The bits about Toronto Revival none of us heard

 

Review of RIVERCamp 2009

So we're back! These pictures were taken as we left RIVERCamp. Clean. Tidy. As if 2000 people had never been there. What beautiful surroundings in Evesham Vale, part of the Cotswold region of England. Once packed out with apple orchards. Home of cider and all sorts of old species of apples. Gradually some of these are being reintroduced.

The farm buildings are in need of repair and this is a project in the pipeline. The idea is to open the premises to any group of up to 2500 campers, to provide a great Christian facility for families to learn more about experiencing God together. Even before RIVERCamp , Christine and I have had the most amazing week of renewing relationships with those we used to live with and know very well. Christine was just talking of the "vision" of the young whippersnapper Mark Mumford, whose vision was to lead her church from a small house fellowship in a tiny part of a small town to becoming East Midlands Christian Fellowship at Derby, a hub church for the whole area. She was just relating this when a few hours later the very same man and Nestor his wife walk past the caravan! They were checking out the grounds for use by Salt and Light, who Mark now leads in the UK.

How about RIVERCamp itself? Well it was very good and contained some amazing highlights. But can I just be truthful and say last year probably impacted us more. This may be because The Florida Outpouring 08 had had an enormous effect all around the globe. Perhaps everyone was more on the tips of their toes at RIVERcamp last year wondering what was going to happen next. Or perhaps it was one of the first big conferences that I had been to in the UK since the historic Bible Weeks with Ern Baxter in the 70s. Or was it the fact that Havant Church have been trying to pursue the model that both Peter Stott and Nicholas and Pam had experienced firsthand in Lakeland last year. Although we are a small church, both the Key of David meetings and many of our main meetings are incredibly varied, and have been filled with the Presence of the Lord. Did I mention that one of the recent moves in our recent meetings has been to diminish our reliance on "the worship group". God wants His Church back. And every so often He pulls the rug away from the worship leaders and begins a move in the congregation itself. This can be singing in tongues. A new song. A set of testimonies. Prayers. Prophecy. In these days everyone but everyone has to be on their toes!!. Sometimes in our church it is a 5 or 6 year old giving the direction in a meeting. Sometimes the youngsters have such a key time together on the Fridays that all of them share on the Sunday through pictures , prayer or prophecy what they have experienced.

There was at least an occasion when the congregation led the way in some worship at this year's RIVERCamp, but I wasn't sure that there were other times when the "worship band" kicked in by remote.

As I say, perhaps this is coming out of our Havant experiences in the last months. I'd be interested how others got on.

John Wilbraham and Grace Wentworth

Be that as it may, RIVERCamp is still as hard to define in words as ever. It's the sum totality of all these experiences:

Whole families experiencing God together,all age groups, all types of folk.This year 2000 people.

Eating together,living together,having fun on the bouncy castles, the sumo wrestling,the boxing matches. Kids work where many give their lives to Christ and are exposed to living Christ in a cool and non-religious way. Tears of laughter listening to the "notices" and banter between the two Elim leaders David Campbell and Kevin Peate. These guys are like godly stand-up comedians. They are so quick to come back at each other. The worship band. The new songs. See the RIVERCamp link to get past and present worship CDs...oh and all the messages. 2 more key messages from Mark Stibbe, one talking on "Thin Places" as against Thin Moments, the other talking very seriously on "The second Seal" of Revelation, which he feels is the current word for the worldwide Body of Christ. John and Carol Arnott preaching and ministering as parents of the current move of God.They are not ministers in the traditional sense. They really are more empowering parents imparting grace and anointing in each session. I've seen them on God TV, but never live. They are exactly the same as on telly...but you truly do not know what is going to happen through them next. One session was on praying healing over each other. Christine went on the platform to testify about an amazing improvement in some tennis elbow. Another session, a sister in her 50s I believe, testified to a blind eye since birth suddenly popping open, and now being able to see 90%.

Sheila and Wendy

Sheila and Julie

Shawna was excited that we were going with about 30 or 40 from Havant Church. Sadly though, a quirky camping site law says that our caravan had to be by the campsite roadway and therefore separated from all those in our church who were in tents at the bottom of the same field. So although we wandered over many times, and people came up to us, we lost some of the vibrancy of living cheek by jowl.

