Beginning Prophetic Worship Glory Ring Workshop ~ Oregon, USA
February 19, 2000, Saturday – Angela Faulkner, a friend and sister in the LORD arrived early at about 7:00 AM and we drove to Saint Helens, Oregon from Hillsboro, Oregon, which took about an hour. Gratefully, following work on Friday evening, I packed and prepared the vehicle the night before. Living on the third floor of an apartment complex meant many trips up and down the stairs. However, it was wisdom, so that we could depart in a timely manner on Saturday. We were grateful for clear roads and no delays along the brief journey.
The Saint Helens Aglow offered to host the Beginning Prophetic Glory Ring Workshop to be held at Sunset Park Community Church in Saint Helens, Oregon. We spent about an hour setting up the room, hanging the Prophetic Worship Instruments, along with setting out the teaching supplies.
At each Workshop, one table is left open for people to bring supplies (ribbons, glue, hoops, bells, gemstones...to share) so that those in need may have ample supplies to choose from as I truly believe in the abundance of God. The table for donated supplies is still a work in progress as during one workshop someone brought all their wiccan jewelry from their previous religion to donate which is not in the same spirit as a Prophetic Worship Glory Ring for ABBA ADONAI. I quickly learned to take all the donations home, sort them, and then wash and iron the scarves along with cutting and fray checking ribbons, and discarding all the broken, unusable and sometime inappropriate pieces of jewelry.
In the last couple of years, I learned through trying 20 different types of glue, Allene's tacky glue was the best and there was no alternative. As well as Dritz Fray check was the recommended brand as it dried quickly, did not burn the skin, did not melt the ribbons and did not leave marks on the ribbons. And I learned that ribbon with acetate wrinkles permanently which does not work well and curling ribbons do the same....in other words these two types of ribbons do not travel well or wear well. Most things we learn through experience and my hope was to make the process of creating a Prophetic Worship Glory Ring much simpler for others.
The divine joy of every Prophetic Worship Glory Ring Workshop is creating and designing worship instruments, being in the Presence of God, worshiping in Spirit and Truth, and being blessed by unity among the believers. ABBA ADONAI is always faithful to come and heal, renew, restore, recompense, redeem, align, and love HIS People.
The Workshop schedule is fairly simple with a brief teaching in the morning, following by a time of worship and prayer, then lunch, followed by a couple of hours of making the worship instruments and prophetic words closing the afternoon. It was not set in stone but flexible and I had been using the same similar schedule for over a year and it seemed to flow smoothly, provide sufficient time for all things yielding harmony and peace.
The challenge of the day was when one of the women in attendance asked me why I did not sell the Prophetic Worship Glory Rings. I simply said, "They are sacred and holy unto the Lord, a prophetic song in color, they cannot be sold." The LORD had made it exceedingly clear to me that I was not to sell HIS Songs in Color (2 Corinthians 2:17). She stood up and walked over to me, then declared openly and loudly that I was indeed a "stupid fool" and began taking photos of the Worship Instruments with the decree and declaration of her intent to copy and then sell them. The whole situation was unprecedented. I knew that GOD would not bless her because God does not bless those that intentionally purpose to steal, copy, mimic, plagiarize or counterfeit the anointing that HE has given to another. However, I truly did not know how to return the Workshop atmosphere to one of HIS peace and presence after her disruptive outburst.
What I gained through this situation is that I came to the unchangeable realization that just because I hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and walk in obedience to HIS voice, does not guarantee that anyone else will agree, like, honor or walk along side of me. It is more than possible that I will walk alone. I can easily imagine that there were others that agreed with her perspective. However, I did not answer the call of God on my life to make money or profit by selling Prophetic Worship Glory Rings, I came into to ministry to walk in obedience to God and to serve HIM and HIS people, therein lies the difference. I also realized that just because God trusts me, does not mean HIS people will because people do what people do...it is what I call the humanity factor.
The truth is that God has an anointing, a calling, gifts and talents for every single human being. HIS heart is that each one seek HIM and follow HIM (not someone else). I wondered what anointing and gifting that she was giving up by trying to mimic me which would only result in failure. It does not mean that she could not take what she learned from the workshop and seek the LORD about making worship instruments, it just means that copying me or any person is always second best to following God. I do not know what GOD had for her I just know she missed HIS gifts as she was trying to steal mine.
I left the workshop with many questions such as: How do I teach more effectively the stewardship of the Holy and Sacred? How do I demonstrate with greater efficiency the message of the Gospel which is the heart of God's Glory? How do I maintain balance, order, peace, harmony, and light in a room full of people bringing all sorts of things that are not conducive to worshiping in Spirit and in Truth? How do I impart the intrinsic value of those things GOD calls Holy?
The second challenge was that the person who volunteered to bring the music...forgot...so she left during the teaching session to go home and get the boombox and CD's for the worship time, which meant the entire teaching segment needed to be repeated to accommodate her. This was in the season before personal music players and any form of personal music equipment with the exception of a "boombox" or cassette tape player. Learning quickly that there would always be someone to complain about the type of music that was offered. Therefore, following this day, I always brought the music for worship prepared in advance. It was an essential that could not be overlooked or forgotten, nor was their time to repeat the teaching session. And I learned to introduce the worship music time with a variety of Christian music from around the world to introduce the participants to different styles and sounds of worship from different nations.
In this era of ministry, the workshops were free, along with the booklet, Have Glory Ring will Travel! and the Holy Anointing Oils, and I can see clearly that I will not be able to pay for everything long term even though I am gainfully employed. An offering was taken which did not cover the cost of the fuel to drive to and from the location. I was not sure what to change or how to change, I just knew that something would have to change to go forward. Because I am a generous giver and do not live like the "takers" of the world, even though my hope was the offerings would cover the costs of the booklets, Holy Anointing Oils, supplies and travel...it did not.
The delightful surprise of this Workshop were the large amounts of donations of ribbons, fabric, and other worship instrument supplies which were a blessing and encouraging in the making of States of America and Nations Prophetic Worship Glory Rings.
At the close of the Workshop, I packed all the hatboxes and suitcases of supplies and loaded the vehicle. Then Angela took me out to dinner which was very helpful for debriefing and brain storming about what worked well and what needed to be changed. I was spiritually and emotionally exhausted and could easily see that I would need to spend more time praying and fasting to be able to manage what GOD was putting before me. And I could see that I would have to learn not to take anything personally and find a pair of shoes that would help my feet to be able to stand all day long. Amidst all the challenges, I knew that I knew that I knew that GOD called me to this and that HIS wisdom would provide the counsel I needed. I trusted HIS faithfulness above all else.
This year was going to bring about a lot of changes in more ways than I could possibly understand at the time.
In closing, I truly give thanks to the Saint Helens Aglow for joining me in this adventure with God, for the faithful H.G.R.M. Intercessor's Prayer Shield and for all that ABBA ADONAI is teaching me for HIS Glory!