Hearts United Women's Ministry

Knitting Hearts Gathering on May 12, 2018
“PowerPoint” Proclamations by Knitting Hearts, Sumter, Ministry Team

As guests enjoyed a brunch prepared by the hospitality team, individuals mingled and chatted with each other. Joyce Sanders welcomed everyone and opened our gathering in prayer. Dalana Barnette blew the shofar. Valeta Trask. announced the KHM at Myrtle Beach that meets next Saturday at 9:30. She shared about the significance of Pentecost and the celebration of Israel’s 70th year anniversary of independence. She shared Psalm 149 and then prayed for Israel.

Gail Timmons led the group in an activity to help us hear from God. We each found a partner and then prayed that God would give us a word for that person. We then shared our word or thoughts with that individual.

Dalana Barnette shared about God’s faithfulness. She said that often when one of her children asks why he or she has to do something, her response is, “because.” Dalana declared that God has many mother qualities, and His answer is often “because I said so.” Luke 19: 40 states, “And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Stones are very significant in Scripture. She mentioned the stones that were used in the Old Testament that caused people to remember. Joshua 4: 8 tells of the children of Israel taking up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan and carrying them over to make a memorial to the people of Israel. It would remind them forever of how the Lord had delivered them. Stones, or memorials, focus on history and inheritance. We need to honor the stones of remembrance in our lives. God has used praise and worship, journaling, and the Word of God to bring Dalana back to rocks of remembrance. She shared Psalm 150 and Luke 3: 8 and then proclaimed: “Twelve reasons are more than enough to praise Him. . .because we are body, soul, and spirit.” Dalana then led us in dancing to a Jewish song based on Psalm 133.

The worship team from KHM at Myrtle Beach led us in praise and worship. We joined in singing the declaration that God’s grace is amazing and His love unfailing. We shared our desire to be close to Him and proclaimed that “there is no power in hell or any who can stand before the power and the presence of the great I am. “ The team led us in exalting and adoring the Holy One singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come.”

Joyce Sanders prayed a powerful prayer of praise and thanksgiving that ended in a plea for salvation for the lost. She shared a story of redemption in her own life. There are two places that are monuments in her life. A number of years ago, she felt that she was in a pit. God pulled her up and out and led her to full surrender. She always loved to witness, but as she was studying Acts 1: 8, the words power and witness jumped off the page. She knew that the significance of this verse was not the speaking in tongues but receiving the boldness. When Joyce prayed for this filling, she received a fresh anointing and began to speak in tongues. She recognizes that she has been different since this filling. Each year she prays for a word for her life and also a word for the KHM. The word for the ministry this year is Proclamation. Joyce shared from Psalm 145 and specifically about sharing our stories about God’s faithfulness, His wonderful words, and His goodness to the next generation. She stated with boldness, “We need to pass on the baton to the next generation and to share our stories of redemption. We are to stand strong and proclaim because we all have a story to tell.” The two monuments—her complete surrender and receiving the boldness of the Holy Spirit—are the ones that Joyce often uses in sharing her story.

Susan Crosson shared interesting details about her life that center on two cars and three license tags. The Lord often speaks to Susan using pictures and symbols. At one point in her life, Susan was really struggling and felt that she was in a pit of despair. Certain individuals had made her life more difficult, and she was on the way to a meeting with them when she was got into an accident. This very well-dressed, regal black man walked up to her car window and told her that he had seen what had happened. She believes that he was an angel. She went on to her meeting. Later the Lord told her to go to Dickey Stewart’s Auto. Here she found her car, a beautiful Sebring. The license tag was 126 VUU. Later she realized the significance of the 126 was I-26 because she had to make so many trips back and forth on I-26 for several years, and the Lord had protected her. The next license plate was ATC. The Lord said the message for her was one of His interventions: Answer to Complaint. He told her to stand still and wait. Years later her Sebring was old and finally fell apart. She drove a friend’s old truck for weeks. The Lord told her that her next car would be a red VMW, and he gave her the price. When she told her two children about her car that the Lord would provide, they were skeptical. But, the Lord miraculously provided this car for her. The license tag is LLL 277. She discerned that the message of this tag is “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

Ramelle Coker made a proclamation about the Lord’s faithfulness. Hebrews 10: 23 states that we can hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Then Lamentations 3: 22 and 23 tell us that His compassions never fail and that they are new every morning. Ramelle shared that she can look back in her life and see how the Lord had prepared her for the death of her son. Recently she can see that the Lord is faithful even in some very difficult situations that she and her husband have faced. Her final proclamation came from II Timothy 2: 13: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.”

Linda Campbell shared about having faith. The mustard seeds on our tables reminded us of their small size. The Lord connected the mustard seed to faith saying: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” The mustard seed is real, and this is a reminder that every word in the Bible is living. She said, “Impossible things will happen if we grasp that belief.” She shared several scriptures from Philippians that remind us to have faith and that the name of the Jesus has power. John 14: 13-14 remind us: “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Linda mentioned that faith is part of the armor of God. We need to know the word which is the sword part of the armor. She left us with the statement, “Know who you are and who He is.”

Sue Sanders shared of a mandate of prayer that the Lord had given her when she was teaching at Sumter High School. She arrived early, paused to pray over the door to her classroom, and pleaded the blood of Jesus. She prayed that the Lord would go before her and prepare the way, encircle her, and go behind her as the rearguard. As she flipped on the light, she asked that God’s light would flood the room. Many things in her classroom were prompts for her to pray specifically; however, an image of Julius Caesar prompted her to pray that the Lord would give her eyes to see her students as He saw them, to give her ears to hear their heart cries, and a mouth that would speak forth edification and encouragement to her students. She walked up and down the rows of desks touching each desk and praying for the students who would sit there during the day. The Lord would often stop her to pray a more pressing prayer for an individual that would be sitting in a certain desk. She has retired now, but a while back the Lord asked her why she was not using this communication kind of prayer in her home. Immediately, he gave her specific prompts that led her to pray for friends and family members. The fireplace reminds her that she wants to be passionate for Him. The clock says, “You don’t know how much you have left. Be mindful to use each moment for His glory.” A piece of pottery guides her to pray, “Mold me and make me into Your image today.” These prayer prompts have added another dimension to Sue’s prayer life.

Carolyn Williams reminded us that God gave because He loved. The baskets up front for our offerings are love baskets. She stated, “Don’t worry. Wait patiently for the Lord.” She led us in a prayer blessing each one and their offering for the ministry of KHM. The closing song invited us to participate in the worship by dancing a circle dance to the Jewish song Dalana introduced earlier.

The message to Go Forth and Proclaim permeated today’s service and invited each one to tell his or her story. We need to cherish those stones of remembrance and share them because we have a generation to reach for Christ.