On Saturday 8 November, the Join The Dots tour came to Thurrock, with National Day of Prayer convener Dr Jonathan Oloyede (right).
Meeting in the former Chadwell Evangelical Church – now part of Community Church – the evening’s schedule was originally to start with a Leaders’ Reception at 6pm, followed by the main prayer event at 7.30pm.
But our agenda was not God’s plan!
There were 15 people present for the Leaders’ Reception which, after a bit of networking, got under way at 6.30pm. When 7.30pm came round, no one – no one! – turned up for the main prayer event. We took this as a sign to carry on.
So we carried on. And as we did, we realised that in the natural disappointment was a supernatural appointment.
Jonathan told his own faith story and spoke to us about the Join The Dots tour, its influences and motivations. He also took questions, which became a discussion, which became a way of the Holy Spirit talking to those gathered and giving a very real sense of direction.
Much was confirmed, and some things are already being done, but there is much to do.
Here are some highlights of what was said:
Why Join The Dots? Because the British Isles have the gift of influence. The prophetic and the apostolic are being rediscovered to unlock the region.
It’s time to take ground – like Joshua battling the Amalekites while Aaron and Hur held Moses’ arms up as he prayed (see Exodus 17:12-13). This is a picture of different gifts working together in order to bring about victory.
Resources are needed: men, materials, means (money), mandate (for the mission), all from which come movement. We need to think kingdom strategy as we seek influence in the ‘Seven Mountains’ (or ‘Spheres of Society’).*
We should raise an altar…
- Victory is shown by the altars
- The sacrifice on the altar allows the land to be won, and the altar that places the higher sacrifice possesses the land
- Altars require sacrifice – find what is the sacrifice required for Thurrock by the Lord
- Is time the thing we need to sacrifice? Time is a precious commodity
- Sacrifice to change from a Cain sacrifice (convenience) to an Abel sacrifice (obedience)
- God is challenging the leaders to this kind of sacrifice – leaders must make the sacrifice
- Pay the price for your land – bring in the margins
From this, the suggestion was made to change Grays Leaders Prayer to Thurrock Leaders Prayer, to create an intentional platform where the only agenda is unity.
Our time and personal (or individual church’s) kingdom agenda must be sacrificed for the overarching kingdom plan for the region – the hard truth is that the SACRIFICE of a higher nature is costly, but it must be done.
The Encouragement of Gideon
“Like Gideon, whilst God awaits to do great things through us in Thurrock, we look to the past disappointments, hurts, struggles and our inadequacies; and douse the word of The Lord, saying we are mighty people of valour, with whom he is going to accomplish great things! The Lord is the victory – it is by Him and through Him we are going to take possession of the land for His kingdom purposes and bring victory!”
For a fuller set of notes from the Join The Dots evening, please contact Tim Harrold.
Immediate outcomes are:
To change GLP to TLP- To hold the annual GLP Fast Day on 8 January at St Catherine’s, East Tilbury
- This will be the first TLP event
- Marketplace leaders will also be invited
- To complete the Cinnamon Faith Audit by visiting every church leader in Thurrock
- To work towards a united church event e.g. Thurrock Pentecost Fest
- To offer training for those churches who hosted the Transformation Thurrock Tour (and any others) in such as:
- Treasure Hunting
- Prophetic Prayer
- Healing On The Streets
- ‘Psalm’ Reading
- Creative Prayer
To change GLP to TLPJoin The Dots has already turned out to be a transformation moment for Thurrock.
* These are: Arts & Entertainment, Business, Education, Family, Government, Media and Religion (there are variations but these are from http://www.7culturalmountains.org/)
