by Rebecca Montgomery | Nov 1, 2013 | house of prayer
Exciting news! We’re going to livestream the last 4 days of David’s Tent! Starting Saturday through Tuesday we’ll be livestreaming from 5-9 pm every night. Please tune in for exciting updates about what God is doing and live worship! We’re so excited to be able to invite you to join us online for the last 4 days of David’s Tent! Last year over 20,000 people joined us via livestream. This year we hope you will too!
Here’s the link to the livestream: https://davidstentdc.org/webcast/ Please bookmark this link, share it with your friends and tune in this weekend to David’s Tent DC!
See you on the livestream!
Becca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 28, 2013 | DT-blog
One of my favorite moments of David’s Tent last year was during the hymn sing. We were singing “I Exalt Thee,” and as we finished up the last verse the entire sanctuary broke into spontaneous praise. People were shouting and praising the name of Jesus for several minutes without anyone leading them to do so. It really impacted me to see how the spirit of worship that’s on the hymns is moving people to worship just as much today as it was generations ago.
I believe there’s something really significant that happens when we come together from all different generations and sing with one voice the songs of our father and mothers of the faith. There’s a reason that the songs have been sung for so many years! There’s anointing on them!
Tonight from 7-9 pm is our annual David’s Tent hymn sing. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to all year! Last year due to hurricane sandy we held the hymn sing in a church on capitol hill so this year is our first time getting to do it on the White House Ellipse! We’re going to be doing it acoustic tonight. We’ll circle up some chairs and spend a couple hours singing hymns just like so many of us grew up doing in our living rooms. It’s going to be amazing! Come on out and join us! Your voice makes a difference!
See you there,
Rebecca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 23, 2013 | jason
I can hardly believe it. It seems like yesterday when we first struck up the band on the White House Ellipse and starting this extravagant offering of praise to Jesus. Roughly 140 different bands from over 25 states and 10 different nations have led worship so far. The song has been going night and day for 685 hours straight (at the time of writing.) When I think about it, I’m truly in awe of God’s goodness. It’s nothing short of a miracle that we have been able to keep going and that in the midst of floods, government shut downs and the chaos around us there’s a place where people are encountering the presence of God on the White House Ellipse, right there in the middle of our capital city.
Stories just keep pouring in about people who have been drawn to the tent by the presence of the Lord. A couple days ago an Amish girl was taking a walk across the Ellipse when suddenly she felt the presence of the Lord and had an uncontrollable urge to run to David’s Tent to meet with Jesus. She had no idea what was going on in the tent but was so excited when she found out! God’s presence is truly drawing people to Himself!
Then yesterday a man from Belize was walking on the Ellipse. He had just moved to America a few weeks ago and was visiting DC for a couple days. As he was walking across the White House Ellipse he heard the name of Jesus being sung from David’s Tent across the field but had no idea what we were doing. His heart started to pound in his chest as he felt the presence of the Lord. He came into the tent and began to weep when he realized what we were doing. With tears streaming down his face he said that this was by far his best experience in America in all his time here. A team that was in from Texas got the chance to pray with him and he left truly blessed.
I could go on and on about the testimonies that just keep on coming about what God is doing on the White House Ellipse. It’s absolutely amazing to see what God is doing through our lavish offering of praise. Yesterday I overheard our founder, Jason Hershey, saying “I want to make Jesus blush with the extravagant worship that we give Him!” I completely agree. I know that this 1,000 hour love song is moving the heart of God and that he is moved with joy because of his sons and daughters from all across the nation that have come together to sing what may be one of the longest love songs ever sung.
We still have two weeks left! Come and join us! Your voice makes a difference! We’re in the big white tent on the White House Ellipse–you can’t miss us!
Becca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 19, 2013 | DT-blog
Today we have bands from all across the state of Pennsylvania that are taking 12 hours of worship from 9 am – 9 pm. We’ve dubbed it “Pennsylvania day” at David’s Tent and it’s been AWESOME! Today I got the chance to talk with Ralph Egyud with Altar International House of Prayer and Jamie Fitt from Philadelphia Tabernacle of David who are the two that really spearheaded the effort to get everyone down here today. Here’s the interview I did with them:
Rebecca: So Jamie, Ralph, I just wanted to ask you guys how this idea came about in your hearts? I think the state of Pennsylvania was the first group to sign up for this year, which is awesome. So can you guys explain a little bit of the story and your heart?
