PART 1
I WAS READY. It was finally Saturday, June 15th, 2019. After months of planning and endless prayer, YEM’s 2 days Fruitfulness Conference was only a few hours away. Walking into the conference venue, I had expectations, including being eager to encounter the Holy Spirit in a special way that would change my perspective, empower and grace me for my calling…I needed it! In hindsight, I wasn’t ready.
The conference kicked off with two sessions, the first one being a ministry fair where YEM leaders presented on the departments which encompass the ministry. We were then encouraged to assess our talents and abilities and sign up for an opportunity to join a department.
The session continued with YEM’s President, Prince giving a WORD which laid the foundation for the conference, got us stirred up and excited for what was coming up next. We then prayed about the awakening of spiritual gifts.
While I was speaking in tongues, I experienced an increase in my spiritual vocabulary! The atmosphere for fruitfulness was stirred up! I could sense there was deep hunger in the room and oh, how quickly the Holy Spirit shows up to fill up the hungry!
Looking back, my favorite times during the conference were the Word ministration during the first session, the worship on both nights and ultimately Pastor Aryitey ministering to us on “Leadership Empowerment” and “The Precious Oil”.
“You have to do it God’s way or you won’t get there at all” is a statement Ps. Aryitey made in reference to seeking fruitfulness independent of God’s purpose for our lives. As I dwelled on that statement, I got lost in my thoughts thinking of how some circumstances didn’t work in my favor because I didn’t seek for guidance from the One who knows it all.
Realizing that I lost focus, I immediately turned back to the message, knowing that the statement made was something God was highlighting for me to address at some point. I was blessed enough to reconnect just in time to hear another gem as this great man of God continued to stress on the importance of pursuing fruitfulness God’s way for about ten minutes.
Ps. Aryitey also put it this way, that “Fruitfulness stems from being “Scripture-ruled and Spirit-led”. Pause for a second and think about it…if we are indeed Scripture-ruled, we will abide in God (John 15:1-8), walk in love (Ephesians 5:1-2), share the Gospel (Mark 16:15), avoid weariness (1 Samuel 30:6), amongst all the other instructions we receive in the Word and with the Holy Spirit’s leadership every step of the way, how can we be unfruitful?…
The second session also ended with an intense time of prayer which inspired me to pray throughout my drive back to Boston (it made the drive home feel shorter ha-ha). I was in such a good space; my prayer life was not going to be the same and I was loving it!