Answering the Call

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.”

The afternoon of December 3rd, 2005 marked a most solemn time as most, if not all the churches and groups in the Canadian region adhered to the call to seek the Lord God to “spare thy people” as per Joel chapter 2.

As the leaders of the Mississauga and Toronto churches consecrated themselves and sanctified the people, here was an awesome sense of solemnity as the large congregation was called to “be still and know that I am God.” The programconsisted of readings and prayers and the recognition of who alone the great God is, and for forgiveness in keeping with the theme “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. The entire chapter of Joel 2 was developed which asked us to tremble for what was to come upon the land. Then, in love God invited us to “turn” to the Lord
with rended hearts. We understood that if we turned to this God who is gracious and plenteous in mercy, He would remove the reproach for His namesake and will ultimately doubly bless us with the latter rain with the ultimate manifestation of His spirit upon the people.

By the close of the meeting we saw hearts melted with love once more for each other. Halfway through, the entire church was called to cross over to each other and shake hands and ask forgiveness for that which may still have been lingering. God wonderfully manifested His sweet healing spirit there.

One person, after the fact said they felt like something lifted and there was peace once more. Another individual said, “We must do this again.” One said they felt the presence of God and His touch in the midst of us.” Many also rededicated their lives once more to the Lord. Like a thread the song “Revive us again” was interwoven throughout the meeting. In closing one of the leaders said, “All sadness is gone, this is time for rejoicing, it is now time to seek God for His promised latter rain as per Joel 2:22.” Indeed it was time for rejoicing. Indeed there was a revival. The time indeed has come for a thorough reformation to take place- a heartfelt reformation so that the wonderful outpouring of His latter rain that, if asked for and received by faith will cut the work short in righteousness.

This all began when a small group of lay people met for house to house prayer meetings. From week to week they met. They prayed together, cried together and broke bread together. They saw family’s lives put back together, young people earnestly praying. Young people, finally after months of being prayed for come to the Lord. They had no idea that it was God’s intention to use it for His glory; to use it to unify the people and to cause it to be a fitting opening for the annual general week of prayer. They could now understand why they felt so compelled to study the 2nd chapter of the book of Joel with a strong impression to take it to the larger church community. It has brought a sense of humility and deeper trust in God, they agreed as they saw how He used this insignificant group of lay people praying and rededicating themselves to God to cause a Canada-wide solemn assembly “Only God could bring this about,” one young person said. To Him be the glory.

One of the organizers said it is as if we were back in days of old when people would come together and pray and break bread. She said that weeks before, this little group of lay members and their children, in addition to coming together on Wednesday nights, would meet for prayer breakfast. The day prior to the assembly there was a chain prayer which saw each one, including the children take an hour of the day to pray for what turned out to be a magnificent way of God moving upon His church. “We felt” she continued, “that we had to be obedient to the Lord,” as over and over Joel 2 kept coming back to us. On seriously studying it stated, “We saw that God wanted to use us as instruments in His hand.” Hesitantly and prayerfully we went from one leader to the other with this burden that was not going away. By the grace of God and His foreknowledge, they, along with the Field decided to engage in it accordingly.

December 3rd became God’s appointeddate for the assembly, as it was a wonderful preparatory time for entering into a most precious and long-awaited week of prayer. As well we saw how it correlated with the seeming inspired words of the writers of the week of prayer.

For example, the reading for Friday the 9th started off with the quotation found in Joel 2:12 13,17, “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye to me with all your heart….” To sum up, the author went right into the theme of the Assembly. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

We received positive feedback from other parts of the country as well. For example, Sister Kathleen Ross who met with Br. Shultz and his wife in Alberta, Canada wrote, “Thanks for calling us and allowing us to participate. This brings us closer to God and to one another. The continued fasting gives a special sense of dependence upon God and opens hearts and clears our minds. May this good work continue,” she concluded, “and we will be drawn closer to God and to one another”. Br. Bosse from New Brunswick commented, “The people and myself saw the seriousness of it and wished we had a format to follow but thanks be to God we too joined in as best we could.

Sister Pederson from Hamilton said,“While we could not come down to Toronto, my husband and myself joined in at home. We actually read the entire book of Joel and received a great blessing.” Br. Oscar Oviedo from London, who was to have helped in the officiating in the Toronto gathering expressed his sadness for something coming up at the last moment which prevented him from attending,but expressed appreciation to have been invited. He received a great blessing as he prepared his talk. Our brethren from Cambridge came as well, expressinggratefulness for such an assembly.

The organizer concluded: “Only God now knows what this will yield in eternity and hope and pray that truly a heart reformation will have resulted and that the long awaited latter rain will be soon poured out on the church, thus enabling us to truly fulfill God’s commission to us.” To God be the glory.
AMEN

Rose Powell