A House of Prayer for All Nations and Generations!
During the
National Convention of the Fellowship of Christian Assemblies
in Canada in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in October of 2012, the leaders of
the FCA in Manitoba developed the theme, “Behold, I will do a new thing! Cross Cultures – Across Generations.”
It was also
highlighted at this particular Convention that Winnipeg is in the very heart
of the Continent. 
Even before
the coming of immigrants into western Canada, the First Nations, the original
people of the land, recognized this region of what is now southern Manitoba as
being the heart, the centre of Turtle Island, and the place where the Creator
sits or rests and from where He speaks and makes His voice heard to the
creation.
Out of all
the words written about this province, one of the most evocative is a newly
revealed passage about native feelings at a place at the narrows of Lake
Manitoba. It is written in the
introduction to the 2012 anthology Manitowapow, edited by
Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair and Warren Cariou:
“The most common
explanation of the name (of Manitoba) is drawn from the Cree words Manitou (Great Spirit) and wapow (sacred water), or in Ojibway, Manito-bau. From the
narrows of Lake Manitoba where the waves dashed against the rocky shores of Manitou Island, these sounds were
thought to be sacred beats that rumbled through Creation and created beauty,
definition and meaning. This is the
voice of the Great Spirit, Manitowapow.”
The roaring noise of pebbles on a
beach on Manitou Island in Lake Manitoba was the source of a Native
belief that "Manitou" or “Great Spirit” was beating a
drum. The beating of a drum speaks of
the heartbeat
of the Creator, and Manitoba is in the heart, the centre of Turtle
Island, from where the Creator’s voice flows out from the centre, from the heart,
from the place where the Spirit
sits or rests!
Many
believers in Manitoba believe that the meaning of our name is a part of our
prophetic destiny. There must be healing
in the heart of the nation since the heart has been broken and fractured along
ethnic, racial, generational and denominational lines.
In fact, a
special report in Maclean’s Magazine in January of 2015 made the claim that “Canada has a bigger race problem than
America. And it’s ugliest in Winnipeg.” Mayor Brian Bowman subsequently called a
press conference at City Hall to which he invited community leaders from many
spheres of the community, all agreeing that the heart of the nation has been
fractured, and that we must address this issue of racism head-on.
I believe
that this is a call for the church, and particularly for our FCA churches in
Manitoba to arise, and to begin role-modelling reconciliation, and
role-modeling the type of House that Jesus was talking about when He said, “My
House will be a House of Prayer for all nations (ethnos)” (Mark 11:17).
It is my
conviction that wherever sin abounds, there is the potential for grace to
abound even more. Could it be in God’s
plan that the very city that has been labelled as the most racist in Canada
could also become a role-model of reconciliation and healing between the original
people of the land and the later immigrant groups?
On August
12, 2014, Cindy Jacobs released a prophetic word over Manitoba which
declared: “There has already been a spirit of reconciliation loosed in Manitoba,
but God says now I’m going to do it in a way that is greater. I’m going to cause a partnership to come with
the native and the non-native churches, and God says I’m going to release the
prophetic word. I see a great prophetic
mantle upon Manitoba.”
I put this
forth these points to pray into and to engage one another with:
1. Could the very
meaning of the name of Manitoba as a place from where the Creator speaks be a
foreshadowing of a unique prophetic mantle upon Manitoba?
2. Could the key to
the releasing of that prophetic word require a healing at the heart of the
Continent which has become fractured and broken along ethnic, racial,
generational and denominational lines?
3. Could that
prophetic destiny involve releasing the word of that Lord that would enable
Canada to fulfill its prophetic destiny to bring healing to the nations. We are the only nation in the world with a
leaf as its national emblem. “The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations (ethnos)”
(Revelation 22:2).
Canada has
pretty much every nation and ethnicity on earth living within its borders. What an opportunity to role model the healing
of the nations!
How God’s Healing Comes to a Nation
I believe
that many times we miss the supernatural because
we are looking for the spectacular. Jesus did not say that His Kingdom would come
with outward show or with observation that initially looks impressive but then
fizzles out to nothing. Rather, His
Kingdom would begin as a tiny seed, and would grow from there until it becomes
the largest of trees.
Transformation,
or the healing of the nations, does not come like a big bang that then
diminishes, but it comes gradually and progressively, from one degree of glory
to another, When does a seed become a mighty oak tree? It is through a process that is so gradual
that you can miss it if all you are looking for is instant, immediate or sudden
change.
When does
the light at the crack of dawn become the full light of the noonday sun? Again, it is a process of increasing light
that is so gradual that it is almost imperceptible at any given point in time
as to when the light of dawn was transformed into the light of the noonday sun.
I say this
lest any suggest that I am making any grandiose claims for Manitoba, or that I
am making claims that we have in any sense “arrived” at a destination of full
healing between the First Nations and the other “ethnos” or “ethnicities” of
Manitoba. However, I believe that we are
seeing the beginning, in seed form,
of a movement that is seeing change, and that ethnicities that were islands
unto themselves are now eager and willing to connect and to worship together
with other ethnicities, and without fearing that they will lose what is in
their culture that is precious and valuable.
