They stood on chairs in the middle of the woods of Tennessee yelling things like,
“I AM FREE.”
“I AM HEALED.”
“I AM WHOLE.”
“I WILL NOT BELIEVE THE LIES ANYMORE.”
They danced around in worship.
They spun around in worship.
They did not stay in their seats.
They did not stay in straight lines.
They went into a corner and faced the wall.
And danced.
And spun.
And sang.
And worshipped.
REALLY worshipped.
“What have I gotten myself into?” my worship-in-a-straight-line-three-songs-a-prayer-and-an-offering self thought that week in the woods of Tennessee.
Honestly, I wondered how anyone could be that excited about God, that intimate with Him, that confident in their identity in Him.
Give me a campfire, an acoustic guitar, and Come Thou Fount, and I was in my comfortable worship atmosphere.
(side note, i still love american church and especially love campfire worship. LOVE.)
Stick me on a chair, tell me to swing my arms around, singing “I AM ROYALTY. I HAVE BEEN SET FREE. I’M GONNA MAKE HISTORY.” or “OH HAPPY DAY, YOU WASHED MY SIN AWAY!” and I would tell you that you done have lost yo’ mind.
And then I came on The World Race.
And then I was placed on Team Cherished Flame.
And then I came to Albania.
And then the war began.
And then Satan attacked.
“Seeing demons in the courtyard,
figures hovering over your bed,
having night terrors,
RE-experiencing past struggles over and over again,
and feeling oppressed.” – Olivia Gill
And I felt not free. I felt tired. I felt imprisoned. I felt defeated.
But God did not give up on us. We have almost 10 churches and about 1,000 people praying for us. Your prayers have been heard. Our God is greater. And we were truly set free.
“I will not be silent! I was born to worship! I will not be quiet! The voice of fear, you can hold me back no more! I will not give up, what is my inheritance! I was born to do great things, God is alive, He is inside of me!”
Our team was about done with Satan’s schemes. We made a commitment to not even “fight” anymore. Not give him the time of day or any of our emotional energy anymore.
We went to our meeting space, an abandoned corner bar on top of the local internet cafe that CRU rents out. We plugged in an iPod. We got out our journals and Bibles. And on came Hillsong.
After about a half hour of that, the arms started going in the air, the voices louder, the speakers turned up, and worship came into its fullness.
Nine girls. In an abandoned bar in Albania. Dancing, singing at the top of our lungs, proclaiming our freedom in Christ alone. About halfway through a song called “The Anthem,” which declares much of our identity in Christ, we realized we had all taken off our jackets because we were so hot, and were all on chairs, hair flying, singing our identity at the top of our lungs to each other.
We had become those crazy people from camp. Standing on chairs. Declaring truth.
I AM ROYALTY.
I HAVE DESTINY.
I HAVE BEEN SET FREE.
I’M GONNA SHAKE HISTORY.
I’M GONNA CHANGE THE WORLD.
THIS IS THE ANTHEM OF OUR GENERATION.
HERE WE ARE GOD, SHAKE OUR NATION.
ALL WE NEED IS YOUR LOVE.
YOU CAPTIVATE ME.
“WAKE UP, CHILD, IT’S YOUR TIME TO
SHINE, YOU WERE BORN FOR SUCH
A TIME AS THIS.”
Well, you always were one of “those crazy people” from New Jersey, then Pennsylvania, then Tennessee, now Albania. Thanks be to God for His soveriegn might, His soverign plan, His soverign promise, and His soverign victory in you all. Never lose heart. Your heart and destiny is His alone. The battle is His alone. The victory is His alone, both in this world and the next.You are “ministers of reconciliation” and have the Word of reconciliation. No matter what things “look like,” you’re faithfulness will give Him glory. He will be glorified whether or not there is a response from the people. But His Word will not return void. Never ever ever.
WOW! this is an amazing post! Sorry I don’t even know you, but I check blogs from time to time and I randomly came across yours! I love reading these, I hope to be one of those crazy people too! I’ll be praying for you
Awesome Girl!!!!!
Hi Stephanie
Jesus is rocking in you, so priviledged to pray for you in small group at the macgregors last night.
You were definitely born for such a time as this.
Love and prayers
Laurie