Hannah Geiman, Odessa MO
The Interchange conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, was a wonderful way to begin the year. Many people from various parts of the country, as well as Europe and Mexico, came together in pursuit of all that God has planned for the new year. Numerous passionate speakers included Buck Hudson, Doug Kreighbaum, and Raleigh Pastor Paul Kidd. There were wonderful times of worship, including bilingual specials with the group from Mexico. Most importantly, there was a representation of generations which allowed impartation and prayer between the generations for the extension of God’s work and glory.
Between the five sermons, a recurring theme made it clear that we are God’s chosen, peculiar people, set apart in order to bring God’s glory to the earth, as well as access the gift He has placed inside each of us. As we answer His call and stimulate one another to zeal for His kingdom, we will be carriers of His light through the darkness of the world. This happens as we arise as men and women of God, standing for His truth and revelation, refusing to remain comfortable and silent. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego modeled this boldness for us when they stood for God despite the harm it meant to them. Often, what we consider ordinary or insignificant, God is able to use for extraordinary things. Those men stood for what they knew was right, and as simple as that might have seemed, God used it to alter the course of a nation. In the same way, we must separate ourselves from the world, the modern Babylon, and answer the call of God to be torches in His kingdom.
Each day, there were great opportunities for fellowship between those of differing countries, churches, and ages. In addition, the worship was powerful, and many prophetic voices contributed to the moving of the Holy Spirit. The first night, we were renewed in the presence of God, as if our past and present were wiped away, and we came before God with a clean slate, ready for Him to bring about His will and purpose in our lives this new year. The next night, prayer and prophetic words led to a great number of healings and deliverances, disconnecting many lives from the realm of darkness in Babylon and connecting them to their identity in God. In addition, those thirty years old and under received prayer and impartation from the leaders of the previous generations. Thus, many young leaders were called to greater things in God. It was a glorious time of victory through Jesus’ blood and the Holy Spirit’s anointing. Celebration continued into the next morning, when many key words from the Lord came forth. We left refreshed, equipped, and inspired, ready for all that God would do where each of us was going.
Kristin Flannigan and in the Words of the Prophet Isaiah, Kirksville MO
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. (Isaiah 61:1-2)
We all know this passage of Scripture, but the people who were part of the Interchange Conference in Raleigh at the start of this month encountered the reality of it in a powerful way. It is evident from the reports of people who were present at this conference that God had met people there in ways that shifted things not only in their own hearts but, really, in the earth. In the words of Kristin Flannigan, God put tools in the hands of the upcoming generations and built confidence in them to be able to use these tools. She feels like one of the ways He did this was to provide these young men and women with a clearer picture of the world system they’re living in and to help them see their part and purpose in the Kingdom of God to affect this world system. This part, this purpose, she said, is to proclaim freedom to the captives.
One of the ways God moved on people at the conference, then, was to bring liberation to these young men and women. In order to proclaim freedom to the captives, they have to be free themselves. Kristin said she witnessed God free people from bonds, chains, and demonic strongholds. He also moved to release people into their callings and to establish their identities in Him in ways that unlocked things inside them.
Another important aspect of the conference, Kristin said, is that it brought together about one hundred people from a number of different churches throughout the nation and the world and gave them the opportunity to build relationships. For Kristin, this depicted God’s plan for how to bring His desire for family to bear in the earth. This plan is to unite people of all ages, nations, and races together in relationship with one another, with everything centered on one purpose: worshiping Him.
With all this in mind, Kristin described the conference this way: “It was awesome. It proved that God is awesome.” It proved that God is able to do what He promises in His Word that He will do. And if we continue reading in Isaiah 61, He promises that, in the time of the Lord’s favor, His people “will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations” (4). As the generations God is moving upon come together, hearts centered on worshiping Him and lives given to proclaiming freedom to the captives, what hope lies in store for the earth? What ancient ruins will be rebuilt? What revival will come—in this generation?