Sometimes, it is good to pause & take stock of everything that has been going on in the life of this movement here in our nation. In fact, it is a biblical principle to create moments of reflection to allow our thoughts & hearts turn to all that God is doing in our lives.

Reflection leads to praise.

As I look back over our first 3 months of Kingdom Come, I am thankful for the answers to prayer, the faith that been stirred and the sense of building the Kingdom. Numbers are often used as some form of kudos within Christian circles, however they also build faith by encouraging us that we are not on our own, that we are part of something bigger.

For some of us, our experience of praying in a prayer room will have been a solidary one. Perhaps a one-hour slot during the middle of the night does little to engender a sense of community. However I want to encourage you that we are part of something bigger.

In the first three months we have seen over 35 prayer rooms the length & breadth of the country with every week in 2012 being covered in prayer. It has been so encouraging to see churches be receptive to developing a rhythm of prayer into their church life and emphasize prayer as a priority within their congregations. This has resulted in a number of churches committing to prayer on a regular basis every month.

We can celebrate that we have experienced more prayer.

Our schools work continues to grow at a rapid pace, with prayer rooms in places such as Sligo, Rathisland, Dromore& Belfast. How exciting that we get to create the space for teenagers to engage with God during their studies. This Holy Week, we have seen expressions of inter-church unity in prayer rooms running in places such as Antrim, Lurgan& Bangor. It is a story that we have heard regularly over the past three months, of churches coming together under the banner of prayer, to join in unity. We have alsopartnered with Tearfund & Alpha, sharing at their national conferences in February & hosted a number of events for students & teachers.

We can celebrate that we have experienced more unity.

Our teams have been busy out and about the country. Our nightlife programme in Belfast, continues to reach out to those on the party scene and we have embarked on our first road trip of the year, visiting 8 student campuses in Ireland in the space of 36 hours! We continue to hear stories of how people are ‘saving their best prayers’ and beginning to become mobile and travel to different locations in order to pray on behalf of others.

We can celebrate that we have experienced more mission.

So as we have paused, we give thanks for all that God has done so far this year and look forward to what he will continue to do, to usher in His Kingdom.

Kingdom come

Adrian Eagleson

This year the UK will take centre stage as the Olympics roll into London. Northern Ireland is pleased to be part of this but also has some of its own reasons to celebrate through 2012. It is a 100 years since the Titanic left Harland and Wolf docks in Belfast and a full year of creativity, music, art, and historic anniversaries have been planned. This big year of celebrations includes a national PR campaign were cities, towns and villages witness billboards, buses, newspapers and TV adverts emblazed with the words “NI 2012 OUR TIME OUR PLACE”.This little statement has really caught my heart. I claim it and pray it over our Kingdom Come year of prayer here in Ireland. It fills my heart with expectancy that we have been called to this place, for such a time as this, to declare that the kingdom of God is amongst us!!

‘NI 2012 OUR TIME OUR PLACE’ resounded around my head as we joined with people from all around the nation for Alpha Northern Ireland Vision day. The day was full of stories of the kingdom breaking into our nation. There were stories of people encountering God on Alpha courses, justice and mercy prevailing through the work of CAP, restoration and guidance provided during marriage and parenting courses and the fact that already in KC:IRL there had been upwards of 35 prayer rooms to date and many more to come.Inside me I could feel a mighty ‘COME ON’ rising up, I couldn’t help but sense that God is on the move in a mighty way.

It was great to have Pete Grieg over with us and his message to “Preach, Pray and Prove the kingdom” was such an encouragement. On top of this we had special times of worship/prayer and some amazing seminars. Everyone went home at the end of a brilliant day equipped, inspired, challenged and ready to take a stand in “OUR TIME” in “OUR PLACE” to see God’s kingdom come.