God was working in a
wonderful way during my time at the Haggai Institute, Maui, Hawaii, USA, where I attended a 25-day Advanced Leadership Training programme during March 2013. He has shown me areas
where I need to change in my personal life and what I can do in His ministry. I
have felt the closeness of the Holy Spirit. I have been given the gift of speaking
in tongues. But it is only whenever I am deeply moved in the spirit that this
gift surfaces. I was speaking in tongues in our prayer group and at the Forum
prayers – communing intimately with my God.
I have decided to appeal for
a verdict whenever I share the gospel. This was something I was not comfortable
with earlier. But now that I have learnt that it is not my choice but a mandate
from God – I am encouraged, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to appeal for a
verdict. I have been deeply touched by Dr Haggai’s vision and his powerful
speeches on appealing for a verdict and tithing and giving.
Also, I have decided to use
my gifts of writing and public speaking more for His glory. I had never thought
about writing gospel tracts. But now that I have been challenged to appeal for
a verdict, I feel that I can use my gift of writing for His glory by writing
gospel tracts, get them designed and printed and then distribute them. I will
also look for opportunities to preach His gospel.
I have also been challenged
to commit more Bible verses to memory as this will help me in sharing the
gospel better.
The classes on the discipline
of a leader helped me take a long, hard look at myself and see which areas need
work. The Biblical mandate for evangelizing, the various models for
evangelizing, how to communicate the gospel in a pluralistic context, to people
of other faith and the next generation opened my eyes to new possibilities of
reaching out with the gospel. Setting goals in various spheres of my life and
ministry as well as learning about stewardship of my resources has been a good
exercise.
The prayer time with my small
group has been very powerful. We have bonded well as a group and have been knit
together in prayer. We have been able to share some of our concerns and fears
which is not possible in a larger group – and we have been able to support each
other through prayer.
The daily conversations and
interactions with women leaders from across the globe have been very educative
and I have formed friendships with these lovely women who shine with the light
of God. These friendships will continue beyond our time at H.I. and I will
continue to uphold my friends and their countries in prayer. Many countries
which were just a name on the map have become close to me through the Global
Forum, where we learnt about these countries and the challenges facing the
spread of the gospel.
The faculty members, who
freely shared from their life and experience, have given me so much. Many of
them are great role models.
Starting with the poolside
worship and the morning devotions, everything at H.I. has been memorable and
thought-provoking. My life has been enriched and I feel empowered to share the
gospel better and to train others to do the same.
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