Update....part 1

Hey guys, this is a bit of an update for how things are going in Belfast.
In the last couple of months we have been trying to figure out what it looks like for us personally to be a House of Prayer for Belfast....in Belfast. We have several people from quite different backgrounds and different experiences with the Lord, so trying to find a way to stay true to what the Lord has called this house to, and bring as many people along as want to come is a very challenging thing as you might suspect. Thursday nights continue to be prayer (mainly intercession) focused, and Saturday nights continue to be a safe environment for people to step out in their giftings and use what they are being given. Whether that be a traditional church type gifting i.e. preaching, teaching, leading worship etc. or whether that is an more outside the box type gifting, such as painting, dance, poetry, etc. We have added a new spin on Saturday nights as well, we are going to do teaching and equipping on the first three Saturdays of the month, and then on the last Saturday we are going to do what Bethel Church in Redding calls a "treasure hunt", basically listening to the Lord and seeing what He is telling you to do and then going out and doing it. The teaching will be on things such as how the Lord speaks to us, why we pray for healing, the authority we have as children of God etc. and the last Saturday will be a chance to start stepping out in the things we are learning, and grow in it.
One interesting story about Saturday nights.....
The original idea for Saturday nights, came to me while I was watching the HBO series Band of Brothers. The series is a true story based on the experiences of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne during D-day and the rest of WWII. The story starts with a group of men, from all over America, who have volunteered to be paratroopers (men who jump out of airplanes, and parachute to where they are gonna fight) a very new concept for the military at that time. The men have really no idea what they are getting themselves into, and have literally no military experience. At the beginning they argue and fight a lot, don't really understand or get each other, and can't even decide wether they trust their officers or not. As the experiences of D-day, and the rest of the war take its toll on the group however, they begin to become so close that they escape from the hospital to get back on the front lines with their "brothers", a trust and comradery is built between them through their experiences that is incredible, and they end up being such a highly skilled unit that they are put in the fore front of every major battle for the rest of the war.
I say all that to say, that the Lord began speaking to me as I watched this about the way He wants His body to function. He wants them to know what it means to go to war together, to get over their petty differences and realize they are united by a huge common goal, to be a highly skilled group that He can put into the most difficult situations. I have shared this vision with the group many times in the several months that we have been doing Saturday nights. As we step out in our giftings, and become more vulnerable and transparent with our brothers and sisters, we are growing and maturing in our faith, and building trust in each other. We are becoming our own "Band of Brothers" in a sense........slowly becoming that is!!! :P
So a few weeks ago a couple of the guys in our group had to give Saturday night a miss to go to this prophetic conference they had been planning on going to for a while. While they were there the lady called out first one, then the other of the two and started prophecying over them. She literally said something to the effect of, "I see a Band of Brothers..." and there was a bit more about it being a monastic movement that was in hiddenness at the moment, but the Lord was gonna bring out. In other words, it was an amazing confirmation to us all, and an incredibly accurate word from the Lord!!!
I will write more soon.

God bless you all,

Evan