WOW! More Than A Week Later!

It has been more than a week since our Territorial Celebration and we have discovered that there IS life after a big event! Onward and forward we go. The WOW Initiative’s first year began October 2006 and will conclude September 2007. Year two will begin this October however; planning for year two should begin now! The Territorial Women’s Department has already started to define our second year strategy. Everything begins and ends in prayer. Another Territorial Initiative to start with the new program year is the 24/7 Prayer Challenge. It will be easy to see how these two can work together.

As the corps pray and seek God about what He wants them to do in their efforts to Win Other Women for the Kingdom and The Salvation Army, perhaps it will be the women of the corps who sponsor a 24/7 Prayer Room for a week or even a month. Perhaps a group of women will commit to pray a certain hour each day as they connect with this prayer effort.

God is doing something mighty and I want to be a part of it. How about you? Do you want to be in front of this tsunami wave of revival being ushered in by the Spirit of God? Do you want to be a leader in this movement or are you satisfied to sit by and watch? It is a challenge laid out before us all.

The Program Department is circulating the book Red Moon Rising, by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts. When it comes your way, be sure to read it. If you do not see a copy soon, check it out at your library or buy a copy. This tsunami wave of the Holy Spirit is not just beginning. We can point to the 1970s when books like What Happens When Women Pray by Evelyn Christensen appeared as best sellers. We can look at 1989 when the church read a fictional book by Frank Peretti called Piercing the Darkness and were stirred up to pray in a way they had not prayed before. The 24/7 movement began in 1999 along with several other amazing prayer groups. I was privileged to be a part of an emerging prayer group in San Diego at that time.

If you have been a Christian for a while, (20 or more years), think back to how God has been pushing us to pray. The WOW Initiative emerged from a vision planted in the heart of Commissioner Pat Swyers, our Territorial President of Women’s ministries. (USA West) Her vision is to see revival, to see women and their families won for the sake of Christ and that those women will become enlisted in the salvation war.

WOW – Why Only Women? We won’t just stop with the women! WOW should go after the souls of men, women and children. Pete Greig tells us that in the Celtic Church, the wild goose represented the work of the Holy Spirit. Why a wild goose? Wild geese go where they want and cannot be herded or tamed. They are wild and powerful birds. Jesus said the Holy Spirit is like the wind. It will blow where it wants. It can be wild and powerful or it can be like a gentle breeze. What is the Spirit of God saying to The Salvation Army? WOW – Wonderful Opportunities Waiting! Are you ready? Get set. Get on your knees and begin.