By Lay Leng
Although I broke into a wide smile, I wanted to cry. Out of gratitude towards God. He is so awesome. Pastor Rey had written in our WhatsApp group chat “Archippian Stories”, “I love this community of AA (Archippus Awakening), filled with encouragement. I found a culture of honour here. A family indeed.” Maria, his fellow Archippus from the Philippines, based in Dubai, immediately responded in agreement. I also echoed his sentiments. I know many of my fellow Archippuses do, too.
I had never witnessed the buzz of excitement in the various AA group chats that I had over the three days of the AAA Webinar on 1 to 3 April 2022! I mean, right after Sister Anna of Hong Kong prayed the opening prayer at the webinar, encouraging words for her poured in. It was the same outpouring of affirmations after Archippuses – local and overseas, and from different areas of operations, from the ground up, shared their Archippian stories.
The sharing of Archippian stories took a new turn in the AAA Webinar this year, evidencing the kingdom partnerships that have spread to the nations. This interactive segment was a delightful exchange between a facilitator and two Archippuses on how the various aspects of the AA message have impacted them.
Back to Pastor Rey. When he was sharing his Archippian story, he was glowing in joy! I remember when he first received the AA message, a strong conviction immediately came upon him that God has kingdom assignments for everyone. My smile did not leave my face just hearing him testify how God has been working in the hearts of his network of pastors where He has planted him, in Butuan, Philippines. They are now running together to sound the clarion call to wake up Archippuses in Butuan and regions beyond towards their God-given kingdom assignments.
Maria also chatted with Siew Hoon on her kingdom assignment as a stay home mother. A pastor. A stay home mother. Both encountered God through the Arcippus Awakening message. Reuben, Ruby and Rakesh, all from the marketplace, “crossed swords” in chatting how a paradigm shift in their mindsets towards kingdom has spurred them to live kingdom. The challenges of living kingdom and revealing Christ in the marketplace remained, they testified, and hence the importance of an ongoing alignment check to remain focused in Christ.
On the first day of the webinar, I chatted with Juuko from Uganda and Gerald, a Singaporean based in Michigan on how being awakened towards alignment and assignment for King Jesus has changed the way they serve Him. Recognizing his role in God’s end time army as a soldier, Juuko testified he is now anything but aimless, focused on his assignment to trumpet an Archippus Awakening in Uganda, waking up a sleeping church. Gerald shared that building a good church community is also an assignment for him, for as long as he is actively plugged in to his current local church.
Many have been encouraged by these Archippian stories. They helped put hands and feet into who Archippus is and what moving on kingdom assignments looks like.
The Archippian community has been encouraged by how different ones joined hands and hearts to put the whole webinar together. Backed up by a team that prayed up the webinar, we give God praise and glory for all that He has done. On this note, allow me to extend appreciation to one and all for your contributions. Special mention of Brother Soon Hin and his team, Siew Hoon, Reuben, Gideon, and Aaron for working tirelessly behind the scenes.
Is this what building the arc* – that Pastor Henson always tells us – is all about? Thank You Lord for putting me in the Archippian community, where we spur one another on towards fulfilling our kingdom assignments. How nice to see an assembly of Archippuses working together in kingdom partnerships and in the process, celebrate one another. Arc-hip Arc-hip Hooray!
*build the arc: The arc is the AA logo, and it represents an assembly of Archippuses awakened, aligned and assigned for King Jesus and His kingdom. It also symbolises the 11th hour, as the days of Noah were (Matthew 24:37). As Noah was instructed to build an ark, Archippus Awakening seeks to build a community of kingdom-minded saints, faithful on kingdom assignments, ready and prepared for the return of the King.