“Wow!” breathed Mark.
“How is he going to get back?” asked Johnson.
“Easy,” said Jan.
Someone was helping Sanjay onto a thing like a jet ski.
He came racing back across the water towards them up to a landing stage nearby. The jet ski slowed and stopped automatically.
Archie was looking closely at the jet ski.
“I see there’s no smoke from the jet ski. How is it powered?” he asked.
“Bio-fuel and solar. There is a submerged electro-magnetic line to guide it,” replied Jan pointing to a line of little lights under the water.
Sanjay was brimming with excitement as he ran up.
“You have to try this!” he said.
They sat in the seats: Mark, Johnson, Sanjay, Archie, Jasper and Joz.
Jan counted them down and pressed a button.
The arms flicked forward and they went sailing through the air, crying out to each other.
Mark saw a blur of water below him, and then his speed was slowed as he landed in the screen and he slid down in a heap onto the cushions.
They were all still laughing as they were shown how to use the jet skis to come racing back over the water.
“Like it?” asked Jan.
“Love it,” they answered.
It was getting close to opening time, so they were shown where to go by Jan.
Mark started off on a stand.
Young children soon came bouncing up with their parents in tow, to shoot the water guns. They had to fill up containers shaped like brightly coloured balloons. When the water filled the container, a hatch opened and six little boats raced around a course to a finish line, in front of them. The winner out of the six contestants received a prize.
Later on he was relieved by another team member. He walked to the piazza to get some lunch. He sat and ate food with several others. He spotted Jasper and asked him if he could go and try out the song that he had been humming all morning. Jasper smiled and told him to remember to give the words to the Comms guys. Mark spoke to one of the coordinators to check he was not needed, and left.
Mark slipped into the main tent and waved at the Comms guys on his way up to his keyboard. He recorded the song by singing into the microphone and pressed some buttons to find out what notes he was using. The computer guided him on chord options. He tried a few different options. He pressed ‘Complete’ when he was happy. It had produced the lyrics in text by recognising his voice.
He called over to the Comms guys to ask them to give him some amplified sound. They gave him the thumbs up.
He played the chords as he was guided by the lit colours on the keys, and sang his lyrics. Unbeknown to him, Jasper had arrived and was now talking with the Comms guys. Mark sang the song to the end before he noticed Jasper coming up to him.
“Hey Mark, that sounds cool,” he said. “Let me try and follow you on the drums.”
He showed Mark how to share the song for the rest of the band, and for the Comms guys. He went over to the drums and then asked Mark to play it again.
This time Jasper came in with drums when he reached the chorus. It sounded great to Mark. They played to the end then Jasper beckoned him over to the Comms hub. They played back the song a few times. They discussed ways they could bring in other instruments. Jasper played with the computer for a while until he was satisfied.
“You’ve got a nice wee song there, buddy,” he said approvingly.
He wanted to show Mark some other songs that they could play later so they went back to Mark’s keyboard to help him get familiar with the songs. He played him different versions of some songs and they practiced them.
“Look, it’s time for tea!” said Jasper at last.
“Already!” said Mark, surprised. “Thank you so much for your help.”
“Time flies when you do something you love,” answered Jasper, giving him a knowing look. He waved to the Comms guys and they strolled back to the piazza.
Imogen wanted to know what they had been doing so they explained.
“That’s brilliant,” she enthused. She gave them both a hug.
The park had been a big success with young and old so they all ate supper later than the previous nights. The light in the sky was already fading but the piazza was lit with hundreds of tiny lights.
Jonathan stood up and thanked everyone for their help. They would go straight into the main meeting tonight.
“We believe we are going to see God blast them with his power tonight,” he declared to a positive response from the whole team.
As they headed to the main tent, Mark could see that families had brought picnics so they could stay the whole day. Groups were dotted about over the whole site.
From every direction, there were now steady streams of people moving to the entrances of the main tent.
Soon the place was full and the meeting could begin.
The leaders stood together on the section of stage that turned slowly.
Jonathan spoke to the entire gathering.
“Did you have a good time today?”
There was a loud response from the crowd.
“Friends, I want to say a few things before we get the party started tonight. We came here from Scotland because we heard God’s call, and we were ready to obey. God loves it when we are willing and obedient. We could have said, ‘Look, we are only three hundred - what can we do?’ But we had the support of our friends in the churches. We were joined by Franz and Joseph. Then Jan and Tomas said they would come.
“We are just servants. Some of us sing; some of us play music; some of us cook; some of us put stuff together. We are servants - that’s all we are. But we serve the living God, the Creator of all things.”
There was a cheer from the crowd that extended into a roar. Jonathan stood with the other leaders, with arms raised in response.
Then Helena said, “I feel like there are a few people here who are dying to share something. Your heart is fit to burst. Give me a wave.”
