Altar built at KMMC to mark encounters with God, transformation

Many Karoo mighty men participated in building an altar at KMMC 2016 by each carrying a rock, which combined to create a heap of stones as a memorial to a defining moment in their lives at the place where they met with the Lord God Almighty.

During the Saturday night session of the conference Pastor Louis Els, who brought the Word of God to the men, suggested that the KMMC men build an altar by raising a heap of stones in memory of their encounter with God and as a memorial to the event.

Els said that just as Jacob had built an alter at Bethel, an altar should be built at KMMC, near the cross on the koppie, honouring the way the Lord had touched men over the weekend and the transformation that had taken place in their lives as a result of their encounter with God.

Meaning of altars
Pastor Jack Hayford, in an article titled “A Time of Altars”, says that altars appear throughout the Bible in many different forms. They are: a place of encounter – The Lord met Jacob in a crisis and the next day he built an altar at that place (Genesis 28); a place of forgiveness – The brazen altar of the tabernacle sacrifice was offered as an advance testimony that there would be a once-for-all sacrifice in God’s Son; a place of worship – The most common altar built by people to acknowledge their praise to God was the altar of incense, the holy place where priests would offer worship to the Lord on behalf of the people and themselves; a place of covenant – An altar was built where the covenant was made between the Lord and Abraham, and the land was sealed as a timeless promise to Abraham and his offspring (Genesis 15); and a place of intercession – The prophet Joel called for intercession by leaders* on behalf of the people and their devastated economy. (*If you know Jesus, you’re a leader!).

During the KMMC event all of the above aspects of men’s relationship with God took place.

Jannie Moolman, event coordinator says the altar was built as a sign of worship to God, in a desire to mark the place where men communed with the Lord, to express their dependence on Him, as a symbol of their thanksgiving and in gratitude for the salvation of souls.

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Reverence for God
He says like the people of God (such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, Saul, David and Elijah) that we read about in the Bible who commemorated significant events by building an altar, the men at KMMC were motivated by their reverence for God.

Moolman says the altar is a memorial to the place where many men, after seeking God’s face experienced His presence and were renewed and blessed by the experience.

“Louis Els spoke to me before his session asking if it would be OK for him to suggest that men build an altar to the Lord, because his message included word about Jacob building an altar, and he had received word from God that he should give the men at KMMC the message to build an altar under the cross.

“Many of the men placed rocks to form the altar, which symbolises their encounter with the Lord at this place.

“Louis Els sent me an SMS after the conference saying, ‘Wow, amazing, God was here and we know it!

“I think the building of the altar is very profound,” says Moolman.

He believes the altar will become a point of connection with God for men who have attended KMMC.

“Each year men come back during the year to spend quiet time with the Lord at the venue under the cross where things changed in their lives. However, with the altar there it has become more meaningful and I think more men will come back.

“For us, as a family, it is a privilege to have men coming back to the farm where it all started for them.”

Saturated in prayer
Moolman says another high-point of the event was the way in which it was saturated in prayer through intercession, which Angus Buchan remarked on.

Dave Turner, who co-ordinates prayer and intercession for the conference, was asked by Uncle Angus to convey a special word of thanks to all of the intercessors for the foundation of prayer that was in place for the conference.
The MMC founder says when he stands on the stage preaching he can immediately sense the foundation of prayer that is in place and on Sunday he sensed the anointing on him.

Although KMMC is a men’s event, besides the family day on Sunday, women have much to do with the organising and running of the conference. Prayer and intercession is one of the areas in which women make a big contribution.
Moolman explains that God challenged the organising committee according to Luke 5:4 ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch’.

“We stepped out into deep water in a number of areas, from the decision on who would speak at KMMC and then arranging for one of the speakers, Bishop Joshua Lwere, to travel from Uganda, which entailed organising a visa that was eventually only received 24 hours before KMMC began, to finances for the event and making preparations for the men without knowing how many would attend.

“It all required prayer, intercession, stepping out in faith and trusting in the Lord, every step of the way.

“Prayer is the foundation of KMMC and this year the intercession team took it to another level. I remember waking up some mornings to see that there had been a couple of hundred messages, prayers, and requests for prayer on the intercession Whatsapp group.

“We realised that the intercession and prayer around KMMC had been taken to another level this year, which dad Angus also mentioned, and all of the speakers recognised saying the men’s hearts were soft due to the ground for the event being prepared in prayer,” says Moolman.

This year KMMC’s build-up included a “40 Days of Prayer” intercession programme that was linked to a “National Day of Prayer & Fasting for Freedom” on Wednesday, April 27, the Freedom Day public holiday during which intercessors stood in the gap for the country praying for, among other things, softened repentant hearts.

The 40 Days of Prayer included a Daily Devotional that went out via e-mail and social media with prayer updates.
Forty influential Christian leaders from across South Africa representing all sectors of the country, including the seven mountains of influence in society (business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, the family, and religion), wrote the 40 Devotional messages.

Devotional messages
“The 40 Devotional messages from 40 influential Christian leaders was a new and highly motivating aspect of the intercession that inspired, taught and guided intercessors in their prayer-time, both during the 40 Days of Prayer and on the Freedom Day public holiday during the ‘National Day of Prayer & Fasting for Freedom’,” says Turner.

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“The daily devotional messages from the 40 influential Christian leaders also helped build unity in prayer among the intercessors, because they prayed in agreement with the prepared devotionals, which covered different perspectives of South African society giving a broad context for intercession,” he adds.

The prayer anointing was evident in the manner in which all the speakers’ messages integrated with each other without pre-planning.

All the speakers emphasised the necessity for men to know their identity in Jesus, to extend and be channels for the love of God, and to be instruments of reconciliation in South Africa.