What's Next After The Hallelujah Challenge?

By Edwin Kee
Nathaniel Bassey
The Hallelujah Challenge is about to come to an end. What will spawn from this? Musicinafrica.net

The Hallelujah Challenge has etched itself in history books when the nation looks back on this pivotal moment years down the road, but the ever present question remains for all endeavors: What next?

With the Hallelujah Challenge winding down and about to come to a close, it has made positive news headlines, something that is rather difficult to find these days. The Hallelujah Festival is truly a one-of-a-kind event, where thousands of people were gathered across various locations with just one single, unified objective: to be able to praise and worship God. Worship leader Nathaniel Bassey will be the one hosting the grand finale, and there will be a non-stop flow of praise which will hopefully, open up the windows of heaven as restoration and healing pour down.

No doubt there will be certain quarters who will always play the role of being a wet blanket by thinking that the Hallelujah Festival is going to be a footnote at the end of the year, with all of the euphoria built up dissipate in due time, and the influence of this unique praise and worship experience will die down. Apparently, that is not going to be the case as The Young and Catholic Nigerians have decided step up and to take over Instalive. Instalive will be the place where daily prayer is offered up as an event, in order to commemorate the Marian Year 2017.

It is encouraging to note that more and more churches as well as different Christian organizations are being better informed about the methods that the church is able to make use of when it comes to digital media. The influence and outreach of digital media cannot be understated in this day and age, and to have something go viral is able to deliver a far greater level of outreach than traditional flyers and banners.

The future definitely looks brighter for the church with the Hallelujah Challenge being but a single cog in the large Christian machine in bringing about revival. There is still a lot of things left that need to be done and fixed, but it is far easier to accomplish all great things one step at a time.

Undergirding any effort to strengthen the faith and see revival break out in the land across different people groups is always based on one thing: prayer. Without the hard work of prayer, there can be a thousand Hallelujah Festivals to no effect, and people would most probably see that as just another nice and inspiring worship session, with life returning to normal afterwards. It is imperative to ensure that prayer warriors continue to seek out the healing of the land, and for the Lord to act according to His perfect timing.

Perhaps the future would see the Hallelujah Challenge evolve into something more than just praise and worship. It could be an incorporation of the longest running “service” ever, where intense intercession and expounding of the Word are part of the setup. However, careful steps must be taken to ensure that at the end of it all, only God gets the full glory. There runs a risk of achieving new records such as “longest running praise and worship session” or “longest ever liturgical service” without achieving anything spiritually.
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It would also be nice to see the Hallelujah Challenge replicated in different parts of the world. While the objective remains the same, the cultural and social contexts are different, which translates to the need for adaptation according to the needs on hand. All of the experience can then culminate into a global Hallelujah Challenge which would offer a glimpse of every tongue, tribe, and nation giving praise that is due to the One in heaven.

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