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TDOP - just six weeks away!
Preparations for the second Thurrock Day of Prayer (TDOP) on Saturday 16 October are under way.
TDOP is an opportunity for believers from every kind of background to come together under one roof and seek the Lord for the borough in which He has planted us all together.
 The format this year is slightly different from last year's (see photo on right), but we hope there is something for everyone as we step out according to what we sense the Holy Spirit is calling us to engage with on behalf of the community of Thurrock and as part of the process of bringing Jesus' healing to the land, calling down those fresh waters from heaven to wash away the filthy waters that have collected over the centuries.
TDOP will be taking place at Grays United Reformed Church in Bradleigh Avenue, Grays. This venue offers us the opportunity to participate in activities that will stretch our faith and challenge our thinking, drawing us closer to God and deeper into His will for His people in Thurrock.
The programme for the day currently looks like this:
Afternoon
1pm worship
1.30pm introduction to activities
2pm split into practical seminar streams:
- Treasure Hunting - David Webster (North Kent Community Church, Gravesend, Kent)
- Prophetic Prayer Walking / Healing the Land - Jane Almond (Emmanuel House Church, Romford)
- Intercession - facilitator(s) to be confirmed
2.45pm groups go out into community (except intercession group)
4.30pm groups return to debrief
5pm refreshments
Evening
6.30pm intro & testimonies from afternoon activities
7.15pm prayer/prophetic/worship concert - Mike Davies & Band (Christian Centre, Nottingham)
9.30pm end
The Practical Seminar Streams
Treasure Hunting is a rapidly growing movement of prayer that involves praying to God for 'clues' for who to pray for - and then going out led by the Holy Spirit to find that 'treasure', and praying for them. Some of the members of the Transit team (linked to the Stanford Boiler Room) were doing this last year. It's been mainly pioneered by Bill Johnson of Bethel, Redding, California and is being taken up by churches across the UK. Incredibly exciting - and very scary! (In a good way!)
We are pleased to welcome David Webster of the North Kent Community Church in Gravesend who is a practitioner of Treasure Hunting, and who has led training in this across Kent. After listening to David's instruction, participants will be going out on the streets of Grays to hunt for their treasure! At the start of the evening session, Treasure Hunters will be asked to tell their stories from the afternoon's activities of how God has used them and met with members of the public.
Treasure Hunting is a means of bringing transformation to Thurrock and we want to encourage the people of God to get equipped and be empowered to step out and make a difference - to others, and themselves! People are getting healed and coming to faith through this right across the nation.
Prophetic Prayer Walking / Healing the Land is more about sensing what God is saying about the 'palimpsest' (layers) of a region's geography, history, mindsets and spirituality, and responding to those things as the Holy Spirit directs. There are a number of people engaged in walking the land and finding themselves engaging in spiritual warfare through the weapons of worship, declaration, and the prophetic use of scripture. It's a fascinating area of prayer, especially if you're a creative type.
 We are please to welcome friend of Transformation Thurrock, Jane Almond, who lives in Romford where she attends a house church linked with the Emmanuel Fellowship. Jane has prayer walked the entire boundaries of Essex with a small but dedicated group of other prayer walkers - they came through Thurrock - and is currently doing the same around Havering. She has also prayer walked in various parts of the country and often comes on the Thames Gateway Prayernet's prayer actions.
After listening to Jane's instruction, participants will be going out into the local area to pray healing of the land. At the start of the evening session, Prophetic Prayer Walkers will be asked to tell their stories from the afternoon's activities of how God has spoken to them about the locality. (Photo: Jane blowing a shofar on the Rainham Marshes, with fellow walkers Linda Holt and Gerry Smith.)
Prayer Walking is another means of bringing transformation to Thurrock. Again, we encourage the people of God to get equipped and be empowered to step out and make a difference in the heavenly realms, realigning the land which is groaning for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. Areas are noticing the difference in atmosphere right across the nation.
The Intercession stream will do pretty much what is says on the tin. This will be held at the venue, and will be more of a straight forward conventional prayer 'meeting' with Thurrock as its primary focus, covering aspects of life, the community and the church across the borough. This will also appeal to those not feeling led to either of the other two seminar streams, but the intercessors will be asked to intercede on behalf of the Treasure Hunters and the Prophetic Prayer Walkers!
In the evening, there will be a prayer/prophetic/worship concert, led by Mike Davies & Band. Mike is part of the worship team at the Christian Centre, Nottingham, and used to attend Thurrock Christian Fellowship back in the 90s. He recently led worship at the For England Together conference in Canning Town, where contact was made with Transformation Thurrock.
The reason we're not giving the evening a 'name' is because we want to leave any notion of agenda to the Holy Spirit. There is a new wave of this kind of prayerful prophetic worship-through-music spreading across the UK, with testimonies of local transformation that has taken place without any prayers being prayed. So we will be attempting to get into 'that place' where we are completely abandoned to God, and He begins to do what He wants across Thurrock. At the same time, we expect the prophetic to be released among us, along with any spontaneous direction for prayer.
Mike may also lead the worship at the start of the afternoon, but this has yet to be confirmed.
A few other things...
- Posters and flyers will be available soon, once the programme is finalised over the next couple of weeks
- Other aspects may be added to the programme.
- Unfortunately, there will be no 'marketplace' this year owing to lack of space for displays.
- TDOP will be free, and offerings will be taken.
- More details about refreshments available at the venue between the afternoon and evening sessions will be released shortly.
- Car parking is available at the URC and in Bradleigh Avenue.
The TDOP in 2011 is planned to be on Saturday 22 October at a major local venue and will hopefully feature Rachel Hickson.
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Tim Harrold, 01/09/2010 |
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