The perfect surprise

The Students’ Holiday Camp 2010 which was held at the Yei Teach Training College (YTTC) from the 23^rd to 29^th of May in Yei South Sudan will be remembered here for a long time to come.

As this camp drew closer, I began to look out for God’s

promised surprise with heightened enthusiasm.

Funds were scarce, so naturally, I thought the surprise would come in that direction. I hoped and dreamt of some unexpected donation that would put pay to my anxiety which seemed to gain momentum as the students registered for the camp from day to day.

I can’t recall how many times I smooth my nerves with the line, “Uche, you are having birth pains.” I gritted my teeth and trudged on towards the first day. I had too many unanswered questions and too many concerns that tried to cripple my faith, but God was planning His surprise and 129 students who were put in 7 groups with 13 facilitators were about to have a memorable week.

Nothing could have prepared me for the awesome reception and positive attribute to Kingdom truths expressed by these students. It was impossible to anticipate the events of each day.  It got better, richer, and more exciting as we progressed, despite the challenges.

These kids got the message. They tasted the goods we offered and knew it was the real thing; the missing thing and they wanted more.

We declared a general fast from morning till evening on Friday. About 70% of the students would be fasting for the very first time. What would happen? How will they take this? Will someone faint or get really sick as a result of this radical thrust? These and many other questions were gnawing at me.

“Uche, don’t you think they should take water?” One of the ministers asked. “No, they’ll be fine.” I was right.

As sure as God would watch over His word to perform it; just before noon, after the Discipleship class lesson on- The Place of the Holy Spirit, the power of God came down heavily on the students in the group led by Pastor Kenneth.

It was holy chaos. All the students in that group burst into tongues and tears almost simultaneously. They continued praying for hours.

The camp went into over-drive and everyone knew something unusual was in the air. Those in other classes knew that this was something they should experience. But why was it only in that class? What did their facilitator do or say to them? Their prayers maintained a steady high rhythm and drew the attention of some surprised staff of the college.

That evening, during the general evening prayer and worship session before the break of the fast, the commotion spread, and more students were filled with the Holy Spirit. We could never have planned it. This was the promised surprise!

But there was more to come. During the night session, Rev. Yemi Ayodele, our guest speaker ministered and the power of God came down again with a special package for the ladies this time. The Lord addressed the deep things from their past, the shame, pain, guilt, and hurts. Broken lives were mended as tears flowed from end to end. God’s signature of love, peace, and comfort filled the hall of the meeting.

We had three types of students in the camp on the last day. Many had encountered the Holy Spirit with undeniable testimonies, those that wanted Him and were willing to stay behind and do anything for their own personal experience, and a few that didn’t understand what was going on.

Testimonies about seeing and experiencing the fire of the Holy Spirit were told by many. One student put it like this, “When I saw the fire come on me, I didn’t understand it as fire that could burn and hurt me, I was too shocked to know what to think. It took me a while before I realized that this was fire all over my body, real burning flames…”

Another said, “God came inside our class, I was too afraid to open our eyes and look, my whole body was shaking… I was speaking a language I didn’t understand…”

Many students testified with so much confidence and assurance about hearing God’s voice that I was overwhelmed with joy. Surely, many had Come Up.

This was a perfect surprise.

They cried out to God for hours, wanting more of Him!

 

 Another class discussing and soaking it all in.

Author: Uche Izuora

I'm inspired by God’s passion for His name in every generation, which provokes global worship through Jesus Christ. Becoming an emotionally healthy and transformative disciple, I aim to mobilize the Church to engage in cross-cultural missions and raise other like-minded disciples who discover themselves in Christ and seek to present and represent Him as Savior and Lord among the nations northward of Uganda. View all posts by Uche Izuora