Shadowed by night, a voice called into the bedroom, “I need help.” Awakened with weary expectancy by the routine visit, Wendy Preston (’88 RBTC graduate) whispered, “Lord I need help.” Night after night, her houseguest came to the doorway at 3 a.m. saying, “It’s my worst hour!” Wendy inwardly replied, “It is mine as well!” But she would rise, put a kettle on the stove, and begin the loving work of restoring a soul the world had given up on.
Linda arrived on Wendy’s doorstep as a last resort. Alcoholism and drug addiction had plundered her young life. She had exhausted every option including the help of people around her. Well known in the community for sneaking into the communion cupboard at a local church, Linda often disappeared only to be discovered under a church pew, drunk on communion wine! “She was given to me because that church didn’t want her,” says Wendy, “and she was a bit of a pickle!”
The nightly sessions became exhausting. Wendy had opened her flat as a healing home for a number of years. Two others had also come for help, both in wheelchairs, one disabled and one with terminal cancer. Although Wendy graciously accommodated the temporary houseguests, she found herself becoming “hard” despite her deep love for people.
Dog walking was a respite amid the daily demands. On one walk, Wendy cried out to God, exasperated, as if the situation was His fault, “Where is the anointing that breaks the yoke? Do something with Your daughter!” Wendy was tired. All her guests needed miracles. Only God could turn their situations around.
Before long, the nightly ritual took a new form. Linda crossed Wendy’s threshold, fell to the ground, and started to cry. The situation broke like a fever, and the raging heat of the woman’s struggle dissipated. Wendy exhaled, “Yes!” and thanked God. She knew the tide had turned.
Discovering Dreams
Working in the background of Linda’s deliverance was a dream. She always wanted to sell her hand-painted wooden clogs. Once Wendy pinpointed the dream, not only did it revive but so did Linda. No longer bound by drugs and alcohol, she is married and runs a successful business selling her hand-painted wares.
With “one down” and out the door, Wendy learned her disabled guest’s dream was to ski. Wendy scouted the local secondhand stores and found a pair of snow skis. Day after day, she maneuvered the skis around Margaret’s wheelchair to place them on her feet. Wendy encouraged Margaret to see herself healed and skiing on the slopes: “Close your eyes. Imagine the cold snow. How does that feel?” Day after day, they focused on her dream, “Move those legs—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!” Today Margaret is healed, walking, and skiing.
Particularly with people locked in an illness, Wendy always starts with the question: “What would you do if you could . . . ?” Faces light up as they reconnect with their dreams. Hope reignites, and faith grows as they realize that regardless of the ailment or disarray in their lives, God’s Word is true, and He will complete what He started.
Wendy has found that people often have challenges because they are not on the course God set for them. “If you connect with your dream,” she explains, “life comes with it. All you need to do is say yes. You don’t make that dream happen. You just have to respond. God is loving and gentle, and He restores everything He placed in your heart.”
Wendy’s heart for prayer and healing extends throughout the British Isles and beyond.
Displaying God’s Love and Glory
Wendy smiles as she describes the type of people God draws to Faith Alive Church in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. “The majority of those attending Faith Alive have a call on their life but don’t recognize it or know what to do with it. Others have been given up on by the world. People that [other] people have given up on are our people!”
“Rejection was quite common in my life,” Wendy continues. “I never really fit the pack. Now, I could not care less [about rejection]. I’m very comfortable in my call. But it’s taken me my lifetime to become comfortable!”
Reflecting on those years Wendy says, “I had a call on my life from a child, and unusual things would happen about the glory of God. But I didn’t have any knowledge. You have to be grounded in the Word!” Thankfully God led her and her family ‘across the pond’ to Rhema USA.
Wendy came to America by way of Canada and eventually moved to New Jersey. At the time, the word “Rhema” was not familiar to her. When it came up in her spirit, she thought, “Rhema? What is Rhema?” She let it rest but soon ended up in the church of a Rhema graduate.
From there Wendy signed up for The Word of Faith magazine. “Once we saw the picture of the school,” she says, “we left everything. This is what God was trying to get us to America for in the first place!” She describes Rhema Bible Training College like oxygen, “It’s like you’re breathing the anointing in and out. There’s something here we thrive on that you can’t get anywhere else.”
Even today Wendy continues to listen to Brother Hagin’s messages every night, “It’s a timeless message!” She is ever thankful to Rhema for helping her step into her gifts and stays connected. Wendy says, “Recognizing the gifts in others and helping them step into them is a privilege!” Her advice to anyone who realizes that God has something for their life is simple: “Come to Rhema, then stick with your roots!”
With her roots firmly planted in God’s Word, Wendy’s heart for prayer and healing extends throughout the British Isles and beyond. Signs, wonders, and miracles follow as God uses her and the growing body of believers she impacts to reach others suffering from hopeless situations and impossible odds.
Wendy’s love resonates through her proper British accent as she shares the ‘secret’ behind the miracles people encounter. “At the end of the day, ministry is God’s love and glory,” she says with a lilt. “It’s all about the love of God and the power of God. The love side of the anointing is not ‘I love you. We’ve got to walk in love.’ It’s actually flowing in the God-kind of love. It’s a healing love.”
To learn more about Wendy Preston, visit faithalive.uk.com.
Prayer Points
Continued success in planting churches
Reach and connect believers in Great Britain who don’t attend church
Monthly gatherings nationwide
Taking prayer and healing to the people
Further development of the British Isles team
Assist other nations with building teams
Continue strengthening denominational believers with The Journey (a story-like guide designed for study and group meetings)
Share this Post