Today was the main day of teachings in the 'Weekend Awakening' here in Heathfield...it was a long day and we are learning much as we are here on mission. And there is still SOOOO much more to learn...it feels like baby steps! But our faithful God is our teacher and trainer, and we praise Him for every lesson He is teaching us.
We met at the church with Paul, Kath, Keith & Alison at 7.30am to pray and prepare before people arrived at around 9am for the start of the sessions. I have been much encouraged over the past weeks of the testimony coming out of New York - of how initially, back in October last year, just a few (I think 8) people gathered round a TV in a living room to watch the Awakening Summit streamed from Chicago. Impacted, four of that group were able to come to Africamp, and from there went back to share with friends, churches, leaders, and even give interviews to the local newspaper! In February, they held a 'Weekend Awakening' event to which a larger number of people came, and out of that, the whole city of New York has begun to open up, with Pr John & Pr Mark actually going to share there next week and meet with well over 100 pastors from the city. The Lord is on the move, and He is looking for vessels who will give themselves to Him in surrender and obedience - He will do the rest. It begins with one or two...
So there is a sense of expectancy and faith for what the Lord is going to do in Heathfield over the coming weeks and months as the few who gathered today and gave themselves in surrender to the Lord, arise to seek God and obey all that He speaks to them. Though it was just a small number who gathered today, it was clear (and encouraging) yesterday to really sense and know that the ground has been softened and prepared as Pr Guy has sought to take hold of the message, walk it out and share it with his congregation. There is a core group who have been praying and who are hungry for more. It has been a blessing to see the Lord bring revelation, understanding, encouragement, challenge and direction through the teachings in the Weekend Awakening.
And, especially where the Lord is working, the enemy is seeking to devour, to steal the seeds, to tear down, to kill and destroy...the battle is oh, so real. We are definitely learning lessons in warfare, lessons in how, what, when, where to fight, lessons in discernment and we need the Lord to teach us so much more. There were a couple of incidents today that highlighted these realities to us - the reality of the enemy at work and the reality of needing to learn how to fight. It is fascinating, humbling and really does cause one to ask "What IS that?" Please pray for us as we ask the Lord to teach us more and to prepare us the for deeper realities of this yet to come. We need wisdom, discernment, understanding, and above all, faith and grace to walk in the overcoming authority and power that is found in the name of Jesus Christ. And love. We fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in the heavenly places. Our God is our Defender, our Shield, our Fortress, our Strong Tower, our Victor, our Mighty Warrior. In Him we rest, in Him we hide, in Him we overcome.
We are physically very tired and as we have been seeking to fight the fight of faith today we are also knowing that it is costly. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would revive, refresh, renew, heal, restore and strengthen us for tomorrow. We covet your prayers (in a good way...just like God is jealous) and bless you for standing with us and fighting for us and covering us with your shields of faith too!!
It's well past bedtime (although there's no such thing as a missionary...the Lord is in control of all time!) but I wanted to share a couple of things that have blessed us today:
- The couple we are staying with made sweet little packages with chocolate and a scripture in for each of us, which we found on our pillow's when we came home tonight...a very thoughtful surprise!
- Pr Guy blessed us with a takeaway from the local Chinese this evening, which we shared at pre-school sized tables whilst sitting on pre-school sized chairs, accompanied by much laughter and discussions of the way ahead. It was good.
- The sun shone...even though we were inside pretty much all day the favour of the Lord with regard to the English weather still is upon us!! We are blessed. I've never known it so sunny, so consistently, at this time of year (or in fact at any time of year!!).
- Knowing the our brothers and sisters in Cleveland are going through the Weekend Awakening at the same time, labouring for God's purposes and fighting that same fight of faith on another continent - it is a privilege and blessing to be a part of the arising army.
May you find in Christ your hiding place this night. He is all-sufficient.
Love,
Clare
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