Saturday evening at Upper Columbia Conference (UCC) Men’s Summit, our speaker was finished and I was looking for the prayer team to finish out our meeting. Though they were sitting in plain view, I didn’t see them. In that moment, I felt prompted to invite the men to break into small groups and pray together.
A short time later, a father found me at supper. With tears in his eyes, he thanked me for the impromptu prayer time. During that time, his teenage son, who was praying with his grandpa, had given his life to Jesus.
We knew God was up to something special before the event even began this year. Our department was contacted by men saying that they felt “convicted they needed to attend Men’s Summit.” Clearly, God was on the move. A group of young men from Upper Columbia Academy in Spangle, Wash., heard one of their teachers talking about his plans to attend and asked if they could come too. Eleven students came and were actively engaged in an intergenerational experience of worship, play and compelling teaching from our speaker, Kevin Wilfley, Kirkland (Wash.) Church pastor.
Spontaneous prayer meetings broke out, men talked about deep issues of the heart, and faith journeys were shared.
One man emailed to say, “I would like to thank you for the wonderfully spiritual weekend. It has changed my life. Praise to the Lord.”
Another man said, “Long story short is that I prayed for God to have all of me, and I am considering this my born-again experience. … I am walking by faith now, the feelings might follow. This is so new to me. But now I am considering myself justified, and in the sanctification (man of God) process.”
While I’ve personally attended and organized many weekend events over the years, I can’t remember a time when the presence of the Spirit was so obvious as it was at this year’s Men’s Summit. Many men I talked with agreed that we were walking on holy ground.
Listen to the powerful messages shared during this year’s Men’s Summit at https://www.uccsda.org/Audio.
