A Review of Flames of Fire
By
Rachel
Milner
I
have been attending the Flames of Fire conference since I was 12, and
each year I have been so blessed by what God has done in my life, but also in
the lives of those around me.
I had never in my life been to an event where there were so many youth,
wanting to be there, and worshipping and praising God in such a real way.
It was amazing and such an encouragement to me, as I come form North
Wales where there aren't many young Christians in my area. I also made very
strong friendships with Christians my age all over Wales, which was also another
massive encouragement. Maybe I would only see some of them once a year, but we
kept in touch throughout the rest of the year, and knowing that I could turn to
them for advice or for prayer requests, and that they could do the same to me,
was just such a lovely feeling.
Although we were miles apart, we were all united in Christ!
As
some of you may know, the organisation that runs the youth event is called Big
Ideas, and the event itself is called Ignite.
Each year in the conference, the amount of youth that attend the
Ignite programme has grown and grown. Praise God!
This year, I, along with the friends that I have made over the years at
the conference, were asked to be the new Ignite team leaders for Flames of
Fire.
This was such a privilege for me, and I know that it was the same for the
others too.
It was a daunting task to take over from the team that had been there
right from the word go, from the people that the youth had got to know really
well over the years.
We spent a weekend together in January planning and seeking what God
wanted to happen during the week, but, even though we had planned it, I know
that a lot of us were really apprehensive about the week! But we all knew that
God would be there with us and help us through the week - and as ever, He did!
This
year's conference was the best for me so far.
There were the ups and downs of being on the team, like arranging things,
getting up early for team meetings, being tired most of the time.
But the rewards were amazing! Stepping back this year and watching what
God was doing in the lives of the youth around me was just so mind-blowing, and
I can remember thinking throughout the week, what an amazing, and mighty God we
have!
And it wasn't just the youth that He was blessing either, when I went
along to some of
the main meetings in the main pavilion, and saw the Spirit of God falling
on all of the adults and the small children involved with Messengers, I felt so
proud to be a part of GOD'S SQUAD!
If there's anyone out there who doubts God, I challenge you to come along
to the Flames of Fire conference and then you'll see the power of God
moving among His people!
I
know that in some Churches it feels like there is a massive gap between the
children, the teenagers and the adults - it's all happened to us at some point.
But in Flames of Fire, there is no gap.
OK, we all attend different meetings, but when we gather, it's like one
big happy family of God, all there for the same purpose, to worship Him!
Here is so much support and
love
felt between the different ages, and
this
year I felt it more than ever.
God has a purpose for all of us, however big or small we are, and we all
need to be encouraged by each other to do God's work, because at times it can be
really tough, believe me I know.
That's what's received from the Flames of Fire
conference. It has been such a big part of my life, and I don't think
that I would still be following God now if it wasn't for that extra
encouragement, prayer network and friendships made with people of all ages in
the Flames of Fire conference.
God Bless.
and
a Testimony from Flames of Fire
WOW!
Would be my reaction to my first experience of Flames
of Fire. I must admit I went with a bit of trepidation not knowing
what to expect but at the same time quite excited.
I went with my two children Alex who is 10 years old and Abi who is 9
years old. I arrived on the
Monday and the rest of my friends from church had been there all weekend.
When I got there I felt a bit like the new kid on the block as I didn’t
know the ropes but what I immediately sensed was a calm atmosphere over the
whole place. Not being a
person who finds time to relax very easily I was surprised how quickly I relaxed
myself and the children just joined in with all of the other children.
It was wonderful to know that they were in a safe and loving environment
having lots of fun!
After
a very tough period in my life where I have had to battle breast cancer and had
recently received the news that there may have been activity in my bones as
well, I had decided well beforehand that I would ask for prayer for healing at
every opportunity. I
went to the evening service and at the end of that service I decided
to ‘Go for it!’ I
went up to the front and was asked by a lovely couple what I wanted prayer for.
“Healing!” was all I could say as I began to feel quite choked.
“What for?”, was the next question, and the only word I could
physically get out of my mouth was, “Cancer!”.
I may have been very rude I don’t think I even said please so I would
like to apologize to that couple just in case they are reading this!
Well they started to pray for me and tears were just pouring out of my eyes like a tap turned full on! After a few minutes I felt a hand on my back about three quarters of the way up. The hand was very warm and I assumed that I must have been swaying and that they were holding me up to stop me falling backwards. I didn’t think much about it. Then I began to sense that the hand was there more and more and it seemed to be travelling very, very, slowly down my back, really pressing into my back. I thought “Whoa, I must be really swaying,” and never really thought much more about it. They prayed for me for quite a long time and when we had finished tears were still flowing. I thanked them and said “I’m really sorry was I swaying?” They looked rather quizzically at me and I said to them, “Well you were holding me up weren’t you.?” They informed me that their hands were above my head. I now know that that was God’s hand and the place where the hand started was the place where the doctors informed me that I may have some activity in the vertebrae of my spine. I used to have a sensation of ‘cold in my bones’ but that sensation has completely gone. I know that God’s hand that day was healing me and I can’t wait until my next appointment with my consultant so that I can tell him!
I
didn’t really feel the desperate need for healing prayer after that.
I admit I have been a bit like Eeyore.
I have had a cloud of worry over my head.
Worries about my health and my future but my week at Flames
of Fire
has really given me peace about myself and excitement about my future.
Whilst
I was at Flames
of Fire
I was bowled over by the Ignite work. To
see those teenagers openly and confidently talking about their love for God gave
me a feeling of confidence for the Church’s future.
My children went to Messengers and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I pray that my children actively love the Lord openly
and with as much confidence in Him as the teenagers I saw.
All in all I felt captured by every seminar and talk that I heard.
I loved the prayer and worship.
The Fellowship between all of the people attending was wonderfully warm
and loving and the fact that we were being watched over by Angels made me feel
so much closer to the Lord. Since Flames
of Fire
I have definitely felt much closer to God and can’t wait to return next year.
We’ve already booked!
A.B.
Bruce Collins was a popular speaker leading the Bible studies each morning
as well as a number of seminars. This
was his comment :
“Overall I felt that this year's Flames of Fire has been a very good event. It was wonderful to see the Lord so obviously at work amongst us, and I heard much very positive feedback from all manner of people, old and young about how much they enjoyed it. The testimonies and stories on the last morning were really good to hear.”