How to realise your dreams in 2013 - 27 Dec 2012
I now have dreams I'm excited to pursue. I now have visions of what could be, and I'm ready to start doing whatever it takes to make them happen.
Scott Riddle, Vision Course student, 2012.
When I heard the first whispers about the launch of 24-7 Prayer’s Vision Course, something stirred in my spirit that was hard to define. It was late December and I remember staring absently into the flickering lights on the tree, my heart quickening and coffee growing cold, as the different pieces of the vision begin to come together in my mind.
The big idea behind the Vision Course was to develop a model of discipleship that would define and transform a generation. It would begin in the Prayer Room. It would send young people out to bring the Kingdom to the nations. It would provide a context for learning, discussing and developing theology. It would be a place of character transformation: apprenticeship in the life and person of Jesus. And at the heart of it all was prayer.
In a time of post-modern uncertainty, this kind of radical discipleship sounded a lot like a move of God. I knew I wanted to get involved.
As I set my coffee mug down and started to scribble out the various components that would come together to create this vision, I had ideas about students living in intentional community, learning deep Biblical truths and exercising the radical love of Jesus. But as these dreams began to take shape and God breathed life and flesh and bones into them, my expectations were blown entirely! These were, indeed, dangerous dreams of the day.
One year later, I find myself lost in thought once again, enjoying the lights of a different tree and reflecting on the year just past.
In September we launched the very first Vision Course; both in Guildford, UK and in Kansas City in the US. Two nights ago we hosted a party for one of our students to reaffirm her Baptism vows. As we crammed our whole community into a little living room and heard testimony of how God has transformed her life, I saw in her a glimpse of the vast army God is going to raise up, equip and send out from the Vision Course to change the world.
This past few months have been an incredible adventure; from epic road trips to 24-7 Gatherings in Germany, London, Oxford and more, to settling into the rhythm of community life in Guildford. We have had some incredible teaching from world-class speakers from within the 24-7 team and beyond. This learning and theology is then cemented in the Prayer Room as we come face to face with the Triune God of our studies.
I have been hugely challenged and stretched in my thinking… But the deepest understanding has come through the shaping and moulding of experience: the hours in the Prayer Room that taught me about myself. The people I met that taught me about patience and kindness. It was being amongst loving people that taught me about being hospitable.’
Scott Riddle, Vision Course student 2012
If we are going to be radical disciples of Jesus, who will transform the nations for his Kingdom, we must become people of prayer. As Henri Nowen says:
It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans… The central question is: Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word, and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?”
Henri Noun
As we come towards the end of our very first Vision Course term and move towards commissioning our students towards the dreams God has given them, we are passionate about training up these leaders of the future to be men and women who dwell in God’s presence. That, I believe, is what will change the world.
‘The story continues with us…’
Christie Harman, Vision Course student 2012.
The story continues in February '13 with a new intake of Vision Course students in the UK and US. Applications are now open for new both locations. Apply now it will change your life!