Four arms went up immediately and waved at her. The leaders pointed to them. Helena invited them to come down and share.
The first lady came up and excitedly shared how she had had chronic back pain for fifteen years, and it had lifted off in the final prayer blast, the night before. She had ended up on the floor. She said it felt like a troop of dwarves were jumping on her back. When she was able to stand, the pain had gone.
The second lady was the woman with the tattoos, Olina. She looked completely different to Mark. Her dark hair was pulled back so he could see her face. She shared how God had healed her when Rachel and the others had prayed.
“It felt like God was filling me with bright light. All the darkness had to leave. I feel like a new person. I am happy for the first time in my life. When I got home I checked in the mirror. All the tattoos are gone! It’s like they have been washed off!”
She laughed and did a little dance, and then hugged Helena.
Rachel went over to hug her at the bottom of the stairs.
Helena beckoned them both back up.
“Rach, what did you pray and how does it feel now?”
“Well, see,” began Rachel, “I just let the Lord lead me. He gave me bits of Scripture to speak over her. I declared that she was a daughter of the King, and a princess. She is loved with an everlasting love.”
“And how does it feel, seeing her now?” asked Helena.
“I just… I’m just so happy.” Rachel’s voice ended with a quiver, and she started to cry. The two women retreated down the steps, arms around each other’s shoulders.
“Bless you, darling,” said Helena. “We are so blessed to be here. To minister to you all. To serve the Lord like this. Now, who else came down?”
The third testimony was from a young man. He shared how he had had so much hatred in his heart for the New Order, it had taken over his life.
“I left my family and my home and I joined a gang. We lived in a blown out building. We used to
roam around the empty parts of the city, smashing things and vandalising, getting drunk and living in squalid conditions. Hatred consumed all of us.
“Then last night, I found one of your team, Jim. He prayed for healing in my heart. It was like being given electrical shocks. I shook for ages. At the same time, my heart was being changed. I went back home to my family last night. I am with them tonight.”
He turned and waved to his family further back, under one of the domes.
The crowd gave him a rousing cheer.
The fourth man to come up to Helena was Kjartan.
“Hi Kjartan,” said Helena, “that was truly amazing last night. When you played your song, I just had to sit down and have a cry. It was beautiful.”
“Thank you,” said Kjartan. “I just want to say thank you to all of you for coming here. For being obedient. For taking risks, for our sakes. Iceland is not the same place as it was three days ago. You have touched everyone. God has touched everyone through you.”
He hugged Helena and the leaders, as the crowd clapped and cheered.
Joz came over and hugged him.
Jonathan stepped forward with Susan.
“I believe tonight is going to be powerful,” said Jonathan.
“God says he is going to release his spirit in power,” said Susan. “His power comes from his authority, his kratos. His power is also dynamic. That is dunamis power. He uses dunamis power when he does miracles through us.”
“Let’s get going with worship,” said Jonathan. “There’s an old song called Light The Fire Again. It’s in my spirit. Can we begin with that one, please Jas?”
The band went up to their places. There was now an orchestra of local people in the area between the ring stage and the drums stage. They had screens set up in front of each player.
Jasper tapped his sticks and started drumming out the beat. The guitar players, including Joz and Archie came in. Mark did not know the song, but the hologram and the colours on his keyboard directed him on which chords to play. Imogen led the singing. Many of the children had joined her as backing singers.
The crowd clapped along. There was an atmosphere of joy and celebration.
The next song was more upbeat, about the happy day of salvation. Mark remembered it from the church in New Birmingham. Mark smiled when he spotted Archie. He was going for it on his electric guitar, bouncing along the stage.
When they got to the line, “you have saved me” the whole meeting shouted it out.
There was cheering and clapping from the crowd, as the song ended.
“Let’s have some disco!” said Jasper and they played three songs that had many in the crowd dancing.
The Comms guys played on the crowd with the bright coloured lights and lasers. Mark had nice, simple parts to play on his keyboard.
Imogen sang, “Let your love shine all over the world” in one song.
In another song, the chorus went, “I feel happy now.”
Many people in the crowd called out “Don’t You Worry Child,” so they did Mark’s version again.
This time, for Mark, it was like surfing on a big wave. He did not feel alone. He felt like it was one huge party. He could not stop grinning when Rachel and Olina ran up onto the stage to dance with Imogen. Johnson and Sanjay came up and danced around him. The crowd sang with him. They were jumping up and down and dancing, as soon as the beat picked up.
At one point, between lines, he called out to the crowd,
“Let’s hear you, Iceland!”
The response was another huge cheer that filled the dome.
The Comms guys made a moving grid with the lasers, over the heads of the crowd. Then they had more lasers coming out from a single point high up, so they made it seem like they were moving at speed. They made the space throb to the music. Mark loved it. He pointed at them, and gave them a big thumbs up. To his surprise, the place erupted with indoor fireworks.
