What I Learned on 24-7 Mission by Alana Weins

Published: September 21st, 2007

It started with the latest issue of 24-7 Rewind arriving in my inbox.  Glancing through it I noticed the list of missions teams for the summer.  Though I had no plans of going on a missions trip this summer, I opened it up and saw the Guildford team listed there.  I immediately knew I had to go.

Stepping on the plane three months later I was prepared for 10 days of good teaching, new friends and being pushed out of my comfort zone a bit.  I left behind a real estate agent and a banker ready to pull things together on a house I wanted to buy back home, along with prayer and justice groups who were looking for vision and direction.  I knew the time I spent in England was going to be important for me.  One of the reasons I knew it would be important was that I had been sick for four straight months before leaving and I felt like I was stumbling around in the wilderness.  But even in the wilderness, I knew I was preparing for the next step.  With this type of preparation, I knew the next step would be big.

On the first night, Floyd McClung was speaking at an all-Guildford event to kick off the 24-7 prayer week at the Guildford Boiler Room.  Pete Greig stood up to start the meeting and as part of his introduction he said, “Sometimes circumstances are the salt that God uses to make us thirsty”.  Of course, I started to cry.  This was just the start of things to come.

Since being back in the US, many people have asked how the week was and I’ve struggled to respond.  What do I talk about?  The teaching that led to so many "light bulb moments" when things I knew in my head made their way to my heart?  The experiences?  Sitting at a pub by the river hearing what God is doing in Macedonia?  Having the opportunity to pray with people on the streets of Guildford?  Talking with people at Speaker’s Corner in London?  The members of the Boiler Room?  It was a pretty potent mix all together.  I went to England expecting God to speak to me in significant ways and I was not disappointed.  It wasn’t necessarily in the ways I expected or with the messages I expected to hear, though.  I learned the most just from living it: from the hospitality of the team in Guildford, shared meals and conversations, the “real-ness” of the people who I had previously only known from their books, sharing stories with fellow team members from around the world who are all seeing God work in amazing ways and from simply being the Church together.

I think for me the moment that best showed me what I had learned was last week when there was a national witchcraft conference on my campus.  I was in a usual prayer group meeting and I couldn’t sit still.  I left and started walking the campus, praying as I walked.  Eventually I was drawn to the campus center where the conference was happening.  I knew without a doubt that this was the moment when I needed to stand up and pray to God on behalf of those gathered in the campus center.  So, in the middle of approaching thunder and lightening to set the scene, I climbed the steps and on to the highest point I could find.  I stretched out my hands and I prayed for “my” people.

I’ll never forget the experience I had in Guildford and I’ll always be grateful for the freedom I have experienced.  God is doing great things in Guildford and I’m glad I was able to be an extra in the cast.

Check out Alana's photo set for this summer's Guildford Mission Team on flickr.com.

Alana Wiens is originally from Halifax, Canada but now lives and serves 24-7 Prayer as part of the Reconcile Community in Reading, England.  Alana works with the 24-7 training team and does communication work for a church in London.  She also enjoys photography, tea, talking with friends, writing and movies.  Further ramblings can be found on her blog and you can also follow Alana's often random life on twitter.

 

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