MAY 20-31, 2016 – Switzerland Portugal Tour
Seeing Jesus in the Heart of Europe
Day 10:
The travelers enjoyed their final breakfast and teaching time with Marilyn. Travelers shared testimonies and celebrated in a time of prayer. They then had a free day to explore and came together one last time for their Farewell Dinner.
Day 9:
The travelers headed north to visit the marvelous medieval walled town of Obidos. Next they continue to the fisherman’s village of Nazare and on to Batalha to visit the Monastery, a masterpiece of flamboyant Gothic and home to the Unknown Soldier tomb in Portugal. Then they went on to Fatima, one of the most important pilgrimage centers in the world. They then went to the Sanctuary, the old and new Basilicas, and the Capelinha, home to the miracle of Fatima.
In the evening Marilyn and the travelers ministered at the CEIZS church service. Marilyn spoke on preached Luke 5:17. She prayed for growths, tumors and warts, salvations, and Holy Spirit baptisms. Many responded!
Day 8:
After breakfast, the travelers enjoyed more teaching from Marilyn. She spoke from John 2 about being a servant.
The visited the Royal Palace and then traveled to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in Europe where they enjoyed an outstanding view over the Atlantic Ocean. Cabo da Toda means Cape Rock. From there they went on to the fishing village of Cascais and the beach area of Guincho.
They walked the narrow streets and eventually returned to Lisbon through the village of Estoril.
Day 7:
The travelers got up early for their first breakfast in Portugal and experienced the best buffet yet! Variety, flavorful, abundant – the travelers all had extra-wide smiles on their faces this morn despite how they longed for just a bit more sleep.
During the ministry time with Marilyn, she had some of the travelers share testimonies about the early trips to China when they smuggled Bibles into the country. This really electrified the faith of everyone in the room. Then Pastor Claudio, the Lisbon pastor also from the Rio church, brought colorful fliers announcing the coming Healing Meeting at their church. The travelers distributed the fliers during their daily excursions.
They then went on a half-day excursion into the city, visiting the Geronimos
monastery and other sites. Lisbon (Lisboa) is a city of 10 1/2 million people and growing. They walked all over, getting to know the city with its cobblestone streets and colorful tiled or painted houses. We caught a glimpse of the botanic gardens with its beautiful flowers and plants, and saw that many of the sidewalks are made of scrolled patterns of limestone (white) and volcanic rock (black), making quite a dramatic statement. We looked at the Tejo River which starts in Spain and divides a north/south part of Spain from Portugal.
Day 6:
The travelers took advantage of their free morning to sleep in and stay close to the hotel before their flight to Lisbon later in the afternoon. Their flight was smooth and they got into Lisbon, Portugal rather late so they went straight to bed to rest up before their early morning.
Day 5:
During breakfast, Marilyn continued on her theme of walking in the supernatural, and the travelers really loved it. This is a free day, so after breakfast, the travelers took full advantage and boarded hotel shuttles, taxis, and trains to do whatever they wanted to!
Day 4:
The travelers had another great start to the day with breakfast, prayer, praise and worship, and a teaching from Marilyn on natural acts preceding the supernatural. They then set out on a gorgeous, unseasonably warm day to tour in Lucerne with a boat ride on the lake and then to Mt. Titlis for a gondola ride up the mountain.
Lucerne:
Lucerne is a quaint and colorful town nestled in between steep, dramatic snow-covered mountains – a sight to behold! The town reminded a few travelers of Venice, Italy with the canals throughout the clean, fresh town and lovely houses with abundant flowers in the windowsills. The travelers witnessed as they walked, handing out tracts as they engaged with the people they met along the way. They visited the famous lion carved out of rock. Mark Twain loved that lion and said that it was the best rock carving he’d ever seen, as well as the most emotional. The boat ride later on Lake Lucerne was tranquil and heavenly – the water captured the reflection of the mountains perfectly.
Mt. Titlis:
The travelers climbed the 10,000 foot mountain on gondolas singing “How Great is Our God” and filling the atmosphere with electric, contagious, joyful praise. The mountain is so high that they rode well above the cloud cover. At the top of the ride the travelers stepped into an unparalleled panoramic view of Lucerne and surrounding areas. There was also a photo gallery, restaurant, lounge, and a beautiful gift shop to enjoy.
Healing meeting:
This was so fun! The praise and worship was lively and powerful, led by young adults who obviously had hearts yielded to the Lord. They started with songs in Swiss, but ended with some familiar contemporary American Christian songs. Pastor Renato was ordained out of the CEIZS church where we ministered in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and only speaks Portuguese, so he preaches with a Swiss translator. Because of this, they gave headsets to the Americans for the English translation. Lots of young people were in the congregation of about 100 or so, and when Marilyn preached, it seemed the atmosphere was charged up and they responded very well. There were calls for salvation, re-commitment, infilling of Holy Spirit, and healing, and all calls had people responding! After the service, the travelers lined up and laid hands on the people.
Day 3:
The travelers enjoyed a beautiful start to the day with praise and worship, prayer, and Marilyn’s continued teaching on expecting the supernatural. The weather was rainy and cold, so they had to wear jackets and use umbrellas for the day. They first visited Rhine Falls near a town called Schaffhausen. Interesting fact – they had to drive through a bit of Germany to get to that part of Switzerland that had the falls. No passports needed to move from one country to the other. The falls were quite a bit smaller the Iguassu falls in Brazil, Niagara falls, or Victoria falls, but no less dramatic!
Next they visited St. Gallen, a UNESCO world heritage site with its famous cathedral and medieval library. Interesting fact – it’s a working library and you are still able to check out books, but they have to be less than 100 years old.
Then they moved on to Liechtenstein, a very tiny monarchy that is one of the smallest countries in the world, and then a stop on the way back to hotel at the Lindt chocolate factory where the travelers shopped at the store but were unable to tour the factory that day. They then returned to the hotel. Like the day before, the travelers had the afternoon to explore on their own.
Day 2:
The travelers started their day with a wonderful breakfast, praise and worship, and encouraging word from Marilyn. She spoke on 2 Kings 19 and the double-portion miracles of Elisha. She taught that an act in the natural always precedes a miracle. She also encouraged everyone to prayer-walk everywhere they went.
The first touring destination was the capital of Bern. Bern is named after the German word for bear. The architecture was beautiful and it hit home how old Europe is.
Switzerland is less than 60,000 square miles, and has eight million people, 6% of which are farmers. It is divided into sections that speak four different languages: German is largest percentage (although they learn “high” German in school, Swiss German is different, and is more commonly heard than pure German), French, Italian, and Romansh, a Latin-type of language.
The group then traveled to the financial capital, Zurich, for a city tour. After the tour, the travelers had free time to explore the city on their own.
Day 1:
The Travelers landed in Switzerland and made their way to the hotel to freshen up. When the land only travelers arrived, they were a full group of 98 ready to go.
The first event was a Welcome Dinner which was packed with excitement even though everyone was tired from the long flights. (However, those travelers who have been to Asia know this trip has much shorter travel times.)
Marilyn talked through the goals for the trip, and everyone was excited with the expectation of a miracle trip, breaking up fallow ground while honoring the rich spiritual heritage that was birthed in this region.
