In the midst of a late January 2016 snowstorm, members of the Dunamis Fellowship International gathered from all over the world in the mountains of Western North Carolina to worship together, to hear and experience what God is doing through PRMI, to renew their commitment to the ten tenets of the fellowship, and to pray about the direction God would have PRMI take during the coming year.
This year the fellowship celebrated the fifty year history of PRMI, both to give thanks for how far we’ve come and to better discern God’s direction for our next fifty years of ministry.
History and Strategy: Mobilizing Global Intercession
On the first morning, fellowship member Rev. Tom Willcox and PRMI’s Executive Director, Rev. Brad Long, spoke about what God has done through this ministry.
They covered the history from PRMI’s founding in 1966 as a small organization of Presbyterian pastors committed to bringing renewal and revival to the Presbyterian Church in the United States and Canada, to its current role as an international and inter-denominational community.
They shared how God has called PRMI to create a global context of prayer and unity in which the Holy Spirit can use believers to advance the gospel and to bring revival throughout the world.
In order to better fulfill this calling, this year’s teaching focused on PRMI’s global strategy for mobilizing intercession and establishing the containers or framework that will allow PRMI to retain its character and purpose across cultures and into the future.
Returning the Gospel to Jerusalem
On Saturday, Rev. Doug McMurry outlined how PRMI’s vision for the current wave of gospel expansion and revival fits into the Westward movement of revivals and awakenings throughout history, beginning when the gospel first went out from Jerusalem.
The goal of PRMI, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and believers around the world, is to bring this movement full circle by creating a context for advancing the gospel in the Middle East, specifically among Muslims, eventually returning the spread of revival to Jerusalem.
Gathering and Fellowship
“The People Who Use Chopsticks”
Establishing and strengthening international connections is crucial to mobilizing the kind of intercession that tears down strongholds and provides a context for the Holy Spirit to work.
Pastors like John Chang and Ben Torrey have helped to provide PRMI with open doors to “the people who use chopsticks” (China, Korea, and Japan), cultures that are uniquely positioned and experiencing a call to share the gospel with the Muslim world.
The 2016 Jerusalem Prayer Initiative
The Rev. Brad Long also spoke about PRMI’s upcoming Jerusalem Prayer Initiative (February 8-21, 2016), a trip which will allow PRMI intercessors to pray for revival and forge strategic connections with the Messianic Jewish community in Israel.
The Sheepfold Prayer House: Under Construction
Another component of this global prayer strategy is much closer to home. The Sheepfold Prayer House is a structure near the Community of the Cross designed to house intercessors as they cooperate with the Holy Spirit, praying for revival and kingdom advancement.
Onsite Prayer
Members of the Dunamis Fellowship walked through the house, which is still under construction, asking God to prepare it as a place set apart for strategic prayer.
Afterwards, some chose to walk and pray at the Community of the Cross, then joined in a time of fellowship at the log house.
PRMI’s Pattern Language
As PRMI crosses these cultural boundaries and looks to the future, there is a need to outline our “pattern language”, the written framework that describes the DNA of the ministry and allows others to maintain the character and purpose of PRMI.
The Rev. Martin Boardman identified seventeen patterns essential to the charisma of PRMI, focusing on the ministry’s commitment to submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ, cooperation with the Holy Spirit, and apostolic, visionary leadership.
He also reaffirmed PRMI’s commitment to discerning God’s vision for direction and our reliance on volunteers to bring that vision to fruition.
Celebrating Fifty Years of PRMI and Discerning Vision for the Future
The Dunamis Fellowship International is coming away from this time of fellowship and refreshing with a renewed vision and sense of identity as a ministry.
We hope that, according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, you will partner in prayer with PRMI throughout the coming year as we continue to discern God’s vision for kingdom advancement and establish the strategic international prayer connections that create a context for the Holy Spirit to work.
We look forward to seeing where the Holy Spirit will lead us in the next fifty years of prayer and ministry.
