Round Rock Chapel Youth Camp 1998

Preparing a Generation to Harvest

A New Part for Miles

Every year, the New Breed staff have people in their churches praying heavily ahead of time, and during camp. At camp, the counselors pray before every service, and whenever they feel led to (not out loud, of course, it's silent prayer as the Spirit leads or we see needs).

This year, however, at the first counselor session, they explained that we would have an intercessory group praying before and during each main session. When they said that, I knew I was supposed to go, which was weird, because I've never really thought much about having a special gift as an intercessor.

In the first morning session, Richard Hinajosa asked all those who were called to be a part of this to go with him to another room, to go over what would be happening. Meanwhile, our group's dance team was taking the stage. Oops! I'd promised them I'd be there, so I stayed for that. Richard and the others were back shortly after the dance was over. But in the next service I heard that still, small voice, so I went on back even though I hadn't had a chance to speak with Richard. No problem, the others welcomed me and clued me in. We would all pray in a back room as long as we felt we should, then we could go into the service, but were to continue praying throughout the service unless God gave us peace to stop temporarily.

As a result, I missed about half the worship time, which could have really gotten to me, except that I was obviously in the right place! God's annointing really fell. OK, you say, right. What does that mean?

Well, in this case, it means several things. First, we really, each of us, felt His presence. We knew specifically the things we needed to pray about. There were several visions, and several words of knowledge. Everything that was said, someone else had heard something else that confirmed it, which is especially comforting when you feel like you've heard something weird that you aren't sure others will understand! These were some of the most awesome times of prayer I've ever witnessed in my life.

One day we missed the entire worship time, because in the middle of our praying, God started giving us words for each other, again with confirmations. Sometimes that came in the fact that 2 or 3 had heard the same thing, but usually it came because the word dealt with a very specific, deep problem, longing, or question in one of our lives. Not something basic like "insecurity", but specific, like, "you've felt alone, the leaders at your church seem to think lightly of you because they think of you as being [a specific sort] instead of [your real gift area], and this has caused you to [very specific behavior]", and so on. After that, praying in the service was easy!

None of us knew it, but the things that were happening in the intercessory room were prophetic of what would be happening overall. Over the course of the camp, there were times when the youth got to minister to one another. Usually we ask them not to do a lot of ministry, per se, because the camp is for them to be ministered to, and learn, drink in, grow, gain strength. But on 2 or 3 occasions, they were freed up to do this. I personally heard between 50 and 100 prophecies, or words of knowledge, or whatever, and almost all, if not all, of them were confirmed by another source, either a counselor or close friend who knew where they were at, or 1 or more other people who could not have known, heard the same thing and came and told them. This pattern was established from the beginning, and held true all the way through.

There's always freedom for us to share anything we sense or hear or see with the New Breed staff, but the intercessors were specifically encouraged to do this. So we shared with them the things we saw and heard and sensed, so that they could see how those things fit in. I don't know who else told them what, but I found that everything I shared turned out to be either a confirmation of something they were hearing or seeing or wondering about, or just an encouragement they needed right then. (I'm not saying "look at me!" I'm saying how mind-bogglingly faithful and wonderful God is. I'm saying that if you have something to share with someone, just do it!)

So, in a sense, I still got to participate in the worship; it was just in a different fashion than has been usual. But I didn't take many notes...

On the flip side, I learned a lot, as I've mentioned elsewhere, at a deeply personal level. I've realized I had some gifts I didn't know about. I communed with God more openly and intimately, and with brothers and sisters I hardly knew, and it was awesome. I've gained a new boldness in prayer, and in sharing what God gives me for others. So this year, I left the note taking to others. I'm glad they did, so we can share with you, but I'm also ecstatic about the reason I wasn't taking notes!

Copyright 1998 Miles O'Neal, Austin, TX. All rights reserved.
NOTE: The opinions and beliefs, along with everything else, expressed here are those of the author, and may or may not reflect those of Round Rock Chapel, New Breed Network, ORU, and their attendant staff, members, and other related people.