Finally, after a year of doing EQUIP online, we had the first weekend back face-to-face at Coleg y Bala, and what a weekend to remember! There was excitement and anticipation over the weekend as we spent time catching up with each other, sharing together about how God is working in us and in our nation, with the focus on our theme, ‘Prayer that changes a nation’.

The weekend started on the Friday evening and we had time to see old and new friends and catch up again after such strange times, over drinks and pastries before coming together for the first session. We began by looking at God’s word with Steff Morris, who then led us in worship. We spent time worshipping God and it was such a blessed time as we brought ourselves to God and offered ourselves to him at the start of the weekend. We then watched an interview with Dave and Karen Smith from Kingsgate Church, Peterborough. It was great to hear of their experiences over the years and how prayer has been an integral part of their journey, both individually and as a church. The evening ended with bagels back in the Coleg, with time to continue catching up with friends and talking over what we had heard in the first session.

We woke up on Saturday morning to a cold and dark Coleg due to a power cut during the night!! And it wasn’t only the Coleg that was out of electricity but half of Bala! But, despite these unforeseen circumstances, and with thanks to the Coleg y Bala team, we were able to continue with our time together and it was a timely reminder that all God wants is us, however we are. We had sessions with Andy Ollerton and Lydia Power, small groups, and a time of worship and prayer for each other and our nation at the end of the day.

There were many highlights over the weekend but one of the biggest for me were the sessions by Andy and Lydia. Andy shared with us about prayer and specifically Acts 4, where we read about the prayer practices of the disciples. We were reminded that ‘prayer that changes a nation’ begins with God turning his people to pray. We then heard from Lydia Power about ‘fresh faith’. Lydia encouraged and challenged us not to give up in our prayers but instead to: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9

The weekend was one to remember for many reasons! But I’m thankful to God for revealing himself to us through all parts of the weekend, and I’m already looking forward to the next weekend, to be able to see how God has continued to work in us, through us and in our nation through prayer, leading on from EQUIP 21.