Prayer Convocation

Eastern Gate Convocation 2007. Wow... this is gonna be a long post cos really God has been blessing me. It all started out when Auntie Rowena sent me an email inviting me to be part of her dance team. It was an honour cos i learned a lot and got a lot of exposure. It was also the first time that i was dancing outside of church lah. It was such a blessing cos we got to attend the conference for free. The cost of the conference was $150 for early registration. It was really a blessing from the Lord that I got to attend it! :)

Ok let's start with the first evening of the convocation on tuesday night (20th Feb).. Finally got to meet Auntie Rowena and got to learn a lot from her in terms of worship dance and how she just leads spontaneously and how she asks the Lord to lead us.. Dancing is all about unity and the spirit of unity that is released when we flow together, with each other as well as with the worship team. We didn't even use much of the patterns that we learned on the DVD... We also found out last minute that for the first two night sessions, there was another team from Bethany church who were also dancing for the worship. We also had to flow with them and it was very interesting to see two dance teams worshipping the Lord together and flowing together though we didn't rehearse with each other. Their team was on the space in front of the stage with tambourines and twirling flags while we were at the centre aisle facing them... it was really a sight to behold! :)

And guess wad- there were guys dancing with the twirling flags too... not just guys but youth, young men.. the other team was comprised mainly of youth.. so whoever said that guys dancing for worship is not cool?? When i was at the booth on the 3rd night i saw two young men admiring the flags and trying them out and one of them even remarked to the other that the flags were really very nice! Auntie Ro was also telling me herself about one of the flags and that her son got inspiration for it. Tom, a young man i met from Australia even joined us on the first 2 sessions to wield the banners! :) We need to change certain mindsets, break stigmas and stereotypes that people assign to certain things just because it doesn't fit in with their unrenewed mind and world-view. It was even only recently that people started accepting dancing as a form of worship. Evern great revivalists like Charles Finney thought that dancing was of the devil. Paradigm shift. Helen Hemans said during church camp last yr that ladies dance and glorify God with their gracefulness while men glorify God with their strength. We are to love God with all our strength and dance is an expression of that. David, the great king of Israel also danced before the Lord with all his might. I pray that the Lord will raise up more worship warriors among guys who are willing to dance with all their might before the Lord! Hallelujah!

So apparently, Auntie Rowena's booth selling flags and banners was one of the most busiest and most crowded and rather disorganised :P cos there were a lot of things going on at the same time. Cos of the "publicity" that we receive during worship sessions, people would flock to the place to buy the flags and banners. Cos these things are hand-made, they dun come very cheap and the $ is used to support Auntie Ro's orphanage ministry. They're really very nice cos Auntie Ro gets her designs and patterns from the Lord. They're truly inspired. Then apart from customers, there would be us who are frequently running around to help with the booth, to set up and prepare flags for the next worship session. There wold be some practising their moves nearby while others would be trying on their costumes and occasionally there would be those praying for other people. What a busy place! but it was fun lah...

So anyway, during the night session wordhip, the Lord gave me this verse from John 10:10:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am (Jesus) come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Then one of the speakers that night also mentioned that the Lord had given him that verse as well! This season, the Lord is asking us to die to ourselves that we may live for Him. Cos the devil cannot kill what is already dead mah... And we also have to turn to God as our source of life. If anyone is living below the abundant life that Jesus meant for us to have, then that person is living below standard! Enough is not enough! That also talks about the abundance of a righteous life... the abundance is not just material but it also talks about the abundance of His Word being lived out through our lives- that we walk in righteousness and fear of the Lord. That we stand up for Him no matter what the opposition! Hallelujah!

The song they sang during communion ministered to me. They sang "You are my All in All" It spoke to me and filled me with such a hunger and thirst for the Lord (that sounds so paradoxical) cos i've been filling my life with things other than Him, things that dun satisfy. So when i sang that song, the words really spoke to me about how He is my all in all! When they sang "Breathe" during one of the other session, it had the same effect on me and i was just free to worship God and to desire Him more! :) Hallelujah!

