Cottonwood Chronicle

By Carletta Allen

There was a faith-based event Saturday March 1 at the Spirit Center at St. Gertrude’s Monastery called Gather25.
What is Gather 25?Beginning February 28 at 5 pm and ending March 1 at 6 pm, there was a 25-hour period where Christians all over the world gathered in stadiums to pray, sing praise, speak, and tell stories. These events were broadcast live and livestreamed to over 20,000 ‘watch parties’ all over the globe. Cottonwood had a watch party at the Spirit Center as did the Evangelical Church in Grangeville.
Countless more people watched from home. What countries hosted stadium events? North America was represented at Dallas, Texas, USA; Africa-Kigali, Rwanda; India, Eastern Europe-Cluj, Romania; Western Europe-London, UK; South America- Lima, Peru; Asia-Malaysia; New Zealand-Aukland. There were also stories of the persecuted church from countries like Iran, Turkey, North Korea, and Asia where people are not allowed to worship openly for fear of separation from families, ruined business or even losing their lives. Can you give an example? Yes. Fatima was a young woman who converted to Christianity through the internet. She tried to keep it secret but her family noticed a change in her countenance from darkness to joy. Her brother confronted her and asked if she had become a Christian. He gave her an ultimatum to renounce her faith or be killed in two hours. She posted her testimony online before her death. Wow! Who came to this event? There were people from various denominations- both Catholic and Protestant. All were unified by a core belief in Christianity as told in the Bible. Included in that belief is that Jesus will someday return to earth as He said. A main theme of Gather25 was ‘If you knew that Jesus would come back in your lifetime, how would you live? Could you understand the speakers and songs presented from other countries? Yes. The broadcasts were translated into 87 languages; sometimes by translator, and sometimes by AI so you could see printed captions.
Did the local Cottonwood group do anything other than watch the screen? Yes. Between watching half-hour segments of two-hour stadium events, we paused the livestream to participate in our own praise and worship and prayer. Local musicians leading the praise and worship were Michael Stevens and Taylor Wimer on vocals and Carletta Allen and Julie Bethman on violin/cello. Michael also shared a presentation on a year-long mission trip he and his wife Kaitlyn took to Israel. Fortunately, they flew home to have their baby, three days before the Hamas attack. (He will be also presenting a seminar on anti-zionism, anti-semitism and its roots on Thursday March 13^th 6-7:30pm at the Grangeville High School library.)
The last hour of Saturday’s event was spent brain-storming how we might be more unified in praying for and ministering to those in our community. Is there a way we can still see the broadcasts? Yes. There are videoed highlights of each country’s broadcast posted on YouTube and Gather25.com until March 9. There will be a synthesized production put out later in the spring. Has there ever been anything like this done before now? Never. But now technology has made it possible. How did our local people respond? Comments included “’This was eye-opening!” “It made me re-evaluate some things” “I am surprised that different countries use some of the same praise songs that we do, just in their own language.” “This was wonderful.”What is the goal of Gather25 in the long run? The hope of this project is that the 5.5 billion people who are not Jesus followers might be reached by the 2.5 billion believers with the life-changing salvation message of Jesus before He returns to earth.