Tag: Outreach

Pasadena Ministry Trip part 1: The Journey Begins

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

For this year’s spring ministry trips with IHOPU, I had the privilege of going to Pasadena, CA with a team of 52 students and staff! As I wrote previously, it was a ten day trip partnered with the Pasadena House of Prayer that culminated in a Onething Regional conference at the end of the week!

But first, we had to get there.

1668 miles, approximately 30 hours.
1668 miles, approximately 30 hours.

We left IHOPU at noon on Friday, April 10, crammed into four 15-passenger vans and towing a U-Haul trailer. We passed the time by filming music videos in our vans and posting them on Facebook. Other trips were posting videos too from their own vans on the road to places like Atlanta and New York, so we all enjoyed challenging each other!

We arrived late that night in Amarillo, TX, where two of our girls are from. Their church and families were gracious enough to host us that night and feed us breakfast the next morning. We were on the road again around 8:00 the next morning.

We drove all day Saturday and were hosted that night by an Assemblies of God church in Needles, CA. Needles is a small town of about 4800 people in the desert on the California-Arizona border. Reportedly it is the second poorest city in California. We had never had any previous contact with this church at all, but we needed a place to stay and just started making phone calls. This church was the first one we talked to and they immediately welcomed us! They let us sleep on the floor in their classrooms and fed us a massive breakfast of bacon and eggs the next day.

We were all amazed at how generouly this church welcomed us. They had never met us, but we were brothers and sisters in Christ and they welcomed us warmly as family. Before we left, we all prayed for them, and then they all prayed for us. God definitely knit our hearts together.

“Love one another with brotherly affection… Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”
(Romans 12:10a, 13)

Our team Saturday morning with our Needles host church!
Our team Saturday morning with our Needles host church!

On Sunday, we finished our drive and arrived in Pasadena mid-afternoon! We stayed in beautiful dorms at the Venture Center, formerly known as the U.S. Center for World Missions. This 17-acre campus is home to 12 separate ministries living in community together, including the Pasadena House of Prayer. The campus was beautiful, and had plenty of palm trees to feed my palm-starved CaliGirl soul.

Suffering for Jesus in sunny SoCal.
Suffering for Jesus in sunny SoCal.

That night we did a bit of exploring on foot downtown on Colorado Blvd and shopped at Forever 21 and Target. I hugged a palm tree, because I wasn’t kidding about the palm-starved soul thing.

For real. This CaliGorl needs her fronds.
For real. This CaliGirl needs her fronds.

We also had a team meeting and shared what our individual goals were for the week. One thing that I shared with the team is that I was so excited to be back in my home region with my IHOPU family. Pasadena is about 40 minutes from my hometown; in fact, we drove directly past MY exit on MY freeway and were less than a mile from my front door. To be able to bring all of them to see and serve my Southern California was a dream come true. I told them that my goal for this week was to recruit them all as intercessors. They won’t all be called to move to California (though some of them may be!) but I hope they all catch God’s heart for the Golden State and continue in prayer for it for a very long time.

Jesus loves Southern California. He really, really does. As Dave Sliker pointed out at the conference later in the week, God has repeatedly visited Southern California in a unique way, from the Jesus Movement to the Azusa Street Revival. I am convinced that He has unique plans in His heart for my home state, and I am so honoured and excited to be a part of it.

Journal prayer Friday, April 3, at our last ministry team intercession set in the prayer room. Song lyrics by Jake Hamilton.
Journal prayer Friday, April 3, at our last ministry team intercession set in the prayer room. Song lyrics by Jake Hamilton.
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IHOPU Ministry Trip: Pasadena 2015

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life8 Comments

11056005_626765110801649_939595123_nHello, friends! I have a very exciting announcement for you– This April I’m going to be coming to Pasadena on a ministry trip with IHOPU! We do spring ministry trips to different cities every year. Last year we went to twelve cities and I was on the Chicago team. This year is different because we’re just going to seven cities (Pasadena, Kansas City, New York, Orlando, Dallas, Twin Cities, and St. Louis) with teams of about 50 students and at the end of every week, April 17-18, we’ll put on a Onething conference in each of those locations! This is the first time IHOPKC has ever tried to do simultaneous regional conferences like this. We’ll have key leaders from IHOPKC coming out to each city to help lead the conference. Laura Hackett Park and Anna Blanc will be leading worship for us in Pasadena and Dave Sliker will be speaking!

