The following word has been sent out generally to friends of Isabel and Ivan Allum who Chris & Linda respect as accurate prophets. They have spoken into our personal lives whilst we were at leadership school in Toronto some of which had to do with stepping into our current ministry at The Vine. The word is also confirmation of what Chris has been hearing God say about this being a year of Restoration and Acceleration for The Vine. We commend this to you for your weighing and encouragement.

"Hello friends and family of God,

How wonderful it is to be alive and serving Jesus in a time such as this! We can hardly believe the things we are living and seeing all over the world. We used to hear those stories and read them in books, and now we are living them. We no longer long for those days of power and revival to come because they are here! These are the days that the prophets of old spoke about but, did not understand. These are the great days of restoration, rebuilding, revelation, releasing, and harvest. These are the days of promises being fulfilled and impossible dreams coming to pass not for a few “special ones”, but for all of us, all who are called children of God.

As I write this, I hear a trumpet blowing in heaven. It is a trumpet of alert and awakening. It is a loud trumpet summoning those that have been called. It is shouting: “All hands on deck! Everyone is needed!” My heart leaps as I see the angel that holds and blows that trumpet on a very high mountain top that surpasses the highest mountains men have ever climbed. “It is time!” Heaven proclaims… I hear a train engine and the whistle of the train blowing… it is coming fast down the tracks… the name of the train is “acceleration”. Great acceleration is being released on earth… things from now on, will come fast, and will be accomplished quicker than expected. Then I see a crier walking through the streets sounding a loud bell and shouting: “Rewards for stewardship… get ready because stewardship is being rewarded”.

God truly is faithful and His Kingdom amazing! He loves hungry and willing hearts, and cannot help but, release without measure when His children respond and ask for more of Him and His Spirit. It truly is humbling to serve Him and His children, in a time such as this.

This has been quite a year for us. We have seen a great increase in anointing and impartation. The visitations of the presence of Jesus have increased as well in the meetings, and lives are being transformed more than ever. Destiny is no longer a dream but a reality for many. We are so excited to be part of such a release on earth.

This however, has not come without a fight. The enemy has tried to oppose us in many ways. We have gone through a season in which everything that could be shaken has been shaken from health, family, house, finances, and much more. However, to the enemy’s great surprise, our Father has become more real than the air we breath, and His love has increased without measure around us. We have seen the true manifestation of His Kingdom, which is not food or drink, but joy, peace, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit flowing in our lives.

The fruit of it has been good, and we have chosen to spend our time like Esther did, sitting at table of the King, loving Him, and making Him our main focus instead of the circumstances, and in turn, He is defeating our enemies. The valley of weeping has become a place of refreshing springs, and we are living the victory of knowing that “nothing can separate us from the love of our Lord”. We are truly content in our circumstances, and this is worth more than silver and gold.

We can truly say, that it has been a wonderful ‘hard’ time, which has caused a deeper manifestation of the reality of our Father in our lives. We have met face to face with “the Dad inside the Father’s heart”. We now know what Jesus meant when He said: “Abba Father”, and knowing Him like this, has changed everything (a full account of that visitation will soon be found on our website). Once again, we are grateful for the prayers of many specially when sickness came upon us both early in the summer.

We are also busy finishing our second book, which will be published at the beginning of 2010. Our first book “YOUR DESTINY… Unlocking the Impossible Promises of God”, is currently being translated into German, Dutch, and Chinese, and is being used as a resource to prepare the saints for the work of the Kingdom in several churches and ministry/bible schools around the world. It is amazing to see what our Father can do when we are obedient, and offer Him our fish and two loaves of bread…

This fall we stepped down from pastoring our home church and handed it over to our associate. Highlands is a wonderful church living its 10th year. Since planting it ten years ago, we have seen God move greatly in our midst, and in this time it has accomplished what takes many a life-time to achieve. It has touched and impacted the nations of the world in many ways. However, the cloud is moving for us and we must follow God’s direction. We remain as members of the church for the time being, but will be planting another church in the spring in a city about an hour away from where we live. In the meantime, we continue with our busy traveling ministry.

We are excited in the natural and in the spirit as our Father has been downloading tremendous vision and blueprints for this new season of our lives and ministry. Our Father seems to be smiling a lot about this and is constantly sending great encouragement our way, and for that we are deeply grateful.

As we travel, we see that this is a season of change and transition for many around the world. There is a repositioning in the Kingdom in preparation for the greatest release into destiny the world has ever seen. Heaven and earth are getting ready for a greater revealing of the sons and daughters of God, and the soon return of our Lord.

In closing we want to encourage you, this has been a year of surprises and challenges for many, but, know that the cloud is moving and a great shift is taking place. Hang in there, because it wont be long and change will come. Many have been running long races but, the finish line is almost in sight. It will be good and things will work out just fine. Trust God till the end, because at the end, everything will work out and you will have an amazing story to tell that will make our Father famous! That is a promise!

We want to once again thank everyone who prays for us as we go to the nations to minister. We are so grateful for the faithful intercessors who stand with us as we know we cannot do what we do without your prayers, that cause the hand of God to move. Please know that we pray for great rewards to come to you. Our travel schedule continues being very full, and we would appreciate your continued prayers so we can run the race efficiently serving the Bride of our Lord and making our Father famous. You can see our full travel itinerary on our website
www.ivan-isabel.com <http://www.ivan-isabel.com/> .

We are also grateful to those who have invested in our Kingdom Fund, as it has made it possible for us to build the Father’s Kingdom in many places, and to provide resources, training, and equipping for many who could not have been able to have it otherwise. We pray that great dividends for your investments will come to you and your house.

Once again, we want to express our love and gratitude. We enjoy so much meeting many of you around the nations of the world, and seeing the Kingdom of our Father advance because of you. Think big and expect big, because from experience we know that heaven is investing more than ever, in those who are willing, obedient, and available in the day of God’s power.

May 2010 be a year of courage, decisions, faith, strength, mountain tops, restoration, restitution, harvest, and new dreams for you and yours. May our Father bless you and protect you. May He smile on you and always be gracious to you. May He show you His mercy and give you His peace. And, may your rewards come quickly.

Much love and blessings,
Ivan & Isabel Allum"