Two days in Tampere, Finland!
by Virginia Fech
Day 1
Conference “POWER TO SERVE” in Tampere, Finland
The first session started with Dr Gayle Claxton. She spoke about perspective. Everything is a matter of perspective and we as Christians have the choice how we approach and look at things, especially when it comes to the call of God in our lives. We must be willing to have the perspective of a faithful and focused Christian to be ready for the return of Jesus. She challenged us to question ourselves. Where is our heart and what is our perspective?
Dr Rev. Suzette Hattingh took the the 2nd session and spoke about preparing for the fire. She used Elijah’s story as an example. Before fire can come, God must first prepare his servant and confront him with his mindset, traditions, standards and religiosity.
Tremendous impact, seminars, and church meetings, but the youth meeting with Gayle Claxton was exceptional. The youth in Finland is on fire for God!
Last night we had an amazing meeting, a powerful move of the Spirit with several healings. – Suzette –
In the evening the 3rd session was a youth night. Dr Gayle Claxton shared part of her testimony and then spoke on the topic of fear. God has called the youth and the one of the things that can stop them is fear. Jesus, however, is much greater than fear which is how we can overcome fear with Him. Fear is the place where we would least expect to encounter God but it is exactly the place where we will encounter God the most. Letting go of this means trusting God. If we don’t, fear will keep us from growing in faith.
After this session, the young people were encouraged by the altar call to put fear in God’s hands & pray against it.
It was a very powerful start to the conference. Many people were very touched and decisions for Jesus were made.
Dr Gayle Claxton praying against fear
Day 2
Dr Gayle Claxton preached at the Sunday morning service. She used the story of Lazarus as an example to challenge us to listen to the call of God and leave the grave of death, unforgiveness, disappointment, pain and bitterness behind us. God does not want us to simply be resuscitated but to be truly resurrected! God’s call for our lives is to live in victory so that we can reach people and bring them to the cross. “Lazarus come out!” God wants us to come just as we are because the moment we dare to step out and walk towards God everything changes!
The last session of the conference and Dr Rev. Suzette Hattingh preached in the evening about “the desert of the Lord”. The desert is often seen as something negative but it is not there to destroy us but so that God can meet us right there. God uses these “deserts” so that we can realign ourselves. Even if it feels like we are not getting anywhere in this valley of the desert, the door of hope is very close. It is our responsibility to grow in it and to use the authority God has given us to change this situation. So don’t give up! The Lord is with us and will lead us through.
At the end of the evening we prayed for all those who are in the valley of the desert and then also for the sick. We were able to experience God’s work and witnessed many healings among those attending the service.