Before the conference, we’ll be doing some work with the Pasadena House of Prayer and the Azusa House of Prayer, as well as outreach at the campuses of USC and APU! I am so excited for this opportunity to come home (I grew up about 40 minutes away from there) with IHOPU to serve local believers and strengthen houses of prayer. APU is my alma mater, so when I heard we would be going home to MY school, I would have probably cried if I hadn’t been too busy jumping up and down. I remember when IHOPU came to Azusa in 2010 before I graduated. This really feels like a “full circle” season for me, and I can’t wait to see what God’s going to do!

Click below to check out the info page and promo video:
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Here’s a peek at our itinerary:

  • April 10-12 Driving – connect with PIHOP leadership
  • April 13 Outreach at USC
  • April 14 Outreach in Azusa and Hollywood
  • April 15 Prayer room at PIHOP
  • April 16 Fun day in Santa Monica
  • April 17-18 Onething conference at PIHOP!!
  • April 18-20 Drive home to KC

As a team, we’ve been praying for Southern California every Friday at 4pm in the prayer room. (You can stream our set via the 24/7 webstream, either live or archived.) There’s something so powerful about gathering as a team to ask for God’s heart and intercede for the region God has called us to. For me, it’s especially powerful to get to pray with my new spiritual family for the region where my roots are, and where nearly all of the people I have ever known still live. Last Friday as we were praying and singing for college campuses in SoCal, I ended up curled into a ball sobbing, unable to form any words but knowing I was touching God’s heart. This isn’t distant to me. This is my home. I am so hungry to see God move in California.

I am so excited for this opportunity to serve California with my IHOPU family! If you’re in the area, please come to the conference and be blessed! If you’re not, please do still “pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1)
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Praying for Revival at UMKC

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life1 Comment

As part of our House of Prayer Leadership practicum, my class (some 50-80 of us) is leading two hours of prayer and worship on campus at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) several Friday mornings this semester, taking turns by our small groups. We prayed for the “word of the Lord to run swiftly” (1 Thessalonians 3:1) through the campus, for strengthening for believers, and for salvation for unbelievers. We’re partnering with Luke18 Project, a nationwide campus ministry that seeks to establish a culture of prayer and worship on every college campus.

During the second hour of our prayer meeting, a number of students went out to evangelise on campus. I later heard one of the testimonies… my friend Elijah sat down with a UMKC student from India studying computer science. Over a 40 minute conversation, “what are you studying?” led to “what is the purpose of your life?” to which the student had no answer. Elijah shared his own testimony of purpose and transformation, and this student was intrigued by the claims of Jesus. He wants to give his life to Christ, but doesn’t want to make a commitment without giving it some serious thought first. They are going to continue to meet to discuss Christianity. Please pray that the Holy Spirit settles every fear and draws him into the love of Jesus unto salvation!

I’ve really felt an increased burden among IHOPU students this year for praying for revival on college campuses. Our generation of young adults is thirsty for truth, purpose, and love. We’ve been disillusioned by some of the things in our past, whatever they might be, and we’re ready to throw our lives into something bigger than ourselves. History testifies that every major social movement has begun in this age bracket. The harvest is ripe on college campuses across our nation. Are we willing to labour with the Lord in prayer and outreach to see them brought into their rightful place in the Kingdom? (Read more on “Why College Campuses?” from Luke18.)

This Friday, it’s my group’s turn to lead the meeting. It’s such a joy and honour to proclaim the glory of Jesus over this school, and to cry out that He would have His inheritance. I’m looking forward to what God will do!

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Chicago is Praying

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life2 Comments

Hi, all! I meant to get this blog up much earlier this week, but I came home to a book to finish reading and an accompanying 500 words to write on it, an outline of Acts to write, discussion posts online to complete, shifts to work, classes to attend, my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it.* I was swamped.

So here is the long-awaited report on my Chicago ministry trip with IHOPU!

I’ve done mission trips before, but they’ve always been very service oriented. Never before have I been on a trip specifically focussed on prayer and strengthening the church. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I loved discovering the power of simply coming to encourage. Even when I felt like I had nothing to give, just being in the room praying with my Chicago brothers and sisters was powerful, and they were touched and strengthened to keep doing what they are called to.