Let me just
highlight, from my own personal experience, some of the services that I have
participated in since May of 2015 in which I see a coming together and a
reconciliation between Native and Non-native believers. I am sure that it is happening in many
places, but I particularly see it within our FCA churches in Manitoba, and
there is a greater and greater desire to be more connected, unified and
reconciled.
May 1 and 2, 2015
On Friday
and Saturday, May 1 and 2 of this year, our local church of Maranatha
Niverville
organized a 27-hour Burn event of
non-stop praise and worship, and we were privileged during this time to host
both a First Nations worship band as well as a Filipino worship band.
Previously,
on April 19, 2015, I was speaking at the First Nations Family Worship Centre
in Winnipeg, and I called to the front a Filipino pastor in the city of
Winnipeg, Mercedes Coronia, from the Amazing Grace Ministry. Both the First Nations Family Worship Centre
and the Amazing Grace Ministry are FCA churches in the city of
Winnipeg.
Later in the
service, a well-known Native ministry from the Peguis First Nation,
Irvin Wilson, called me to join hands with him and Pastor Mercedes along with
one of her Filipino church members to covenant to walk together as First
Nations and Filipinos. The First Nations
were overjoyed to see the Filipinos joining them, as they have been moving in a
direction where they were longing to see a greater connection between the First
Nations and Filipinos as well as other ethnicities.
So we joined
hands together, and agreed that this was the beginning of a new journey
together. Alisa Tina Mason, the main
worship leader at the First Nations Family Worship Centre,
later said on her Facebook page: “A mighty connection took place this evening
with the Filipinos, a Filipino pastor came to church and Roger was there as
well. What a blessed powerful evening!”
Subsequently, the worship teams from Amazing
Grace Ministry and the First Nations Family Worship Centre
flowed together at the 27-hour Burn event hosted by the congregation
of Maranatha
Niverville. As Cindy Jacob’s
prophecy declared a year earlier, “I’m going to cause a partnership to
come with the native and the non-native churches.” The unique relationship that each of these congregations have
with the FCA was definitely a catalyst to help facilitate these connections.
This is
significant and notable inasmuch as these ethnic churches come out of a
background where they were pretty much an
island unto themselves, with little appetite or inclination to join
together with other ethnicities, other races, other cultures, other nations,
other languages, other people groups.
Yet, this has been changing ever since our 2012 National Convention of
the FCA in Canada which prophetically
proclaimed this message:
What is this “new thing” that would “spring
up” out of the earth that some may not initially perceive or be aware
of? “This
people whom I have formed for Myself shall
declare My praise” (Isaiah 43:21).
In the end-times, this praise
will spring forth from within and before all the nations of the
earth!
Worship Evangelism in Central Park,
Winnipeg on Sunday, September 20
Here I am on Sunday afternoon of
September 20, at the Central Park in Winnipeg along with
Terry Thiessen, the director of the Teen Challenge of Central Canada Choir. The headquarters of Teen Challenge is right
across from the Central Park in
Winnipeg, and Terry Thiessen is also a recently ordained minister with the FCA in
Manitoba.
This Worship Evangelism Event brought
together the Followers of Christ Fellowship, a Filipino congregation
pastored by Randy Casillan, who brought their anointed Praise and Worship Band
to this open air worship festival in the heart of the city in the heart of the
continent along with the Youth from Maranatha Niverville. While anointed worship music was playing,
many of the Youth went seeking for people to pray for, and pretty much all of
the Youth came home very excited, and shared testimonies that evening of how
God had used them to minister life and healing to those that they prayed for.
There was a sense of the need for
even greater ongoing connection between the FCA ministries that were involved
at the Central Park that afternoon—including Maranatha Niverville, Teen
Challenge, and the Followers of Christ Fellowship.
Awakening Manitoba Event Hosted by
First Nations on Friday to Sunday, October 2 – 4, 2015
Throughout this past summer, I sensed
a growing passion among the First Nations to no longer simply be seen as a
church for First Nations, but rather as a Gathering Place and a House of Prayer
for all
nations. Those that I work with have a
passion to connect with other people groups and ethnicities as a key to
fulfilling their own destiny so that we can inherit the promises of God together, and see the land healed as a
reflection of the healing taking place in the hearts of people being
reconciled.
By the time that the First
Nations Family Worship Centre hosted the Awakening Manitoba Event
with Alain Caron from French Quebec in early October, there was a coming
together of Native and Non-native believers on a scale that I have not seen at
an event that was organized and administrated by a First Nations congregation
in Manitoba.
