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To God be all the Glory!
The crowd that was drawn to the Day of Revival 2009, the volunteer’s untiring service, all these were a testament to what the Lord had done in their lives. The Lord had touched them and placed in their heart a thirst that could be quenched by no other. All they wanted to do was love Him back in return. So they turned up in their thousands. They turned up to serve. They mere scale of the operation and the selfless giving of the volunteers was a act of praising His Glory and a witness to His supernatural intervention in our lives.
Alhough the program was to start at 9.00 AM, the auditorium was full by 7.15 AM and the crowd started filling the tent put up outside. There were 8,000 seats in the auditorium and 10,000 in the tent. Yet there were people who did not have seats. They resorted to sitting on groundsheets in the adjoining rugby ground. A “Video Wall” and wired sound ensured that they did not miss out on what was happening in the auditorium. Hundreds of others from all over the world watched the love webcast
The Lord controlled the weather. There was niether rain nor sunshine; both conditions would have spelt disaster for those outside the main auditorium. At midday, there was a cloud covering that prevented the sun from beating down and heating up the metal roof of the tent.
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The day began with the arrival of His Lordship Bishop Christopher Prowse, the auxiliarry Bishop of Melbourne. He was brought into the hall in procession by Bishops Valence Mendis (Bishop of Chilaw), Nicholas Marcus Fernando (Archbishop Emeritus of Colombo), Rayappu Joseph (Bishop of Mannar) and several priests, including Rev. Fr. Ivan Perera, Episcopal Vicar of Colombo North, Rev Fr.Oscar Abeyrathne, Director and Spiritual Director of the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa (Catholic Charismatic Renewal), Rev Fr. Darrel Coonghe, Director of Supuwath Arana, Rev. Fr. Jebarathnam, Director of the Jaffna Seminar.
After escorting the dignitaries to their seats, the dance troupe performed a beautiful rendition of Senehasa Gala Giya. This was followed by the lighting of the traditional oil lamp and a speech by Bishop Valence Mendis. Thereafter Mercia Amma and Rev. Fr. Priyantha Silva, assisted by the music ministry and worship team, led the crowd in building a throne of praise. The healing's proclaimed via the words of knowledge were not only claimed by those present in the hall, but even by those who were listening in through the Internet. Even though the video capture card of the computer burnt minutes before the webcast commenced, depriving those on the Internet of the visuals of what was happening, the Lord in his goodness made sure they were not deprived of the supernatural blessings.
Lalith Thaththa dedicated the Journey magazine and the Four Step Retreat handbook to the memory of Nishan Fonseka (Boiya), who designed the cover of the magazine, but passed away just days before the Day of Revival. Archbishop Nicholas Marcus Fernando blessed the books and Lalith Thatha gifted the first copy of the books to Boiya’s young widow, Anuki.
As he blessed the books, Archbishop Nicholas Marcus Fernando reflected on how he had seen the fulfillment of the dreams of 2nd Vatican council, where lay people lead and drive ministry. He said that he regretted not recognizing this until the latter part of his tenure as Archbishop of Colombo.
Bishop Prowse then broke the word with great power. The video begins at this point. (The Sound & Equipment Ministry managed to restore the Computers just before the talk). His talk centered on the Love for Jesus that the Holy Spirit inspired in the Life of St. Paul. From this he highlighted four aspects of christian life we are called to.
After lunch , Lalith Thatha led the crowd in singing “You are my Strength”. He said that the very first time he heard this hymn, he went crazy. He generously shared this craziness with all the participants as they entered an anointed time of worship based on this hymn. Lalith Thatha then shared how the Lord had moved in the community over the past year, by sharing some tremendous testimonies of how God had touched the lives of ordinary people. The video of this talk is available on Ustream.
During Mass, Bishop Rayappu Joseph broke the word in Tamil. Although the majority of the participants could not understand what was preached, no one moved, no one stirred, no one even whispered. The Lord was affirming that when we experience his love, we derive our identities from him. This miracle was seen very clearly as particpants reached beyond their ethnicity to love and respect "the other". As the day ended, no one could deny that the Lord had truly visited us. |
