When Officers gathered together in unity from 25 different territories across the globe, a total of 41 delegates including a whopping 7 from the Africa Zone, not only was it “good and pleasant” but many immediately had a quiet sense of excited expectation for the Holy Spirit to move amongst His people.
Session 255 was described as a “translation session” because a large part of the delegation were Officers from Korea who added a deep, personal experience of faith into the rich internationalism already evident. Their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and love for Jesus, expressed through passionate prayer and worship will remain with me forever, as will countless testimonies of God’s grace in the lives of Officers serving in territories where immense poverty and persecution is a daily reality.
The beautiful environment at Sunbury Court, surrounded by trees in autumn colours along the river waters, which were often graced with snow-white swans, was also good for the restoration of my soul! Prayer-walking along the river banks and under the trees became a favourite activity and alongside a focused curriculum, assisted the ICO’s aim to provide each delegate opportunity to develop their personal holiness as well as spiritual leadership.
So far away from home and my appointment responsibilities, this was a necessary priority I was “forced” to make, and I discovered it to be not only a necessity but also a welcome change from the habit I had formed of prioritising the development and needs of others, over my own. I felt I had been gifted with an exclusive 6-week personal interview, not necessarily with my session mates or staff officers (although that happened too) but between me and God.
ICO has a full timetable of assorted weekly activities, places to visit, preparation to do, classes to attend (including most evenings), groups to meet and tasks to fulfil and as such, could mean many different things to each delegate. However, for me, ICO meant structured time and space, without any other personal distractions, to talk and listen to my Heavenly Father and He to me. As I resolved to quiet my mind and heart in his presence, time and again, I heard Him speak to me very clearly in various ways – words which I believe will continue to impact my life and ministry for good. He brought much-needed refreshing, strength, clarity, assurance, guidance, comfort, peace, challenge, confirmation, discipline, encouragement, confidence and blessing beyond every initial expectation.
Although I missed my family, at the conclusion of ICO, it was tempting to echo the words of Peter, who having had a supernatural experience on a high mountain (Matthew 17) exclaimed “Lord it is good for us to be here” (v4) – he even offered to erect shelters on the mountain top so they could stay! While I too love being on spiritual mountains, there is also a mission to be fulfilled in the valleys of real-life. But even there, I need to keep “looking up”, so that like the disciples, I will “see no one except Jesus” (v8). As God’s people, we all have the same privilege of “going to the mountain”, and this does not involve ulwaluko/ukusoka* or a flight to London! It simply requires “sitting before the Lord”, as David did in 2 Samuel 7: 18, and talking as well as listening to Him so that we might be more effective in His mission. There is an urgent invitation in Jeremiah 33:3 that surpasses any invitation to ICO: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know”.
*traditional coming of age ceremony and initiation into manhood, practiced throughout South Africa and sometimes referred to as ‘going to the mountain’.
