Worship leader; songwriter; missionary
with
Go Forth Missions
from the Translation Site
Joanie is wife to Bill and mom to John, Christie, Annie, and Sarah. She is an anointed worship leader with an angelic voice. Joanie has ministered through God's supernatural Love with her family in Ukraine for thirteen years as Go Forth Missions. The Lynch's have witnessed an outpouring of miracles by the Holy Spirit to rescue lives in grueling circumstances. Currently, Joanie resides in Ohio, while her daughter, Sarah, attends a special needs school. She and Bill are in the process of adopting 14 year-old Egor. Joanie has written numerous songs and the Lord has been speaking to her about Spiritual birthing and the greater depths of His Husband-Love for a couple of years.
Gemma:
Joanie, welcome! Tell us how you relate to the Lord as you minister in prayer or song, and when you are alone with Him?
Joanie:
This is a question I generally don't like to talk about! It is extremely personal, literally like asking a couple, "When you two go to bed, what it is like?" I remember, as a newlywed, being so excited about this aspect of our relationship, feeling like I wanted to shout from every housetop how awesome our intimacy was, but then realizing, OOPS, you just don't do that! That's how intimate the Lord is with me, now.
Gemma: Absolutely! The Lord's love is deep and pure, and there is a risk that His intimacy will be misunderstood - maybe even twisted if it is viewed through eyes that perhaps only know intimacy as it is portrayed in our world. We want to protect what is most precious to us.
Joanie:
In my early walk, as a teen, our relationship was a little less close, but the Lord supernaturally and instantly gave me a voice to worship Him with when I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit; it was a powerful voice that boomed so much that my young friends had to hold their hands over their ears! Up until that point, I had never been able to sing; afterward, that is all I did! I started leading worship at 15. Worship and praying-in-tongues were my prayer-life then, and it was very rich for many years as I received, privately and publicly, what I will call anointed song runs: songs that related to one another and flowed from one place to another. I enjoyed the journey - and many people were touched as I sang, often in supernatural ways. I am very comfortable singing to the Lord in the language of music and, later, I liked to write Him letters, but for many years, I struggled with simply talking to God, One-on-one. I had difficulty grasping hold of Him as Daddy. I had hardly had a Dad, so my prayers were usually guilt-ridden exercises in duty. But, I will never forget an experience that changed everything: I had been very busy and I hadn't had any personal time with Him, so as usual, I approached Him feeling awful and saying, "Well... here I am.... Sorry it has been so long... I guess I have really missed out by being away from You...." Then, I heard words that shook me and changed me forever. I heard that still, small, but very clear voice say, "You are not the only one who has missed out." I was stunned. Shocked. I suddenly realized how HE felt! He had missed ME! That was too much; it broke that sense of duty.
Another thing that forever changed my prayer time with the Lord was an anointed prayer I prayed. We were in Ukraine and, after over 7 years of constant, miraculous outpourings of the Holy Spirit in our meetings, I started to dislike the difference between my home-life and my church-life. So, I told God, "I want You to visit me right here in my house like You visit us at church"! I wasn't humble but rather, slightly angry, like it wasn't fair that my home-life was so radically different to my powerful church experience. THE RESULT WAS AWESOME! In submission and simple trust, I set aside time everyday - and the Lord came in power. I could feel Him drawing me away with Him. EVERY TIME, EVERY DAY, I would lie on the floor; I would ask the Holy Sprit to come to me, and He would! I would start to shake; I shook and shook and shook: I had no idea what was going on! Over time, the Lord led me to specific instances of trauma and pain in my life that I had never dealt with; I had not had the strength to face them. He was so GENTLE with me; so very gentle. I changed dramatically; my entire personality changed. I became calm, less nervous and worrisome, and less neurotic. I learned to wait on Him even in the midst of a crisis. He would coach me, whispering right next to my ear in the middle of horrendous chaos, and instruct me what to do and say. I had such PEACE. I believe, in the coming last days, this type of close fellowship will literally save our lives when ministering in danger zones.
Bo:
Joanie, what has the Holy Spirit been saying to you about Spiritual birthing?
Joanie:
The First Commandment in The Bible, and God's first intention toward His beloved Man before The Fall, is Genesis 1:28: "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." The end statement is verse 31, "... and it was very good." Reproducing and multiplying were God's original plan. It may be the only commandment that humans have been obedient to! From the beginning, you can see the heart of God for more people, designed like Himself with an innate ability to create. To create what? More of "... man in our image, in our likeness..." (Gen. 1:26). Like Father like son: We are not clones or replicas, as we can see through the prodigy of the ages, but the next generations are similar to their parents, with variations. I believe God likes this and it is what He wanted to see. Now that I am a grandparent (physically and spiritually), I understand this more and I love it! My children, John and Annie, grew up in our church in Ukraine, married, and are having their own babies now - as are many of their friends - so I am an avid baby watcher. At church, I noticed a couple. I had met them years before when they had two - and now they have 5 - little ones, who are gorgeous. I noticed that the father's hair is already turning gray. It is as if he is starting to fade: He is a handsome man, but his son-in-arms glows an incredible beauty, and it seems that this is God's intention; the man's gorgeous replacement coming when he is starting to diminish. Natural things speak of the invisible. Physically, mature men are capable of producing seed that fertilizes eggs in a woman, and that seed matures and produces a new human. Spiritually, we are to mature into the image of Christ - into the full man. I think it saddens God's heart to see physically mature Christians men NOT producing new babes-in-Christ, in both the physical and the Spiritual dimensions. I believe that Jesus' last words, the Great Commission, is a Spiritual and physical echo of the original commandment and is actively on His heart. All souls are like the 'lost boys,' needing to be rescued and reconciled back to their parent - God, the Father. So, I cannot stress enough that Spiritual birth is also about souls. Paul labored and travailed and preached and endured great hardship so that souls would be born into the kingdom - as sons to the King. And we have to see something tangible so that claims are credible: Like a baby is the tangible evidence that sex really happened! I believe that intercession, coupled with preaching (preferably apostolic preaching with signs and wonders accompanying), leads to God's result: Souls being birthed into His Kingdom. For example, years after we first got to Kharkov, Bill noticed he had written in his journal: ÒIf, in 2 months, we do not see fruit and results, I will inform our sponsors not to waste their money and we will go home.Ó In two months, the church had already exploded into 200 new babies-in-Christ and our hall was bursting at its seams. That, I believe is real results; effort and labor and travail that brought VISIBLE births. Interestingly, one of our intercessors in Ukraine discerned a stronghold over America, and most likely over the Western Church, which she called a spirit of sterilization: It is my personal conviction that it grieves the heart of God for a believer (one who is trying to please God, anyway) to be sterilized. I believe it is God and God alone who has the right to open and close the womb and to give life (and take it away). Sterilization is literally cutting off what God has intended from The Beginning: the ability to reproduce and multiply. This spirit would have a physical but also Spiritual impact. God's heart is the more babies the better - physically and Spiritually!
