Uplook - September 5, 2026
Greetings from Seattle,
We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon from a fruitful trip to Nigeria and Ghana for their camp meetings. Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety and for God's blessing on our humble efforts. We were greatly encouraged by God's working in that part of the world and encouraged that He is still working in our part of the world as well.
I will note a couple of what some might call nuances which I noticed that I think we can learn from. First, I was struck by the deliberate and strong emphasis on prayer both before and after services. We do the same but I suspect it can become more routine rather than intentionally calling on God's blessing in and after the services. Second, I was struck by the loud chorus of Amens after musical numbers, prayer, and during sermons. I well understand that there are a variety of personalities (i.e. not all are loud or even overly vocal in their worship) but it was certainly encouraging to actually hear amens during the meetings. Of course, they must be from the heart and not just habit but even if just a habit...I think it is a good one. Thirdly, I believe that in Africa in general, Christians readily acknowledge and anxiously embrace what I like to call a supernatural worldview. I sensed a great anticipation of a supernatural moving of God in the meetings...not only for salvation and deeper spiritual experiences but also for healing, provision, divine direction in relationships, etc.
As I considered these things I was reminded that our faith must not rely on signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22, John 4:48) but at the same time we can expect the God of Moses who delivered Israel from Egypt with signs and wonders to also move supernaturally on our behalf just as He did in the book of Acts. It is my prayer that as we enter the fall, we will be reminded that if we pray and align our hearts with God's Word that He has promised to move supernaturally on our behalf. I heard the following words many times in the prayer room as they read prayer requests: "May the Lord hear and answer this prayer request in Jesus Name." My response then and now is, AMEN!
BB
Rev. William E. McKibben
Senior Pastor
We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon from a fruitful trip to Nigeria and Ghana for their camp meetings. Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety and for God's blessing on our humble efforts. We were greatly encouraged by God's working in that part of the world and encouraged that He is still working in our part of the world as well.
I will note a couple of what some might call nuances which I noticed that I think we can learn from. First, I was struck by the deliberate and strong emphasis on prayer both before and after services. We do the same but I suspect it can become more routine rather than intentionally calling on God's blessing in and after the services. Second, I was struck by the loud chorus of Amens after musical numbers, prayer, and during sermons. I well understand that there are a variety of personalities (i.e. not all are loud or even overly vocal in their worship) but it was certainly encouraging to actually hear amens during the meetings. Of course, they must be from the heart and not just habit but even if just a habit...I think it is a good one. Thirdly, I believe that in Africa in general, Christians readily acknowledge and anxiously embrace what I like to call a supernatural worldview. I sensed a great anticipation of a supernatural moving of God in the meetings...not only for salvation and deeper spiritual experiences but also for healing, provision, divine direction in relationships, etc.
As I considered these things I was reminded that our faith must not rely on signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22, John 4:48) but at the same time we can expect the God of Moses who delivered Israel from Egypt with signs and wonders to also move supernaturally on our behalf just as He did in the book of Acts. It is my prayer that as we enter the fall, we will be reminded that if we pray and align our hearts with God's Word that He has promised to move supernaturally on our behalf. I heard the following words many times in the prayer room as they read prayer requests: "May the Lord hear and answer this prayer request in Jesus Name." My response then and now is, AMEN!
BB
Rev. William E. McKibben
Senior Pastor
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