I am still not sure how to put into words what I experienced at debrief. As you might know from reading some of my other blogs the world race has been challenging for me. There are many reasons as to why, but the main reason was that I was still holding on to things. Some things I knew I was holding onto and others I was not aware of until debrief. You can believe anything you want when it comes to spirits and how they work, but they can have a hold on your life. Spirits such as fear, anxiety, confusion, inadequacy, etc. If you let them they will take over your life. I knew there were things I was struggling with, but until Shaun one night called them out while we were praying together I would have never known that those things had a hold on me. You should probably know that before this night Shaun and I had talked maybe twice and one time was at training camp, so I know God was working through him that night. Shaun is an amazing man of God who has been given an amazing gift of discernment. If it had not been for him I may never have experienced what I did the following night. So that is how the story begins.
The night that Shaun prayed for me we had worship and I just ended up weeping during worship. We were singing about freedom and how great our God is. I can’t explain why I was weeping. I just remember being on my knees and crying. I am pretty sure they were tears of joy and I didn’t mind crying in front of the entire squad, which is a first for me since I hate crying in front of people. It was like I was finally giving up things to God that I had been holding onto and was unaware of until Shaun brought them into light. I felt a difference. Haile came over and prayed over me. I felt joy and peace and loved. I thought I had finally given it all up to God.
The next night when it came time to worship I was excited. I could wait to see how it would look. The Holy Spirit really moved through our squad. It has been my prayer since training camp to have the ears, eyes, and hands of Jesus during the world race. When we started singing “There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain” I could literally hear chains hitting the floor. We all were holding onto things or things were holding onto us, but in Jesus’ name the chains were breaking. In that same moment I saw the most incredible thing. You can call it a vision if you want, but it was so real and I was still aware of what was going on around me. I could still see everything clearly, but it was as if I was seeing the “spiritual world” and the “real world” at the same time. There was this army that came from the back corner of the room and ran out the doors of the opposite front corner. It look like the army from Chronicles of Narnia, but the color of a patronus from Harry Potter. That’s the only way I can describe it and yes that is a silly explanation.
Later I would find out why I saw that, but in that moment I thought it was that army was fighting for us and breaking our chains. By now that song had ended and Niki approached the microphone. She informed us that Keryn wasn’t feeling well and was on the way to the hospital. She asked if we could as a squad pray for her. We did and I wish you could have been there to hear it all. As soon as that prayer was finished Tim approached the microphone and said that people were still struggling and holding on to things and if you wanted to be prayed for to please stand up. The next thing I knew I was standing. How I stood up or why I stood up I don’t know. As far as I was concerned I let go of everything the night before, but here I was on my feet with a couple other people in front of the entire squad. Tim asked for people to come around us and pray. Dawn, Analisa, Jessica, and Stephani stood around me. I told them what I though was still holding onto me and they started to pray.
This is where I don’t really know how to explain things. I guess I leave you with ...and I woke up on the ground. What happened in between? Stay tuned while I think of a way to put it. 😀
