News & Updates.
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We have officially launched the College of Prayer in our 48th country--Ethiopia! We talk often in our ministry about having opportunity to impact whole nations. That cannot be overstated as it pertains to Ethiopia. We literally have before us an opportunity to mentor, train, and equip almost 10% of the population. There are roughly 99 million Ethiopians, and over 9 million of them are part of the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, the denominational movement that has asked us to serve them. We also had another unexpected opportunity come to us while we were there. EKHC leaders asked us to come minister to a group of 100 Christian parliament leaders. So, Fred Hartley went while Jon Mitchell continued teaching our module. About 75 parliament leaders showed up and after Fred spent some time ministering to them, they voted unanimously and eagerly to have their own College of Prayer campus for parliament leaders which will launch in June 2017. Talk about discipling a nation! The EKHC also has over 140 Bible Colleges and 10 Seminaries. Over time they want the College of Prayer taught at each location along with establishing Regional Campuses in 10 zones and 9,000 Local Church Campuses throughout the country. It's quite overwhelming. Thank you so much for your prayers. God is responding!
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The following report is from Rev. Jon Mitchell, Executive Director for College of Prayer International. After thousands of miles and over 80 hours by plane and car, 14 days away, 5 different hotels, 15 times preaching/teaching to roughly 850 lay leaders and pastors, at least 4 confirmed physical healings (including partial deafness and kidney malfunction), 1 church dedicated in a village where I was the first American ever to visit, lots of emotional healings, many marriages restored and revived, significant times of repentance and forgiveness, powerful outpourings of God's love by the Holy Spirit on many wounded pastors and couples and lots and lots of spicy food, I'm home. The testimonies continue to come in, but let me give you three: My blood pressure was high before I came but God made a way for me to come and now my blood pressure is normal. Last year at the College of Prayer I learned to pray [personally], but now I have learned to pray with my family. Whenever I have come to these modules I have been boosted and encouraged. ~ Pastor Attendee We now have over 550 Regional and Local Church Campuses throughout India. Our conservative estimate is that somewhere between 30,000-45,000 pastors, church leaders and lay leaders are going through our curriculum. Many leaders of the ministry we are partnered with there (India Gospel League) have said this is the greatest partnership in terms of spiritual growth that they have ever had. The impact is tangible and significant. All of this growth has come in only 18 months. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
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. 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
This month begins the launch of a strategic initiative to launch hundreds of campuses across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our regional leaders, Willy Muyabwa and Kitunda Kisose, need our support financially and in prayer. We have a growing need to publish our three year curriculum and help scholarship pastors who would otherwise not be able to come. Will you join with us?
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. "I learned of College of Prayer through my local congregation. The most recent [module] was hosted at our church and I decided to attend as a volunteer. I had no idea what was in store. I was especially appreciative of the time I had to sit in on the worship, teaching sessions and fellowship. Having just turned 50 years old on the opening day of the [module], I felt impressed by God to commit this new season of my life to prayer by attending College of Prayer. By the Friday evening session, I experienced an overwhelming spiritual breakthrough regarding some past father-wound issues. This [modules] theme just happened to be 'Lord, As Families, Teach Us to Pray!' – that was no coincidence. I am grateful for the powerful teaching, worship and corporate prayer that were so instrumental in bringing me to a fresh, new place of healing and victory in my Christian journey, even after these many challenging years of emotional wounds and brokenness. Like the Apostle Paul, I am reminded of the words of Jesus, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). As a result of being a part of my first College of Prayer, I can truly say along with Paul, 'Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.' This birthday has been a milestone for me in more ways than one." "God did amazing healing and deliverance in me through my first ever College of Prayer. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew I was desperate for more of God. I was shocked to find how many things in my life, good and bad, I had never grieved over and how some roots of unforgiveness, fear, and shame still existed in my heart. God used the speakers and courage of people sharing to help me trust Him, submitting my pain and fears I thought were taken care of already, to give to him and never look back. Thank you Jesus and thank you College of Prayer!" God is using the College of Prayer as an excellent tool for revival in Swaziland. Leaders from various denominations testify of the College of Prayer's impact in their country. At their last monthly gathering, the Servant Leadership Team overseeing the campuses in Swaziland had very encouraging testimonies. These testimonies affirm the growth of unity and revival in the various local churches involved and the presence of God being manifested in healings and instant answers to prayers.
