News & Updates.

The following report is from Pastor Ricardo Rinteria, who participated on the team leading this launch.

On May 15-17 a new College of Prayer Campus was launched in Guadalajara. For 3 days we gathered at Iglesia Alianza Cristiana Príncipe de Paz, which is on the top floor of a building. It is literally an “Upper Room" and God showed up in that Upper Room! Our team, led by Rev. Luis Calderon (Regional Director for Latin America), along with a group of more than 7 churches represented, experienced a fresh encounter with God. Here are some highlights:

• During the mornings we held a College of Prayer Advanced Leadership Training (ALT) with a group of about 20 church leaders. We had great times of worship and teaching from Luis and Pastor Joshua Bencomo from El Paso, TX. All the people at the ALT experienced God in powerful ways. We felt God’s manifest presence and His Holy Spirit working in our hearts as we were there. Each of those attending were empowered to launch new College of Prayer Campuses. There were 8 commitments made to start College of Prayer Campuses around Guadalajara and Mexico City, some as early as July! Praise the Lord!
  
• In the evenings we had the Campus launch with Module 1, Lord, Teach us to Pray! More than 100 people gathered to worship and learn about prayer. 
  
• God manifested Himself in powerful ways: people repented, there were reconciliations in families, healings, a time of hearing God’s voice, worship,  and intercession. God’s Spirit was moving and touching the lives of everyone there!
  
• The last night concluded with teens being prayed over, and then they prayed for healing for the adults! Pastor Luis said, “These teens aren’t the future of the church, they are the PRESENT!” God used these teens to lift up others in prayer. There was also a time to pray for pastors, missionaries, and other church leaders. Attendees came beside them and lifted their arms like Aaron and Hur did for Moses. This was very meaningful for both pastors and the church. 

On a personal note, I felt privileged to lead worship during these times. I thank and praise God for giving me this wonderful opportunity. Praise God for what He started here in Guadalajara! It’s exciting to know that He will continue the work here and soon in Mexico City! Mexico belongs to Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!

Last week the College of Prayer went to prison! Specifically, to Georgia Diagnostic & Classification State Prison in Jackson, GA to hold a Prayer on Fire Gathering. We not only felt the favor of God, we felt the pleasure of God! It was awesome. We thank God for Eric Dewayne, who opened this door, and his leadership anointing. He genuinely loves the inmates and it was obvious that God has given him favor and authority. It is truly an honor to team up with him and his significant ministry and calling. The prison Chaplain, Mr. Miller, is also a great man who walks in authority.

Despite the many changes to our schedule, we were able to serve one group of 101 inmates for an hour and forty minutes. We were able to lead them in high worship, deep repentance, receiving forgiveness, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to be empowered for ministry. Praise the Lord. It was a prototype Upper Room encounter with Christ. Rev. Donn Thomas taught on breaking the orphan spirit and healing the father wound and Fred Hartley, III taught on the Lord’s Prayer Pattern. There was a unanimous sense of God’s hand on the gathering.

The second group was smaller—probably 45 inmates whom we were able to minister to for 75 minutes. Donn again shared on the father wound and God’s grace in putting us "in family." We stayed on that track the entire session. We ended with healing prayer stations where every inmate who wanted it came up for personal prayers of blessing. 

It was a good beginning. We look forward to teaming up with Eric Dewayne again to see where this goes, as God opens doors. Because this is a Diagnostic Prison, 90% of the inmates (2,350 total) come and go every 6 weeks. This means the potential of the College of Prayer going from this prison to other prisons throughout the state is higher than at any other prison. Pray with us as we seek God for His strategy to serve the prison system.

Church leaders from 12 nations, 20 states, 71 churches, and 8 denominations gathered in Atlanta, February 9-11 for our annual iGNITE Conference. It ended up being our largest iGNITE ever. The theme this year was Ignite Your Calling. Teaching focused on how our spiritual gifts affirm and support our calling as well as how we define our calling. There were many God-encountering moments of high worship, repentance, freedom, and empowerment. One of the high moments was celebrating our 20th year as a ministry. It was fun to look back at all God has done in just a short time. If you would like to download or order the CD of teaching sessions, please click here.