We left KC around 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 6, and arrived in Chicago in time to join some students of Moody Bible Institute for their Sunday night prayer meeting. Though we were exhausted, it was an honour to join with them to cry out for revival on their campus and in their city. I met two girls named Jessica and Jung who were my prayer partners throughout the rest of the week, and we’re still in touch and praying for each other.

On Monday we spent our morning as we did every day, spending “family time” together in the mansion that hosted us most of the time. (Half our team stayed there, and the rest of us were spread out over a few other host homes, also very large and hospitable.) And when I say “mansion,” that’s no exaggeration, y’all. It’s in Hinsdale, a very affluent suburb of Chicago, and is owned by a former NFL legend. The Von Trapp mansion came to mind more than once. I lost count of the number of rooms and staircases in this place. The family wasn’t there, but the people who took care of us were exceptionally hospitable. (And in Chicago, hospitality apparently equals FOOD. We ate so much on this trip…)

That night we went to Northwestern University to pray and worship with them at the Rock, a campus landmark that according to tradition students may guard for 24 hours for the privilege of painting it to promote any cause or event they choose. These students were guarding it in order to paint it for the Veritas Forum, at which a Christian, a Jew, and an atheist discussed the role of faith on a secular campus. (Read Northwestern’s report of the event HERE.)

On Tuesday morning during our family time we had a very special opportunity to minister to some leaders of Young Life. Some of the main leaders of the campus youth ministry organisation allowed us to pray and prophesy over them, and the Holy Spirit really moved and touched them.

That night most of us went to lead a prayer and worship night at a church, but I and three others went to a prayer meeting held by some Loyola students in a small living room downtown. It was casual, intimate, honest, and passionate. These students had a deep desire to see the Holy Spirit move in their community, and they prayed for many by name to be saved.

Wednesday was our day to see the city. We walked from Moody to the Bean in downtown Chicago, and from there we scattered to explore and sightsee. We finished up the night with ice cream and games to one of our host homes. I love my team. I don’t know when I last laughed that hard.

Downtown with my new friend Jung (with others from our team posing in the background!)

Thursday evening after stuffing our bellies with real deep dish Chicago pizza from Giordano’s, we hosted an intercollegiate prayer meeting at a church. I had the privilege of singing with the worship team as we led worship and prayer for two hours with the harp and bowl model.

Intercollegiate prayer meeting
Intercollegiate prayer meeting

Friday and Saturday were our 24-hour prayer “burn” from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.. This was an event called Illuminate Chicago put on by the Chicago Prayer Network, a coalition of local churches dedicated to prayer and unity, and we were only there to support them. I was on the night watch for the burn, so I was at the church from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (plus our set up time). I slept till about 1:00 p.m., and came back for the closing of the burn from 4:00 to 8:00.

This was such a beautiful event to watch because it wasn’t about IHOPKC coming in and taking over and leading. It was the local churches — the Body of Christ in that city — that were taking the tools we had given them in years past, making them their own, and running with them. Around 20 churches came together for this, and many churches provided worship teams and prayer leaders to carry the torch two hours at a time, just like we do in the prayer room in Kansas City. IHOPU only led three sets out of the whole 24 hours.

Over and over, I kept looking at the room, breaking out in a huge grin, and whispering to Jesus, “CHICAGO IS PRAYING!” 

IHOPU team leading a set
IHOPU team leading the final set

It was such a privilege to be in the room keeping the fire on the altar (Leviticus 6:13) with and for Chicago for those 10 hours overnight. I was praying for strength simply to stay awake, and God more than came through. At first I was praying and singing and pacing almost the entire time, and I was recruited to sing on the 4:00 a.m. worship set, which the leader decided to make a worship with the word set instead of an intercession set like most of the other teams were doing. I spent 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. singing through Psalm 84.

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God… For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.”
(Psalm 84:1-2, 10a)

As I was leaving this trip and coming home, my heart was overwhelmed with the goodness of God and the vastness of His purposes. My heart has been knit to the city of Chicago, and I know I will be praying for Moody, Northwestern, Loyola, and the churches of the Chicago Prayer Network for a long time. So often it’s easy for me to get into my little Kansas City bubble and miss what God’s doing all in different cities all over the world. He is stirring up His people to pray. He is putting a burning desire for revival in them. Jesus is building His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

*These last four items may or may not be facetious. Just in case anyone was confused.