One of the miracles that affected several intercessors is the healing of Mr. Jeremiah Dlamini whose leg was wounded for several years. In the last monthly meeting of the College of Prayer, Mr. Dlamini testified that the hand of God touched him and his wound was completely healed. This evidence has encouraged many intercessors, and several members of his family accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Praise God! Jeremiah himself had no hope of using his left leg again. However, thanks to the power of God released through prayer, Jeremiah can now use his leg despite the scary scar. Currently we have 7 campuses in Swaziland, and leaders continue to spread the vision of the College of Prayer in other territories of the country. Please, pray for direction, protection and revelation in the life of Pastor Lewis Chomba, President of College of Prayer in Swaziland. Pray for our new leaders, that God would strengthen them and give them zeal and courage to continually share the vision. The printing of materials in English is an imperative necessity. Please pray for the provision to make this happen. 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. The College of Prayer continues its rapid expansion in India. Jon Mitchell, Executive Director, along with on-the-ground leaders in India, launched two new Regional Campuses in Chandigarh and Pune this month. These campuses are essentially "training the trainers." Over 200 were mentored, trained and equipped to begin launching Local Church Campuses around their areas. Jon reported that, "On Friday we had an incredibly powerful encounter with Christ. As the morning began with high worship, you could sense a shift in the spiritual atmosphere taking place. We began singing a song with the word "Hallelujah" used. It was absolutely a song with a breaker-anointing, and it opened the door to the manifest presence of Christ. I began to weep as Christ's presence began moving around the room. I moved to my knees. People began coming forward, repenting in His presence. Wave after wave of Christ's glory came over us. I finally got up, and I told the worship leader, 'Whatever you do, don't move away from that song ... stay there.' I began to declare His presence to those gathered, as did Stephen Sundilla. I cried as I declared that Christ was walking among us. People were in tears. I began to tell them that He was there also to answer the longings of their hearts, their prayers for healing, freedom and other requests that many of them had been praying for a long time, some even years. For almost an hour we stayed in this position of Christ moving among us and people responding. The SLT really didn't need to do anything as Christ was doing it all. I kept seeing Christ moving among those gathered, touching them. Another testified later that he, too, saw Christ moving among us. A woman testified that she saw an angel in white above us throwing white flower pedals down on us. It was a powerful time of encounter, breakthrough and ministry directly from Christ Himself. Truly all I could do was just worship Him, saying 'You are worthy, You are worthy.' The train of His robe filled the temple!" "After coming here I have learned many things. It is my first experience like this and I have been in ministry for 20 years! I am so thankful after coming here I feel I must be filled with the Holy Spirit and I must pray. I have also learned to forgive those who have sinned against me. What I will be making a priority now is prayer and what I have learned here I will go and teach." ~ Indian Pastor I just returned from Cuba where I and our College of Prayer team enjoyed one of the most fruitful weeks of ministry I have ever had. We served 720 pastors and church leaders representing 12 different denominations and overseeing 30,00-50,000 believers in all 15 provinces of Cuba. Their hunger and receptivity was overwhelming. Hundreds of pastors told us, “This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for. God sent you here at just the right time!”
When we asked how many of them wanted to start Local Church Campuses of the College of Prayer, virtually every hand went up. The picture at the bottom shows them holding up a white sheet of paper, which is their Pioneer Proposal. It's a commitment and strategy to see their churches become houses of prayer! Some of them oversee 30-50 local churches. All of them will be planting Local Church Campuses of the College of Prayer in the next month. This means that they will be planting more than 100 campuses of the College of Prayer every week for the next five weeks. Can you imagine -- it took us 15 years to plant the first 100 campuses of the College of Prayer worldwide; we are now planting 100 campuses each week for the next month and a half and 30,000-50,000 believers will be going through the College of Prayer curriculum in Cuba this Spring! All glory to Christ! Thank you for praying and providing. Fred Hartley, President |
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