When we first announced our new ministry adventure our friends Miguel and Mai Zayas, Pastors of the Inverness Vineyard in Birmingham, immediately said "Let us be first". So on February 26 & 27 Marie and I had our first truly "Metron" event in Alabama.
We were able to take our motorhome and set it up in Oak Mountain State Park, just a short distance from the church. We spent Saturday morning teaching, modeling, and training in prophetic ministry with a great group of leaders and students. They particularly enjoyed the activations where we got them to give words to each other.
On Sunday morning they had already planned a full morning of worship and Holy Spirit ministry so it was easy for Marie and I to step into that and lead prophetic ministry with the whole congregation. The highlight to me was getting the students from Saturday's class to go into the congregation and speak a prophetic word over someone. Many were doing that for the first time.
The feedback we received was very positive. We were reminded of the simple power of an encouraging word given at the right time. During the Sunday morning service, I pointed out a woman that I had noticed during worship as she had stretched out on her face on the floor. The word I gave was that the storms she had gone through were behind her and she had survived them. God was with her and he had been dancing with her as she worshipped on the floor. Following the service, she came and shared with me her story. She was a dancer and at one time had been part of a dance ministry and had recently been grieving the loss of that ministry. During worship that morning she had laid on the floor and was lamenting and praying, "Lord, I want to dance with you." I also was told by the Pastor that she had just come through serious storm damage to her home and had just that week got the repairs completed. So what seemed a somewhat random word and perhaps a bit generic was to her an incredibly specific word and for the congregation who knew her issues with her home it was also extremely confirming. We love the nature of prophetic ministry. I hear over and over people remark that they feel seen by God when a word comes alive for them.
That has helped us define our mission. When we began with a call to encourage and strengthen I didn't really know how to do that. I have begun to believe that it is best accomplished through prophetic ministry as the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:3 "But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.."