The marquee at Cornhill was patched up after high winds had ripped open some seams, and Saturday afternoon promised to be a calmer event. Iain introduced and Mick welcomed all the AMEN guys present; Rukundo took the microphone. He taught passionately and clearly from Ephesians 2 about three stages of development: babyhood, when the new believer is conscious of heavenly Father; growing up into consciousness of other believers as brothers and sisters; and maturity when one's will is set on God's glory.
In the evening both Daniel and Gregory had a spot. Daniel spoke of an intelligent young businesswoman who found no answers in the church, and ended up under the influence of a popular Indian guru. He introduced a simple song, "When God moves, He moves", that had inspired his church's early years. Gregory encouraged us to be people of power and to expect God's Fire. This was good to hear, as we also had baptisms in the programme. The guys were active in the response time, and spoke with many of the saints as they mingled around the meeting.
As the Sunday morning event was packed with church-related interaction, like receiving new members, it was the evening again before Stephen spoke. Here I must allow a small moment of pleasure at the introductory video of the spontaneous Jesus march in Kitwe when Iain and I visited. It just managed to catch the moment when the singing marchers re-entered the conference hall and the band seamlessly took up accompaniment so the whole place erupted with praise. Magic. Stephen urged us to go the second/extra mile despite discouragement, uncertainty and weariness. He was in fine form, and Mick got him to pray as the response time followed. This put the running order out of sync, but we'd prayed that holy chaos would be preferable to dead control!
At the Alive Weekend, we'd missed our Monday morning testimony time. But there was still some welcome sunshine around from Sunday, and Mark had arrived having motorcycled non-stop from Berne. He spoke of the tragic death of his closest friend's younger daughter (in Thailand) and strong bonds of brotherhood community. Desmond was also back with us, and spoke of being witnesses, both in the sense of the living voice of testimony to Jesus and being men committed to dying. We prayed that Matthew, the missing member of the eight, would get his visa sorted out.
I'd booked to spend the evening at Wellspring with Colney, to plan the North India and Myanmar leg of our visit in September. We'd been delayed in this for various reasons. Nathan and Sam, the two younger guys travelling with Steve and I, rolled up too. Originally Colney had wanted a Jesus Music Festival to coincide with Aizawl's Hindu harvest festival in November. We somehow had to compensate for the disappointment caused by the change of date. Colney warmed to possibilities when we showed him the video of Sam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIsWIwBCIPI).
Eventually we settled on a new plan, by which I would leave the guys in Mizoram a day earlier than previously intended to fly overnight to Yangon. Colney would arrange for John Biak (in Myanmar) to organise the conference, while he'll stay in India to work with Nathan and Sam. They'll also consider spending some time at the orphanage in Cuttack, Odisha, before flying straight back to UK. Now I've got to work out how this sits with Daniel and Steve, and, of course, Huw. Checking on www.rome2rio.com I found some the scheduled times have shifted since I tried to work out what may be viable, so the logistics are going to be an interesting challenge. Colney also warned us that hotel rooms have doubled in price since Myanmar has "opened up".
Colney was yawning by 8.30pm (one in the morning by his body clock), so I headed back to Kings. Tomorrow we gather for Day 2 of the official programme.
In the evening both Daniel and Gregory had a spot. Daniel spoke of an intelligent young businesswoman who found no answers in the church, and ended up under the influence of a popular Indian guru. He introduced a simple song, "When God moves, He moves", that had inspired his church's early years. Gregory encouraged us to be people of power and to expect God's Fire. This was good to hear, as we also had baptisms in the programme. The guys were active in the response time, and spoke with many of the saints as they mingled around the meeting.
At the Alive Weekend, we'd missed our Monday morning testimony time. But there was still some welcome sunshine around from Sunday, and Mark had arrived having motorcycled non-stop from Berne. He spoke of the tragic death of his closest friend's younger daughter (in Thailand) and strong bonds of brotherhood community. Desmond was also back with us, and spoke of being witnesses, both in the sense of the living voice of testimony to Jesus and being men committed to dying. We prayed that Matthew, the missing member of the eight, would get his visa sorted out.
I'd booked to spend the evening at Wellspring with Colney, to plan the North India and Myanmar leg of our visit in September. We'd been delayed in this for various reasons. Nathan and Sam, the two younger guys travelling with Steve and I, rolled up too. Originally Colney had wanted a Jesus Music Festival to coincide with Aizawl's Hindu harvest festival in November. We somehow had to compensate for the disappointment caused by the change of date. Colney warmed to possibilities when we showed him the video of Sam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIsWIwBCIPI).
Eventually we settled on a new plan, by which I would leave the guys in Mizoram a day earlier than previously intended to fly overnight to Yangon. Colney would arrange for John Biak (in Myanmar) to organise the conference, while he'll stay in India to work with Nathan and Sam. They'll also consider spending some time at the orphanage in Cuttack, Odisha, before flying straight back to UK. Now I've got to work out how this sits with Daniel and Steve, and, of course, Huw. Checking on www.rome2rio.com I found some the scheduled times have shifted since I tried to work out what may be viable, so the logistics are going to be an interesting challenge. Colney also warned us that hotel rooms have doubled in price since Myanmar has "opened up".
Colney was yawning by 8.30pm (one in the morning by his body clock), so I headed back to Kings. Tomorrow we gather for Day 2 of the official programme.
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