Both individually and as a team we’ve been asking the Lord for
greater depth and intimacy in Him for some time now… and He showed up in big
ways during our time in Ukraine. After the first week of camp we had an “off week�
where we were simply cleaning and preparing for the next group of kids. Due to
the extra down time and some promptings from the Spirit, we decided to have a
period of 24-HOUR PRAYER as a team; we simply wanted to devote our time and affections
to Jesus and seek what He had for us.
Wow. What an incredible experience. We all took shifts
throughout the day and night and simply sat in the Lord’s presence, prayed, worshipped,
sang, journaled, read His word, and passionately sought Him out. God did a lot
during this time, especially during the night. We set up a cabin at the back of
the campground to host this divine event and every time I walked in the Spirit
was thick in that room; I experienced Him in new ways and felt utterly blessed
by His overcoming presence. There was passionate prayer, worship, intercession,
and intense feelings of peace and joy. I felt like I could stay in that place
forever. We decided that we need to do a 24-hour prayer session in each country
from now on since it was such an intimate experience for us as a team and with
the Lord.
We were talking about how we were doing feedback one day and
decided that we wanted to seek Jesus more in this way as well. We wanted to
start asking the Lord for specific words for our teammates instead of simply
seeing each other and pointing out gifts in our earthly discernment; we wanted
to move into a place of actually hearing God’s voice and speaking those words
over each other in love and encouragement. God is always speaking/ singing over
His children – words of life and love and hope – and we simply wanted to begin
tuning into that. Without even knowing it or coming to a conclusion on this
discussion, the Lord began to show up and there was a distinct shift in our
nightly feedback.
I am completely in AWE of how God is moving within our team;
sometimes I just have to take a step back and process how insanely cool this
is. We are now doing a “hot seat� model of feedback where we pick one person
per day to pray for and ask the Lord what He wants to speak over them. We began
this about a month ago (I’m writing this blog in Ireland now… oops!) and I kid
you not, there has been confirmation from the Lord within our team every night
we have done this. We are learning how to hear God’s voice. Like, for real.
THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!! One of my biggest prayer requests before I started this
trip was that I would learn how to hear and discern the Lord’s voice and become
sensitive to His Spirit. He is answering that prayer… more and more each day.
God often speaks to me in visions and sometimes gives me words
or Bible verses as well. It can be hard to take a step out and share these
things with others because I’m still learning and therefore have some apprehension
about how it will always be received. But God is GOOD and has provided a safe,
open and vulnerable community with which to practice speaking these words of truth
over one another. PRAISE HIM! Without a doubt, every time I have gotten
something for someone (a word, picture, Bible verse, etc.), someone else on my team
has gotten a similar word, image, or verse… sometimes the EXACT same one… and
sometimes ones that simply fill out the whole picture of what God is saying
more. THIS IS SO INCREDIBLE!! As I step out in faith and attempt to discern God’s
voice more and more, it is deeply encouraging to be around people who hear His
voice as well and can confirm what the Lord is doing and speaking. IT’S SO
SWEET!! There were countless times during feedback this past month (and even
now) that I simply start laughing uncontrollably (the joy of the Spirit comes
over me and I can’t control it) because His voice is so clearly confirmed
within the unity of our team. It’s just incredible. Prophetic giftings are
beginning to appear amongst us and the Spirit is undeniably at work within our
team. GOD IS SO GOOD!!! 🙂
“Follow the way of love and eagerly
desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy… everyone who
prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.â€� –
1 Corinthians 14:1&3
We were all able to share our lifelong stories/ testimonies
with each other throughout the month as well, which gave us an awesome picture
into where we’ve all come from and how the Lord has brought us to this point. I
am deeply grateful for my teammates and how supportive, loving, and encouraging
they are. They are all precious gifts from the Lord. 🙂
I’ve been continuing to pray for HEALING for various things
and have seen the Lord move in a few ways within this! There have been some bug
bites, cuts, and minor sicknesses healed in His name. Praise God! I continue to
desire to learn more about this and pray in faith for God’s touch on others.
Some of my teammates have a profound sensitivity to the
Spirit and an ability to see glimpses into the spiritual realm. We sensed some
spiritual battles/ attacks nearing and were therefore led to be aware/ on guard
because of this. I won’t go into a lot of detail… but we came to the conclusion
that WORSHIP IS OUR WEAPON and obviously, there is nothing to fear because the
victory has already been won through Christ. Praise God! 🙂
God is clearly on the move and I’m so excited to see what He
continues to do in and through us. Yes Jesus!
