Planted Among The Nations

by Carlos Moses

“Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return.” (Zechariah 10:9)

We are planted among the nations to proclaim the promise of salvation.

God wanted Israel to represent Him as Sovereign King among the nations and the same is true for every believer. We must make a peace with Zechariah’s statement.

God decides where He scatters us as His seed. He doesn’t scatter us to destroy us, but rather so that we can grow, penetrate and transform society. No wonder a part of our vision statement mentions the nations. Knowing our vision by heart, we are always captivated by the specific manner in which God would use our movement to glorify His name in the midst of the nations. Our conference in May 2016, Planted UK, was one of those defining moments that reminded us why God gave Shofar a specific prophetic prayer and praise mandate. We could clearly see that God wanted to silence all other voices that were in conflict with the voice of the Holy Spirit. God wanted to silence our unbelief through the glorification of His name among the nations. Taking our prayer and praise to the streets was the obvious answer, because God expressed His love for Great Britain by means of our prayer and singing. Please don’t misunderstand me: this was not a once-off instruction to follow, but a lifestyle to pursue.

We (His seed) had to practise His presence in the United Kingdom.

Allow me to explain how we practised His presence in our nation through training, praying and praising, and relating in love. Follow me on this journey as I give you snapshots of God’s hand of grace on our nation during Planted UK 2016.

Training [Leadership Development Course 6-8 May 2016]

We started the first part of our Planted week with the Leadership Development Course. The training sessions were presented by Pastors Anton Myburgh, Heinrich Titus and Richard Wade and the topic was The Leader’s Battle. We were so privileged to hear these pastors teach and share powerful testimonies. A key thought that reoccurred through all the sessions was that our battles are spiritual and sometimes we attempt to conquer them in carnal ways. One of the speakers was testifying and dropped the question: “What do you do when your wife lies in hospital, busy dying and even the doctors don’t know what to do?” He then continued his testimony: “That is when you call on the name of the Lord… you pray in tongues and you desperately seek His face and when God heals, you know our Saviour is sovereign and our battle is spiritual.”
With this testimony in mind, I want to quote the Apostle Paul: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) We were reminded again that provision for triumphant living is first spiritual with natural consequences. The battle belongs to Christ who even defeated death. We think it is appropriate to honour our fellow soldiers at this stage: well done Anton, Heinrich and Richard. We at Shofar UK honour you for your courage.

Praying and Praising [Standing in the Gap: 9-11 May 2016]

Practical application of God’s Word should always follow impartation and instruction. That was exactly what we did after the weekend of excellent ministry from our leaders. Quite a few pastors from other congregations joined us in praying and praising God in our neighbourhoods. These three days of taking our praise to the streets culminated in a display of God’s love for the UK as both Shofar congregations and all the visiting pastors sang praises to our King at Trafalgar Square in central London.

We did this under the leading of Trevor Sampson and Richard Wade. You can watch a video by clicking on the link, where you’ll see Pastor David Dean’s wife, Sally Dean, ministering to two Muslim ladies and some of our members ministering to the public.

See if you can spot other familiar faces as we proclaimed Christ through the song “How Great is Our God.” We were again reminded of the fact that so many other voices speak regularly, proclaiming their own agendas while we as believers keep quiet. It’s time to glorify Christ by taking our prayer and praises to the streets. We obviously don’t do this arrogantly, but in bold love and with a sincere compassionate heart. We need to be salt and light.

Relating in Love [Empowered21: 11-13 May 2016]

The last part of our journey was fellowship with congregation members and other Shofar pastors. We were also privileged to have some of our Apostolic Team leaders from Shofar’s head office on UK soil. This was a very special time as we shared resources, space and meals together. We also attend the Empowered21 Conference together, receiving ministry from other parts of God’s Body.

As you can see, sharing was the key for us. Many of the pastors and visitors were hosted in the different homes of our church members. This made these moments even more memorable. I know that our guests left the UK with a sense of leaving family behind, knowing that they could come back any time to be received with open arms. We know that we are connected to a greater movement and this is a God-given blessing. We are part of the nations mentioned in our vision statement. Planted UK 2016 was a highlight on my family’s calendar. It brought us back to the basics of our Shepherd’s agenda: love one another and love your neighbour.

“Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return.” (Zechariah 10:9)

We are planted among the nations.