Grace Wentworth and Gill Stary

Christine and Ben

You can see above that the children's area was fun. Below is a Youtube film of the Great Sumo wrestler Gill Stary (of Hugh and Gill,daughter of Peter Stott) being floored by the mighty power of a mere yoth!

Life In the Order Of Melchizedek 1: Nicholas and Pam share

We are called to serve in the Order of Melchizedek. This is the order of the ascended Christ. He gives His instructions. We obey them, and somehow, if we are hearing and obeying correctly, we are Kingdom workers in a big, big picture.

The previous generation were very hot on "checking things out". With leaders.Within the context of church life etc. etc. And you know what! That's great too, because when we start out we can have a lot of zeal but hardly any knowledge. But the role of leaders is not to maintain this role, and so prop up the longevity of their positions......but like parents, to develop an inbuilt confidence in disciples to be pretty sure when it's Jesus speaking. Frankly, the whole point of the 2nd level....or the young men stage has been dragged out for far too long. There's a whole churchlife generation dying in the wilderness, because the Person of Jesus was never communicated properly, only rules and instructions.

Intercessors learn to move in the Order of Melchizedek. By following Jesus' revelation, they literally unlock the purposes of God on the Earth. Here are 2 examples.

Lydia.: An Argentine dentist. Told by God to leave everything for a year and to come to Paris to pray. Around 1980. Told to treat it as a 9-5 commitment, just like a job. So she obeyed. And every day , between 9 and 5 she gave herself to prayer. We visited her during this time. And it was bizarre. She was identifying on such a deep level...she actually asked us whether she was saved!! She felt like an unsaved person. Yet she was breaking open the heavens in this little region of Paris, where a church was birthed.

Second example:

Nicholas and Pam have been staying with us this week. Originally called into ministry around 2000 to reach unreached people groups in Northern Russia, their ministry has been changing and developing as they have learned more, and as their confidence in Jesus has been growing.

Tasks and operations which were taking years, are now contracting into months and weeks.They go ahead of the Cloud of Revival to help open up regions and areas in prayer. Their particular focus in recent times has been Latvia,Lithuania,Belarussia. This year it has been the northern territories....really north. Northern Norway , Finland and Iceland.

They left today for a second trip to Iceland where they are to pray around its perimeter.

On their last visit they were also present for 2 conferences. One with Josh Mills. Saw lots of gold on him!!. The other was John and Carol Arnott's visit to a new congregation...a sort of revival situation.Of street people.

I am trying to report to you as many details as I can remember before I forget. But one thing sticks out from all these countries. Either the main worship leader, or the first key convert...be it in Latvia, Finland,Iceland...wherever...they were big in Vice. Trophies of grace. Organisers for the Devil, now dragging people into the Kingdom of God. Street people. No background in Church.

Verily, the fulfilment of the scripture...where it says, if the sons of the Kingdom are not interested in my Party, my Bridal Celebrations, then go out into the highways and byways AND COMPEL THEM TO COME IN!!!

So here's some bad or good news, depends whose side you are in. Just as the Jews fluffed it when Jesus came. So the Church worldwide are appearing to fluff it concerning the spreading of the gospel. If we will not obey scripture and go out and proclaim the gospel...Jesus is going direct to the street people anyway. Whether we like it or not. The deal in Iceland was like this! This Kingpin brothel owner, running his brothel in the flat next door, while having his hand in so many pies....casinos, clubs, many vice activities run by fear... sat up in his bed one night, turned to his wife and said..."Love, I don't know what's happening. I feel like I'm going to hell. I feel desperate. Please pray for me!!!" Within hours he has given his life to the Lord....and a congregation of 5 formed, which already is 200 strong. And it was to these John and Carol came.People remarked, how such a high profile leadership couple would bother getting down and dirty with them. No platforms. Just Church. Complete with going through a fire tunnel at the end as the final couple! How cool is that.

