Fear!

I was in Coventry a couple of weeks ago with the Discipleship Training School (DTS) that I am currently working on. We joined with a number of other DTS's from around the country for a week of teaching and evangelism alongside the local churches.

One of the days was a teaching on fear. During this time God started to speak to me about obedience and I realised in that moment that fear had robed me of so much of the life I should have! But more than this, it crushes us as people, and I realised that I was sick of living in fear. I actually walked outside during the session as it hit me that hard and started to pray. As I was talking to God I saw a man on crutches walking along the street and felt God tell me I should go and offer to pray for him, so I said to God that if he comes this way at the junction I will. Obviously he did not, and God reminded me about what he had been talking to me about with obedience, so I got up and ran down the street after this man. When I reached him I told him who I was and what we were doing and asked if I could pray for him and his leg. He simply said no turned round and carried on. As I walked back to the building we were using I asked God what that was all about, why had I run down the street to be told no after He had asked me to go. He said this to me "What I am asking of you is obedience, to do what I am asking, to offer the blessings of my kingdom to all you meet, that is your responsibility. Your responsibility is not what the people you meet do with that offer". God is incredible, so gentle and firm, and so full of love, wanting everyone to be offered the chance to know him and be restored.

A Gathering In Coventry

So here at YWAM we like to get together ever so often and we call it a gathering, for the DTS's it is a week of teaching on evangelism and actual reaching out. Over the last couple of years YWAM in England has been focusing these weeks on the cities here in the UK that are involved in hosting Olympics events. So 167 of us gathered in Coventry for a week, including a school from Norway and one from Italy, to hear teaching, reach out and come along side local churches.

I always love these, this being the fourth one I have been involved with. They always challenge me greatly in my faith, and I see God touches so many lives, it is such a blessing to be able to be a part of it.

One of my favorite stories from this week happened on the first day and it sets the bar for what the rest of the week was like. One of the outreaches that was being run alongside one of the churches was something called "Say One For Me". This is where people can come and give a request for prayer and a small team are on hand to be praying. One of the first people who came in had had a stroke about 4 years before which had left him limited in his movement, after the pair who had sat with him had prayed they asked him to try to do something he could not before, and he immediately lifted his right arm and started to move it around. They asked if God had done anything, if there was any improvement, to which he answered that he had been unable to move his arm since the stroke! Absolutely incredible. We got to pray with so many people during the week and see them healed and set free. People who had been using crutches walked away carrying them etc.

There was a number of other things to be involved with, one of my favorites was called "I Am..." which lead to some really interesting and deep conversations about belief and God and purpose and destiny. The churches and the christian union at the university really enjoyed having us around and joining in with things that they already do.

I had the pleasure of talking with a few different people other the time we were in Coventry, people I met on the streets who I was able to meet up with on more than one occasion. Two of them gave their lives to God. Not because I argued them into it, actually we did not talk loads about God. They said it was because I helped them to find value and hope again by giving them time. I feel so blessed being able to talk to people like this, who just want to share life, and to be able to do that with them. When you let God love you and love through you the world really does move.

Intercession

At the start of this month me and a good friend of mine were asked to take on the responsibility for intercession on the YWAM campus I am currently working on. It was a real privileged to be asked to do this as intercession is something I have a real passion for. being able to spend time listening to God about what is on his heart for this time and coming along side his purposes and pray life into them.

I had the pleasure of leading the first session and saw God move in an incredible way.  When praying about it before hand we felt God say that we were to have no agenda, but simply come before him expecting. We were not sure exactly what this meant, but that is what we did, we came to intercession without a list of things to be prayed about, or a country in mind.

It was one of the most powerful times of intercession I have ever been apart of. We spent most of the time as a community breaking apathy over the place before we turned outward to speak life and blessings over the nations. It is amazing what happens when we allow God space to do what he has on his heart to do, and not put a box around him!

I am really looking forward to what God has for this season, and spending time as a community hearing him on that.

A Week Of Blessing

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) has a number of different locations across the UK of varying sizes. As a school we felt that it was important to invest in other YWAM work here in the UK (as we are the 'Impact UK Discipleship Training School'). So we divided up into small teams and went to most of the other YWAM locations across the UK.

I took a team of 3 guys with me up to Leeds where a team have been established for about 2 years, and have a particular focus on Justice and the Arts. It was really refreshing to be part of a small team that is just starting out, as I also have a desire to be helping to establish new work.

We helped the team do a number of things, including a survey of the local area to ask people what they see the needs are. Prayer walking and art ministry with kids who have been excluded from school due to behavior. My teams favorite activity was something called "club angels". This is a new project which YWAM Leeds are getting involved with. It is basically being the hands and feet of Jesus in the local nightclubs. I always enjoy doing this sort of thing, just reaching out and being real with people, picking them up when they need to be. Also blessing the staff who work in the clubs, helping to pick up glasses, chat to the security when not much is happening etc. Its all about being a blessing and walking with God in places that maybe you normally would not venture, as he is already there, just waiting for his people to come and join him.

We all had a really good time, and I know that one or two of the guys are keen to be able to go back and do more with the team in Leeds.