Report from the Int'l Leaders Gathering by Barry Hall - 1 Oct 2005
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Dresden, DE: DJ Ojo’s house music pulsed through gothic architecture late into Friday night at the outset of the 24-7 Prayer International Leaders Gathering - a weekend spent uniting, praying together, and entering into the challenges of the Lord’s call for 24-7 as a people.
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RHYTHM AND NEWSFriday Night...
“Fill this earth with floods of justice
let Your kingdom come
“Stir our hearts to heal these nations
let Your kingdom come.”
As Jon Bilbrough led us in worship, minutes could scarcely pass before the venue erupted with prayer against hurricane Rita.
Rita was scheduled to hit the southern US coast only a few hours later as a category four hurricane – the same rating that was given to hurricane Katrina which devastated and displaced thousands on the southern US coast only weeks before. As we prayed, we were reminded of a picture…a picture of the Lord Jesus walking on waves, and calming a storm with his very words. And by that, we prayed.
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 moonrise in Germany | |
A few hours later we received word that Rita had been downgraded from a category four to a category three storm. | ||
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Could it be that our prayers, and the prayers of thousands around the world actually had an impact on the Rita? (more here on that question...) We are learning as a people that the more we align our lives and hearts to the Lord’s rhythms of prayer, mission, and justice, the more God makes the news. Big news. Hurricane-downgrading news.
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.JPG) dj ojo sets the scene |
LEARNING FROM OTHERSFor this year’s ILG, 24-7 invited four friends to come and challenge us in our lives and ministry: Brian Heasley (Spain), Joe Steinke (USA), Christian Fuhrer (Germany), and Joyce Heron (Canada).
Christian Fuhrer became a key figure in German church history during the fall of communism in the 1980’s. He shared with us about serving the people of Germany during the last days of communism, and how his church became a refuge and prayer center for all people, Christians and non-Christians, during those final days of conflict. | |
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Joe Steinke pastors a community in Madison, Wisconsin that focuses on discipling, equipping and releasing young people to follow Jesus to the nations. Saturday morning, Joe shared with us about being people t that carry the values of the Kingdom, and then highlighted his community’s journey into friendship and the rediscovering of our sanctified creativity.
 Brian and his family moved to the Spanish island of Ibiza, the hands-down party capital of Europe (if not the world) in March 2005. They are birthing a 24-7 community with the vision of establishing a Boiler Room and a sending place for future missionaries. Brian charged the 24-7 international community to exchange our lives for a dance with Christ to the rhythm of prayer, mission and justice. Joyce lives and ministers in the poorest neighborhood of Vancouver, Canada with Jacob’s well. 38% of her neighbors have AIDS, 67% are HIV positive. Joyce challenged us with biblical teachings in the realms of social justice, and the role of the church as the friend of the poor people. We were profoundly impacted. Two hours later the worship leader was still weeping. | ||
JOE STEINKE: WHEN COMMUNITY MEETS CREATIVITY
JOYCE HERON: BEING A FRIEND OF POOR PEOPLE24-7 COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS
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Markus Laegel and his 24-7 Germany team graciously hosted the weekend – thanks again guys, it was amazing! Markus reports major breakthroughs for the team this year in networking with local churches, and asks everyone to PRAY that the newly released German translation of “Red Moon Rising” would have a major impact in the land! Of additional interest is Markus’ new hairdo, which came as the consequence of losing a friendly bet one night... | |
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The annual auction – Each year, the community donates random gifts and items of worth (some of no worth at all, actually…) for an auction to benefit a friend or group within the 24-7 community. This year the auction money, just over 1,000 euros, went to Alpin Popnikolov and his crew from Macedonia. Blessings to you guys!
Pete Greig shared that God has put Nehemiah 2:18 on his heart for 24-7 Prayer, noting how we have seen the favor of the Lord in the past year and calling us to 'arise and build.” For 24-7, the coming year will see a new implementation of |
structure to empower the movement to continue to multiply and to serve the people who are leading 24-7 Prayer initiatives across the world.
Nadine Arendense’s report from South Africa was enough to make us jump and shout, as was Sara Torres' report from Spain and then came the testimonies from the U.S. contingency about serving hurricane Katrina victims in Houston, Texas.
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We were excited and surprised to hear the Salvation Army's Judith Bennett’s report that 24-7, in addition to exploding in New Zealand during the past year, has recently taken off in Fiji and Tonga in a totally grassroots, unplanned fashion - just the way we like it! More about that to come soon...
Check out 24-7 national homepages (found in the drop-down box in the home page) for more updates and news. |
Barry Hall and his wife Charlotte moved to Chichester, England from Kansas City, Kansas to be a part of 24-7 Prayer. They both graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Between the both of them, they love labrador retrievers, writing stationery, jam bands, and Cafe Rouge - the best cup of tea on South Street.Please email Barry here with feedback, questions...