My HI experience

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.