Grapevine 2002

Grapevine 2002
(August 23rd - 27th 2002)

Click here for report by Anne & Steve Pascoe

Click here for report by Yvonne Wright

Click here for report by Pauline Dye

Exhilarating Worship!

We had a great five days at the annual Grapevine event in Lincoln. The weather was a bit cool and chilly but the worship was exhilarating and hot! In total we attended nine praise and worship celebrations and many of the seminars which ran in the afternoon. Camping - Aussie Style! The subjects covered were truly inspirational including total forgiveness, saying thank you, giving yourself more to the Lord and not being such a pain at church!!!

With over 4,000 people in the big-top, a string orchestra, bands, testimonies, great music and truly fantastic invited speakers it was an event we shall never forget".

Love and blessings,

Anne and Steve (Pascoe)

A Deeper Experience

This year was Grapevines 21^st year and our 13^th year. Each year gets better than the last, there were not more people slain in the spirit or anything like that, it was just deeper.

The overall message for me was the importance of loving Christ with all your heart and all your body and all your soul. So we had seats, I used to go early and wear a union Jack bandana on my head (can’t be missed) so the others can find me, as I sat there early, I read my Bible. "Mark 12" the Lord said, I would sooner read Revelation as I was reading books on it, "Mark 12" the Lord said again, OK I will read Revelation later, the passage God wanted me to read was on ‘the first to most important commandments’ Mark 12 Vs 28, Love God with all they heart and all your mind and all you soul. Also telling me how important the worship is, to love God with your singing.

The other most important message we got was "Total Forgiveness". R. T. Kendall has written a book on the subject and talked to us on how important it is to forgive, even if people do not deserve it, no matter what they have done to you, you have to forgive them. The peace you will know when you do this is worth it. It's not easy if someone has really hurt you, and you feel justified in not doing so, but you must forgive them.

So the messages I bring back from grapevine to you are: Love your God wholeheartedly, and forgive them.

Yours in Christ,

Yvonne Wright

Increase in numbers and blessings.

Every year many people attend this event on Lincolnshire Show Ground and have experienced God’s presence in many different and special ways. This year was no exception. There was an overwhelming sense of God’s peace unity and anointing. Numbers have increased greatly over the years resulting in the hiring of a larger ‘Big Top’, seating over 4,000 people. This was packed to capacity and children and youth events all over the site, were experiencing the same growth in numbers. Many people came into a personal relationship with God amounting to hundreds, from children to adults. Children were praying for their friends who experienced healing. In several of the children’s meetings the presence of God was so overwhelming that the leaders could do nothing but remain quiet (with four hundred children under 11) in His presence. It has to be God – lives were being changed.

The meetings in the ‘Big Top’ were awesome! We stood, knelt, danced and laid in God’s presence in worship, sometimes without music or with just the sound of the orchestra playing and the reading of Psalms. Praise and worship was exuberant as the name of Jesus was highly exalted and He became the centre. Various speakers brought a number of subjects. We were challenged about carrying the anointing and the need to demonstrate total forgiveness, working together in unity – uniting diverse ministries, and how to be relevant to your community – acts of kindness. During one meeting the speaker sat down, unable to speak and God took over, speaking into hearts and lives… awesome.

The target for the missions offering was £200,000. On leaving the total already received was £182,000 without ‘gift aid’ and other promises to be collected in.

Fellowship on camp was excellent meeting old friends and making new ones. It is my yearly opportunity to meet up with my friends within the deaf community. Evenings, after the meeting had finished, developed into fellowship time – an opportunity to share what God has been doing in our lives, along with cheese and biscuits. Although cold, fellowship was warm. Mel and I purchased a patio heater to keep our guests warm, and the weather changed for the better. The moral is, always take the patio heater with you and you will never need it, a bit like an umbrella.

All I can say is Grapevine is an event not to be missed. It strengthens friendships as we camped together and enjoyed the presence of Father God, for we are family. I encourage you to book next year and not miss out.

Every blessing,

Pauline Dye

PS. I hope you like the photographs!