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Shillong Revival |
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Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place |
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Eye Witness: Sheila Cherian - Part 4 |
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Halos not criteria for selection. All “Rag Tags” can apply Like the largely unimpressive messenger birds that have been a precursor to revival breaking out in different churches in Shillong this season (note the plural – so there is place for many! Isn’t that wonderful news? There are many vacancies yet!!!) – my only claim to qualifying to be included in this initiative is to be another “rag tag”, as my friend Rebecca described the bird, when she saw a picture of one of them off the inter net. There are no halos on my head…but I’m sold on the Savior’s love, as Steven Curtis Chapman sings. More on the birds can be found on the <shillongrevival> website. As also in secular news media reports. And like those unimpressive birds, who all only stood on the Word of God, any “rag tags” who are so willing - have a part to play in this season of revival, it seems to me. This season (as most revival seasons in the past historically suggest) doesn’t seem to be about star players at all. Everyone & anyone who has the time & the inclination gets to play the game it looks like! And so the revival fire of the Holy Spirit spreads – no respecter of persons, it appears! And am I grateful for that – or how could I ever hope to qualify? And so also, God has looked with kindness upon me as well, as He does on all “rag tags” this season. That is the only qualification I have had: a rag tag, willing to stand on the Word of God. If any of you other rag tags out there want to apply for what the Lord might have in store, please do so without delay! He seems to be looking for as many of these as make themselves available to Him! The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. We hope to keep the Shillong Revival website updated with a steady stream of fresh news on the revival to bless as many hearts & stir up as much faith as is possible. So if any of you have anything edifying, pertinent & valid to say/ pictures to send, that you would be willing to share to bless others, please contact at info@shillongrevival.com. Where is the Revival wave spreading to next? To continue the story – we just heard a few nights ago from a dear friend & respected Christian leader in Shillong - that from the Khasi Hills where the revival began a few months ago, (it had already spread to the Jaintia Hills when I visited Shillong last week of September) the wave is now spreading to ‘Karbi Anglong' in neighboring Assam. Praise God! I’m just AWESTRUCK by what I’ve just experienced last week in Shillong! I am waiting with great expectation to see what He will do next! An open invitation to all who would, from the Lord of the plentiful harvest: Why don’t those of you who are keen, show up at Shillong & see for yourselves what the Lord has begun to do there? And perhaps it will light a spark in you that you could carry back to wherever your heart lies & let the fire glow & grow there as well! As for me I am as much of a stranger to Shillong as anyone else (this last visit of mine being my first ever visit to the North East of India!) So other than testify of what the Lord has done for me while on my brief visit there, we are also working on a listing of hotels in different categories - Premium/Midrange/Budget - and best tariffs for each that can be put up on this website, as an aid to travelers who might want to visit Shillong. I for one have been blest by the time I spent there! Most definitely yes!!! I’ve been impacted powerfully by my recent Shillong visit I’ve returned to Bangalore from Shillong a week ago. It most definitely has been the most anointed experience of my personal lifetime, despite having committed my life to the Lord about 30 years ago. This has been a truly landmark experience for me! Bert, my dear husband, has had some amazing encounters with the Lord esp. during his days as a student at BITS, Pilani during the late 1970s. Bert & his college buddy Chandrakant Shourie (also from BITS & husband of the Rebecca I’d mentioned earlier in the context of “rag tag” birds) were the ones who introduced & led me to the Lord during this time period. So in a sense I was spiritually birthed within the context of a revival (albeit a far more localized one at BITS, Pilani), and as far back as I remember I have longed & prayed for a personal experience of my own in a revival season. Again, when I heard of the revival in the late 80’s that spawned the Vineyard movement & yet again in the 90’s when the Toronto Blessing hit, I had passionately promised the Lord that if I ever heard a whiff of news about revival striking where it was feasible for me to travel to, that I surely would rush there! So in a sense I had been well prepared in my heart for decades, to action/move on the news that Barkos & Pauline Warjri shared that evening of 12th September in our home about their own recent revival experience in Shillong. Almost immediately I knew I needed to be there. Common sense really. If I nursed dreams of meeting Abdul Kalam or Sonia Gandhi or Manmohan Singh or President Bush or Hilary Clinton or Oprah Winfrey or Joyce Meyer or Lech Walesa or Nelson Mandela or Vaclav Havel or Archbishop Desmond Tutu or Corazon Aquino or Mikhail Gorbachev for that matter …. I would make it my business to go where they were scheduled to show up to meet with an audience of rag tags like me, right? I sure would, given half the chance. So why should it be surprising for me to plan to go where Jesus was showing up, if I had nursed such a dream for decades now? A Holy Spirit Initiative that I just happened to be on: And so began my most recent spiritual journey. From the 12th (when Barkos & Pauline Warjri first shared with me) to the 24th of Sept, when I finally left for Shillong, I found myself waking up unusually early (3.45 a.m for some reason seems to be my average wake up time since 12th Sept) & praying, worshipping & preparing (by way of study or research on the web) for what lies ahead. And I’ve had a continued deep sense of the leading of the Holy Spirit. (Like I said earlier, my Shillong trip really felt like a Holy Spirit Initiative that I just happened to be on .) Initially all I was looking for was to be personally blessed & carry back stories from the Shillong revival for my beloved family (both nuclear & extended) & our APC home group friends, whom Bert & I dearly love. But bits of direction from various people – esp. some timely advice from Michael Isaac (of APC* - this reference being to All People’s Church, the local church that Bert & me have currently been worshipping at for the past couple of years) really raised my vision of how recording stories & live events during my time there could be a far more powerful & credible channel of blessing to many, many more beyond the circle of immediate family & friends. Loving friend Sunalini Ramesh volunteered her handy cam on request, (as also did Mercy & Satish generously). Sam Joseph kindly lent me his digital camera. Sarita even more kindly lent me her cell phone for the entire duration of my stay in Shillong. Godfrey generously lent me his car while there, so I could keep up umpteen appointments across the town. And thus in a matter of a couple of days – with no deep purses of my own (except the Lord’s storehouse of course!) - I was more than equipped for my trip! And so I’ve returned with about 10 tapes which we will edit and upload. Watch out for regular updates on this website!
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· Halos not required. All “Rag Tags” can apply · Where is the Revival wave spreading to next? · An open invitation to all · I’ve personally been powerfully impacted by my recent Shillong visit · A Holy Spirit Initiative that I just happened to be on, in the kindness of God · Searching for handles to describe what I saw … Awesome Spiritual Tsunami? |