Medicine Hat
When Calgary and Edmonton first began to fast and pray together the Lord spoke to us that He has many “hidden treasures” in Alberta – faithful believers who are standing to see His Kingdom come and His Glory fill their communities/regions and this province. Many times these ‘forerunners’ (individuals or churches) find themselves alone and isolated. And the Lord said: “I set the lonely in families. The time has come to reunite My family in Alberta.” And He said He would send us to certain places in the province and, although the order may not seem logical or efficient in the natural, there was a “logic” in the Spirit that we would not be able to fully understand. For this reason, it was most important that we listen carefully and go only where He asked us, when He asked us.
And the first place He spoke clearly for us to go to was Medicine Hat.
In April 2009, there was a gathering in the city of Medicine Hat, facilitated by Watchmen for the Nations, bringing people together to worship and seek the face of the Lord for Medicine Hat. A few pastors from the Edmonton team felt called to attend. Mark Adams explains what happened next:
“We were asked to share our hearts, especially about Edmonton. I explained how I had received a vision during the worship of the sun going down and being lassoed and pulled back up. And I heard the Lord say: “I’m holding back the time – I’m giving Edmonton another chance.” Meanwhile, my friend, Peter, noticed he was unable to lift him arms in worship. So he shared how he felt it was a prophetic picture of where we were at in Edmonton – we couldn’t lift our arms up and we needed help. David Demian, who was facilitating the meeting, asked the people of Medicine Hat if they would surround us, lift up our arms and pray for Edmonton. The believers responded and the YWAM Island Breeze team even did a “hauka” war dance over us – calling the warriors in Edmonton to rise up.
We had just begun our fasting and prayer the month before in Edmonton and hearing what had happened in Medicine Hat was a great encouragement and gave us an important spiritual “boost” at the very beginning of our journey.
During the Awaken Tour in July 2010 the team visited Medicine Hat where they met with some intercessors who shared that they were still praying for Edmonton (almost 1 ½ years later!) and wanted to know if there was any news about the city. When we heard this we were deeply touched and we felt the day would come when the Lord would release us to travel to Medicine Hat, to thank them face-to-face and share with them the story of our journey so they could see the fruit of their prayers.
That day finally arrived on May 27, 2011 as a team of 16 from Edmonton and Calgary travelled to Medicine Hat to gather with believers from the area. After a time of worship and sharing we asked them if we could lift up their arms pray for them. All those from Medicine Hat responded and a deep time of ministry followed.
The next morning we gathered again and the Lord spoke to us to have a “family circle” – so we put the chairs in a large oval and asked those from Medicine Hat to share their hearts. Many shared how the church in Medicine Hat had been experiencing tremendous warfare over the past year and many were feeling discouraged and disillusioned. But many of them had experienced a breakthrough and rolling away of hope deferred the previous night as they felt connected to/linked in with the wider body of the province. A number of them felt to join the journey for the province – being added to the company of those fasting and praying.
