Be strong and courageous

This was the theme of the Now Generation meeting in Marseille 15-18 July. The Now Generation are the younger people in TJCII, say in their twenties and thirties. I know, I am not part of that age group anymore! But as a member of the Isaac generation (in their forties and touching fifties) and having been part of the Now Generation from the beginning, I was still welcome 😉. We had three days together, which were very good. With people from Ireland, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Germany, France, and the Netherlands (yes, this is me, but also a girl living in Austria) we represented a variety of Christian traditions and Messianic Jewish communities. We had good times of worship, teaching, fun, prayer, and sharing with one another. We also visited a local Messianic Jewish congregation in Marseille. The rabbi's call to unity and restoration was very fitting in the context of our meeting. His words brought deep encouragement. We were also able to express our deep regret of past and present antisemitic reactions they experience(d) by the hands of Christians. It was really a moment of putting the vision of TJCII in practice. Another significant moment was the city walk that we did. It wasn’t only about discovering the city, but also about learning about its history and touching its historic wounds in prayer and praying into the prophetic calling of Marseille as a port city. In the natural this port is deeply connected to North Africa, and our intercession needed to also embrace this wider region.

The last afternoon and evening a group of French people, who have been connected to TJCII in the past or are now interested joined us. We had a good time of sharing and praying together. Especially the different generations blessing one another (in the French group there was a member of the Abraham generation), was very meaningful. The word that was shared during that time has accompanied me ever since: Hasten the coming of the Lord (2Pet 3:12). In TJCII we work on preparing the way of the Lord (Is 40:3), taking away stumbling blocks (Is 62:10) and healing the nations (Rev 22:2). But for me a new dimension was added by this call to hasten the coming of the Lord. When we read this verse of second Peter in context we read about repentance (verse 9), about burning (verses 10 and 12) which for me talks about purification and about the leaving of the old and the receiving of the new (verses 11, 12 and 13). It calls me to a deeper entering into repentance, both on a personal level and for my family, church, country and the world. And it calls me to invite God to do a deep work of purification and burning away all that is not His. And for this we for sure need to be strong and courageous!

Since the Now Generation meeting I have remained in France, where God is doing an amazing work. But I will write about that in another blog, that should come out next week 😊.

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