And then there was – the ILG. ILG stands for ‘International Leaders Gathering’, where we grow from the small group of decision makers at the Roundtable, up to around 150 people who are involved in the 24-7 movement from all around the globe. Highlights for me this year include spending some time with co-conspirators from Portland DHOP, in Oregon USA, and sharing a couple of meals with Pete Worthington and Ben Hull.
Category: Supporters
Roundtable Update
Just a quick update from the wonderful 24-7 Prayer Germany office in Dresden!
The last couple of days in Herrnhut have been incredable. Getting up for 7am prayer slots in the Morvaian chapel in the middle of the village, and praying from the tower on top of ‘Gods Acre’ have definitely been two highlights.
Roundtable ’05
The next couple of weeks will be interesting ones not just for me, but for the whole of the 24-7 Prayer movement. We’re coming together for our International ‘Roundtable’ and Leaders Gatherings, this year to be held in Hernnhut and Dresden respectively.
The Roundtable is our yearly meeting to consult core members of the 24-7 movement about key issues that we’re facing, and to make decisions on what happens next! Friends will be gathering from all over the world, including Mexico, the US, Canada, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and South Africa, to name just a few of the nations represented.
Stranded on Cuthbert’s Isle
It’s been a week or so since I returned from Lindisfarne, but my experiences there are still very vivid in my mind. Thank you so much if you’re one of those who prayed for me during my time away.
I’m always greatly blessed by Ray Simpson, who I stayed with whilst I was on the island. For those of you that don’t know Ray, he’s the guardian of a Christian community called The Community of St Aidan and St Hilda, based on Lindisfarne. He’s also written many books on Celtic spirituality, and knows more about ‘New Monasticism’ than most! An interview with Ray on Pilgrimage can be found here. More than all Ray does though, I really value him for who he is; a great listener, always asking probing questions to ensure that he really understands what he’s being told, and not afraid to ask really challenging questions.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage, in its many forms, has been very much a part of my Christian walk for about the last 7 years (See Boiler Room Rule link on the left). Tomorrow I’m off to Lindisfarne on my next stage of journeying and seeking God. I was going to write something as a suffix to the action at the end of the last sentence, but that would have been all wrong. It really is all about seeking Him for who He is, and seeing what happens.
So, probably on Tuesday, depending on the weather, I’ll be spending 10hrs+ on Cuthbert’s Isle, just off Holy Island, on the north east coast of England.
I have no idea where God is going to take this. There are plenty of things that I would like to talk to Him about, but I’ve found before that His agenda can be quite different to mine! If you get a second, I would really value your prayers as I seek Him over the next few days.
Thank you!
Merseyfest
I had the privilege of accompanying Pete Greig, 24-7’s International Director and ‘sporter’ of many a dodgy haircut over the last few years, as he travelled up to Liverpool to speak at Merseyfest.
We had a great time talking about many of the challenges and excitements of running 24-7, and spent some valuable time talking about how we might deal with the next few months.
Transmission – fin!
So, that’s it! Transmission is officially over!
Yesterday evening was our last main evening together, and we had a fantastic time of prayer and praise, with people leading us in prayer in about 20 different languages from people groups all over the globe.
As we were challenged to go out and live lives radically committed to Jesus in all the areas where we were involved, Tre Sheppard from Onehundredhours encouraged us all to get really practical and meet with those with similar callings to be accountable to each other and use our visions for each area of science/medicine, arts and media, politics, education, business, church etc. for the glory of God.
Transmission Update 3 – Its all go…
Meeting room setup, parking, registration, initial sessions, main meetings. Its all go…
Yesterday was hard. The news about London shook us all here, and we joined with the YWAM team in crying out to God for mercy. Our plans were secondary.
After a few hours, we returned to the business of getting Transmission ready to go Friday night. The task of getting the Factory ready is indeed a major undertaking. Thankfully its not just us – the YWAM camp that is combining with Transmission have already been meeting for the last couple of weeks, and so we have a small army painting, repairing doors, hoovering, repairing windows, laying carpet, and setting up sound and visuals. It’s a big job.
Please pray for those who will be arriving over the next 24hrs. With the London transport system the way it is at the moment, delegates and speakers alike could have a really hard time getting to us. Please also pray for good weather – it was challenging earlier today setting up our bookings computers on a wet pavilion!
Transmission Update 2
Well, today’s been a real roller coaster! Thankfully the weather improved enough this morning for us to be able to patch the hole in the marquee, so we now have a 300 seater white canvas behemoth at the centre of the campsite. Looks great.
We then got some fairly startling financial news. Our web account provider doesn’t clear funds until one month after they were initially paid. This would be no problem if everyone had paid to come to Transmission a month ago, but this being the 24-7 community, most have paid in the last week! Thankfully, some friends have come to the rescue with a bridging loan. Phew. Could still use a few more people showing up for the weekend, but at least we can meet our financial commitments.
Preparations in the Factory have been going really well, and most of our volunteers have been painting or putting in electrical wiring today. We’ve also had a couple of amazingly task-focussed types churning out our site signs – there’s a lot of them!
Tomorrow the real fun begins. Team leaders arrive and have their first meetings, and we have a load of site setup to complete before delegates arrive on Friday. Keep praying…
Transmission update 1
Well, we’ve been here for a couple of days now, and we’re experiencing all those little niggles that happen when you’re preparing a festival 😉
Although we’re seeing a few problems, we’re also sensing a building excitement about what God is going to do through Transmission. We had a great prayer time this morning, and everyone is now running around trying to do all those lovely tasks we need to complete over the next couple of days.