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Chicago Bound!

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life1 Comment

As soon as I finish this blog post, I have some packing to do. Why? Because tomorrow morning at 5:30 I am leaving for Chicago! I am so excited to do this ministry trip with my IHOPU brothers and sisters. We’re going to pray and worship with churches and prayer groups in the city, especially at Moody Bible Institute, and really just come alongside and encourage what the Lord is doing there. He has such a big place in His heart for that city, and such big plans for His church there… I can’t wait to tell you stories when I come back!

Our theme for all of the spring ministry teams this year is Malachi 1:11–

“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.”
(Malachi 1:11)

On Friday/Saturday we’re going to do a 24 hour “Prayer Burn,” in which we will basically do a 24-hour slice of what we do in the IHOPKC prayer room, with rotating worship teams, prayer leaders, etc. I was asked to be part of the Night Watch team for that, so I’ll be praying through the wee early hours of the morning! I’m also going to be singing on a worship team during the 6:00 a.m. set on Saturday morning. I’ve never done night watch and I’ve only sung on a worship team a few times (and never for the full two hours), so much prayer for grace is appreciated!

Also, please pray for safety on the road and throughout the trip! Idris (my car) and I are going to be driving a carload of girls on the long road to and from Chicago and throughout the week to our ministry locations. God has such big plans for this week, as we go to cities across America. Let’s pray for His purposes to be accomplished in and through us!

All you hashtaggers on Facebook, Twitter, and especially Instagram can follow all the IHOPU teams on their trips with the hashtag #IHOPUGO2014.

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IHOPU Ministry Trip: Chicago 2014

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life3 Comments

Greetings, friends! A lot has been going on the past few weeks, but one of the most exciting things coming up is an IHOPU ministry trip to Chicago over April 6-13!

This time last year, I was at home in CA working at camp and looking at all the spring ministry trip pictures on Facebook. I am so excited that this year I can actually participate in going out to partner with the prayer movement across the nation. The vision for incense arising from every nation, tribe, and tongue is so much bigger than Kansas City. God is putting this fire in the hearts of believers all over the earth, and I am so excited to partner with what He’s doing in Chicago.

About thirty of us will be partnering with local colleges, churches, and houses of prayer, especially supporting the prayer group at Moody Bible Institute. We’ll put together several events for the community, including a full 24 hour period of prayer and worship called Illuminate Chicago, which we also did last year. I am so excited for this. Especially after my time at APU, I have a big heart to see college students throw themselves into a lifestyle of prayer and worship with expectancy for God to move.

The leaders of this trip put together a sweet promo video:

You can also find out more about the trip on the blog page HERE.

This is going to be such an amazing experience. I will so much appreciate your prayers for our team as we prepare for this trip, for the church in Chicago as they prepare to receive us, and for the hearts of all those God wants to touch.

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Monday Radicals

On By CaitlynIn Just Thoughts3 Comments

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may remember that about two years ago I started blogging through The Vision poem by Pete Grieg.  (You can see all my previous Vision posts HERE.) I haven’t exactly been keeping it up consistently, but I haven’t forgotten it either. This poem truly did inspire me at age sixteen with a vision of what radical Christianity looks like, and these phrases are still part of the spiritual scrapbook that makes up my life.

So here we go.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.
They don’t need fame from names.
Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!”

I know it. You know it. We’re always “radical” on Sunday night… or Wednesday/Friday/Saturday night, as your case may be. Hands raised, impassioned altar call, something moves deep in your gut, and before you know it you’re on the ground making grandiose vows, or jumping up and down in the midst of a sweaty swarm, shouting some lyrics about “glory” and “changing history,” most likely. And definitely something about “fire.”

I’m not knocking it. I’ve had more of those experiences than most, probably. In that moment, you have this vision that the next day at work or school you’re going to become this radical, healing, preaching revivalist – basically the next Todd White – and your entire city is going to get saved in a week. People will look at you as you walk down the sidewalk, some in awe, some in derision, but that’s okay, because it’s all for the Kingdom.

None of this is bad. I want that life. I do want to walk down the street and see heaven touch earth under my hands. I’m going to keep jumping and shouting and making those vows because my sincerity really does count to God, even when I don’t follow through the next morning as well as I wanted to.