The speakers talked about the kingdom of God and what God is doing all around the world and how He is raising up 24/7 prayer praise and worship centres all around the world. It's all about agenda, kingdom agenda... not the church but the kingdom! Many a times we have boxed God up and our view of him becomes so limited to our own personal lives and even in the context of our own ministries and churches and we fail to see that God is the God of the nations! During one of the sessions, one of the things that was prayed about was the importance and value of communication in the kingdom. First to God and second, amongst ourselves. That's what the devil seeks to attack and that's what we have to guard all the more. During the second day, there was this speaker from Israel who came with his wife and his wife also led a time of worship. When you hear her voice, her voice is so powerful and anointed and she is really a gifted worship leader! You know even some of the most "boring" songs sound great under the anointing! I mean we sing the song "Kadosh" in church but I've never heard it before like how she sang it.. the musicians flowed well with her and that simple song was just so powerful ministering! Oh and there was this lady and i think she's from Philippines cos of her accent. She took one of the worship sessions on the second day i think and it was so anointed. She sang one song which was still ringing in my heart long after her session. I must go and find it...

And during one of the sessions on the second day, i sensed that the Lord was bringing His sceptre to my lips... He was extending out His favour like how He did to Esther as well as placing His Word, authority and governmental anointing upon the mouth to speak to nations, even in prayer as well as to convey His messages. During one of the sessions, i also felt that there was a release of angels assigned to me. Pastor Niko corporately released the healing anointing on the night session of the second day and i was eagerly grabbing it. The Lord has truly blessed me through this! Praise the Lord!

When I went home on the 2nd day evening, i walked through the city link mall to take the MRT. I felt that there was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Cos when you're in the presence of God it's all wonderful while in that shopping centre, there's that air of materialism that pervades the atmosphere. I was praying and asking God that i want to be like those people who carry His presence to places that even the atmosphere on those places are changed. An example would be Smith Wigglesworth and when he went on a train once, a man came up to him and told him that his presence convicted him of sin! Anyways, that night when i went to bed, the Lord gave me a dream about someone and revealed certain things in that person's life. What I want to say is that God knows all and there's no hiding from Him! What is kept in the darkness will be brought into light at His timing for Him to deal with. The shaking has begun!

On the morning of the 3rd day, Pastor Jerome from Philippines who was with the Jesus Revolution youth movement came to speak. He gave a message which really spoke to my heart cos my heart is really for the young people. He also preached on Malachi 4:6 which is interesting cos when i was seeking the Lord regarding my destiny, that was the verse that He gave me for the work that He has called me to do in Philippines. And so it really ministered to me and after his sermon there was a time when we prayed for all the youths and that was really a powerful experience. In fact, the session ministered to me so much that i bought the CD from the booth after that so that the Mentors, Servers and 2nd liners can all listen to it. Then I found out that i didn't buy the CD but i bought a VCD instead! When I watched it, apparently the worship sessions were also recorded and i could see myself dancing... hahaha... :P

We also bought 12 sets of the water to wine banners for the ministry cos it was rather cheap and we can use it both as a banner and as twirling flags. If you're in church, come and take a look at it! :) Also bought worship resources for the ministry from the Crest stall cos it was at a discounted price. If uncle Jem was there, he'll probably buy more than what we bought.

Anyway, on the 3rd day we also got to hear the testimonies of the people from China and how God has been using them to make and impact to society. Brother Yun was around and he's really a man of God. From where i was sitting, i saw him kneel down together with his ang moh interpreter to pray before they went up to speak. I got to hear his testimony and how people would insert needles between his fingernails when the persecuted him in China! Wow! He really paid a high price for the gospel but now God is bringing him around and using his testimony to inspire others! Praise God! :)

