This was written by Cat Tatman:
A little while ago I received some revelation regarding Leeds/Bradford. From this, I felt God asking me to call together people from our two amazing cities who, for a specific length of time, would meet and journey together in order to see something new released personally and corporately. This is an explanation of what I received and an invitation for you to join me on this journey...
2011: a year of breakthrough anointing / deliverance / transition
I love the way that no one person receives a complete prophecy or revelation, but that many different voices receive different parts confirming a greater whole. I have felt both an excitement and a gravity about 2011 and have personally, and from others, heard a number of prophetic words that speak of 2011 as being a 'breakthrough' year. With this in mind, what are we to 'breakthrough' into?
Leeds and Bradford: positioned to receive our inheritance / move into the promised land
The following is from from Numbers 13 & 14 and from the book of Joshua.
In Numbers 13, God had brought Israel to the point where he now considered them ready to enter the promised land. In preparation for this, Moses ordered 12 scouts to go and check out the entire area of the promised land for 40 days. He asked them to find out about the people who lived there, whether the towns were fortified, whether the land was fertile and to bring back samples of the produce of that land. The scouts did this, but only Caleb and Joshua returned with a good report - while the other 10 scouts made the whole of Israel afraid to enter into that land. As a result, Israel had to stay in the desert for a further 40 years, into that entire generation had died out.
I felt God saying that like Israel, Leeds and Bradford are currently positioned to move into our inheritance – many of the things we have hoped and prayed for for years and a recovery of the identity and inheritance of our two cities – but whether we are actually able to make this transition, is up to us. Felt God encourage me that one part of his strategy for us during this season of transition, was to set up a regular gathering of 12 people who would, like Joshua and Caleb, hear the call to be forerunners for our two cities. In this year, there is a specific anointing and grace to breakthrough into something new and a call to be the ones who scout out the land ahead of time and declare like Caleb that “we can certainly conquer it” (Num 13:30). This is about making an active choice to move into our personal and collective inheritance. As Leeds and Bradford are twinned, our inheritance is likewise linked and shared. I felt God likening Bradford in this instance to the 3 tribes who remained on the East of the Jordan river, but crossed over with the rest of Israel to fight and claim the promised land with them (see Joshua 1: 12-18).
So what would we be meeting for?
1. Individual and Collective Inheritance
-Making time to pray for each other and into those prophetic words that have been given to us as individuals and as Leeds/Bradford. I believe this is a time to dig out those words and release a fulfilment of them.
-To be the 'scouts' for a breakthrough in our 2 cities, coming to a point where we are able to declare that our land is a place “flowing with milk and honey” (Num 13:27).
-'The redemption of the 12'. It is God's nature of fully redeem, restore and bring to completion. I felt God really wanted to honour 12 people who were willing to make this commitment and liked that there would be 12 people who would ALL declare that the land was good, bringing a completion to what has been before, but not as it should have been.
2. To receive revelation and understanding about Leeds and Bradford
-During the time of the 'Sowing the Seeds for Revival' meetings, Martin Scott released powerful revelation on the nature of cities and the types of city that Leeds and Bradford are. Leeds is a 'first city'; a place that is called to lead, to innovate and pioneer (and to sometimes fail in doing so), to make a way that others can follow and to be a place of clear communication and revelation. Bradford is a 'deliverance city', a place with a rich inheritance of healing and miracles, a place where we can see things brought to completion and where we know that God is with the poor. The two cities absolutely need each other: only by working together can we fully walk in inheritance and as a result, also receive the blessing of each other's gifting. I believe that by meeting together and praying for our 2 cities we will receive revelation and strategy (because of Leeds gifting) and an ability (because of Bradford's gifting) to move into it.
(For more on the nature of 'first' and 'deliverance' cities see: http://3generations.eu/blog/?paged=4 where Martin has kindly made available some of the chapters from his book on cities).
3. To experience the fruit of the new land, ahead of time
-Like the scouts who went into the promised land and lived there for 40 days (Num 13: 17-25), I believe this group of 12 people are invited to look ahead into life for our 2 cities for 2012 and beyond - and by doing so, to enjoy all that the next season has to offer, right now. The scouts went into the land and found it “a bountiful country, flowing with milk and honey” (Num 13:27). I believe that by meeting in this way, we will begin to see some of the fullness of the kingdom that we have longed for – healings and miracles, the glory of God's presence with us – begin to manifest in our lives and in the cities we live in.
4. To make a way for others to follow
All a 'prophetic forerunner' really is, is someone who is willing to listen to the word of the Lord and act upon it - sometimes out of / ahead of time, which can be discomforting. But by doing so, I believe that something can get opened up / released for the wider body of Christ to also enter into, enabling the new thing to become established.
So who should respond to this message?
-Those willing to commit to a covenantal relationship with 11 others, meeting on a Saturday morning, once a fortnight over a period of 40 weeks. I anticipate this beginning on the 14th or 28th May, with some flexibility depending on people's initial availability, which would then take us into the new year and a last gathering in January 2012. I am aware that this is quite a commitment, but please don't worry: there is an understanding that all 12 of us won't all be able to make every single gathering and that is absolutely fine. The wonderful thing about covenantal relationship is that we make a genuine commitment to each other for this specific time frame, which means committing to being together as much as we can, but carrying each other in spirit for all those times when some of us can't physically 'be there'.
-Those with a pioneering call on their life – the Joshua's, Caleb's and Abraham's - should consider whether this is something for you to be part of. That said, all are welcome.
-Those for whom this message resonates with their spirit
-Those who recognise that being a forerunner can be a difficult place to be in at times (there is a reality that the scouts in Numbers did see the giants and fortifications in the promised land and this caused some of them to feel afraid), but who also recognise that this can also be the place where we are right in the centre of the will of God and get to 'taste and see that he is good'. I believe that there are battles ahead in this year of transition, but that we can learn together how to walk in a place of certainty, able to declare that “we can certainly conquer it”, that “the Lord has given you this land” and that our enemy is “afraid of you... living in terror” (Num 13:30, Joshua 2:9).
In the end, the victory is ours! If you, like me, long to be someone of whom the Lord says “My servant (...) has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored” (Num 14:24), then please do have a think and pray about whether this is the right thing for you, right now.
You can get in touch with me by email or phone to let me know if this is something you would like to be a part of, or to ask any questions...
With love,
Cat Tatman
smallyetfeisty@hotmail.co.uk / 07834 856351
