News & Updates.

In March we have seen Kingdom advancement across Uruguay. The week before everything shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders and members from six churches gathered in Tranqueras for the beginning of the third year of the College of Prayer in Uruguay. Our friends Jon Mitchell and Hiram Sostre came and facilitated the weekend Module and were greatly used by God. There was never so much anticipation going into the weekend.  The week before the Module, we received many messages of people telling us of their excitement about what was coming. Their previous engagements had whet their appetite, and they didn't know exactly what was coming, but they knew Jesus' presence would be manifested. God met His people in deep and powerful ways during those two days. One impactful moment was a breakthrough lament. Nationwide, Uruguayans experience deep depression and discouragement, high suicide and divorce rates, shattered families, and deep emotional wounds, often with no place to honestly grieve. Timbrel and I recognized the lament immediately and discerned it as the group began to release their tears. It was gurgling out of people's souls as they wept for their country. It was beautiful, and as people processed, they were able to give their laments to God. There were high moments of worship, anointed teaching, deep repentance, and the people left empowered to reach a lost world through what is becoming a revived church.

The following report is from Rev. Fred Hartley, IV, Church Relations Director for the College of Prayer International. 

​This last month we have launched two new College of Prayer Hub Campuses in the northeast and northwest of India. These Campuses will serve to mentor, train, and equip pastors and church leaders who will launch and lead their own Campuses in their regions. 

The first training was held in the state of Gujarat. This is also home to one of the largest unreached people groups on earth, the Gujarati, numbering almost 45 million people. There were 85 pastors with us. Several came worn out from ministry. During our time together in the presence of God, we could see their burdens lift and the love of Christ filled their hearts. One pastor, who was there with his family reported on the last day that our time together saved his ministry. The power of forgiveness lesson brought freedom of bitterness he held against many people. We started high and kept going higher over our three days together.

The second training was in Bihar, which is a state in the northeast of India. This area is known for being a place of heavy persecution towards Christians. We had roughly 100 who participated in our training. Many of them told us stories of how they have endured persecution. This training started slow, many pastors traveled through the night to attend, so they were tired. We sought Christ together and breakthrough came with the lesson on Receiving the Father’s Love. There was one woman who shared that she was healed of terrible migraines. For the first day and a half she struggled, but following one of the teachings, Christ set her free and she was healed. There were many who testified to being renewed and transformed by Christ during our time together. We finished this training with a significant time of prayer asking Christ for the nations.

God is moving in India. Even despite the opposition to the gospel, Christ is building His church, a praying church. We learned from our National Director of India that there are now 18,000 Campuses of the College of Prayer, and we are now training roughly 600,000 church leaders. Each of the pastors and leaders we trained are anticipating launching their own Campuses in the next 3-6 months. To God be the glory!

​The following report was submitted by Rev. Willy Muyabwa, Regional Director for Central and East Africa. 
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In partnership with Pastor Dale Rintelman in Bukavu, then with Pastor Joel Kangas and his team in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, God has rapidly extended His Kingdom through the College of Prayer International. We have successfully launched new Hub Campuses in Bukavu, DRC (July 11-13), Kinshasa, DRC (August 7-9), and in Lubumbashi, DRC (August 12-14). We trained and equipped 116 leaders in Bukavu, 260 leaders in Kinshasa and 160 leaders in Lubumbashi. Both the attendance and the results were beyond our expectations!

In all those places, I was amazed to see how God connected my heart to the hearts of the College of Prayer leaders from America as we were ministering in His Presence. Only God can do that and make such a great impact! Church leaders throughout DRC signed the Upper Room Manifesto and filled the Pioneer Proposal to plant new College of Prayer Campuses. In Bukavu, leaders committed themselves to plant 118 Campuses this year and 319 Campuses in the next five years. In Kinshasa, leaders committed themselves to plant 186 Campuses this year and 301 Campuses in the next five years. In Lubumbashi, leaders committed themselves to plant 82 Campuses this year and 223 Campuses in the next five years. So far, I have received good news of 17 new Campuses planted recently as the result of our training and mentorship!

The following report is from Rev. Fred Hartley, IV, Church Relations Director for the College of Prayer International. 

