Every male Nez Perce growing up within the tribe had to go on a Vision Quest (Wey-ya-kin) when he reached a specific age. Tribal elders would take the young man to a remote location and leave him there alone for 2-3 days without water and food.
During this time a vision was sought by fasting and prayer. Sometimes the vision seeker would see animals, like the wolf, bear or eagle in his dreams. This was taken as a sign, that the spirit of the animal would now be his protector, counselor and giver of power.
Oftentimes the one granted a vision would display supernatural abilities, no doubt many of demonic origin.
The principle, that people have to have a clear goal, a call in front of them is a very important fact, one that we as Christians have to consider as well. God is inviting us, to seek His face, to let Him give us wisdom and direction for the work and challenges before us, work that he has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10 b).
During November and December we held our first „Quest“. Our theme was: „Hearing the voice of the Lord“ We watched videos by Donna Jordan, who teaches widely in YWAM on this subject and spent time in small groups for discussion and prayer. During those times we were able to identify and overcome individual weaknesses and hindrances in hearing the voice of God and to experience the thrill of having the Creator communicate with us.
During the five-week-long course we had up to 24 enthusiastic participants, 18 of which completed the course and received a small diploma.
During our preparation for the course, we had prayerfully hoped for 10 to 15 participants and were totally surprised to have way more than that. After evaluating the feedback from participants, we decided to offer our next „Quest“ in April. The theme will be: „Relationships—a biblical perspective“.
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