[mailto:fellowship.mcity@gmail.com]Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:45 PM
To: Fellowship MCity
Subject: Shockers Single Unite - Enjoying your singleness while it lasts!
Last Saturday, the She-Rockers had a girls retreat in Honey Drops, East tambaram. Below is the writeup for the benefit of those who were unable to make it. Attached are the materials that would be helpful for those waiting for marriage.
Shockers Singles Unite
A nice cloudy Saturday morning, perfect for sleeping in late! But 10-15 shockers were at the Venue by 8 AM for the girls retreat. We had guitarist, keyboard players, singers, actors and others to arrange the projector, mic and chairs.
The meeting was to start at 9 AM. Exactly at 9, the power went down. Uncle (the owner of the venue) said, 'Well, its Saturday, it may come at 10 AM or it may be full day power cut- meaning we'll get power back at 5 PM'. Few shockers immediately gathered and prayed that God might rule over the situation. With no power, we couldn't use the projector to project the lyrics of the song. But God ruled. Ajantha on keys and Joy with the guitar led the worship. The first song 'Shake another hand' set the upbeat mood. God helped us to praise and worship him with all our hearts and we started rejoicing in His presence.
We were each given a name tag and then we were divided into 4 teams, with names ‘Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba’ I.e. Women from the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 1. Even though they had a troubled past, these women had a special place in the Bible. We were given paper chits to jot down all our craziest, extreme fancies, and dreams and we dropped it into the Dream Box. The box was too full! We pulled out the reference of the most handsome guys of the Bible- Saul and Absalom (1Samuel 9:2, 2 Samuel 14:25). We thus learnt that it is not outward appearance, but inward character that matters (1Samuel 16:7). Being dark, short, curly, straight, fat, lean or blemish doesn't matter, for we are unique and special in God's eyes. (Zechariah 2:8, Isaiah 43:1). We played a game of opposites, Tall/short, light/dark,big/small, Cain/Able, Joseph bros/Joseph, Miriam/Moses, Rachel/Leah and How easy it is to compare eachother and how comparison results in havoc. But learn to compare with Job, Ezekial, Daniel, Paul instead. When we know, whose we are, we realize how special we are. Beulah showed a pine cone and some wild flowers through which she explained if God has shown such care and beauty to something that is here today and gone tomorrow, how much more we (His children) matter to him.
Beulah shared her testimony, of how God helps her through her waiting period. 'Beulah' means ‘married’; we are married to the Lord, for he is the lover of our soul. He is the one, who loves us more, more than we've ever been loved before. We worship the King of kings (Revelation 19:16), which makes us all Princesses! We had a small skit- a conversation between friends, one who was worried, another angry, and depressed because of different problems in marriage proposals. Going through this, how do we manage the anger, worry? Beulah showed us a plant with roots. Hebrews 12:15, talks of bitterness as root. When we let this grow, it leads to bitterness -> worry-> fear-> hatred -> anger -> resentment and it could grow into a big tree. We might cut down the leaf or the branches (anger, depression feeling) for some time, but if the root is untouched, the plant will grow again. We defined 'sin' as, anything that could take the focus off of Jesus. We read Romans 6, and underlined all the words that said of 'death'. It said that we are dead to the sin. When our flesh is nailed to the cross, when Jesus died, the self-dies too. The bitterness can be uprooted only at the cross. We learnt that baptism experience - the dying to sin, and alive in Christ must be practiced daily, every moment to overcome the difficulty. For it does not take a long time to sin. Just a sinful thought that comes in a microsecond is all we need to sow a seed of bitterness towards someone! We prayed and put our name tags on the cross in the screen and exchanged it with a 'Jesus' tag. She also showed us a rotten banana, and asked if anyone would like to eat it. None of us volunteered. We then had a group activity to list down the activities we do right from getting up from bed. After we were finished, a married shocker’s morning list of activities was projected, we saw how much time ‘singles’ have and how we can no longer give a lame excuse of ‘no time’ . When we don’t have regular quiet time, we would stink like the rotten banana. But when we spend time with God, we will have the Fruit of Holy Spirit: Joy, Love, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control. We memorized it.
It was followed by a Skit from Francene and team which depicted the importance of First priority to God. Then we learnt the Armor of God in an easy way and shockers were asked to do the armor of God in groups with newspaper!
Armor of God:
Helmet of Salvation
Belt of Truth
Feet fitted with readiness that comes from Gospel of Peace.
Breast-Plate of Righteousness
Shield of faith
Sword which is the Word of God.
God has asked us to put this Armor in order to overcome the Devil’s Schemes. (Ephesians 6:10-20). We also memorized James 4:7 with action.