This past June I traveled to Kenya to assist Rev. Willy Muyabwa (Regional Director for Central & East Africa) in the launch of a College of Prayer Hub Campus in Eldoret, Kenya. Two pastors from Kenya, Matthew and Joel, attended our annual iGNITE Conference in Atlanta last February and left with a vision to bring the College of Prayer to their nation. They gathered key influential pastors throughout Kenya for the launch. We were expecting 65 pastors to attend and we had well over 100. There were pastors representing every county in Kenya. In addition, three pastors from Uganda came and another pastor traveled two days by bus from Tanzania. God moved in our time together, transforming the hearts of pastors, taking them deeper in their prayer lives and empowering them to go back and launch Regional and Local Church Campuses in their towns. The Pioneer Proposals indicate that there will be 133 Campuses launched this next year, by the grace of God. I was able to teach four lessons and facilitate several prayer times. I am receiving emails from pastors who were in attendance with reports of all that Christ did, and is continuing to do, in their lives. These are exciting days for Kenya and I’m humbled and thankful to be a part of it.

The following report is from Rev. Fred Hartley, III after his recent trip to Senegal. Images are altered to protect identities. 

​Last week I had the privilege of serving alongside Pastor Gabriel S., our Regional Director for West & North Africa. I was part of a small team that included Bill Hyer and Suno Justus, and we were there to serve North African believers. We helped Pastor Gabriel facilitate a two day College of Prayer Module at his Regional Campus, teaching our Year 2 curriculum “Lord, as Families, Teach us to Pray.” Immediately following that, we helped Pastor Gabriel facilitate 2 days of establishing his Hub Campus (which mentors College of Prayer Campus leaders). God came at both gatherings. Allow me to share a few short stories.

1. One man who had come to Christ from another religious background a year ago, had been rejected by his wife and son. The man continued to love his wife and son, remain loyal to them, and send the majority of his limited income to help with their support. After much prayer, his wife responded to the love of Christ as demonstrated through her husband. After the first night of our meeting, she repented, asked his forgiveness, and professed faith in Jesus. Praise the Lord!

2. The foundational teaching of our Year 2 curriculum challenged the cultural standards and led the group in repentance. Husbands repented of treating their wives as less-than-human, and women seemed to blossom like flowers before our eyes. It was transformational and historic.

3. Perhaps the highlight of the entire trip were reports that were shared from virtually every country represented. Over the past 2 years, we have trained most of these same leaders to go home and establish upper rooms of prayer where they would receive the manifest presence of Christ and minister to His presence. Virtually every leader gave dramatic reports that since they began their upper room, God has radically changed the spiritual atmosphere in their region. Now, there are people coming to faith in Christ from the dominant religion in virtually every country and every region within the country where upper rooms have been built. 

4. Many shared painful experiences of being persecuted for their faith. At the same time, they shared dramatic miracles of God’s intervention.

• - One boy who came to Christ was threatened to be killed by his father. His dad went out to recruit his friends from the dominant religion to come and kill him. While he waited, locked in his room, he found himself instantly and miraculously transported to another location. Everyone knew immediately, including his own father, that God had worked a miracle to protect him.
• - One man was praying with his wife and family in their upper room when people from the dominant religion broke in and beat him mercilessly. They cracked open his skull. Blood was everywhere. He responded by praising the Lord and forgiving those who beat him. Within days, the atmosphere changed. Since then, many people from the dominant religion have come to faith in Jesus Christ. He has since had the privilege of baptizing many of them.

Thank you for praying for our trip. God is on the move in dramatic ways. It is obvious that missionaries on the ground in Senegal who have played a strategic part in bringing the College of Prayer to this region are the real heroes in this story. We are thankful to be able to serve them as they have given a lifetime of service to make this moment possible. 

Jon Mitchell recently returned from a trip to Sri Lanka and Nepal. He spent time at our Hub Campuses in these nations. He writes the following report:

Thanks to so many of you who interceded for me on my recent trip back to Nepal and Sri Lanka to continue mentoring and training College of Prayer leaders in these nations. It was a great encouragement for me to see how God is using us to strengthen, grow, and unify the Church in South Asia, and it’s always a blessing to minister alongside our leaders “on the ground” there who work so hard to coordinate, lead, and minister day-in and day-out. Here are a few testimonies:

“Before attending this College of Prayer I was empty. Now after the 3 days I'm completely filled.” - Nepalese Church Leader

