It’s only when you look back at the steps you’ve taken that the birth of your call makes sense. Our first ministry step occurred on our wedding day when the prophetic word came. God told us we’d leave our country, South Africa, and board an airplane with two small children to go to a foreign land. He would send us to a people we didn’t know. He would use us to reach places we had never heard of.
I was 20 years old at the time and Craig, 21. He had a minimum pay job and we were living with our parents. That word sounded like a fantasy compared to our reality. What many don’t realize is that when a prophetic word is spoken, it causes the things in the natural to come in line with God’s plan. We still had so much to learn!
From the moment we moved into our first little home, ministry began. Our humble house became a hub of activity. Every weekend, others our age were drawn to us. We worshipped, played board games and talked about Jesus. We didn’t get it yet, but the DNA of our ministry was taking shape.
We did life, served in a local church and often dreamed of when God would release us to the world. When the call came to leave everything behind and move to Mexico to start a ministry, that prophetic word had done its job. We landed in the San Diego airport and drove over the border to Mexico with two toddlers. We looked around, wondering what on earth we had just gotten ourselves into. It was a massive culture shock.
We had only been in the country for a couple of months when our financial support dried up. Foreign country, kids to care for and no ministry to show for it yet—what was the Lord thinking? It seemed that instead of opening doors, He shut them. We were stuck. We had no means to fly home and no way to earn finances on the visas we had for Mexico. So, we did what any other prophets would have done—we prayed and worshipped.
We spent hours a day on our faces before the Lord. We sang all the songs we knew, and when we got tired of the same repertoire, we worshipped in the Spirit. Much like Jesus was born in a manger where no one could see, so also was our ministry born in the back side of the Mexican desert.
The Lord kept us hidden until we reached the point of becoming comfortable with it. Not long after this, the Lord rewarded our faithfulness and opened doors to the rest of the world.
This is what a prophetic journey looks like. Our doors didn’t open because we had the right contacts. They didn’t open because we marketed well. They opened because God had a plan for His people, and He needed someone simple and foolish enough to obey.
We often look at the great men and women of God, imagining how righteous they must have been to be used so mightily. No, God uses the faithful. He uses those who have the courage to step out into the unknown. Someone who heard our full story asked us, “When you were without food or electricity, did you ever wonder if you missed God?” Our answer: “No, not once.”
The Lord never promised He was sending us to fame and fortune. He never said He was calling us to stand on platforms.
Instead, Jesus called us by name and asked us to love His people. He asked us to be willing to be sent to heal His broken sheep. Jesus made no promise other than He would never leave nor forsake us. When the Lord puts a call on your life and passion in your heart, you cannot rest until you fulfill it.
When things got so bad that we were forced out of our home to live in tents, and we were boiling the unsafe water to drink—no, we didn’t doubt God. Instead, we prayed and worshipped more.
Turning Point
Walking the beach of Rosarito one evening, we prayed for a miracle. “Father, we need to feed our children!”
The revelation came as clear as day, “Start a prophetic school.”
We had no idea what that was. It was 1999, and the prophetic movement was still gaining momentum. How would we begin?
We used what we had. We took a video camera and our tape duplicator and began recording the experiences of our prophetic journey, all in a makeshift studio set up in our lounge. We then did as God said and structured those teachings into an online prophetic school.
We received an overwhelming response. It was as if the church were waiting for someone to have the boldness to say, “Look here!”
Before long, we had students from all walks of life. Craig and I look at our incredible team of Next Gen Prophets today and cannot help but smile at where it all began. There in the wilderness, God shaped us for this purpose. All He required of us was to walk in obedience. And as we walked in obedience, He opened the doors.
Those doors opened to the world. Before long, students in Switzerland and Germany wanted us to spend time in their region. Once again, we boarded a plane. From the time we landed, young prophets came from everywhere to meet us.
Our feet had only just begun moving. With our then three daughters in tow, the Lord sent us to many different parts of the world to find His prophets. From Barbados to Italy, we met prophets just like us. All of them were in the wilderness and hungry to learn. At that point, we learned that prophets were the same everywhere, and they all needed the same thing: a place to belong.
God sent us to strategic places, to large and small ministries. Sometimes He sent us to teach; other times He sent us to stand in the background and watch. But every time we went out, the Holy Spirit drew prophets to us and allowed us to find His hidden warriors. All we needed now was a place for them to grow.
Expanding Ministry
That place fully took shape when the Lord sent us to the United States, a place not initially on our radar since we believed God had given us a mandate to Europe. However, in 2009, with the birth of our son, God opened the doors for our first ministry center in San Diego, California. In that instant, everything changed. Instead of sending us out to find the prophets, God now sent them to us.
We had incredible testimonies of prophets hearing directly from Him, “Go online and find Colette Toach.”
One lady really had us laughing when she shared how God sent her to us. “I was dreaming one night of this very loud white lady, and I heard the Lord tell me, ‘I need you to find her. She will teach you what you need to know.'”
The woman went to YouTube, searching for the “loud white lady” in her dreams and finally came across one of my videos. She signed up to our school and made her way to our ministry center. God was getting our attention.
By then our spiritual daughter, Chaifa Thao, was an essential part of our team. A first generation American Hmong, she was one of the first orphans the Lord laid at our doorstep. Our family grew by one and as we took her through healing, God prepared her for the next open door.
The same workshop where we met our YouTube friend dropped Nathan Berry at our doorstep. In true prophetic arrogance, he waltzed himself into our lives and never left. Before long, he and Chaifa were married and flourishing in their apostolic call. They became the big brother and sister to our unruly and entirely endearing team of Next Gen Prophets.
Our daughters had grown in their callings by then. As the Lord brought more prophets into our circle, He sneaked in our sons-in-law, who all now serve alongside us. What started as a small fellowship in our humble home evolved into an international ministry.
He called us to give His prophets a place to belong. Today, our ministry has expanded to three different online schools and the Next Gen Prophets podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network. We maintain divisions in Mexico, Switzerland, the United States and South Africa. In each of these are teams of Next Gen Prophets whom we spent years personally training in our home. Find us online at toach-ministries.com, on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
If you are a Next Gen Prophet, you are a team player. You are a builder. You weep with those who weep and are anointed to heal the brokenhearted. You’re processed to serve alongside pastors and apostles. You’re trained by the Holy Spirit to establish kingdom structures that will remain.
You aren’t a title seeker, and neither are you a platform seeker. You’re a Jesus seeker. You’d gladly give up all acclaim to spend just a moment more in His presence speaking to Him face to face. Your heart is your true gift, and your mandate to usher in the new move is unprecedented.
Craig and I have the tremendous honor of mentoring, training and parenting Next Gen Prophets just like you. If you have a prophetic call on your life, get connected. God is calling you out of the wilderness and into the trenches to build alongside kingdom leaders. It’s time to find your place. God is poised to change what we all know as church, and He is calling you out, Next Gen Prophet, to build it.
Colette Toach of Toach Ministries International is the author of 40 books, including the widely popular 8 Ways to Hear God’s Voice. She works alongside her husband, Craig, training their passionate Next Gen Prophet Team, with divisions in South Africa, Switzerland, Mexico and the United States. For more of the Toaches’ prophetic teaching, check out toach-ministries.com.
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