Ralph: Well, the Pennsylvania houses of prayer have been getting together since March of 2008 all around the state every three months or so to worship to pray and to intercede in the areas that we’re operating in. So, getting together like this is not really a new thing for us. Last year we had seven gatherings around the state. At America For Jesus we had pre-worship from 7-9 AM before the event. And Jamie oversaw and coordinated intercessory prayer through and preceding the event. So for us to travel and do something like this wasn’t really an unusual thing for us. So Jamie and I had the idea that this year we should do one of our statewide gatherings in DC at David’s Tent.
Jamie: Yeah, we really felt like the connection between Pennsylvania and what the Lord’s doing there corporately there among the houses of prayer coming and connecting with you guys at David’s Tent and coming together is just awesome. We really feel the the government of God is being established in a deeper way than ever before. So we just wanted to connect and as we were thinking and praying about what we wanted to do corporately as houses of prayer this year and we came up with this sometime in February. So we asked you guys if we could take a slot somewhere around here and come down and connect with you all, because it was on our hearts to just have Pennsylvania day.
I love seeing state-wide unity unto national praise. Our heart in DC is that David’s Tent would truly be a place for the “tribes” of America to gather to worship and I love that we’re seeing that with Pennsylvania today. It really has been a breath of fresh air for us all.
I encourage you to grab ahold of this vision and bring your state next year! Make it “Texas Day” or “California Day!” We would love to have you! Maybe your state doesn’t have the same networking as Pennsylvania does, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still connect with churches around you and come down and lead worship!
It’s also not too late to plan your trip to DC! We’ll be continuing with worship through November 5th and we still have open worship slots! You can email worship@davidstentdc.org to sign up!
See you there,
Rebecca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 15, 2013 | DT-blog
We’re two weeks into the government shutdown and through it all we’ve been able to stay on the White House Ellipse. It’s an incredible blessing from the Lord to be able to still be there and I am so thankful for the 1st amendment that permits us to be there. The past couple weeks have been a little wild between the shutdown, all of the protests in the city and a small flood on the Ellipse, but the worship has continued to rise to the Lord and in the midst of the chaos, God has given us a place of peace. I’ve really been able to see the Lord’s hand of protection upon our event over and over again. It really does feel like we’ve been hidden in the cleft of the rock and that God has created this space for us in the middle of the closed National Mall to be able to meet with Him. His presence is so tangible on the Ellipse and every day it just gets sweeter. I know the Lord’s heart is moved every single time we lift our voices to Him. I can feel the pleasure of the Lord over every single worship team that comes.
This year we’ve had worship teams come from all over the States to worship with us. So far we’ve had 24 states and 7 different nations represented on stage at David’s Tent. We’ve had teams from Wales, New Zealand, Russia, Korea, Norway, Kosovo and the Philippines leading worship and it’s been amazing to see the nations coming to praise. We know that around the throne of God “every tongue and tribe” will confess that Jesus is Lord. It’s beautiful to see a foretaste of that happening here in America too.
Today marks the halfway point of David’s Tent. This evening will mark 500 hours into our 1,000 hr love song to Jesus and I want to invite you to come on out and join us! We’ll be at the White House Ellipse through Nov. 5th and we’d love to see you there! Come represent your state or your nation and lead worship with us! Last year we had teams from all 50 states come and worship with us and we’d love to see the same this year! Want to sign up? We’re still accepting bands! You can email: worship@davidstentdc.org.
See you there,
Rebecca Montgomery
by Rebecca Montgomery | Oct 12, 2013 | DT-blog
Today 2 people got healed at David’s Tent! Praise God! Check out this video from Bruce, one of our David’s Tent staff, where he shares both testimonies!
In the midst of the fragrance of worship, God is moving in manifest ways. His presence is transforming us and the world around us as we lift up His name in the center of our nation’s capital city! The government may have shut down, there may have been a flood, but through it all the fragrance of worship is rising to the Lord from the White House Ellipse. In the midst of all the chaos that’s going on around us, God is touching hearts and lives right here in the middle of Washington, DC. Jesus is so so good, and so worthy of our worship!
Come and join us as we continue to worship! We’re almost 18 days into our 1,000 hour love song and it’s just getting more and more glorious!
See you at the tent,
Rebecca Montgomery
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
