Pastor Mike Picone from USA was back again to Etab for our Holy Week Church Camp but this time with his better half, his wife – Pastor Pat.
The duet-Pastor was used mightily by God during the two-day camp to bring healing to people who were fractured by past traumas and abuse. There was also a session for more anointing to those who were already operating in the prophetic realm.
The couple has very strong teaching and preaching ministry, not mentioning the acute and accurate prophetic ministry they both carried and used for the congregation, bringing much edification, encouragement and comfort to those who responded to the altar-call.
Deliverance and healing of the sick were also among the mainstay of the ministry of the Picones.
But personally, I enjoyed the Word Ministry that God has given them. The sermons on THE VAPOR OF GOD’S BREATH (Acts 12:1-2; 11-12) and THE FIVE SMOOTH STONES OF DAVID (1 Samuel 17:40) by Pastor Mike, pulled at my heartstring to attempt greater things for God.
The first sermon was about letting the vapor of God’s Breath through a leader who had gone ahead of us in suffering and failure to bring that breath of God to restore us from our past crippling trauma, just like how Apostle Peter entered into a RELATIONAL DESTINY with the fearful and failing John Mark.
The second sermon was about the battle we have to fight with the “Goliath” of our lives just like how David used his five stones to fight his Goliath. The five stones that David used in 1 Samuel 17:40 were:
- Remembering God’s Recording System
- Moving forward in who we are NOW
- This (Battle) is Mantle Building Material
- Attempt
- Encouraging the next generation
Pastor Pat was very candid with our people in sharing her sexual abuse at the age of seven and how the Lord turned that mess around and made it into a message today.
And what a LIBERATING MESSAGE IT WAS as we witnessed the Lord using her to set many people who had been abused in one way or another, at one point or another in their lives.
Glory be to God.
In another sermon of Pastor Pat, she shared about BEING AFFECTED BY WHAT WE HAVE. Most of the time, we are being affected by what we do not have. But God asked Moses this poignant question in Exodus 4:2-5 – “What is in your hand?” The sermon is about the calling of God upon our lives. It is about God giving us things that are out of our comfort zone just like Moses was uncomfortable about his calling to be the deliverer of the children of Israel. It is about God already supplying what we need for His calling upon our lives.
The argument and the resistance to the calling of God were the main order of the day for Moses and yet at the end of the day, he obeyed. And Moses obeyed by grapping the tail of the snake (which was a “senseless” order by God) and then a MIRACLE took place – the snake turned into a rod. And that same rod would follow us to the next realm of assignment or challenge, just like it did with Moses to Egypt to challenge Pharaoh and ultimately the parting of the Red Sea. Pastor Pat also admonished our people not to use our gift with pride; to guard our hearts and to stay under authority.
The part that I was most convicted and challenged with was when Pastor Pat taught on Mark 8:1-9- about Jesus having compassion on the 4000 multitudes who had nothing to eat and He asked his disciples to give them something to eat. They had nothing except 7 loaves of bread and a few fishes. These are how we can be affected by what we have: –
- Jesus takes what we have like our 7 loaves of bread (our limited resources).
- Jesus wants us to give thanks to God for what we have and use what we have right now.
- Jesus takes what we give to Him and He breaks it.
The breaking of the bread by Jesus means the breaking of our carnal thinking. God has to break our carnal thinking of what we think our gifting looks like. The greatest place is to recognize our INABILITY and to be in the place of GOD’S ABILITY.
• Jesus gives back the bread to disciples to distribute to the hungry people.
Here it is talking about the MANDATE to go to the world to do what He wants us to do.
• When Jesus gives back the broken bread and fishes to his disciples, miracles have not happened yet UNTIL the disciples give them away to the multitudes.
As we become obedient to the mandate of Jesus, miracles will happen to our ministries.
The camp punctuated with an evening EVANGELISTIC GOOD FRIDAY message by Pastor Mike with 34 adults and 26 teens accepting Christ as their Savior.
The music department under the leadership of Marco Corado opened that Good Friday service with two powerful and anointed Good Friday choral songs – HERE AT THE CROSS and HOW CAN IT BE, accompanied by interpretative dance and skit directed by Farida Kabayao. Glory be to God for a fruitful Good Friday Service.
Thank you, Pastors Mike and Pat, for being a blessing to Etab and for being our friends. We thank God for such a kindred spirit between us. May the Lord use you as a powerful couple to complement each other in the ministry and to attempt even greater things for Him in His harvest field – one can chase a thousand and two ten thousand. More power to both of you!