Triangle of Love:
Only by having God’s unconditional love in us- full and overflowing, we can forgive and love the person who have hurt/discouraged/disappointed us.
Then Rebecca Isaac gave us her testimony. She said that unless they have their Quiet time, they refuse to leave the house. It became a rule in the house. She taught that we should be guarded and rooted in God's word, to overcome evil and to not be unequally yoked. She had prayed for God’s will in her life, and God arranged everything beautifully in both families and they did not look into caste at all. We learnt how God could break barriers, caste and man’s plan and fulfill His plans, when we completely seek His will and surrender to it alone.
She also taught us how to PRAY- Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield.
P-Praise: It has become common to praise God only in our joyful situations. But Praise the Lord in any situation even at critical times. Even if any alliance breaks off, still Praise the Lord.
R-Repent: To repent from our sins as Jesus is ready to wash us from our sins. Our sins prevent us from receiving our God’s blessings. So we have to repent.
A-Ask: Ask whatever you want. Never cease praying at any circumstances. Ask for the type of person you want as life-partner. Note down them and pray daily. God will see our heart’s desires and will fulfill them according to His will.
Y-Yield: Yes, Lord will grant our prayers according to His will. But patiently wait for the Lord’s time.
She made us read the entire Proverbs 31 one after the other, and helped us understand, how much responsibility a girl has in a family, and where we stand!
She shared that it will be always good if we accept the person the Lord gives rather than we select a person by ourselves and then pray to Lord for Him. She also told to spend at least 30 mins for Quiet time with the Lord.
Then Alwin Joyce shared her testimony, of how faithfully God took care of her during her waiting period, spanning anxiety, loneliness, and pressure from family. She taught us what the Bible says about God’s will in choosing the mate,what characters are necessary and important for the spouse, and how to pray for the spouse. She also taught us to use the waiting time, to grow closer to God and to develop those same characters in us. Attaching the ppt she used during her testimony. It was amazing to hear how beautifully God had brought in her husband at the right time, with the exact characters, that she had prayed for. She also taught us, not to think of marriage all the time, but to use our singleness to spend more time with our Lord. The attached document on Esther helped Joyce to prepare herself during her waiting period. Being Single is the time to get prepared to be like Proverbs 31 woman. She also taught us how important it is to wait on God directly rather than, depending only on prophesies, and prayers of other people. We thank God for her, as inspite her difficulty she stood and shared her testimony! – (she is 9 months pregnant)
Then we had skit by Karunya and Team which depicted about the Characters of Good and Bad Companions after lunch break. How your thoughts can be influenced by the people around you and how it can be useless /destroy people or edify and encourage people. We learnt, that the bible tells us that we should be teachers/ instruct Hebrews 5:12. Romans 15:14 says that we should grow stronger in the Lord, which again states how important Quiet Time is for us.
Then we had Testimony by Valarmathi Moorthy which had a message of Standing for God at all times. She is a First Generation Believer. Her thirst to know the truth and desire to worship the true God, was amazing to hear. Through her testimony, we learnt how God can directly speak through verses to each of us, if we are passionate and waiting on the Lord. We learnt how important it is to spend time with God to be ready to hear Him. We learnt how amidst the entire family pressure, and struggles, God helped her to remain true and faithful to Him and how He opened up the doors and led the way through. Her zeal and joy of the Lord inspired us, and the faith she had on the Lord, led her family to come to Christ! She is married to a believer and is blessed with a child! Praise God. . Her energetic, bubbling character and humor, made it so lively and fun!
It was followed by Testimony from Priscilla Joel which had a message of yielding to God’s will. There were pressure in different ways, but it was encouraging to see how she was able to tackle her worried mother, and remain without anxiety or fear on the future. It was an eye opener to see, how she used her waiting period, which had helped her when the right person came along, there was no doubt, and confusion in both their hearts and both their families and how everything just fell into place. It was amazing to see how God had fulfilled her desire to get married to the first guy who had come to see her first. She had prayed for that specifically. It was wonderful to see their 3 month baby! She was so silent throughout the program!
Each testimony was unique, different and very helpful and encouraged each of us to seek God in all circumstances, to depend, and to glorify Him. As a final activity, we were told to write 5 characters that each of us need to work on during our waiting period. Finally the session ended up with prayer. At the end, to insist on the importance of humility, when God who made the heavens and earth washed our feet, we had an open invitation to wash each other's feet. It was such a humbling experience.
We thank our Lord heavenly father, for helping us to get-together and have some fun! We thank all those who prayed for the program and for all the volunteers in the background, who made this possible! Oh did I tell you? God sent us the electricity power within an hour! Praise God!
Praise, Glory and Honor be to our Almighty God!!!!!
With prayers,
Mcity Fellowship
www.hisrockers.com
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