They crowd made a loud noise to show their approval.
The smoke from the fireworks added to the effect of the lights.
The song finally ended.
“Now, one of our team had a dream last night,” said Jasper. “God said he was going to give him a song. How about it, can we do it now?”
Mark nodded.
The spotlight was on him. He started with the first simple chords. The words came up on the screens as he sang.
“You are God, we are your creation
You are wise, while we were foolish
You are strong, while we were weak
You are patient, while we were hasty
You are humble, while we were proud
You are forever, while we live day by day.”
Jasper came in with the drums. The band followed.
Imogen came over to him to sing the chorus with him. She knew it because Jasper had played it back to her earlier.
“You are my Lord
I am here, I am your child
I am yours, and you are mine
My Lord, my Father, my Redeemer and my Healer.”
The band and the orchestra joined in with him for the second verse.
“You died so that we could live
We were caught, but you set us free
When you speak, we listen
When you teach, we learn
When you command, we obey
When you call, we answer
When you fill, we have joy
When you reveal, we understand
When you touch, we are healed.”
This time everyone joined in with the chorus. Mark looked up to catch a glimpse of the crowd and the lights. The song ended with clapping and he waved.
“I hope you are going to love this next song,” said Jasper. “It’s called God’s Great Dance Floor.”
Mark started carefully with the first few chords. He had learnt this one that afternoon with Jasper.
Imogen and Archie sang together about going back to God’s heart.
Then Jasper came in with the drums, and the guy on bass added a strong rhythm. Archie added a driving lead on his electric guitar.
The crowd were clapping and stamping their feet.
They sang about God always loving them, about the future beginning here and now. The music built into a crescendo. The Comms guys released more fireworks. Another cheer went up.
They kept repeating the line about feeling alive, coming alive, being alive.
There was a section just for the instruments.
“Do you feel alive?” Mark asked crowd.
There was a wall of response.
“Me too,” he said grinning.
Mark felt carried along in the song, like on a strong tide. His heart felt immensely happy. They sang the chorus over and over. The whole room seemed to be pulsating with music, bodies and lights. A guy with a trumpet came up and played the solo.
At the end of the song, Jonathan came forward again.
“It is time to invite the Spirit of God to come,” he said. “Are you ready?”
He stood with his hands outstretched wide.
“Holy Spirit, we invite you to come now. Fire of God, come!”
Mark had a good vantage point to see what happened next.
It seemed like a wave was moving around the space. It was like watching wind move over a field of wheat. As the wave moved, people were swaying, some falling. It went from the front to the back, all around the space.
Then laughter broke out with the wave. Wherever it moved, people started laughing loudly. Next, people were shaking and falling down. Some would try and get up again, only to be shaken again and collapsing, with more laughter.
“Fill them with joy,” prayed Jonathan.
He waved an arm in one direction and all the people still standing in that direction, all keeled over. This produced more hysterical laughter. He waved another arm. More went over. He turned and waved towards the band. They all went down. Mark was holding onto his keyboard. He waved again and Mark slumped to the floor, laughing
his head off and shaking.
“Be filled with the Spirit,” called Jonathan.
Helena was trying to get up the stairs. He waved his arm towards her and she went down, shaking on the stairs, crawling back down.
“Get everyone at the back, Lord,” he said. A wave went around the back rows of the tent. The people standing were bowled over like ninepins.
“Give them another blast,” said Jonathan.
More waves of laughter went around the room.
Mark heard a deep rumbling sound, like an approaching train coming up from the lake. It seemed to be coming right towards the tent. The ground began to shake. The rumble kept up for some moments then it seemed to pass on out to the other side and the sound receded and the shaking ceased.
Mark had never experienced an earthquake before, but he felt completely safe.
When it was over, Jonathan prayed again.
“Thank you for what you have done here, Father. Seal every good work you have done in their hearts. Give them faith, hope and love. Lead them into truth. Teach them true worship. Continue to heal their hearts. Give them joy. Amen.”
The main meeting was over. Families with children departed. Many stayed to pray together. Many lying on the floor were still getting the laughter.
Mark joined the others on the coach back to the city. They were drained and feeling ready for sleep by the time they reached their berth.
As they were saying goodnight, Sanjay and Johnson said that both loved Mark’s song.
“You know what? You are a true worshipper,” said Sanjay.
“Thanks. Bless you both,” replied Mark.
Soon they were all asleep.
In Mark’s dream, he was playing in sunshine on a beach with friends.
26th April 2035
DAY 15
The next day was spent packing up the site. They dismantled everything in reverse order. This time, there were numerous local people who willingly helped. The main tent came down gracefully and its sections were rolled up and loaded. Jan and Tomas strode around the site, giving instructions. Sanjay was kept busy, providing countless meals. They had another go on the catapult before it was taken down.
2035 Revelation Page 18