“Last year [March 2018] I attended the College of Prayer and the teachings and experience I had were different than any other meetings I have ever had. I went and held the College of Prayer in my church and there are many changes that have happened in the church and we could see the growth in ministry afterwards.” - Sri Lankan Church Leader

“Thirty-two years now I have been ministering but I have never heard of the secret of the Lord's Prayer Pattern, especially the 7 rooms of prayer. It was a new revelation to me. I am thinking, ‘How could I waste 32 years of ministry without knowing this?’ The time we had of destroying the strongholds of satan I felt some strongholds in my mind that were hindering me. God healed me and gave me freedom from all those strongholds. Also, I felt the importance of ministering to the presence of God. Many times we minister for the Lord and we are proud of that, but ministering to the presence of God is very important.” - Sri Lankan Pastor

After several years of ministry in Brazil, we have officially launched our first Hub Campus in São Paulo. Approximately 35 key church leaders were mentored and trained for 3 full days and were empowered to go out and launch College of Prayer Regional Campuses throughout the country. The evening sessions were open to the public. Over the next few months 9 new Campuses will be launching from São Paulo to the southern part of the country. ​Key leaders part of this Hub Campus include Pastor Zé Frietas, our National Coordinator in Brazil, his wife Glaucia Frietas, and Beatrice Koopmann.

The annual gathering of the College of Prayer International, iGNITE, was held February 7-9 in Atlanta, GA. The theme this year was "Proclaim His Name!" It was the largest annual gathering we have ever had with church leaders from 15 nations were represented. The three days were filled with God-encountering worship, Spirit-led prayer times, powerful teaching, and life-giving fellowship. Here are a few of the testimonies we received:

"I have been healed. I felt the love and embrace of my beloved Father. Now I feel empowered to reach the nations (my workplace) and come in the name of the Lord."
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"As I go back, I will, lead with His name and proclaim His name. There is nothing the name of the Lord can't cover!"

"God gave a name [to me] in the 1st session. It confirmed my past ministry and present service. It has given encouragement and confirmation for my next steps of obedience."

"He restored my soul. He brought me back to center. Life drags us off the trail and leaves us parched, but worship fills us and renews us."

"He demonstrated just how much He loves me. He showed me that He directs my every step. He showed me that He will place/position me exactly where I need to be for Him to equip me for His will/plan/destiny for my life. He will equip/prepare me for Himself."

"Ignite helped me to see love and equality among all races."

"I definitely grew closer to [God] during this time. Every problem I had was mentioned through people who don't know me. God gave me the clarification I needed."

"This opened my heart more to call out His name in the beginning of my prayer and at the end of my prayer and to declare His Lordship of everything He has given me. The best thing He gave me was Him. That is why He will always be the Lord of my life."

"I came to iGNITE for the first time this year. I have to learn to pray, to trust and believe in Jesus. I came on Thursday in pain [in my arm]. That did not stop me from worshiping and so many brothers and sisters were praying for my healing. By the time service was almost over Friday, I was without pain. Today, I have no pain. Although the bone is not healed, I have no pain. I truly believe that God made a miracle."

Thank you for your prayers for the recent College of Prayer at our Tranqueras, Uruguay Campus that was held January 4-5! Here’s some highlights of what we saw God do:

• Pastoral couples and ministry leaders were so receptive to the teaching and very tender during times of response.
• It was a weekend of seeing God activate prayer among families as they were led in actually praying together. There is no way to estimate the kingdom impact that comes from agreement in prayer among families!
• College of Prayer leaders Jimbo and Timbrel Hull both taught. Jimbo taught on Death to Self, Alive to Love and Timbrel taught on Healing Wounds. We saw Jesus redeem many painful memories. It was a heavy morning on Saturday, but God ministered deeply to people. It hurts so much to relive those tragic moments, but God removed many stings of death that had landed so deeply in peoples hearts. The message on Death to Self paved the way to complete openness to God’s healing hand. 
• We continue to be amazed at how the host church for this College of Prayer Campus has been impacted as they ingest and apply what they have learned from College of Prayer to their already existing model of ministry/discipleship. Worship leaders knelt as they sang and shared testimonies about surrendering in worship first and enjoying God’s presence. Ministry leaders shared stories with Luis about how God has begun to speak through them, giving even shy leaders capacity to minister specifically to others with the prayers that God gave them 

We praise God for all He is doing through the College of Prayer both in Tranqueras and throughout Uruguay.