When we were having our Tabernacles conference in Hilo, Hawaii in late September of 2007, the revelation came that the Elijah Ministry was being brought to birth, but that this would be applicable a year later (i.e., Sept. 2008). So there was nothing to do but wait a year to see what this might mean.

On August 17, 2008, we came under spiritual attack by a group of witches. We discerned this on the night of August 19 and took steps to protect ourselves and all who were associated with us in this warfare. The first pattern that I discerned was that of 1997, where Darla and I were led to make the trip to Corpus Christi, Texas to post boundary markers. (See chapter 19.)

At that time, we left Minneapolis on August 19, 1997 and posted the first boundary marker on August 22. This was to protect the Pearl of Great Price, represented in one way by Corpus Christi and in another way by Darla herself, whose name is derived from dar, a Hebrew word for pearl.

Because we had put boundaries restricting the Red Dragon from taking the Pearl of Great Price, he took an alternative target. It was Princess Diana, who was killed on August 31.

Because we appeared to be following a similar pattern in 2008, I discerned that the enemy would take another alternate target on August 31, 2008. On that day, a pastor friend from Trinidad was shot and killed. This time the murder provided us with legal “cause” against the enemies of the Kingdom. As Tertullian once wrote in the third century, “our blood is seed.”

In early September Pastor Bell called to tell me that the Lord had spoken to his church that this current warfare was to be called Operation Elijah. That drew my attention to the fact that I was scheduled to fly to South Africa on Sept. 4 and return on Sept. 30. The 30^th was the Feast of Trumpets, the beginning of the New Year on Hebrew time. I had already written about the Elijah pattern in the autumn feast days in my book, The Laws of the Second Coming. Trumpets represented Elijah raising the widow woman’s son from the dead; the Day of Atonement represented the showdown with the prophets of Baal; Tabernacles represented the seven-day prayer for rain; and the eighth day of Tabernacles represented the actual rain, along with Elijah’s outrunning the chariots of Ahab (time travel).

So I realized that I was scheduled to return from South Africa on the Feast of Trumpets, which was associated with the end of Elijah’s time out of the country (in Phoenicia). This established an Elijah pattern and showed us that this was a real beginning of the Open Door Ministry.

Even so, I had forgotten about the 1984 revelations in the Ye Shall Go Forth prayer campaign, because they were buried in my records in storage. Not until November did I find them and study them. I then discovered that the 1984 prayer campaign had established the foundations for Operation Elijah in 2008, as well as for my trip to South Africa.

On August 17, 1984 I received a word from the Lord, saying,

“This is indeed a time of great importance, for as I lead you, so will you go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. You shall be My witnesses to all who hear you and to all who do not.”

Twenty-four years later, on August 17, 2008 we came under spiritual attack that triggered Operation Elijah.

Ye Shall Go Forth prayer campaign began on August 20, 1984 and ended on September 3. Twenty-four years later, in 2008, we discerned that we were under attack on the night of August 19, which, by Hebrew time, was the beginning of August 20. That is when we took steps to protect ourselves from the spiritual attack. This is how Operation Elijah actually began in 2008.

Ye Shall Go forth had been fought in two stages: first was the domestic phase from August 20-29, 1984. Then we fought a world-wide campaign from August 28 to September 3, 1984. Twenty-four years later, in 2008, I flew to South Africa on September 4. It was as if the 1984 prayer battle had actually been fought in 2008 to prepare for my trip to South Africa.

Further, as I mentioned in chapter 3, twenty-four years ago the foreign phase of this battle began on Aug. 29, 1984, and at that time I asked the Lord how the battle was going. My report reads,

“Lord, show me how the battle goes in Africa. I then see a map of Africa. Then a brilliant light set over SOUTH AFRICA. Not an explosion, but more like a light bulb. This light moves up the eastern coast of Africa. . .

“My Kingdom of Light shall be established, and the darkness shall be pushed back, never to reappear again. . .”

It can hardly be a coincidence that twenty-four years later I would be leaving on a trip to South Africa with a revelation of Operation Elijah, which we called the Open Door Ministry. What was seen as part of the prayer battle in 1984 actually occurred in 2008. Furthermore, the years 1984 and 2008 appeared to have been overlaid on each other (from the divine perspective). Thus, Ye Shall Go Forth ended on Sept. 3 (1984), and I left on the trip on Sept. 4 (2008).

This is a good example of something that I have seen many, many times. It is as if from year to year, every day of the month is the same day. For example, August 20 of one year is the same date as August 20 of all other years. It is part of the spiritual principle that all time is one.