Because that’s what usually happens, honestly. Big dreams the night before and then nothing the next day. What happened? Chances are, I was in it for the glory high, not the heart of God.

“Instead they grin quietly upwards…” I believe the secret is that simple. It can’t be about us. It can’t be that I want to be a revivalist because I want to be awesome like that and I want good stories to tell… I want to be radical on Monday, but if it’s all about me wanting a thrill, it’s going to burn out fast. Sure, God might still use me sometimes, but that’s because of His mercy, not because I’m actually aligning my heart with His.

I mentioned Todd White and provided a youtube link (which most of you probably ignored, so here it is again). One of the things I love about that video and from Todd’s ministry in general is that it genuinely is not about him. I know a guy here at IHOPKC who’s done ministry with him, and what has continually struck me from everything I’ve seen and heard is that Todd really does walk in humility and love. He’s so simple and unassuming. Just a random guy with dreads and a t-shirt who gives big hugs and believes God loves people.

Radical worship on Sunday that isn’t expressed in radical love on Monday isn’t radical at all. Anyone can get hyped up by an event. It has to be a day to day faithfulness, or else it’s nothing. Those old ladies in the back who have been praying faithfully and giving of themselves for decades, that’s what radical looks like.

I’m not in the least bit saying don’t pray for people on the streets. Do it!! But do it in love and humility with your eyes on Jesus, not yourself. Don’t do it just to get a great testimony to share. It’s okay if no one but God ever knows what happened. Seeking “fame from names” IS going to burn you. You were not created to live for your own glory. That was the problem in the Garden. Keep your eyes on Him.

That is the fuel that is going to keep you burning. At the end of the day, you’re not going to be judged by how loud you were, but how faithful to His heart you were. Keep your eyes locked on Jesus’ eyes of fire. Glue your feet to the ground and refuse to move. Get lost in those flames. Let His eyes burn away every other selfish ambition.

I promise, the more you’re in tune with His heartbeat because you’ve taken the time to stare into His eyes, the more “radical” your Mondays will be.

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[Belated] Testimony Thursday: Cheesecake Factory

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

For the record, I really did write this on Thursday night, but haven’t been able to actually get online to post it till today. So the “today” referenced below really is Thursday. 😉

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of the girls in my core group. Since today is our day off, her roommates planned a full celebratory day for her, starting with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and ending with a piñata and a party at her apartment. The whole internship was invited to go to lunch and then to hang out at the mall afterwards.

I found myself in a quandary. (I ought to get into quandaries more often…it’s such a fun word to say!) I’ve been praying a lot about evangelism and stepping out in faith more to prophesy and pray for healing, etc. I really wanted to take the opportunity to go evangelising on Thursday afternoon as I normally do, especially since I have so little time left to do it in this kind of environment. (Seriously. A MONTH AND A HALF LEFT.) But I also really wanted to celebrate my friend’s birthday with her and build a memory with a bunch of awesome people. So I finally decided to go to Cheesecake Factory, and I’m very glad I did. She was (mostly) surprised and we had a really fun time.

While we were waiting for our table to be ready, some of us decided to go evangelise in the area. I got super excited and was thanking God that I don’t have to be on a scheduled outreach to bring the Kingdom! We grouped up and spread out, but about ten minutes later the birthday girl showed up and we all went inside. My partner and I didn’t really have any opportunities, but two of the other guys prayed for two people in that ten minutes. (Can I just take a moment to say that my OTI guys are AWESOME. Most of them are like my little brothers. They constantly provoke me to love Jesus more.)

Even though it was a birthday party and not a planned outreach, when a bunch of on-fire young people get together in public eager to be used by God, he can’t resist the opportunity! We decided to prophesy over our server. She was so bubbly and friendly and helpful, we really wanted to bless her. A few of us got words for her, and she was really touched. She started sharing a few things that were going on in her boyfriend’s family that have really been difficult for her. And God met her in the middle of her workday with the truth that he loves her and his eye is on her. It was a very special and fun thing to be used by God in. (And we all left generous tips, don’t worry.) I want to keep praying that God keeps encountering her and wooing her heart!

Today was special for me because it reminded me that I really can be a conduit of the Kingdom anywhere I go. I don’t have to choose between outreach and birthday party—literally anywhere is prime ground for the Kingdom to break out! This is just a tiny taste of what it’s supposed to be like.

