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UNDER AN AFRICAN SKY by Michele Perry
Under an African sky
There is a movement being born
An army of laid-down wholly-given lovers
A movement of minstrels and martyrs
Who live only for the Lamb's reward.
A generation that heaven is so real to,
Earth is simply a shadow.
A Company of the Consumed
Who are Presence-bearers and Glory-carriers...
Those that keep His flame,
Ignited lives burning so brightly the world will come
If only to watch us burn.
A band of mystics living from the secret place
Hidden within Love's heart
Who embrace His mystery
And lean into Him beyond what they see.
Fearless in love
Terrifying in beauty
Bold in mercy
Never driven, only led.
Sons and daughters whose silence is louder than the shouts of multitudes,
Whose prayers are stronger than the decrees of kings,
Whose authority is found in humility,
Whose gaze is fixed on eternity,
Whose lives are found in giving them away.
This is a movement born under an African sky.
Of ones who arise
From garbage heaps and refugee camps,
Found in unexpected places at unlikely times.
Precious treasures awaiting extraction
From worthless existence;
Called from far-flung corners of the earth
To CONVERGE
For such a time as this...
Fed the bread of hunger
Drinking the cup of longing
Seeking we will find
With eyes to see what others don't, what others can't:
Looking beyond what appears to be to what really is
The world has written us off, left us for dead;
Pushed us aside, rendered us invisible:
But heaven has heard our cries;
Caught our tears,
Whispered our destines into visions at night
That dance across our sleep
And wake us with their songs.
And NOW heaven calls us forth
To be eternity's force in the earth.
To make real God's unformed dreams
Until the essence of His beauty
Crowns the ash heaps of nations
Until the dawning of His glory
Chases away every memory of darkness.
And every tribe and tongue find their home in Him.
Until the deserts rejoice and the cities resound
The song of the Lamb
And He's received His reward:
A generation of His renown
A Bride made fully ready
A house completely full, no seat left empty
A kingdom fully realized
Heaven's song expressed
Heaven's sound released
In us
Through us.
Here we are the desperate ones,
The longing ones
Crying out
Content to live in tents,
While the world builds high rise empires and mansions.
Laying down Isaac yet again on obedience's altar,
Not willing to sacrifice to our God that which costs us nothing.
Here we are: ones in search of ancient wells forgotten
And hidden springs not yet found
Longing to be released.
The world may never know our names,
Never see our faces
But heaven hears our cries.
And we bear the image of our King.
Woven together we become the face of His Bride,
The voice of His truth,
The whisper of His hope,
The song of His love.
The world may never know our names
But eternity has written its story on our hearts
And we will not be denied.
For time is coming to its final hour
And history to her closing chapter.
We will not be deterred.
We are the radical,
The undone: ones who have nothing to loose and everything to gain.
Lovers who run into places of destruction
To bring unstoppable life;
Who laugh in the face of impossibilities
And dance in doorways of death
Unleashing untameable torrents of grace.
We have only one life to give,
So we give it away
Extravagantly
Hilariously
We understand the cost
But it can't even be compared
To His glory soon to be revealed.
Love makes sacrifice a gift!
What joy!
We can't imagine we'd get to pour out our lives
Loving Him in the one
And seeing His eyes find us again and again
In the gaze of broken, hurting humanity.
We long to be so consumed in love for Him,
We become the essence of His beauty:
See-through, transparent, burning ones
Set ablaze by grace
Eye-to-eye
Heart-to-heart
Face-to-face.
Nations may try to silence us,
Hold us back or even
Demand our deaths
But they will not be able to stop
Heaven's invasion in their midst...
For if we die, we live
And become seeds planted for harvest.
We are not those who bloom in green houses;
But in wastelands and war zones
With roots firmly anchored in heaven,
Wings unlocked to soar on the earth.
Our 'no's have been burned away in the fire of Love.
Our greatest joy is to give all we are.
Our ears pressed to heaven,
We hear the beat of His heart.
And we have only one word,
One breath, one with His
And again in this moment
We say yes with our lives
We are movement
born
under
an African sky.
Michele Perry, Pemba, Mozambique: 22-Jul-06
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