Julie Anderson, along with her husband, Rod, led The Prayer Foundation and were Senior Leaders of Commonwealth Church in London. Julie died on the 24th Feb and as Julie’s ‘spiritual daughter’ Bobbi Kumari shares a tribute.
Julie Anderson. A devoted lover of Jesus. A beautiful wife. A pioneer. An apostolic, intercessor who literally changed the spiritual landscape of this nation. She was a spiritual mum to many - including me. She was a natural beauty. A style icon. Fearless. Passionate. Enigmatic. Anointed to the nines. And heaven simply oozed out of her.
You see, Pastor J, as I affectionally call her, had been radically marked by a supernatural encounter she had experienced in 1971, whilst at a party in the South of France, in Keith Richard’s villa. That summer, she had restlessly searched for an eternal purpose greater than the rock and roll, pools and parties, lifestyle she was immersed in. Increasingly disenchanted by the world of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and A-List celebrities surrounding her, a sudden out of body experience would bring her face to face with Jesus, rendering her utterly captivated by him.
READ MORE: Tribute to Loren Cunningham: How the founder of YWAM changed the course of my life
Awestruck by his gentle, accepting love. His awesome, invigorating and impregnating peace and joy, this life-altering moment and so many more that would follow, would place the deepest desire within her to see heaven on earth. Not just in a supernatural spiritual encounter, but all day, every day. And so for the rest of her life, she lived to reveal heaven. To make Jesus known, spending her life interceding to see his Kingdom come.
And for her spiritual children and those around her, we all experienced so much more of heaven, because of her.
And for her spiritual children and those around her, we all experienced so much more of heaven, because of her. Because of her surrender. Her hunger for Jesus. Her sacrifice. She was a spiritual general. She truly knew God. And when we were around her, we knew more of him too. We would glean from her. We wanted to spend time with her. We wanted to host the presence of God, just like we saw her host the presence of God.
When she sustained a brain injury after a sudden fall, three years ago, it was devastating. To see our beautiful Pastor J become bedridden, no longer pioneering, no longer blazing a trail. No longer waging a war. No longer commanding the day. Very rarely speaking, prophesying or making us smile, with her wit and wisdom. Yet we all knew that no matter what things looked like on the outside, she was full of God’s spirit and power on the inside. She was still a pioneer, still a war horse. Still a fiery one. And nothing could diminish the labour of love she had poured out, nor erase the legacy of prayer and intercession she had established in this generation.
READ MORE: A tribute to Bethel’s Beni Johnson - ‘God’s own flower child prayer warrior’
This personally became so real to me last year when I hosted a powerful conference, that resembled much of what she had role-modelled to me through her ministry over the years, as I had served her, gleaned from her and sat under her anointing. And as I considered the heavyweight mandate of the gathering that God was having me spearhead, the hard ground that needed breaking, the level of intercession that needed praying, the war that needed waging and the victory that needed releasing, I just knew I had to dress in Pastor J’s blazers for this conference.
As one of her spiritual daughters I needed to clothe myself in the ‘mantle’ of our trail blazing, tide-turning, pioneering, hell-scaring, spiritual mama, who knew how to pray, slay and command the day
Not just because Pastor J is the ultimate style queen, so her blazers are obviously stunning designer pieces, but because, as one of her spiritual daughters I needed to clothe myself in the ‘mantle’ of our trail blazing, tide-turning, pioneering, hell-scaring, spiritual mama, who knew how to pray, slay and command the day! I needed to step on the shoulders of a giant that had gone before me and to continue the trail-blazing, history-making legacy of this incredible woman who had poured into our lives so richly and shown us so powerfully what it is to go after the things of God. And although in that moment in time, she was lying in bed unable to pioneer, intercede or walk in her calling in the way that she had done for so many years, yet her children were arising and taking the baton, carrying her DNA and continuing her legacy.
READ MORE: Tina Turner’s legacy - she didn’t give up
Although not everyone has spiritual parents or becomes them, I believe they are truly a heavenly gift. To have them, and to be them - is such a privilege. I am so honoured that part of who I have become, is deeply rooted in Pastor J and in her incredible husband Pastor Rod’s legacy. I am so privileged to have spiritual parents that are such examples of what it is to boldly, unapologetically and passionately pursue Jesus and his kingdom. And as Pastor J now finds herself in heaven, once again, face to face with Jesus, all the more awestruck by his gentle accepting love, his awesome, invigorating and impregnating peace and joy - she leaves within us all, a deeper desire to see heaven come to earth, just like the longing that she so deeply carried.
No comments yet