On the evening of April 13, 1999, Holocaust Memorial Day, 88 intercessors
from across Canada, wearing Never Again badges composed of a Jewish star
of
David and the Canadian maple leaf, boarded the Via Rail Train in Vancouver
bound for Winnipeg. They would spend the days weeping and repenting and
preparing the way for the 1999 national repentance in Winnipeg. The
following is an account of the train written by one of those intercessors
in
April 1999.)
Well, we have returned from the Train of Tears journey, safe and sound,
thanks I am certain in no small part to your prayers. We are tired - having
spent most of the 42 hours on the train awake - but we are all so thankful
and grateful for what God has done through this trip.
There are so many experiences, so many moments, so many amazing things that
happened that it would be impossible to share them all in one letter. But
I
want to give you a glimpse into some of the great moments that have built
for us memories that will last a lifetime.
Our journey began with a commissioning service at 2:00 at the Glory of Zion
church (Gideon and May Chiu's church). It was at the church that we got
assigned into our prayer teams. Because there were 88 intercessors and the
main prayer car could only hold 60, we were divided into 3 teams. In each
2-hour block, two teams were in the car, with one team responsible for
leading the worship/prayer time and the other team being the support.
Meanwhile, the third team rested in the rest car.
The commissioning service was wonderful. David Demian said some things that
really caught my heart. He referred to the scripture in Malachi 4 that
talked about in the end days God turning the hearts of the fathers to the
children and the children to the fathers. He then went on to show that the
people of Israel were the fathers of the faith and ever since the church
separated itself from the Jews, it has been fatherless and devoid of the
glory (Romans 9:4 says that the people of Israel.... theirs is the divine
glory). If we get back into right relationship with the Jewish people, we
will begin to see the glory of God return to the church. He also made a
statement that just gave me goose bumps, "You are landing in the fulfillment
of the times".
Then our team was called forward and a blessing was prayed over us.
Finally, we took communion, grabbed a quick "fellowship lunch"
and headed
for the train. David and others followed us right to the platform and were
there to wave as we pulled away from the station.
The car we were in was quickly transformed into a prayer car! Scriptures
were pasted all over the walls and flags of Canada and the provinces were
hung and taped to windows. A keyboard, mikes and amplifier were set up for
the worship times and we were on our way. We began worshipping and at one
point, as we were singing "All Honour" we came to the part "we
wait for
fire". We began crying out for fire and all heaven broke loose. Many
people could smell a sweet smell of fire. Cool, eh?
Later, we felt to enter into time of repentance for the treatment of the
Jewish people, in particular how they were herded like cattle into the
railcars to be transported to the concentration camps. We were in worship,
preparing our hearts when suddenly, our amp just blew up! It took us a few
hours to get it fixed so that was the end of that worship, but the prayer
never stopped. We read Nehemiah 1:5 and prayed for a repentant heart and
for God to reveal to us the need to repent corporately in Canada.
At about 5:30 am it was decided that all groups would take a break until
8:00 a.m. and we crawled into our seats (or in my case, into the 4 foot
wide
luggage compartment) and tried to get a few fitful hours of sleep...
When we awoke the next morning, we were racing through the mountains between
BC and Alberta. It was hard not to just get caught up staring out the window
in amazement at God's handiwork!
Pastor Imiel from Vancouver gave a short exhortation about how God is
raising up Daniels in the land according to Daniel 9. How Daniel knew from
Jeremiah that the captivity would be 70 years and it's important to
recognize the seriousness of the time. Daniel knew that intensive prayer,
supplications, fasting can move the hand of God. And we needed to know the
same.
Then he released a prophetic word for Canada.
God has something very precious for the destiny of this Nation. In His
wisdom, He will raise this Nation to be a help for many devastated nations.
The Lord says: My intercessors, rise up, and My prophets stand on your feet,
because I have already prepared such a nation to be a forerunner, to be
a
proclaimer of My glad tidings.
And the Lord is telling me, tell the prophets as I asked My prophet Ezekiel
in Chapter 37, "prophesy over the dry bones, prophesy over the dry
bones."
And I will make the nation a great army. And the Lord is asking the
watchmen and intercessors of the nation what it says in Isaiah 62. O
Watchmen, I have set you up on the walls, those who are mentioning
Jerusalem, don't be silent and I will cause this nation to be a praise among
the nations. The Lord says, be prepared.
The whole day was amazing as we entered into times of deep worship and deep
corporate repentance. In fact for anyone to move around they had to crawl
over seats because so many people were lost in worship on the floor of the
train! It was cool because God really knit our hearts together in a
profound way.
On the final morning before we arrived in Winnipeg (around noon) we felt
we
really needed to press in as we could sense a lot of spiritual resistance.
So we gathered all 88 of us into the one car for a final push. We tried
everything but couldn't seem to break through until we began worshiping
to a
simple but powerful song - Can a Nation Be Changed? The words bear
repeating...
Can a nation be changed?
Can a nation be saved?
Can a nation be turned back to you? (2x)
We're on our knees
We're on our knees again (2x)A spirit of repentance hit and many of us were
laid out of the floor of the
car. From that point we began to repent for our nation and to call out for
God's hand to come back to Canada. Then for the final hour or more of our
journey, we sat in quiet reflection and fellowship one with another, waiting
to approach Winnipeg.
When we arrived in Winnipeg we received the royal treatment! Many people
were packed into the little railway station and as we came off the train,
they were singing and waving flags of Israel and we were greeted with bread,
fruit and flowers. It was a beautiful and very touching moment.
Finally, I want to share about the experience that impacted me the most
on
the tour. It was about 2:00 am the last night and I looked at my schedule
to
see we were coming into Biggar, SK. Biggar is like so many of the little
towns on the train line - there is a tiny platform and the train only stops
if someone wants to get on or off. But because the engineers knew that we
were on the train (and in the two cars right behind the engine), if they
saw
anyone waiting for us they would at least slow the train down as we passed
the station. They were really good to us!
Anyway, as we came toward Biggar we started seeing lights shining on the
train. Suddenly, we realized that farmers had driven their tractors to the
edge of their property, bordering the train line and were shining their
lights on the tracks, like a signal to us that they were with us. Then as
we pulled into the station - it was now 2:15 am - we looked out and there
was a handful of people standing on the platform. They were waving Canadian
flags and holding handmade signs that read "We are praying for Canada".
And suddenly something hit all of us who were in the prayer car and we
stopped what we were doing and we all squeezed together at the windows.
We
couldn't open them but we could see the people on the platform and they
could see us. And we were all crying really hard and they were all crying
too.
And at that moment God spoke to my heart and said, "It's because of
people
like this, I'm going to save your nation". And I realized that while
we see
David Demian and the other leaders who are stirring the nation to
repentance, God sees, in every little nook and cry of this vast land we
call
Canada, faithful ones who are hearing His cry and His heart for the nation.
And I never felt so proud to be a Canadian or so privileged to live in the
incredible moments of God in which we find ourselves in this hour in our
land. It birthed something in me, a deeper love for Canada and a deeper
longing to see God's full will accomplished in our nation.
Can a nation be changed? I know it can and I pray, Oh God, that you will
change Canada and make her a praise for Your Glory in these end days.
