by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 10, 2013 | 24/7 worship
It has been raining. And when I say raining I don’t just mean a few light showers. It’s been raining pretty hard for a couple days now. The Ellipse has become more of a pond than a park–we even have the mallard ducks to show it! I’ve never seen ducks hopping around in the middle of a grassy field before. It’s official, we must have become a pond! The resident geese are being quite kind to the newcomers and are being very helpful corralling them away from all the tourists.
This morning there was a significant amount of flooding. Here’s a photo of the flooding this morning:
One of our volunteers shared with me that they had to bail out about 30 gallons of water from the main tent and the admin tent was completely a puddle except for one little soggy spot where our table is. We’ve covered all of the electrical wiring and sound equipment and we’re still worshipping away! Jesus is worthy, even when we’re worshipping with wet feet!
The flooding has gotten better this afternoon with a lot of the water having subsided already. We’re still wading through puddles to get to the tent though. Keep us in your prayers! The weather forecast indicates rain for most of the next couple days. Here’s a photo from this afternoon:
Last week it was so beautiful out here! It was in the 80’s and sunny for the first two weeks and I loved it! What happened? Who sang the song “Let it Rain”!?! :)
Even though it’s wet out here, the presence of Jesus is still here and so sweet and tangible in the tent! Don’t let the rain stop you! Just grab your rainboots and come on out and worship with us. Tonight my husband Ryan and I are leading worship from 7-9 pm and we’d love to see you there!
Rebecca Montgomery
PS. Rainboots are a must. When you have rainboots, puddle jumping is a must. Needless to say, I’m having a great day out at the Ellipse! :)
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 9, 2013 | house of prayer
One of things that I love about being at David’s Tent and being able to worship with so many different worship leaders from around the nation is that I get to see “themes” throughout it all. There are many songs that are being sung by the same worship leaders all throughout each day without any of them knowing that the others have been singing it! It’s been fun for me to see some of the songs that have become anthems of David’s Tent this year.
One of them that surprised me this year was My Soul Sings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that song at David’s Tent this year, not to mention how many times I’ve already sung it there too! Each time I experience God in a new way through that song and get more and more revelation of His heart! I wasn’t expecting it to be an “anthem” of David’s Tent but it really has become one. It’s been a fun thing for me with Jesus because My Soul Sings was the first song I really learned how to play on the keyboard. I played that song to Jesus for an hour every day and ended up writing a song off of it called Never Tired of My Voice. I was blown away by how amazing it is that Jesus doesn’t get tired of our worship, even when it’s the same song over and over and over! That’s so great, because for all of eternity we’ll be singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” around the throne! It’ll never be boring! For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile you might remember this story. If not, you can read my story about it here: https://davidstentdc.org/never-tired-of-my-voice/ Anyways, everytime I hear My Soul Sings it’s a sweet time with Jesus. So many memories!
I think the lyrics of that song are so meaningful, especially as an anthem of worship this year.
“My soul sings, my soul sings, my soul sings how I love you.”
I believe that the Lord is giving us hearts of worship in a new way so that we, individually, would truly be 24/7/365 places of worship. Last year we joked about making shirts that said “I am David’s Tent.” It’s silly, but so true! 24/7 worship isn’t just about a tent or a church, or the formality of never letting a moment be silent. It’s all about our hearts being that place of worship. We are God’s temple! Not a tent on the White House Ellipse. Without our hearts truly being places of worship a big white tent becomes meaningless. May my soul ever sing His praises!!
If you haven’t made it down to David’s Tent yet, I encourage you to do so! It’s so refreshing and such a sweet place to meet with Jesus. We’ve already had over 20 nations and 35 states show up to worship with us! Come and represent your state too!
Tonight we have Tim Feddes from Washington House of Prayer leading worship for our corporate 7-9pm set. Tomorrow my husband Ryan and I are leading the 7-9 pm set. I’ll probably find myself singing My Soul Sings! I just can’t stop singing that song! :)
See you there,
Rebecca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 7, 2013 | 24/7 worship, house of prayer, News Update
Testimonies are incredible things. They build faith for God to move and encourage all who hear them! I’ve been so blessed by being able to hear the testimonies of how God moved in people’s lives through David’s Tent or their experience worshipping there with us. It’s always a breath of fresh air!
Just yesterday I was talking to a sweet lady who was sharing with me that she normally feels very shy and timid around people but at David’s Tent she never felt like that. She led worship for 2 hours and was so blessed the entire time and felt nothing but the sweetness of the presence of the Lord. Yesterday as well a Korean man came up to the tent and was so blessed that he was overcome with the need to give to us. We can’t accept cash donations on site because of our permit restrictions and that’s all he had on him, so he went away disappointed. About an hour later he showed up again completely unexpectedly with bags of snacks and drinks for all of our David’s Tent staff. He said “I was so blessed, and so encouraged by this that…how can I not give? I had to find a way!” Wow! Everytime I hear something like that I am so encouraged! God is truly moving at the tent, he’s encountering and changing people’s lives and they’re walking away blessed.
