I just returned yesterday from 10 days in Ireland for our annual on-field conference for the World Race called the Awakening and man did it ever live up to its name! The Awakening is designed to place all current World Racers on the field with alumni, staff, coaches, worship leaders and guests to create a space for teaching and growth for all involved. By the way, you can catch all the teachings and worship here. (you might even get a glimpse of me dancing like a mad woman).
We had almost 300 current racers camping out in their tents and 40+ staff and guests in a nearby hotel where the conference took place every day. 
Doing logistics and transportation for the week meant I got a lot of behind the scenes views of the events. One of my favorite (and now funny) stories was worship got a little loud the first morning of the conference, as you can imagine it would with about 350 people singing and shouting praises to God in one hotel meeting room. Michelle McBeath, our event coordinator was talking with the hotel manager who was receiving a lot of complaints from guests above the room that we were meeting in. Michelle was standing outside the room and was assuring the manager that we would be quieting down soon when the singing erupted with the chorus “I WILL NOT BE SILENT! I WAS BORN TO WORSHIP!” repeating over and over and over again. At the time we were a little nervous we were going to lose our room due to our volume level but now it is quite funny.
A lot of the conference was about convincing these racers that they have a voice that is heard not only on the earth but by their Heavenly Father. Their voices are powerful and loud and their words can be used to change things- just like God used words to create and spoke life into the earth, we as his image-bearers can use our words to speak life into the broken and dead places on this earth. And as the week went on more and more Racers started to believe it and walk into greater places of faith and spiritual authority as they began to speak prophetically into each other and over each other. The place became more and more spiritually electric as the week went on and more and more hearts were opened to the power of the Holy Spirit.
I spent my week running all over Dublin in a rental car mastering driving on the left side of the road, making airport pickups and running errands. I spent my down time talking with racers, figuring out finances and answering logistical questions. I came home exhausted but I really don’t think my time could be spent on anything better than empowering a generation to lay hold of the inheritance that God has waiting for them. After getting back to Gainesville, GA and sleeping for 12+ hours I wake up and still think, “I can’t believe this is my life“.
God is moving. He is waking people up and pulling them out of their ordinary lives and calling them to be part of His story of Redemption on the Earth. We all get to be part of it.
