What a glorious day, March 15, Dedication Day for CMM 2.0. The excitement, joy, and anticipation were ‘off the charts.’ After over 5 years of no conferences, when we gave the first shout of triumph, I thought the roof started to lift. With 500 pastors and leaders, an awesome worship team, many local guests, guests from the States, 80 workers, and our staff and team, 700+ celebrated this momentous occasion with such thanksgiving and praise for what the Lord has done.
We will attempt with words, pictures, and videos to share and capture how exciting the dedication was. From the ribbon cutting to the first shout of triumph, the first praise song, to recognizing those that helped us to reach this historic moment to the dedication message, such joy filled the auditorium. Then we had the dedication prayer, the unveiling of the official opening plaque, the cutting of the cake, and the dedication offering while many of the Matheny family sang, “It’s Worth it All.”
It is almost impossible for me to describe in words the emotions, the joy, and the glory of the Lord that filled the building along with so many smiling faces, high fives, hugs, and dancing. The rejoicing, the recognition of God’s Hand, and His blessings that made all of this possible were almost tangible, along with recognizing and appreciating so many that helped us reach this goal.
One scripture that was mentioned when reading the testimonies from the pastors was:
Psalms 118:23…”This is the Lord’s doing, and it’s marvelous in our eyes!”
The dedication of CMM was held in the middle of our first leadership conference at CMM 2.0. The new dormitory (Clarence House, 3 stories, 110 rooms, 660 beds) was filled with many new beds, each room self-contained, spacious with beautiful drapes. Our new large kitchen and main dining (inside seats 350 with the same space on the portico) are spacious and first class. Even though the auditorium is not finished, it is usable and immense (seating over 1,000) with a bookstore, green room, sound booth, large stage and many toilets, and a beautiful entrance and foyer. The Jewell House (28 rooms) was a jewel for our visiting guests from the US, with its own kitchen and dining with spectacular views of the surroundings. The Administration building (2 stories) welcomes everyone with a beautiful entrance and reception and houses our offices, the library (16,000+ books), the computer lab with many classrooms, and meeting halls. It also houses a room, Memory Lane, documenting the history and miracles of where we have been and where we are today.
As I watched hundreds of pastors ascend upon our new buildings, all of a sudden, activity was everywhere, and crowd noise of fellowship, pastors with suitcases checking in to the Clarence House and then walking the grounds taking it all in, I realized we are now open, and CMM is back! I can’t describe all the different emotions, memories, difficulties, miracles, and the joy and peace of the Lord’s blessings that have led to the rebuilding and replacing of what God had started many years ago when Debbie and I were called to come alongside my mother and help her enlarge the vision. It is marvelous in our eyes.
We celebrated this event with each of you in our minds and hearts and knowing you were with us in spirit as you are one of the main reasons this day happened. Enjoy what God has done through all of us!
Over the next few weeks, we will share stories within this story of such wonderful and powerful happenings that will show so much of how God has used our new facilities and how bright the future is for how God will use CMM, not only in East Africa, as the borders of our tent are enlarging!