I’d love to hear YOUR stories! So much of what God does at David’s Tent is in the thousands of people that pass through the tent over the 40 days. You can send in your stories and testimonies to becca@davidstentdc.org. I’d love to share them here on my blog but also just to hear what the Lord is doing in your lives!
We’re on day 12 of our 1,000 hour love song and still going strong! Today we’ve had Gateway House of Prayer in from Pennsylvania to worship with us. They’re taking a couple of worship slots today and it’s been such a blessing to have them! Continue to join us at the White House Ellipse as we worship Jesus. Also, please continue to keep us in your prayers! We know that your prayers are powerful and effective!
See you at the Ellipse,
Rebecca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 6, 2013 | 24/7 worship, house of prayer, News Update
Dear Friends,
My two oldest boys, 6 & 7 years old, saw a huge hole in an otherwise cloud-covered sky, right above David’s Tent DC.
“Dad, we think that God is listening to the music through that hole!”
I do have to say that I sense His nearness to us at David’s Tent in a very special way. It seems like He is personally watching over us. Somehow through all the happenings in DC since we began, David’s Tent DC has remained hidden, unhindered, safe and sound!
David’s Tent has never stopped! Claiming the 1st amendment, the National Park Service (NPS) has allowed us to stay and keep going throughout the shut-down of the federal government. The National Mall is eerily empty, but there on the White House Ellipse stands David’s Tent DC, nestled in behind the trees, blazing a love song to Jesus!
It’s been a “ponder these things in my heart like Mary” moment. How ironic: The Government shuts down and a 24-7 worship congress to Jesus continues! We rejoice in the favor that God has given us – both with the NPS and the Secret Service.
Equally astounding is the hiddenness from news media! How is it that they are missing this big white music tent, blazing shamelessly, in stark contrast to the quiet, evacuated National Mall?
We did come close to losing our cover though! John McCormack of the weekly standard tweeted this below on Tuesday, making light of the sign that is posted at the White House Ellipse because of David’s Tent. If only he knew what’s behind and to the right of that flaming sword! That tweet was then re-blasted by the Drudge Report.
This past Thursday afternoon we were temporarily evacuated from the Ellipse, due to a security issue related to the tragedy on Capitol Hill that started at the White House. All the worshippers at David’s Tent simply walked, guitars in hand, to the perimeter the Secret Service had created and kept on singing for the next four hours. The song never stops! When the evacuation time was complete, we took the song back into the tent!
Thank you for your prayers. David’s Tent is alive and well! We pray grace would fall like rain over all those who live and work in DC!
Please come worship with us!
Singing for Jesus,
Jason Hershey
People, I am not making this up
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 4, 2013 | house of prayer
Yesterday afternoon we were evacuated to the sidewalk of Constitution Avenue for close to 5 hours as a result of a car chase that started at the White House and ended at the Capitol Building yesterday afternoon. We had been evacuated before, but never for that long. I really want to honor the worshippers and the worship leaders that we were scheduled for those time slots. We got evacuated halfway through a worship set being led by a team of deaf worshippers. They were signing their way through the Psalms of praise and it was absolutely glorious when we were told that we’d need to leave. My husband Ryan grabbed a guitar and led us all to the sidewalk of Constitution Ave. where we continued to worship. Kari Olney from California continued to lead us in worshipping through the Psalms for the last hour of her watch right there on the sidewalk. It was absolutely beautiful how in the midst of the chaos, the blaring sirens and the tension of those moments the song of worship and praise was rising to Jesus the entire time. It was a place of peace and adoration of Jesus in the whirlpool of the heart of the city. I filmed a short video of Kari leading worship right as we got evacuated and if you watch it you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.
After Kari and the team led worship, some of our staff continued the worship until John Amodea, a local worship leader, came to take
his set. He was scheduled for an amplified worship set under the tent and he was so flexible to change plans that quickly! He brought a large band and they were so gracious to change plans and lead worship on the sidewalk like that. They were scheduled for the 5-7 pm slot and we weren’t able to get back onto the Ellipse until 6:30 pm so most of their set was acoustic and on the side of the road. What flexibility! What love for Jesus that they would be so willing to change all their plans and worship the Lord on the side of Constitution Avenue! They were such a blessing to us and to the heart of Jesus too!
We’re back on the Ellipse now and worship has resumed as normal. Tonight we have a local band, Awaken Wells, leading worship for our corporate 7-9 pm set. We have been so blessed by the local community and how they’ve so supported David’s Tent and blessed us with their encouragement, prayers and worship teams. Although teams come from all over the nation to lead worship, at least 50% of the slots that are filled are filled by the local Washington, DC area churches and ministries. David’s Tent is truly an event that’s been put supported and initiated by ministries and churches all across DC and all across the nation.
Come out and join us as we continue to worship Jesus on the White House Ellipse. We’re currently on day 10 of our 1,000 hour love song. We’ll be on the Ellipse through November 5th day and night so join us anytime and bring your worship team to to lead worship with us! If you’d like to sign up for a worship set you can email: worship@davidstentdc.org. Thanks again for all your prayers, they make a difference!
Rebecca Montgomery
