In Honor of Yan Nel

My brother, Vinny Carbone, told me about the passing of Yan Nel, a great man of God with a powerful prophetic gift. Originally from Johannesburg, he traveled the world, teaching about the gift of prophecy, and speaking prophetic words of knowledge and wisdom into the lives of many. I wrote about the first time I met Yan in my third memoir, Hard Faith, which is being published by Wipf and Stock and should be out soon. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 10, Practicing Prophecy. 

We are motivated to pursue the gift of prophecy so quickly after our encounter with David Wagner. Elder Vincent Carbone and I attend a teaching on prophecy by Jan Nel, a powerful prophet from Johannesburg. We hear strong testimonies from Jan, and he teaches that you must have faith, be bold and not give in to the spirit of fear, not to worry about failure. It’s something you can practice. So as an evangelist I have learned to hear from God and go for it without hesitation. Many times, I tried to evangelize in my own strength and approached individuals God did not call me to minister to. Toward the end of the session, Jan invites us into a time of prayer and meditation, to hear God’s voice and receive a prophetic word for someone in our group. 

I look around the room and find myself drawn to a young man in his early 20s. I see that his heart has been broken many times and hear that God has allowed that pain to occur to equip this man to minister to others and help them receive their healing through faith; God has been preparing him, this entire time of suffering, to be strengthened and prepared to receive the wife He has chosen for him. Wow. I am excited. 

The next part of Jan’s teaching is to invite someone to give the prophetic word they received. I am not afraid (maybe just a little) 52 

and am the first to stand up and volunteer. I approach the one God chose, and it’s like performance art and poetry as I share the prophetic word given to me. Now we know we must test the things of the Spirit; God instructs us to do so. After my eloquent offering of the gift, Jan asks the gentleman to comment on the accuracy of what he heard, and he responds with “Absolutely none of that is even close to being accurate.” Praise the Lord. I thank God for the gift of evangelism and need to practice, real hard, pursuing the gift of prophecy. And humility.