Last weekend we had our very first Encounter Weekend (and a Men’s EW at that)—and it was GREAT! Although things were kind-of slow-going at first; because men being men (and our men especially) they were a little apprehensive and cautious; not knowing what to expect from the weekend.

The prospects of encountering God and encountering yourself, I know, can be somewhat intimidating. One person even said that after the Pre-Encounter briefing on Thursday he wanted to withdraw from the EW. But in the end he was so glad that he went.

I can honestly say that all the 30 participants came away from the EW touched in some way by the love of God, cleansed by His mercy and filled by His grace. If you were at the Victory Celebration on Sunday afternoon, back at church, you would have heard their wonderful and powerful testimonies. Some were simply hilarious; some were very moving—all in all you would have been blessed “out of your socks”.

To these 30 men, I’d like to say, “Keep what you have received at your Encounter. Walk closely with the Lord Jesus and may you be a better husband, a better father, a better son and a better disciple of Jesus Christ. This is not the end; this is only part of the process of your ongoing spiritual journey. We are all work in progress; so keep ‘climbing the tree!’”

The next EW is for the women and the dates are 1-3 May. The registration form should be out today, and as in the 1st Men’s EW we are limiting it to only 30 places. So hurry and sign up! Partly because we want to start praying for you.

That reminds me. I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to all who prayed for the Men’s EW: the, wives & fiancée of the participants, the intercessors and those at the Wednesday prayer meetings. Some of the participants were prayed for as much as 30 days, and the prayer for them, the facilitators and the EW as a whole made all the difference. This is one programme (although I hate to call it “a programme”) that requires lots and lots of prayer. So thank you again to all those who prayed.

I believe, as a church the Lord is taking us on a spiritual journey. To rediscover Him and the wonder of His love and grace. To rediscover His purpose and calling to us as a church. And I am finding this to be an exciting time in the story of PJEFC. More than that, I believe the Lord is inviting all of us to help write that story, and I want to invite you to be a part of the writing team.

We can be so easily sidetracked by many things; and churches are famous for this. There are so many things to do and so many opinions about what we should do and how we should do them. But as someone said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” And that is the main thing I plan to do, as I listen to the voice of God together with the Oversight and the Pastoral Team.

The God whom Moses encountered at the Burning Bush is the same God who is leading us today into a destiny that we not yet even begun to dream of….

PrSH