A Journey with Aglow Darwin
Glenda Ramsey, Leader of Aglow Darwin, shares her journey in Aglow and the impact Aglow is having in Darwin through prayer.
Leadership - the beginning
"I knew that I was going to be in Leadership but didn’t know when it was going to happen. I believed that I had a long way to go before taking up any position in any Leadership role.
Once Marg Lyle told me what the Lord showed her about me taking over her role as Leader of Darwin Aglow, I was shocked. I didn’t think that I was good enough to take over Aglow Darwin Northern Territory.
I feared speaking in public places, but the Lord reminded me of leaders of old such as Moses and Jerimiah, and even Pastor Tim Edwards nephew Jason, who had a speech impediment. Jason overcame all odds and carried out public speaking with confidence as he presented his assignments to his lecturer and students. Jason would always say to me “…if I can do it aunty, so can you.”
Prayer Retreat - a turning point
"On the last day of a Prayer Retreat, we had Praise and Worship and a Prayer meeting. Pastor Tim Edwards prayed over all of those present. He came to my sister Narelle and began to pray for her. Suddenly, an image appeared before me. At first, I thought that it was my sister Narelle, when she was a teenager, but then my attention turned to a small group of people on an island, which seemed to be on the Finnis River, of the Batchelor area. There was another group of people standing on the river bank. I walked closer and found that it was the Aglow Darwin group, and my Aunty June. She is the only sibling alive and from my mum’s side.
Once I was close to the people on the bank, I could clearly see that the people on the island was my mum with her 5 sisters and her 3 brothers. They were all teenagers. They were all shouting out to us, and saying “that now that we started not to look back, but to keep on going.” I wondered why my mum and her siblings would say such a thing. It then made sense to me that my mum and her sisters, except for the aunty with us, regularly attended Aglow meetings at Innisfail, North Queensland when my sister Robyn was a teenager. What an encouragement!"
Prayer meetings - Darwin Aglow reaches out to the community
"The Aglow ladies love doing prayer drives and outreaching others. We put on Praise and Worship songs in the car and we choose at least four to five streets near to each other in any particular Palmerston City suburb, to pray through. The ladies also suggest we go to streets where people they know are having a trying time.
Recently, in the early hours of the morning children broke into a large shopping mall in, and caused a large amount of damage to the entry of the door. I was watching the evening News and wondered whether the incident occurred in a city down South. I was taken back when the newsreader said that the breaking and entering was committed at one of our major shopping malls in Palmerston city. I live not more than 10 minutes away from where that incident took place.
At least 5 weeks ago I was talking to a lady outside her home regarding issues that her and her family was facing. Meanwhile, at the home directly across the road and in the front yard, was a drunk male holding in his hand, a large curve butcher knife. An argument initially broke out and he grabbed a knife from inside and tried to stab another drunk guy from the same house. The man with the knife was not worried about my-self, and the lady sitting on chairs outside of her home, and witnessing the incident unfold before us. The lady I was talking to immediately rang the Police. The Police came and took the perpetrator to jail and closed the house down.
God is on the move, and it appears that the devil is trying his hardest to intervene and he is going around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Aglow Darwin can’t afford to be gentle and afraid, we have to rise up to be violent against the enemy.
Our next prayer drive will be next Wednesday evening, and we will go through at least 3 streets in Driver, and 2 streets in Moulden at Palmerston City. Our focus is to pray over the dysfunctional family homes, where children age from 18 years old to 8 years old, are frequently committing crimes.
I believe,with wisdom, that Aglow Darwin has no option or excuses to isolate from what is happening in our community. Interestingly, we are not doing anything except praying. I have noticed a change over recent months that people are crossing our paths asking for prayer regarding serious issues.
Overall, I said to the Lord “why us Lord, can’t it be anybody else?” I believe He said “This is what you signed up for, and I have chosen you for such a time as this. All I could think of was, I must be obedient. I am special I am chosen. If he is for us, who can be against us. Additionally, I believe the Lord reminded me, of Matthew 25-35 to 46, regarding being hungry and thirsty etc.
At our recent National Aglow Leader's Summit, during a session I saw a Zebra Crossing with a bright light shining down over all the (Aglow) Zebra’s that had crossed over. This also reminds me that we are that light to the hungry, the thirsty and the whosoever as they too cross over on that Zebra Crossing to the other side."
2019 - The future
"After seeking the Lord on what Direction to take in 2019, it seems that he had impressed upon Aglow Darwin to strategically place ourselves in different locations of Darwin. This year we have booked out the Gray Community Hall in Palmerston City; the Youth for Christ Hall in the Northern Suburbs which takes in the Northern Suburbs and the Bethel Church Parish in Coconut Grove, which takes in Darwin City and the coastal suburbs. Our faith goal for March Aglow meeting is 5 or more people to attend Aglow Darwin.
Juninga Aged Care would like Aglow Darwin to sing in August 2019 and again near to Christmas time. A conversation will begin shortly with Northern Lights Pentecostal church, requesting either to piggy back on their visits to the Darwin prison, or ask what the process is to gain entry to the prison. I eventually met a prison officer who is also a Christian, and she is looking for more Christians to come into the prison. In Gods timing and season we will eventually enter into Darwin Prison."