A Newcomer's View of 'HOME', by Kevin Gilchrist

Published: September 23rd, 2008

My wife and I were complete newcomers to 24-7. We'd never even set foot in a prayer room before. But some of our best friends have been involved with the organisation for many years, we knew a little about Pete Grieg and we were keen to find out more. So we signed up for the 'HOME' Gathering in Southampton. If nothing else, we figured that a weekend away from the kids was too tempting to refuse.

Entering the lobby of Central Hall on the Friday night did feel a bit strange. Lots of people, lots of energy and everyone seemed to know each other. We felt like we were entering a new little world. Thankfully we figured out pretty quickly that this new little world was full of people who seemed quite similar to us and were incredibly friendly. Things got even better when the worship started. By the end of the first line of the first song the place was alight. Wow, such passion, unity and spiritual fervour. The air felt electric. This was a sign of good things to come through the weekend. If I had any lingering doubts about fitting in with these people they were put to rest as Pete started his session by showing a video explaining the importance of ‘Home’ through the words and music of Sigúr Ros, my current favourite band. Nice one Pete!

Looking back, the whole weekend was incredible. It struck such a great balance of worship, teaching, prayer and social time. We were completely impacted by all the teaching in the sessions. Whether it was the amazing passion of Adam leading us through the importance of Gods house in the Old Testament, or Brian just telling stories of his life and ministry in Ibiza. The worship was not to be missed and Saturday evening with the Tribe drummers was the most exciting time of prayer I have experienced for a long while. Without fail we walked in to each session and sat next to complete strangers who we would then start talking to, find an instant bond of relationship and walk out chatting to new friends. This often led to a shared lunch or coffee and those times of unhurried social relaxation were as important as any of the teaching. Of course it helped that God decided to give us incredible weather for the weekend after two months of solid rain.

On Sunday we were blown away by the generosity of everyone during the auction, it was contagious and so much fun. The proceeds were going to a family who are great friends of ours. To know their needs over the past year and to struggle with why our prayers for provision were not being answered made that auction even more special. God truly does have perfect timing and his way of answering our prayers is normally so much more fun and exciting than ours.

It was a shame to have to leave on Sunday evening. We had met God, we had been challenged and we had been stirred. But the one word that kept resonating around my head was ‘Family’. It was apparent that God has taken all of these people from more countries than I can remember, and through a passion for prayer and social justice he has completely united them. To me, the weekend had been a gathering of 24-7 family, and in the midst of it, I felt at home.

Kevin Gilchrist is married to Christina. They live in Cheltenham, England and are parents to 3 lovely girls and a rather large labradoodle. Kevin supports Liverpool FC and loves American sports. He and Christina have a long-standing love of North Africa.

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