Linking the nations... and the generations

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Our KKI European regional conference has just come to an end, and we look back with thankfulness at a time when God was at work in our midst. One of our values in KKI is "linking the generations," and we really saw that in action during these three days of conference. Young and old worshipped together, prayed together, laughed together and cried together. The oldest person to take the microphone was in their sixties, and the youngest presenter onstage was nine year old Emily. (see photo) Last night we had a powerful time of prayer and commissioning, when the older ones in the gathering (the parent and grandparent generations) spoke out prophetic words of releasing and encouragement to the younger leaders (the 16 - 25 year olds) in our midst.

But this conference wasn't only a time of linking the generations, it was also a time of gathering and linking the nations. People had gathered from the northern, southern, western and eastern corners of the European continent, and it was a time of sharing together in God's heart for the young people and families in this part of the world. This morning, we experienced a very touching time when the people of Germany and France reached out in friendship to each other: asking forgiveness for the historical animosity between their nations, and committing to work together to bring the love of God to the nations and generations in Europe.

While some people were already heading to the airport, and others were loading up their cars for the long drive home (driving to different parts of Germany, Switzerland, France, Poland and the Czech Republic), we gathered at lunch time as a European leadership team to evaluate the conference, to give thanks to God, and to read the written feedback and testimonies handed in by those who have been with us for these last few days. And, believe it or not, we even looked ahead to 2013, and scheduled dates in our diaries for the smaller conference that will happen around this time next year.

I'll be flying back to Spain tomorrow morning, together with a family that is coming to be with us in Malaga for the Strategic Leadership Course. One of our German hosts is also staying an extra night here in Altensteig, so that he can pick us up at 3.30 in the morning and drive us to Stuttgart airport. We'll arrive in Málaga around 10 am, and hopefully I'll find I can slip easily back into speaking Spanish again. During this conference, I've had to change languages constantly -  speaking mostly English, French and German.

Here in Altensteig, we've been staying in the JMS Mission Centre. (That's my room, shown by the white arrow in the picture above.) This was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, as I first stayed in the JMS during a summer outreach in 1983, and then visited again in 1997 when a friend was attending a media training course with YWAM in Altensteig. This afternoon I took advantage of the dry weather and went for a walk around the steep streets of Altensteig's old town and castle; this also brought back many memories from my two previous visits to this pretty Black Forest town.

Thank you for your prayers during these days of regional conference. As we listened to people sharing testimonies this morning, we were very encouraged and thankful to get just a glimpse of all that God has been doing in our midst, and we know that He will continue to work in people's lives as they return to their homes, churches and ministries.