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Published: April 26th 2012
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A chance to pray and worship for the nations of Europe in a prayer house in the middle of the Swiss mountains was something I couldn't resist and I'd jumped at the opportunity to go.
We left Guebwiller at 8:30 on Monday morning (a bit later than expected - some of the group's time-keeping skills are a bit naff). 'We' included a small international group from Eglise Josue: some Americans, some French and one Welsh (me!)
After nearly an hour and a half of driving we caught our first glimpse of the Swiss Alps - incredible! We were all completely blown away by the sight but it was nothing to what God had in store for us once we reached the prayer house. We left the main road at a big town called Thun and wound our way along the narrow mountain roads to reach Labeshuus (the prayer house).
When we finally arrived, the view of the mountains was even more incredible and too stunning to put into words so I'll let the photos do the talking. All I will say is that it was one of those views whose full beauty couldn't quite be captured with a
camera lens. It got us all into the mood to worship and praise God and it was as if God was making a big, loud statement of his majesty and might, saying 'THIS is who I am'.
We were welcomed to the prayer house by Steffan, the house director who spoke great English and gave us a lovely welcome. It was clear that him and his team were pleased to have us there and I began to realize the importance of what we were doing or going to be doing.
I had been put in a bit of doubt over my going as the dates fell near the scheduled due date of the Fau baby and I felt guilty leaving them although there were other people around to help them. I also felt guilty about going and hoping to get something personal out of it for me - I'd been in a 'plodding' stage of my walk with God and it was hard - I felt like I was just walking and walking with out real going anywhere and I was thirsty to hear and receive from God. I knew the days we spent in Switzerland had been
put aside to pray for the nations of Europe which I guess is why I felt a bit bad about wanting something personal too. But I've learnt since then that before anything else, God wanted to meet with me personally there too - that was His desire too, not just mine.
After unloading and setting up the small prayer room which would be our base for the next three days (I was ecstatic to learn that my bedroom had a balcony overlooking the beautiful mountains) we sat down for a delicious Swiss lunch at 12:15 sharp (I've learnt that the Swiss are very punctual and like to have everything done perfectly - it was interesting for me to see and taste another culture). We were all completely amazed at how much God was blessing us and that was before we'd even had time to soak in His presence.
After lunch was the option of a nap or a walk. I chose the walk - I find it hard to nap in the afternoons and with such a great view outside, how could anyone possibly nap?! So I set off with Janet, Sephora and Claire to explore the surrounding
countryside and take photos. As we passed through a meadow of lush green grass and bright yellow dandelions, I was reminded of the Sound of Music and I was tempted to sing, dance and praise God just as Maria had done.
We passed a field of small black sheep with bells tied around their necks, letting out a soft and beautiful melody around the hills. My first time in Switzerland was proving to go beyond my wildest expectations.
After the walk/nap we met in the prayer room to start off the prayer and worship time. Rusty shared a prophesy he had received three years ago about leaving his French base and going to pray and worship over the nations of Europe with a team of rulers in the Spirit in the Swiss mountains - these few days together were the fulfillment of that prophesy and to be a part of that was really exciting.
I hadn't known at all what to expect so when the prayer/worship time began and we were all free to do as we pleased, I was surprised but it would prove to be a pleasant surprise. In that time that we spent I
saw myself proclaiming God's Word, loud and clear over Europe and so I leaned out of the window of the prayer room and did just that, although perhaps not as loud and clear as I had seen myself do in the Spirit. One piece of scripture I proclaimed was from Isiah 60 when God speaks to the people of Jerusalem, telling them to 'Get up and shine' - this is some scripture which God has brought time and again to my attention in relation to France. I also found myself speaking out the verses from Revelation: "The Spirit and the bride say: 'Come!'" It was an invitation to the Spirit to come over the whole of Europe.
God also spoke to me through the verses of Jeremiah 17:7 and I kept getting an image of a big strong tree - something in my spirit stirred to me to start drawing it so I did. Like I said, we were free to worship and speak to God exactly as the Spirit led us to. That freedom was great.
Another image I kept getting was me dancing with the Prince but this time, my image of the Prince was different.
It wasn't the 'stereotypical' image of Jesus with a brown beard, long brown hair and flowing white robes - it was a handsome, dashing young prince, the kind of man who sweeps me off my feet just by looking at him. I realized afterwards that Jesus was changing my idea of the 'Prince', what he 'SHOULD' look like. I learnt that Jesus just wants to respond to my heart and what my heart desires and it doesn't matter how I imagine him physically, as long as it's him in spirit! Another scene I got of me and the Prince was like the scene from Titanic when Rose is descending the staircase with Jack waiting at the bottom and when he looks up at her, he's completely captivated by her.
God spoke to me a lot during that time, mainly on a personal level but there were a couple of things which concerned the whole group as well. The first thing was a piece of scripture from Revelation which talks about the Prince riding out to battle. I thought of the third LOTR film when the armies of Middle-Earth are lined up to face the Enemy. It seems like an
impossible battle that Middle Earth can never win but they ride out united behind Aragorn as their king. This made me think of us as a group riding out into the spritual battle raging over Europe right now.
The second thing came to me when I was looking out of the windows at the mountains and it struck me how huge and imposing they are and how my gaze was constantly drawn to them. God reminded me that the mountains we face as challenges are often like that, especially when we first step out on a new road but we mustn't be put off by them. And sometimes when we look at the scale of the situation in Europe it's easy to get distracted by the many mountains which lie in our way but it's to Jesus, our King that we must look.
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