Regional Gathering Testimony

I wanted to share some testimonies from our first gathering on August 30th, 2018. Worship + Justice Movement hosted it’s first regional gathering at Cornerstone Church in Anchorage Alaska. The assignment was simple: Pray and ask God to tear down the stronghold of violence in the state of Alaska.

Statistically, Alaska is the most violent state in the Union. We lead the nation in sexual assault and violence. In 2017 alone, Alaska saw 62 murders. More than one murder per week. This should not be.

On August 30th, 300 people gathered to pray with faith and expectancy that God can and will do what only He can do. It was a powerful night as the body of Christ mobilized in prayer on behalf of our land. We prayed and cried out to God for five things: the healing of families, the breaking of addiction, ending the cycle of sexual assault, economic turnaround and a change in the statistics of violence and murder in Alaska. Each of those five things are all tied to violence in some way. It was a powerful evening, and I wanted to share some of my favorite memories from the night:

First, the TEAM of people who rallied to make this gathering a reality. Before the meeting, we gathered as a team to pray and thank God for what He was about to do. I didn’t know how many people would be there, but we had at least 30 people who came to serve in some capacity. Tears of thanksgiving filled my eyes as I looked around that circle of people who had sacrificed time and energy to invest in the God-dream known as Worship and Justice Movement. There are some moments that mark you as a leader, and this was one of them. I learned that obedience mobilizes people to action. I could not be more thankful for the team that made that night run smoothly so we could enter in to what God was doing.

Second, there were several people to whom the Lord showed pictures of God sending angels on assignment as we prayed. One picture in particular was particularly vivid. She saw a picture of Hacksaw Ridge (for those of you who have not seen the movie, it was a very tall cliff face with a rope ladder with men climbing to the top of the ridge to enter into battle) and as we were climbing up that ladder, she saw the Father standing at the top with such joy and excitement. As we made it to the top, He shouted “GO!” and thousands upon thousands of angels were sent out on assignment to do battle. It reminded me of the story in 2 Kings 6 where Elisha prays for his servants eyes to be opened to see the army of the Lord surrounding the enemy before them.

Finally, my absolute favorite memory was when together we were singing and declaring: “Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the Power, Yours is the Glory Forever Amen!” and the ROAR of the people was so loud and so powerful I could hear them over the band in my in ear monitors! Just thinking about it now moves me to tears because THIS is what Worship and Justice Movement is about: mobilizing regular people to rise up and intercede for breakthrough in their region. And that is what happened.

Here are some photos from that gathering. Our next gathering is November 29th at Heart of the City Church. Come and pray for our state and let’s watch God do a miracle!

-Melissa Burke