Chicago Summer Intern: Weeks 3&4
24th June 2010
UPDATES FOR 614 VANCOUVER by Sylvia Overton
A few weeks in and I am really enjoying my role here as community Chaplain and it seems that God is confirming to me through it, a role for me in the Church. That’s exciting and answers a lot of what God has been doing in my life since arriving at War College.
The environment I’m in each day is a new church/community building complex so the level of chaos is relatively high from day to day. I can be asked to cover reception, attend to first aid, give a tour to a new member, teach bible study, pray with people on request, attend staff meetings, feed into and pray with leadership; contribute to creating flow and unity with internal ministries etc.
I’m constantly amazed at how just simply turning up and tuning into God each day causes me to experience a type of symphony, His symphony.
I could easily say that the role of Chaplain is similar to my every day experience in my practice in London in that I am constantly working with people and their problems, except of course in a spiritual environment and my role enables me to engage with and focus on what God wants me to do. Here I am being tested in patience and obedience, there are times I’m really tired or not feeling up to praying and someone wants prayer.
Amber and I travelled to Detroit Michigan last weekend to meet Joanne and Derrick, Salvo officers at a Detroit corps. They are very incarnational in their approach to their corps and were very interested in the War College perspective. We travelled into downtown Detroit where the Gambles run a corps. Such a shock. The brand spanking new corps is nestled in amongst suburbs of run down communities, ambandoned and boarded up houses, empty shopfronts, houses that have been part burnt and not restored. There are no supermarkets around and the area is ridden with gun crime, the parks are overgrown and even street lights left hanging loose on their wires. Looks like its been hit by a bomb. What great 614 potential. The congregation is mainly black with a white worship band and every single person said hello to me, making me stand up and say my name and where I was from. One of the strongest presences of the Holy Spirit there I have ever encountered. God has not forgotton them.
This week at our corps, two black women running a local prayer ministry turned up wanting to spread their prayer ministry more broadly. Josh invited me in and the Lord spoke clear visions to me about getting a prayer ministry underway for the corps. So I have been given a ministry now – establishing a house of prayer for XGenerations and linking that in with Blue Island 24/7 Prayer and then 24/7 International Prayer based on Mark 11:17.
So I’m busy with preparing for a Day of Intercession on 10th July, I’m organising a team of intercessors, interested peoples and we will be doing the Esther fast to prep. After that cleansing day there will be an Open Day of Prayer end of July which will be a day where congregation and community are exposed to all prayer types, with stations where leaders take them through various prayer experiences, including prayer walks, corporate prayer, eating together and a celebratory davidic dance at the days end and then a call up for anyone interested in prayer ministry team.
Its a big job but I’m excited about it and so is leadership. I’m hoping to implement the structure and leave it for someone to take over after my assignment.
I’m enjoying spending some intentional community time with former War College students, Amber, Rebecca and Abby at their apartment and we hope to hit Chicago town in the not too distant future….
Blessings and thanks for your feedback!!
Grace, Sylvia
