On Saturday and Sunday 8th and 9th January 2011 we took part in the Salvation Army Fast Forward Prayer initiative and below is a report on the weekend:-

What an exciting weekend we had. We were really pleased to be one of the centres to launch the Fast Forward initiative especially as we are a Prayer Beacon, a centre for prayer in the territory. We were waiting on God for amazing signs and wonders and He didn't fail us. What an experience.

We started the weekend in Acts 2:42-47 mode by sharing a meal together, 18 of us, some uncomfortable with the concept of praying and fasting, some really nervous as they had never been part of a weekend such as this and didn't know what to expect. After this time of sharing fellowship filled with laughter and good food we moved to our worship space to start on the 'business' of the weekend.

We were privileged to have the company of Lyndall Bywater (Territorial SA Prayer Coordinator) sharing the weekend with us and also to lead the teaching. The booklet that had been produced by the Territorial Prayer Department to guide our thoughts proved to be an excellent resource which can be used again in the future.

The weekend focused on 2 Chronicles 7:14 'If my people who are called by my name .........' which is a familiar verse, but possibly so familiar that we sometimes skim over it. In this booklet it is broken down into 4 sections. Identity, Humility, Repentance and Restoration.

It was a fairly informal day, we had teaching on 3 of the 4 sections interspersed with sung worship, times of meditative prayer, praying in twos and threes and also as a group calling out to God for ourselves, our Army, our community etc. We also had breaks during the day which in themselves were a continuation of worship and fellowship where we could spend time talking about our thoughts and insights so far.

As always Lyndall's teaching challenged us all and God spoke to us individually about our 'personal hunger goals', who we are 'in Him' and how we were 'family together'. We spent time talking together about the 'Greatness of God' and listening to what he had to say to us individually. We had a most powerful time when we took a few minutes writing individual prayers of repentance using the words 'We have done' or 'We have not done' or 'You want us to be' and 'We are sorry, please forgive us'. After this we were invited to pray these prayers out loud.

We continued on Sunday morning in our meeting when we considered the 4th aspect of Fast Forward which is Restoration. During the testimony time we had words of what God has done for us over the period of fasting and how we had felt God's presence and heard Him speaking to us. We were challenged to find a way of telling a non Christian about Jesus during the following week. We were also challenged to commit ourselves to want to be used by God in the healing of His land.

The weekend ended as it had begun in fellowship together as we broke fast over a shared lunch and as we shared our personal experiences of the previous 24 hours.

Fast Forward for us in the Banbury Salvation Army Prayer Beacon has had an impact on many lives that we can never be the same again.

'God is good all the time, all the time God is good'.

On Sunday 10th October 2010, just 2 weeks after celebrating our 2nd birthday as a Prayer Beacon Corps which included the enrolment of new soldiers & an adherent, we welcomed another new adherent.

Captain Pauline Milner welcomed a delighted Maxine Cooper as an adherent member of Banbury Corps. Maxine was supported by family & friends, some of whom had never attended the Salvation Army before and she gave a moving testimony of her coming to faith via an invitation to Alpha and later a discipleship course Freedom in Christ and Purpose Driven Life at TSA. Maxine who's late father was a Salvationist and attended TSA as a youngster, spoke powerfully using a number of props - a book entitled, 'This is me', tissues to wipe away the tears and a couple of Russian dolls. A large one with a tiny one inside, describing that this is how she had felt for many years, a tiny insecure person trapped inside an outer shell, she spoke of trying to find her identity in bringing up her five children & later finding solace in her 'flexible friend' a credit card. Then out came the final prop - the Bible, as she spoke powerfully of the faithfulness of God in calling her into relationship with him and her joy in having been set free by the blood of Jesus, finding her true identity in Christ and a new found security & friendship within the family of God.