A mighty
apostolic anointing was unleashed as Natives and Non-natives lifted up their
voices in prayer to God with one accord, baptizing them together into a unity
of love. A new sound was heard from
First Nations worship leaders, releasing true and pure praise and worship to
the Throne Room in Heaven. After the
week-end was over, First Nations worship leader Alisa Tina Mason declared on Facebook: “I had
a wonderful week-end. It was a powerful
week-end right from the start. I will
cherish it. God is doing a new thing…a
shift.”
Tuesday morning,
October 27
On Tuesday
morning, October 27, the Followers of
Christ Fellowship and Filipino
Pastor Randy Casillan in Winnipeg invited all of our Manitoba FCA pastors to a
Fellowship Breakfast. So it was a perfect
opportunity to connect Randy Casillan in an “even
greater” way with some of our First Nations leaders who are affiliated with
the FCA such as Raymond McLean, and Irvin and Dolly Wilson.
Randy Casillan
Raymond McLean
Irvin and Dolly Wilson
At this
Breakfast Meeting, Pastors Randy Casillan and Raymond McLean really connected,
and the Filipino congregation Followers of Christ Fellowship is
now inviting and welcoming First Nations Family Worship Centre
Pastor Raymond McLean o share with their congregation on a Sunday morning in
the near future. We learned that a
number of Filipino believers have been fostering some of the First Nations children
in their homes, and were already looking for and longing for a greater First
Nations connection with the Filipino community.
What do all
of these congregations (Maranatha Niverville, First Nations Family
Worship Centre, Followers of Christ Fellowship and Amazing Grace Ministry)
have in common? Number one, they are all
FCA churches in southern Manitoba, and number two, they are a fulfillment, I
believe, of Cindy Jacob’s prophecy that “I’m
going to cause a partnership to come with the native and the Non-native
churches, and God says I’m going to release the prophetic word!”
Friday and Saturday
evenings, November 6 and 7
On the
evenings of Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, 2015, the Followers
of Christ Fellowship celebrated their 20th Anniversary at
the Philippine
Canadian Centre of Manitoba in Winnipeg. This dynamic congregation is growing
exponentially, and it is primarily Youth who are coming to Christ, and so they
role model that aspect of the theme of our FCA National Convention in 2012 that
is “across generations” as well as now
being “cross cultural” in connecting
with other nations and ethnicities.
On Friday night of November 6, Faythe Santiago, guest speaker from History Makers in Manila, Philippines, preached a powerful message that impacted some 250 Youth hugely to be all out, and to impact their generation as a history maker, even as David did when he faced the giant Goliath when everyone else was fearful. While he faced doubts, he starved his doubts and fed his faith in God to allow God to use Him way beyond his limitations in the natural.
It was my privilege to develop the theme "Even Greater!" on the Saturday evening of November 6, based on the text from Haggai 2:9, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former House, says the Lord, and in this place I will give peace."
The "latter House" is a House not made with human hands that is rising up from within every nation (ethnos), and God has always saved His best for last.
Followers of Christ Fellowship (Winnipeg)
First Nations Family Worship Centre (Winnipeg)
I would like
for us to notice the similarity in the wholehearted worship styles of both the Followers
of Christ Fellowship (left) and the First Nations Family Worship
Centre
(right). Imagine what can happen both
cross-culturally and cross-generationally as these Winnipeg congregations, and
others in the FCA in Manitoba, start to connect at an ever deeper level! Truly God is so pleased as the nations bring
their “sacrifice of praise” before
His Throne, and as He Himself builds a House of Prayer for all nations.
Clearly, the
nations are not divided by color, but are united by the color red. The Lamb
who was slain has redeemed us to God by His blood out of every tribe, every language, every people
and every nation. Worship will become so much more powerful as
each worships God in their own heart language, their own ethnicity, their own
cultural expressions, their own dances, their own art—all will be offered up as
an offering to God for His glory, and He will receive those offerings. They are acceptable to Him when they come
from the heart of worshipers who approach the Throne of Grace through the blood
of Jesus!
Some
two years ago, I preached a message at Maranatha
Niverville on praise arising from within every nation, and how that the
language and some expressions and sounds are unique to every culture, and that
it was all acceptable to God provided it be offered through faith in Jesus’
shed blood as the only way to access the Throne of God. Then, when the nations begin to offer their
praise as one, and in one accord, it is going to create a roar like a lion that
will reverberate on to the land, and shake enemy strongholds, and set captives
free.
While I was
teaching the Lord gave Maya Robbins, a prophetic artist in our congregation,
this painting of a First Nations worshiper leading the way by releasing sounds,
songs, voices and dances that were penetrating the heavens, and were releasing
sounds, songs, voices and dances from the other nations as well. When these voices become as one, I believe
that we will see true worship rise to a new level such as we have not yet seen
in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ.
He always saves His best for last!
Roger and Marge Armbruster are bridge-builders and advocates of reconciliation and social justice between people groups and cultures. They both minister cross-culturally -- Marge by teaching English to new immigrants in rural southern Manitoba, and Roger by helping to build relationships between various indigenous groups who understand the connection that there is between people and land, with a special focus on the Inuit of Canada's North.
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