How you can take part in this work that is advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ
We need your financial support, your participation and your prayer support!!
I am including a copy of the latest PRMI Ministry and Support letter. This is going out to our whole mailing list next week. I wanted you to see it now and join with us in praying for the support needed to accomplish the things the Lord is calling us to do.
To: PRMI Board of Directors, members of the Dunamis Fellowship, and friends of PRMI
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
Easter Greetings!! We give praise that Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life!
We are all so encouraged at the amazing and wonderful reality that is taking place from events in local congregations, to Dunamis Equipping events, to mission trips to far flung places around the globe. There is more ministry taking place and more people are being blessed then ever before.
All this blessing is made possible by each of you sharing in this work, through financial giving, participation and prayer. Thank you for your unique part in this vast tapestry of the Kingdom of God.
It is hard to believe that we are already into the spring of 2010! So, there is no looking back except to give thanks for all that God has done, then we are looking forward to what He is calling us into in the future.
Along with all the other on-going ministries of PRMI, there are three important areas that we need your involvement in for the next few months.
1) The Discernment Process: seeking guidance for the next decade of cooperating with the Holy Spirit
We are well into our discernment process, seeking God’s direction for the future. This process involves the PRMI International Board of Directors, the various regional expressions of the Dunamis Fellowship, and the Vision Implementation teams. In
the last ten year development plan, the process was carried out by the four PRMI ministry staff and the Board. Now it involves many!!! While this fits where we are as a ministry—not only equipping but now engaging others in leadership—this process is more complex and costly.
The Holy Spirit is indeed speaking, and giving guidance!!! The Lord is giving visions and directions for future work. We will be letting you know about all this guidance after the August Board meeting.
As we complete the first phase of this process and the Discernment Leadership Team begins the process of looking at the big picture of what God is calling us to do to follow Him in the future, we can count on Satan doing everything he can to block this. We can also count on some human interference too, as we deal with our own sin and fear of the future.
We also need to pray in more money to pay for this strategic work! Already this year we have spent 19,000 US$ on the discernment process. This has included many conference calls, prayer meetings, etc. That does not count the almost 70% of all staff time it has taken to do this these last few months.
This is especially critical right now because our general giving – that is, gifts that are sent in the mail – is down $34,000 so far this year!! Perhaps the economic situation is taking a toll.
This lack of money has presented us with the temptation to just drop the discernment process, and get back to the primary focus of doing ministry. But that is just what Satan would like for us to do. Any time we are not willing or able to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit; we are no longer in the dance of cooperating with the Holy Spirit and we risk compromising our call.
This discernment process is taking us into the long term future! It is ensuring that we, as a ministry, stay on track with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is the only way to take part in this great work of advancing the Kingdom of God.
Action Points – here is how you can help:
Please pray that the Holy Spirit will keep speaking to us about what He is calling us to – how we are to continue doing His work into the future.
Pray also that we will have the wisdom to sort out what is really from God, what just may be our own imagination, or what even may be demonic deception.
Pray for provision for the discernment process of about $40,000 and for the $60,000 per month needed just to sustain and keep growing the PRMI ministry.
Please give what you can to help us pay for this essential work for the future – the discernment process – and also to cover the general expenses of sustaining present ministry.
2) Guidance we have received about building a prayer porch by the river at the Community of the Cross
Let me give you some background for this so you can appreciate how important this guidance is. We have struggled as to why the Lord has not provided the rest of the money, about 600,000 US $ to move forward with building the prayer house. We were sure that He wanted that built first!
He did provide over $100,000 with which we planned the building. We were also clearly directed and given all the money needed to build the Ascension Point Longview Outdoor Prayer Chapel. But then it all seemed to stop.
We have wondered why. The Holy Spirit has been speaking to the Discernment Team for the Community of the Cross. They have been getting some very important guidance.
First, Cindy Strickler received the guidance that we needed to keep walking the land and praying on it, and further that the Holy Spirit was giving a pattern for this prayer that fit with the basic dynamic of prayer. We have some of this pattern of prayer already in place at the COC, but there were some parts missing.
In this 6:28 min video Clip, Rev. Cindy Strickler is describing the guidance she received
This pattern of prayer on the land includes:
- a place by the river, which would be a place to recommit ourselves to Jesus Christ,
- then to the Place of the Cross, which would be the place of confession and repentance,
- then to Ascension Point for receiving vision and praying for empowerment by the Holy Spirit,
- then to the prayer bench, the site of the future prayer house, for the work of intercession.
This is consistent with the original vision of praying and walking on the land. However, there are many people who never make it up to the Place of the Cross, and even fewer who can climb up to the Ascension Point. We have long needed a place that would be by the river and very accessible. When we heard this guidance there was an immediate “YES!!! This is right and the missing piece.”
Below are the drawings that Brewster Ward, our architect, has given us that reflect this guidance. He also priced out the materials to build this at just about $4000.
The Board has affirmed that this is from the Holy Spirit and part of His plan for building the Community of the Cross. There is the awareness that this needs to be built now and is part of the larger plan that the Holy Spirit has of mobilizing, equipping and deploying intercessors worldwide.
There is also the guidance that this is the next step in building the Community of the Crossas a place of encounter with Jesus Christ which will, at the right time, lead us into the prayer house and accommodations.
Action Points: Here is what we need for this!
- First we need work groups, who can come and help us build. Is the Lord calling you? Please let us know. It will take skilled carpenters and workers to put this together. We need teams this spring and we feel that this needs to be completed by this summer. Is the Lord speaking to any of you?
- We need about $10,000 for this project. It will be about $4000 for the materials, and another $2000 for the work of building the accessible path to the prayer place, then another $4000 for landscaping, along with the design and management of the project. (Also things just always cost more than we anticipate.)
- We need is people who are called to come to the Community of the Crossand just pray on the land. God told us to do that and there are many people who do. For instance, I do it everyday that I am here. Rain or shine!
Even if you cannot come to North Carolina, you can join us by envisioning these places and doing the Walk wherever you are. Click HERE to download a prayer walk using the prayer pattern described above. As these are basic building blocks for prayer, you can do this wherever you are.
3) Mobilizing, equipping and deploying Intercessors for praying down the demonic strongholds blocking the advancement of the Gospel in the world today.
I will update you on that huge need in the next Moving With the Spirit Online.
Thank you so much. I know this is a lot to pray about. But there is a lot going on!!! Thanks for praying and for giving!!!
In Christ,
Brad Long
PRMI Executive Director