God, give me eyes to see what you’re doing, ears to hear what you’re saying, and the faith and boldness to follow up and step out. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

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Testimony Saturday: Art Museum and the Edge of Hell

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life1 Comment

Sorry this is a bit late to be a proper Testimony Thursday, but I decided I wanted to wait and put the testimonies from Thursday and Friday up together.

On Thursday I went on outreach for the first time in three weeks. (Two weeks ago we all had to be at a conference, and one week ago we were all on midterm break.) We decided to visit the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art to evangelise. It wasn’t exactly the ideal spot, but we did have a few awesome divine appointments. I wandered around with two other interns. We ended up spending forty minutes talking to an 80-year-old Catholic security guard. We gave him a few prophetic words and he was very encouraged and amazed that we could actually hear God speak to us! In his theology only the saints could do that. We talked to him for about 45 minutes and he was so blessed and encouraged. He is a gem, so faithful to God in his workplace and in his family.

Last night we were at the EGS service at FCF before our outreach to the Edge of Hell haunted house district in Kansas City. I have to start with what happened at FCF because it was freaking incredible. During worship, one of the leaders got a prophetic word that God wanted to break the spirit of oppression off of people. People started speaking out to get free from stuff, because the power of life and death is in the tongue, and spiritual warfare isn’t done quietly in “receiving” mode. I prayed for the girl next to me and prophesied over her (which is something I don’t often do during services, but I was getting all fired up for outreach later and I decided I might as well jump into partnership with Holy Spirit a little early!). Then we all started singing in tongues for a good 30 minutes or so. Praying in the Spirit is powerful, guys. Heaven was coming into that auditorium.

I believe God ambushed that service just for the 60 or so of us who were going to Edge of Hell. He empowered us and prepared us in a very unique way, and the other thousand or so in the room got to reap the side benefits of God having his eye on us. We all got SO stirred up and filled and ready to rock when we had to leave towards the end of worship to jump on our bus. And then we proceeded to loudly pray and sing all the way there.

IHOP has been going for several years to this area to do outreach, and for several weeks this year alone. Last night was a bit more complicated than usual because there was a mix-up with where our bus was supposed to take us, so instead of assembling at the missions base to brief and then going to Edge of Hell inconspicuously, we showed up in the parking lot downtown in our big school bus. The police of course noticed us immediately and told us we had to stay outside the blocked off areas where the actual haunted houses were. This cramped our style a bit, but God wasn’t the least bit shocked or intimidated, so we spread out and started talking to people.

I was with one of the IHOP evangelism staff, Josh MacDonald and a couple of other interns. We considered breaking the rules and going beyond the barrier anyway, but eventually decided that wasn’t our direction, so we started walking along the street and ran into a free hot chocolate station a local church had set up! We talked to them for maybe ten minutes, prayed for them, and healed a guy’s ankle. His foot had been cut OFF in an accident some time ago and reattached at the hospital, then divinely healed so there was no pain, but the pain had been creeping back in. Josh prayed and commanded that thing to be healed, and ten seconds later, the guy was jumping up and down with a big smile on his face. Hallelujah. That same guy actually prophesied over me before we left. He had the name “Caitlyn” in his head before I even introduced myself, and the words he gave me were totally dead on and really encouraging.

A while later, we went into a vintage shop several of us really felt drawn to. It was an cool little place, very artsy and unique, but also quite covered in intense Halloween freakiness and we definitely sensed some very dark spirits. We wandered around checking out the antiques and praying for a couple people, but still not sure what God had for us. One of the interns suddenly remembered that God had given him a dream of this very shop two years ago. Eventually we met a woman who worked there and it soon became clear that she was why we were there. She was a Christian and she had been hit by a car a number of years ago, and the entire lower half of her body was still out of whack. We prayed a couple times and the pain wasn’t leaving, then Josh got a word of knowledge that one of her legs was shorter than the other. She readily acknowledged this to be true, so we sat her down and commanded the right leg to grow. It did–too far! (This is a fairly common occurrence when legs grow out, by the way. God likes to play.) So we then commanded the left leg to grow to match it. (I have to say that even though I’ve seen legs grow out a good dozen times or so, I can’t always actually clearly see the difference. This time was CLEAR.)