During my first encounter with the College of Prayer, I experienced freedom from expectations on my life, other than from Christ. I recognized that if I was going to be the man that God created me to be, my focus needed to be on Him at all times, no matter what. I couldn’t worry about what others thought. The Lord also made it clear to me that the College of Prayer is what our area needed if we were going to see a revived church at the Jersey Shore, and I believe He has commissioned me to start the process of establishing a campus.

In my heart, the College of Prayer is the real deal regarding Christ and the gift of His Holy Spirit. It brings the light of Christ to dark and oppressed areas such as ours, because its mission is to build God-encountering prayer environments. These are not new teachings, nor is it a replacement for the local church, but rather it is a God-provided opportunity to come together and be unified in His Name; empowering us to reach the lost in our communities.

I can testify that at each session of the College of Prayer that I’ve attended, Christ is exalted; Christ is encountered; and His Kingdom is advanced. All the teachings are based on the Lord’s prayer pattern found in Luke 11. As a pastor of a local church, I see the College of Prayer as a tool to help identify, train and equip disciples to work together through their church, their neighborhoods and beyond. Because the only thing that is going to change our local culture will be a powerful movement of the Lord.

Psalm 2:8 says “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” If [this] scripture is true, and it is, then the size of our ministry is determined by the size of our prayer life. Not the type of prayer meetings that pray for our loved ones, but prayer meetings where we seek the face of God in worship; that call us to repentance; where we pray to rid the land of idols and demolish strongholds; with a passion to see Christ’s Kingdom advanced.
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There are many seminars you can attend to give you head knowledge. Many concerts you can go to [that] entertain you and help you feel good. But the proof is in whether or not spiritual transformation comes and empowers you to be part of what God wants to do in reaching the lost and hurting of our communities. The College of Prayer’s mission is to help us make that happen!

~ Mike Dryburgh, Pastor at King of Kings in Manahawkin, NJ

At the beginning of June our New York City Campus met for the second year. The module was, "Lord, As Families, Teach Us to Pray!" There was powerful times of worship, repentance, healing and freedom. Here are two powerful testimonies.

With the rapid expansion of the College of Prayer International, we have had a need to add a new Church Relations Director who can work pastor-to-pastor with local churches throughout the U.S. When we wrote out the qualities we wanted in this new position—highly relational, good communicator, pastoral, well organized, administrative—there was one person whose name stood out to us. We are pleased to announce that Rev. Fred Hartley, IV will be joining our International Leadership Team in June 2016.

Fred Hartley, IV has had 15 years of pastoral experience serving congregations in Ohio, Florida and Minnesota. He got his Masters Degree in Leadership at Columbia International University and his undergrad at Toccoa Falls College. Fred has an unusual combination of gifts being both strongly relational and compassionate, as well as administrative and organizational. He will be a perfect addition to our small and efficient Leadership Team based in Northeast Atlanta. 

A month ago when Fred’s name surfaced, in order to avoid any conflict of interest due to family relationship, our President, Fred Hartley, III, stepped aside and asked Jon Mitchell (Executive Director) and Don Young (Pioneer Director) to conduct the initial interview and to oversee the vetting process. Both men were highly impressed with Fred IV's character, strengths and fit. They both gave him two thumbs up. These are exciting days. Please join us in praying for Fred and his precious family as they move to Atlanta and begin this next exciting season of ministry.

Fred and his wife Joanna have four children: Allan (13), Gabrielle (11) Luke (8) & Isaac (2). Fred loves to spend quality time with his family, do evangelism and play an occasional round of golf.

Christ met us in Atlanta during our annual iGNITE Conference! Praise the Lord. The highlights were many:

• iGNITE 2016 had the largest attendance of any annual conference we've ever held.
• In the offering Friday night one person gave what was equivalent to 3 years salary from their country. Another gave their 30th anniversary diamond wedding rings!
• The worship was Christ-encountering under anointed leadership of Yoly Sostre.
• At least 30 new people stepped up saying, “I want to plant a campus of the College of Prayer in my region” or “I want to take the College of Prayer to a new country.”
• During previous years our iGNITE Conference was a conference; this year Christ turned iGNITE into a movement. He definitely set iGNITE on fire!