Too many things going on ; too many threads to unravel ; too many things to organise.
You are now reading the blog of the new Vice-President of the Femmes 2000 South-East group and we have an event to plan in October at Avignonfor around 150 women, and another big event planned for June 2012 at Montélimar for 500-700 women.
The World Day of Prayer is beginning March and we have a team organising a range of activities for that. A Catholic lady and I rewrote the celebration to allow the children and teens to participate and in order to prepare their contribution we are holding an afternoon of activities on the preceding Wednesday. It's an exciting time to be working as 3 churches. The aim for the last 2 years has been to reach younger age groups in order to assure the continuity of the event. We are thrilled to see the traditional denominational barriers melting away as we get to know each other and respect the other person's way of serving God.
Look out for the World Day of Prayer near you. Friday 4th March. Celebration written by the women from Chili.
God's Spirit is visibly working and we are really encouraged at the moment. George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilisation, wrote these words in 1972, and it sums up wonderfully what Pascal and I hope to lead our churches towards:
"There are many ways to witness, and though some ways may be better than others, the teaching of Scripture is that we primarily witness through life and through word. Far more than a crusade, a special project, or outreach program, true witnessing is a spontaneous outflowing of the indwelling Christ.
Let's stop clutching our weaknesses, shyness, lack of training, fear, or any other excuse and start believing the God of the impossible who specializes in using weak vessels. There is not a single Christian who cannot become an effective, revolutionary witness for Jesus Christ if he really wants to." pp. 95, 96 Hunger for Reality.
He urges us to take 6 steps to Revolution (ch 8): a revolution in our prayer life; in our Bible study (by actually putting into practice what we read!); a revolution in discipline (not a popular word today!); a revolution of love; of honesty (many Christians are used to self-deception, wearing masks, acting in their own strength); a revolution of witness.
There's nothing new under the sun. But isn't a shame that for each generation we have to repeat the same message!
However, encouraging signs are appearing. Several people remarked recently how much of the teaching in our different groups, and in our church services is on the same theme and reinforcing their understanding. They are putting into practice what they have understood.
Prayers are being answered and situations improving. People are growing spiritually and sharing what they have learned. People are praying more together. Some have started praying aloud. Family life is more peaceful and people are making better choices. The Gospel is being shared and non-Christians and Christians alike are being challenged to see things differently. Their understanding of God and Jesus is opening up and real grace is discovered.
And yet with all this positive side, more shadowy, evil things are being revealed. Corruption, power-mongering, wrong sexual practices, disdainfulness, incest, suicide, drug-taking, alcohol abuse, isolation and insulation, are all things we have been confronted with in the last 2 weeks, as well as waking up in the middle of the night sensing a malevolent presence.
It's got me riled and we are going to stand up to this. Fighting spirit is fired up!
We know God. We are one in Christ. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. No excuses - we must bring light into this darkness.
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