The woman was very encouraged and we prayed for her again. My roommate and I prophesied over her, and the woman started crying and sharing her story. She’s been through so much, but she’s not bitter and she’s a powerful light in dark places. She amazes me. It was past closing time when we left and we were the only ones in the store, but before letting us out she sang us a beautiful song about loving sacrificially like Jesus. Heaven touched earth, I tell you. Here in this dark shop where hell had a stronghold, light was shining brightly.

Our group wasn’t the only one that saw God move. There were a lot of healings and several people really considering giving their life to Jesus. [EDIT: Actually, from what I later heard, at least 7 people actually DID get saved that weekend!!] This is a Facebook status from an intern:

Went to the Edge of Hell Haunted Houses tonight and met a woman who had a headache and stomach pain and both were completely healed. Then she looked up at me and told me she was 100% blind and after I prayed she was seeing light and movement for the first time ever and she said the pressure and pain behind her eyes was completely gone! Come on!!!!! Hallelujah!

Amen. God is good! He uses ordinary people to touch a desperate world with power and love.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:5)

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Testimony Thursday – Welcome to the Kingdom!

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

Today was BY FAR my favourite outreach day. We went again to UMKC, which as I said before is my favourite location at which to evangelise. I was with a woman in the evangelism department named Julie who looks like a little ol’ grandma but packs a powerful punch in the spirit. She will talk to anyone, and people listen to her as she simply and boldly lays out the gospel. She frequently ends up praying with people to accept Jesus. Today, I went out with her and a fellow One Thing intern who had never evangelised before. I kinda knew what I was doing, but it usually goes pretty awkwardly, and the testimonies I come back with are usually that we had a divine appointment and got to bless someone’s day. And maybe something minor got healed. Which is great–we’re definitely planting seeds, but I personally have never witnessed anyone get saved or even radically healed on the street before.

What we did today, or rather what we watched Julie do, is pass out cards advertising the prayer room. Those allowed us to get a bit of a gauge on how open a person was. From there Julie would ask if the person had a church, and then would share a bit of her testimony of growing up in church but never really understanding the gospel till much later when she finally confessed her sins and accepted Christ. Then she would ask if the person had ever done something like that, and if not, she would explain the message of the cross and ask them if they would like to pray that prayer.

Simple enough, right? We talked to ten or so people this way, and THREE of them got saved, and FIVE came really close!!

The first was a girl who may have been Indian, I’m not really sure. She had no experience with Christianity at all, and she was really receptive when we told her about the cross. She prayed the little salvation prayer with Julie, but I didn’t get the feeling she really knew what she was doing. So let’s pray that the seed fell on good soil and God keeps revealing himself to her!

The other two we prayed with were Arabic and probably Muslim. They were very interested in the prayer room, and as we started to talk to them they both pulled out little Gideon New Testaments they had been given earlier that week! (Come on, UMKC Christian clubs, keep it up, God’s watering your seed!) They said that they really wanted to read them but couldn’t understand them, because they were in English as well as NKJV. Just as I was about to get their addresses so I could buy them some Arabic Bibles, the other intern with us had the brilliant idea of Bible apps for smartphones! One of the guys handed her his phone, and she quickly found him an Arabic Bible app. He was very excited, and both of them intend to read it. Julie also got them connected with IHOPKC’s Arabic ministry.

We talked to them for probably fifteen or twenty minutes, and after we prayed for salvation with them, they said they felt a lot of peace. It was incredibly glorious to watch God work like that!

UMKC really is one massive open heaven right now. People are so, so open to having spiritual conversations (as long as they’re not late for class) and many are really hungry and searching. Plus, it’s perfect for me, because I know college students.  I know the search for knowledge and purpose. I understand the skepticism as well as the openness, because this generation is willing to try anything, but they don’t want to do it blindly. We talked to one guy who was some sort of art major and had been studying a lot of different religions. He hasn’t committed to Christianity yet, but he was telling us what made the biblical narrative, from the Fall all the way to the cross, so unique. He was intelligent, articulate, receptive, and looking at it all through the lens of an artist. If he hadn’t been on his way to class, I would have loved to spend an hour talking with him. (Get him, God. I want to have coffee with him in the Millennium.)

Jesus is so jealous for UMKC. He loves that campus. Those students were born to be his bride and his inheritance; they just don’t know it yet. And it’s my privilege to get to tell them.

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'”
(Matthew 9:35-38)

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