Nicholas and Pam don't call it moving in the Order of Melchizedek. (I do)...but that is what it is.Having their agenda written for them on the fly as they go through these countries. Last weekend they were baptising converts in the posh spa hotel pool in was it Lithuania??I got a bit lost remembering what happened where. They found themselves preaching in one of the main mission churches in Finland. And something they do not like, advertised with a photo of them in the leading newspaper. They found themselves in the Finnish parliament(Picture above) praying while a piece of key EU Legislation affecting the gospel on satellite was being discussed. You couldn't plan the strategy behind this stuff. It's the same way that Rory and Wendy Alec move also, by direct instruction, in setting up and managing God Channel.

I thought some of this this would bless you as it did me.

It's the Power that will bring the Young, Dan's last post

It is strange that Dan has just posted this.
I really haven't begun to share what happened to Christine and myself at various times through this year's RiverCAMP. And I have not much time right now. Bear in mind where I am coming from. My background is the power encounter in Great Kingshill in 1972 which energised a lot of us to spread the Kingdom around our year at school. I have hung around Morris Cerullo's events here, and Chicago and San Diego. I missed Toronto. But I have been schooled (and I mean that positively and negatively)by Ed Miller and Jorge Pradas in seeking God's face ,face down on hard concrete floors, for hours at a time sometimes, other times just lesser time periods...but really meeting with God on my insides...just knowing that a connection has been made and that the 3D answer is just a matter of time away.....it's just a necessary detail....a bit of the bureaucratic function of existence!!! What, you mean you want to actually see the results too!!!! That's just crossing the T's!!!!God's confirming Presence on a matter was always the final say...because time and time again the answer followed some time later. Folks, this was real stuff. We saw money come from nowhere to setup an outpost south west of Paris. We saw people in the same family in our church totally healed of leukaemia. We saw the most rebellious people in Bible House have such grace break through on them...they actually were streets ahead of any of us who were praying.

So..... the thought of lying on your backs on cushions while listening to worship music surrounded by lots of girlies for a few days was not my idea of a spiritually extensive breakthrough time.
I really began to understand Toronto better through Florida and our own glory conference in May.....because, as many of you bloggers will have realised by now sometime before Noah's flood:
Toronto is about the Father's love for us. And really marks a new season in the Body of Christ.
Mark Stibbe's teaching sessions were fantastic. As were all this year's speakers. But how much of the drive of our previous "work for the Lord" actually comes from our own "orphaned" view of existence. Oh I must work hard for the Lord so He'll accept me. Do you know, once we have a true Holy Spirit drive embedded in us we'll achieve more in a millisecond of actual obedient walk, than we'll have achieved over a decade with the other stuff.

So just to say....although there were soaking times....but we tended to actually fellowship together as a church(the 20 or so that were there)...and sad to say this is still all too rare at home in our busy schedules...... the worship and teaching sessions were really powerful, and God's Presence really hovered. I tell you what was really nice...haven't experienced this since the early Dales Weeks with Ern Baxter.....when God the Choral conductor brings in different sections of the Body in tongues throughout the large hall. Awesome.

But how this relates to Dan's blog is that the Youth Work was Outstanding with a capital STAND OUT. Do you know that the same Matt from Rustington who came over to pray over us as a church the other week...he was leading the over15's. He said he had never in his whole Christian life been in any meetings like the ones the 15 plus age group were having. There was a prophetic flow in one meeting he had never seen anywhere. When they took the praise...and my eyes are filling up at this point as I once again crack up, the young men were dancing with a vigour that you have never seen anywhere. The girls too. But generally if there is any life in a church, teenage girls will tend to bop around....but this was something else. And I'm crying yet again, because this was what Ern Baxter prophesied and I am now living right before my eyes...and what I put 20 years ago on a part of my double CD under the heading X - Rated Christianity : " Psalm 110 :3

Thy people offer themselves willingly In the day of thy power, in holy array: Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth.

4 Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.

And there it is again : AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.....which I've been writing to you about and you've been thinking ...what's this weird guy on!!! I didn't remember it was here....Now I'm crying again.

Have you seen a young army of men ...not sullen...not spaced out on drugs...not primarily interested in the next bit of skirt they can insert their member into, not the next fast car.....

but single - minded drive to see the Kingdom of God come down from heaven, to see Jesus worshipped with the respect that is rightfully His , and this done with all the strength they can muster, all the heart that God has given them.....I tell you, if you can still stay standing at that time,and not collapsed on the seat in front totally , absolutely wrecked, then you have more strength than me.