My Time at Accessible Prophecy

Our lovely intern Joanna left the Accessible Prophecy team in the summer after two wonderful years. We really miss her but are thrilled that she is doing so well in her new job at Land Rover. Here are her reflections on her time with us:

Just under two years ago, I chose to give a day a week to Accessible Prophecy. In the beginning I had no idea what this would look like, but I was excited for the opportunity to grow in the prophetic myself, to help others grow in the prophetic, and to be invested in by Cath.

To begin with, I found the internship quite difficult. Nearly all of my time was spent in the office, doing various admin tasks and supporting Cath in all of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work that I had never even considered had to take place in order for a ministry to grow. Quite a bit of this work was initially quite tedious and boring; however I persevered because God had given me a heart for the work that Cath and Accessible Prophecy was doing. I think during those first few months, my servant-heart grew as I learned how to serve well, and to do it lovingly rather than with bitterness or annoyance. It is many of these ‘boring’ bits that, although were done out of serving, have actually really served me now, as I was able to put them on my CV and get myself a job! Two years down the line these tedious tasks don’t feel tedious anymore, they’re just things that need to be done in order for the ministry to run, and therefore I do them because I am able to look at the bigger picture of Accessible Prophecy, and know that I’m making a difference to people’s lives through doing them.

Alongside these more tedious serving tasks, I was also given the opportunity to do some things I loved. I’ve designed some leaflets, made videos, taken photographs, gathered testimonies and written and edited blogs. I’ve enjoyed doing these things, as I love being creative, sharing God’s heart, and building relationships. I was also very involved in the organisation and running of events and learning communities. As someone that loves organising things, (particularly social events!!), this was really good fun and it was great to be able to use some of my skills to bless Cath and take some of the responsibilities she doesn’t enjoy off of her shoulders! Also, I was able to make and develop relationships with amazing people all over the country (and beyond) who had hearts to see their communities and churches all hearing from God.

Over these two years I’ve also been greatly challenged and stretched as I have stepped out in prophesying over people on stage at events, given testimonies in front of large groups of people, begun to teach people to prophesy for the first times and also started a prophetic missional community in Sheffield. I’ve been and spoken at a variety of events now with Cath and the team at workshops, seminars, learning communities and even New Wine in the Netherlands! I am so thankful for these opportunities, and for me they have definitely been the most exciting and stretching parts of my internship!

It’s very bizarre to write down what it is I’ve been doing for the past two years. That last paragraph looks pretty impressive when you read it, and it has been a massive privilege to do those things, but the most important thing about my time at Accessible Prophecy, and in anything, has to be my relationship with God. Yes I’ve had some absolutely amazing times on the team, helping people to grow in the gift of prophecy and speaking at events, and yes I’ve had some rather boring days where things just needed to get done, which have helped give me experience to get a job, but ultimately, it all has to come back to Jesus.

So what have I learnt about God since being at Accessible Prophecy? Firstly, I now know fully and wholeheartedly that God loves to speak to everyone – no really, everyone! The amount of people who have said to us, “I never thought I could hear from God before, but now I can!” or, “You’ve really helped demystify prophecy for me, now I know I can do it,” is incredible! God loves to speak to all of his children, and I’ve seen hundreds of people experience that for the first time. God is good and he loves to speak to us.

Secondly, I’ve learnt how to have, and act with, a servant-heart. It’s so easy to get caught up in the hype and in the big picture of something, forgetting about all the little tedious jobs that need doing. It’s so easy to just want to do the ‘good-stuff’ like speaking at events or prophesying over people, because the big picture is very exciting! However, over these past two years I’ve learnt that in order to get to the bigger exciting picture, all the little things need to be done first, not only because they need doing, but to humble myself, and to serve those that need serving.

Thirdly, I’ve learnt how important it is to learn from those further on in the journey than you, to be invested in, and to be a part of a wider ‘family’ that support, encourage, train and invest in you. Cath and the wider 3dm Europe team have really kept me grounded in God over these past two years. I have been surrounded by people that love God and I have been able to join in the 3dm ‘family’. This has meant socials, food, games, and Christmas parties that have been a lot of fun. But the best part has been being able to witness the lives of these people: Cath, Rich, Anna, John, Si, Pip, Andrea, (and everyone else!) – to see how they live, and to witness how they live their lives like Jesus would if he were them. Not only have I seen this, but also I’ve been able to be a part of their lives, and they’ve shown me how to do it for myself. This gave me and my husband the confidence to start a missional community, because we had seen 3dm Europe demonstrate a family on mission so incredibly well, that we knew we could do it too!

I am so thankful for the time I have had with Accessible Prophecy and 3dm Europe. It’s helped me to build strong foundations on which I can live the rest of my life. It’s helped me to grow in the gift of prophecy, in teaching, in admin, in events management, in confidence, and in my identity. But most importantly, being an intern for Accessible Prophecy and in the family of 3dm Europe, has helped me grow closer to living a life like Jesus would if he were me, and it’s taught me how to love and serve his Kingdom. It’s really hard to leave Accessible Prophecy, because it’s something I know God called me into, so it’s hard to now have Him call me out of it when it’s so good! But I’m also excited for this next season, being in a full-time job and in the world, being a light to people that don’t know Jesus yet.