this year that I released my first recording “Take My Healing To The Nations”!! Thought it would be appropriate to mark this with a little sort of “memorial”. That sounds really bad. Maybe better said, we want to recall all the remarkable things that God has done these past 25 years, and say thank you Jesus for your amazing grace on our lives! In fact, the song “Take My Healing” has been the underlying theme of the ministry in worship we are privileged to do, literally all over the world. So blessed to observe that ”As we worship in Your presence, there is healing.” Simply yet profoundly, the love that God pours out on His people in worship becomes a healing balm. Thank you Jesus! We look forward to many more years of taking your healing to the nations!
Wow, the past 6 months have been some of the busiest, yet some of the most productive times of our lives. We have already traveled to Asia, Europe, Africa and the Pacific and joined with thousands of people lauding the love and works of Jesus. We have heard so many stories of God’s healing, His restoration and goodness, that we find it hard sometimes to know just how to communicate. Having said that, let me give you some highlights:
After our March tour in Israel, and a bit of rest in Kona, we traveled to West Virginia to lead worship at the request of a friend of ours who has a heart of worship, and desire to bring restoration to the people of God through Jesus-centered counseling. He is a one of the most tender men of God I know, and longs to share the healing love of Jesus through worship and personal guidance. Here is an account he shared with Kathy and I the week after our ministry that just had us both laughing and rejoicing!!: “One of my great pleasures this week has been to pull up beside a beaten down truck at a stop next to a red neck tobacco slobbering cowboy and hear Bob Fitts music cranked up full blast on his CD. Your gift of CDs has been such a blessing as we hand to clients who need your hug with the full knowledge that it is the hand of Bob and Kathy handing it to them and with the knowledge that it is God’s hand reaching through your hearts to touch the world!”
June is always special for Kathy and I as we celebrate our anniversary, and this year, I surprised Kathy with a trip to Maui to remind ourselves of how wonderful it is to be married to “the one”!!! How great to reminisce through 34 years of marriage and to look forward with anticipation to the many more years ahead.
The summers are almost always full of worship events. Here are highlights of Summer 2010:
Houston: worship conference, a first for us in this city.
Nigeria: the city of Uyo, 6000 radical worshiping Nigerians
Family reunion in Arizona
Singapore and Malaysia: we can never get too much time in Asia! We have now made official our home church at New Creation Church in Singapore, so we get there as much as possible. We had powerful times of worship in Malaysia with 1500 to 2000 passionate Malaysians loving Jesus.
Philippines: We went to five islands, including Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippines, where our tour organizer told us, “even Filipino businessmen don’t come here!!!” A Christian College, committed to raise up a generation of worshipers sponsored the concert with a standing room only crowd lifting up the name of Jesus. In Davao, we shared at a worship seminar of about 500 men and women, and had a packed worship concert the next night:
We closed out our time in the Philippines in Manila with a worship concert of radical Charismatic Catholics, singing, dancing and loving Jesus with all their hearts.
October: almost caught up here…….a fantastic month of ministry, very fresh in the memory! Oops, almost forgot: in the middle of all this touring, our good friend Tom Brooks contacted me and said, “What you think about doing a new Christmas CD?” Sounds fantastic, but how to fit it in. So in between Philippines in September, and U.K., Nigeria in October, I headed off to California to record a music compilation celebrating the birth of the King of kings (possibly to be released in the next month…..let’s see) After that, off to Europe, where we toured the middle section of the U.K. doing worship concerts in Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and Coventry. The highlight was leading worship in an African Church in Hull, dancing and celebrating the love of God, after having visited the home (now a museum) of 19th century believer William Wiberforce, who was the lead voice in bringing an end to the slave trade in the U.K.
That night while worshiping with these awesome African brothers and sisters, I was struck that in fact a worshiper, the writer of “Amazing Grace” was an influence on Wilberforce to bring healing to his land, and eventually to influence the whole world. Kathy and I are trusting that this same healing power is pouring over every nation we visit, as we honor the healer of our souls.
November: We’re back in Nigeria now for a week of worship conferences and concerts, then off to Brazil for two weeks, to celebrate God’s goodness with our Brasilero brothers and sisters. After our time in Brazil, it’s home for another time of worship………THANKSGIVING!!! (and maybe one more recording, but we’ll let you know about that later!!)
Thank you Jesus for 25 years of your overwhelming kindness! We honor you! Thanks friends for being our prayer support, and encouragement. Look forward to worshiping with you somewhere around the world!
