How do I describe the last five days spent with hundreds of friends in Frankfurt, Germany? It seems too much to condense into one post, but I'm going to give it a go. 'Aufstehen', the eurogathering of the 24-7 Prayer tribes, was a flurry of salty food, warm weather, many hugs, lots of singing, praying, smiling, laughing, re-familiarising myself with the German language, outrageous generosity and more.
I love Frankfurt. On this my third trip, I took time to explore the old city, take in the padlock adorned footbridge and sample some local ice cream - yum! It was great sharing both the city and the gathering with Steve. He makes me see things in a different way and helps me make sense of cluttered thoughts. (It was also lovely to be together when most people discovered our news, but I'll leave that for another post!)
The gathering itself was pretty fantastic! There were over 200 people connected to the 24-7 Prayer, Mission and Justice movement across the continent of Europe, each loving God and changing lives in their own way. There was a lot of hope and much laughter in the room as we worshipped, prayed, listened to teaching, sought God and shared together. There were so many old friends to catch up with and lovely new ones to make. Each meal table was full of conversation.
The message that will stay with me the most: remember the story behind the stories...
It's a call to encounter Jesus and then go and share that encounter with others. (The vision always has been and always will be Him!)
The moment that will stay with me the most: the auction...
Each year people bring something they've made to donate to a special auction to raise money for projects around Europe. The greatest contestant is the legendary Peggy from the Boiler Room community in Stanford. Each year she dazzles with some truly amazing knitting and this year (though sadly she wasn't with us in person) her knitting shone again. As the bidding for her 24-7 Prayer laptop sleeve tipped over the €1000 mark I was flabbergasted when the winning consortium walked up and gave me their hard won prize. I had been not-so-secretly coveting it and was speechless at their gift. My Macbook has never been encased so beautifully. I am still overwhelmed by everyone's generosity - especially as Steve pointed out that the laptop sleeve was purchased for more than our car cost us!
Mind boggling, beautiful, inspiriing... I guess that's just another 24-7 Prayer gatheirng.