One of the things that impressed me during the convocation was how much some of the people went through. I saw David and karen Davis, The speakers from Israel, and they shared their experience of being in Israel and worshipping God in the midst of attacks- as in literally like just after a bombing has taken place and even during war time. They even shared of how they were in America and their home town at Haifa was being shown of TV and being bombed during a war. They could have stayed in New York but they prayed and asked the Lord about it and He wanted them to go back and they insisted that they went back there during the war. It was inspiring i believe cos we live in such a comfortable society that we dun hear all this. When war comes, staying in Singapore may be the last thing to do in ppl's mind's and i dun think many Christians would even bother praying and seeking God where He want them to be. That's why when i looked at the speakers, they had such a ruggedness to them, a quality that comes with the testimony of the grace of God over their lives. The other person that inspired me was brother Yun himself who seemed to glow when i saw him. When he was praying on stage, he prayed so passionately like as if his whole body was praying! There was also a man from Palestine who shared his experience on the last day. He was a very real person. When he went up on stage he was talking about how the Palestinians were a forgotten people and how he never heard anyone say before "let's pray for the Palestinians." Then he shared of how he was in a cab or something and when he asked the person where's he from, he got the reply: somewhere. And when he shared that he was from Palestine, the tactless persain then asked if he was a terrorist. As he said that, the tactless audience broke into laughter- myself included. Then there was a short pause and the expression on his face didn't change as he shared of how the man's statement broke his heart. My heart really went out to him. But the point that he emphasised was that there were godly Christians in palestine! When we prayed for him and Palestine, one of the Indonesian brothers released a prophetic word to him to encourage him. Listening to these people and receiving first-hand accounts of their stories really expands my horizon. Their testimonies are real. Their accounts of serving the Lord even through difficult times are really inspiring!

On the last day when the whole conference was over, Auntie Ro gave all of her dancers a scarf. Then she told me to pick out something that i want- (she can't possibly give me a scarf rite? :P) but i didn't know what to choose cos there was a lot to choose from and the flags and banners and stuff were all quite expensive and i didn't know how much the scarf costs to make a comparative judgment in value. So i asked Auntie Ro to choose for me. She looked around and suddenly, almost like releasing a prophetic word, she said "Fire in His Glory". That was the name of the flag that she gave to me. I've been blessed cos i've seen it before and i've been wanting it for quite some time actually. Apparently Val was telling the testimonies that the other dancers were telling her about that flag. There was a dancer in Thailand who felt that the flag was so hot when she held it because of the anointing that she had to switch to another one! And there were stories of how people would just fall under the power of God and get slain as they would wave the flag over people! So she gave me the last one in her inventory! :)

Apparently I believe that the flag also has a prophetic significance cos in this season, He is emphasizing the fire, the purging that is taking place- that the things in our lives will be shaken so that what cannot be shaken will remain- the gold, the glory. The fire, the purgings and shakings are there to prepare us for the glory (read also Haggai 2:7) (Oh... and the theme of the conference is "prepare the way for the King of Glory"). Even how she gave me the flag had a symbollic meaning cos it represents the favour of the King and i believe that the flag is somewhat symbollic of His sceptre as well! The flag is also used to make a fiery whirlwind. I believe that in this season the Lord wants to bring His whirlwind into our lives to bring change. A lot of the imagery of the fire, the glory and the whirlwind is found in Ezekiel 1 which i believe is an important passage of scripture that the Lord is highlighting this season. Anyways, Auntie Ro also brought with her some photos of a conference where the glory of God came and there were supernatural images captured in the photos; cherubim, etc... i requested her to show them to me but we were all so busy that i didn't get to see them in the end... oh well.. maybe next time! :)

I was really blessed on the last day even as Auntie Ro distributed a CD to us complements of Ruth Webb. It contained such beautiful instrumentals :) Anyways, we took quite long dismantling the booth and packing up all the stuff cos there were really a lot of things lah but it was fun and it was truly such a blessed experience. One thing that i took from the conference was that now i worship God more freely, even in dancing before Him, both personally and corporately. Cos i realised that I've not really been worshipping God in dance lately like i used to- (everybody wants to look dignified rite? :P) but now i have become more free in my expressions of worship to the Lord and the dance will just come so naturally. Praise the Lord! :) I believe that through this conference, my prayer life has also stepped up. God has really blessed me and has imparted much into my life! Hallelujah! :D

God bless y'all! :D