Tessa:
What do you sense the Lord doing globally as you travel to different nations?
Joanie:
Globally, I believe this is the Last Days Harvest of the earth. I could get into physical statistics from all over the world but you have probably heard them. Bill and I have been in HARVEST; not revival and not renewal. We love those two moves of the Spirit too, and Bill is a near expert on revival history, but Harvest is different. Revivals come and go: I have personally already seen four revivals in my lifetime, or better put, outpourings. As a teenager, I would get prophecies - one right in Biology class in 10th grade that is one of the most powerful prophecies I have ever received! It spoke of my future and that, across the planet, I would always be in or near revival. Harvest is what God wants, however. Trees planted by water that ALWAYS produce the fruit of the season. Harvest and reproduction are synonyms of the Kingdom. God expects fruit on our trees when it's time! Remember the fig tree?
Globally also, I believe Go Forth Missions is seeing supernatural results because we have been obedient to the Holy Spirit; He tells us where the Harvest is ripe and ready, and then WE GO. The Holy Spirit has already indicated two new countries to us: Bosnia and Afghanistan. We are planning and preparing for that now. Amazingly, when Bill was smuggling drugs back in the sixties as a nonbeliever (Read Bill's testimony), it was in Kabul that he was busted! God has a full circle for us to run! The Lord has shown Bill that Bosnia is very ripe now. It is a war-torn disaster - there are mines along the road so that you can't get out of your car some places; there were horrific crimes committed against the women - dismembering them, and massive rapings. We have trained ladies in Ukraine who can't wait to get there to preach and to bring healing to these ravaged women.
To me personally, the whole world is mine! Once, on a plane, I was touched by the Holy Spirit and now I honestly love all ethnic groups. Prior to that I was totally devoted to Ukrainians and Russian speakers, and I saw nothing else. Before going on that transatlantic flight, I had noticed that this plane probably comprised the largest cross-section of multinationals that I had ever seen in one place: I was thoroughly enjoying looking at them because one of my favorite pastimes is to watch people and to try to feel God's heart for them. Well, our flight was well under way and, after our meal, I got up and waited in line with quite a few others to go to the restroom. Then it hit me - like a huge waterfall - a download of God's Presence... right in front of everybody.... I prayed: "Oh God, oh God, not now... can't You wait till I get into the restroom?" (NOT!) I started weeping, buckets of tears, and then I heard His voice so clearly: "Look and see; look at all of them... they are ALL my babies... and aren't they all so BEAUTIFUL!!!!" I felt it, too, and I agreed, and now I truly love them all of them.
Globally, I must add this: The Lord spoke to me clearly, in one of the strongest words I have ever received and given, that Ukraine will be one of the nations in the Last Days where everyone in the entire nation will be saved. I saw it so clearly and His words were plain: "Every person you see, every person in your field of vision will be saved, in the entire country; every grandma, grandpa, woman and man and child." Then He said, "... and you need to treat them all like (future) relatives because they are all going to be related to you. They will all be your brother or sister in Christ." I believe it! Ukraine is the richest Harvest Field; just like their soil. They have the world's largest reserves of black soil. In some places, I have seen it 10 feet deep. The people garden in their bedroom slippers; it is gravy ground! There isn't a rock or stone in the entire country except for those you purchase for decoration: It is Fertile ground.
Peter:
What are your hopes and dreams for the near future?
Joanie:
What is most on my heart for the near future is to complete the building of our homeless, alcohol and drug rehabilitation center in Kharkov. It is such a vital work in Ukraine. There is an incredible story of a man rescued and kept alive by God's power until he reached us. The larger future? I, personally, would like to see happen in both Bosnia and Afghanistan what the Lord did in Ukraine. I believe we will see it, but this time it may be even more powerful because we now have our beloved, trained and equipped, powerhouse Holy Ghost signs and wonders Ukrainian team with us! Relationships are for forever: That is how God is. We are all family, all over the world, reaching out to our lost brothers and sisters who need help. There are many needy places in the world. I am glad the Lord is so faithful and He keeps showing us where to go and what to do. I love it. I love Him!!!
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Bill and Joanie Lynch, U.S. Address:
Go Forth Missions P.O. Box 26863 Salt Lake City, Utah 84126
Tel.no. USA: 1 (801) 964-9662
Ukraine Go Forth Missions Ul. Gallinskaya 2-A Kharkov 61068
Tel. no. Ukraine: 011 (38) (057) 771-4062
E-mail: goforth@gmail.com
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