News & Updates.

​What a special three days we had at our Ignite conference this past month! The "Back to the Presence" theme lit a fire in our hearts and renewed our focus of being a people of One thing, of ministering to God's presence, and of ministering to others from His presence and out of the fullness we receive from being baptized in the Holy Spirit. It was such a joy to interact with others and encourage and pray for one another. God's faithfulness to meet with us led to amazing testimonies of physical and emotional healings along with two baptisms. 

One church leader said, "Ignite was such a blessing and highlight in my walk with Christ—especially gaining a deeper understanding of the manifest presence of God. Thanks to you and the College of Prayer team for an amazing event."

If you would like to access the teachings from Ignite, you can do so on our Revival Now Media platform. Please click here.

​A couple months ago I heard from a missionary friend about a revival happening in one of the worst prisons in our country of Uruguay. This is a ministry that began 20 years ago that saw little fruit until recent years. In the past year this ministry has exploded. He told me that half of the 1200 prisoners have accepted Christ in the last year. I had to go see what is happening for myself.

I went and was thrilled with what God is doing. There are multiple chapel services and prisoners are brought in about fifty at a time. They worship with all their heart, they soak in the word that is preached, and respond to the invitation. We then go to what was the most dangerous part of the prison and do it all again. I say “was” because in that part of the prison, about 120 prisoners have almost all come to Christ now. It is truly amazing. (The news of this has been so transformational that a national news channel did a special report on the transformation happening in this prison. Even a guard who was observing accepted Christ, amazed by the transformation she has seen.)

As we left that day after a full day of ministry, the main pastor who is leading this ministry led in prayer and asked God for strategy for what to do with this revival. I mentioned the idea of starting a school of prayer and the pastor was interested in hearing more. He asked me to present to the whole group of pastors this idea. After hearing an introduction to the College of Prayer, they were all in agreement that this is the direction God was leading. They asked me to train them, the pastors, along with the leaders they are discipling. They, in turn, would then would go into the prison and transmit what they received to the other prisoners.

So today I went and entered the prison and began training the pastors and prisoners who are leaders. We began with Year One, Lesson One, "Lord, Teach Us to Pray!" It was amazing. I felt as if I lit a match and threw it on a pile of hay. We started with the three strategic prayers and the fire of God’s presence ignited. The place erupted in deep prayer and God moved deeply in hearts and we almost didn’t get to the lesson. Our God is amazing!

​I just returned from a 2 week trip to Jordan and Lebanon. In Lebanon we officially launched the College of Prayer, with church leaders from at least 8 denominations and multiple ethnicities present. God showed up in such a display of love and unity that it was almost shocking for a nation and Church that has been so fractured and divided. At the end of our 3-day gathering a denomination President who attended said, “Whatever you need here just ask. We are ready. We need this.” Another one there said, “I want this available for every pastor in my denomination.”  One church leader said, “We have been dead, and living in a spiritual desert. This has brought back a spring of life—rivers of living water have returned. We have life again!” On and on the testimonies came. So, by the grace of God upper rooms have launched, a nationwide prayer movement has begun, and a strategy for continued mentorship is in place. All glory to Christ. 

​This past weekend we spent three days in Salto, Uruguay. We started Year 2 of the College of Prayer, "Lord, as Families, Teach Us to Pray!" Several weeks ago the pastor of the host church in Salto wrote and told me that people were signing up weeks in advance and were anticipating the weekend greatly. He said when we started the College of Prayer last July, he was scurrying last minute, trying to convince people to sign up. This time, basically the whole church signed up, without any campaign, weeks in advance. The anticipation was tremendous.  

The first evening we met from 8-11 PM and then again 8-11 on Saturday evening, and from 9-12 on Sunday morning. The place was full and it seemed the floorboards were rattling with anticipation as we began. Each meeting we met and enjoyed the manifest presence of Jesus. Everyone was open and receptive and responded at each and every opportunity. We saw the Spirit moving strongly. While teaching was in progress, people responded unprompted at times. We saw teenagers get up and walk the aisles unprompted, find their parents, and embrace them with tears flowing down their cheeks. We saw husbands and wives reconciled and recommitted. We saw single parents embraced by the church. We heard testimonies like "the environment in our house is different now" and "the way we treat our kids is different now." 

There was a lot of ground breaking and setting (or resetting) of foundations. There was death-to-self, healing of wounds, and shifting of atmospheres. And forgiveness--there was so much forgiveness! We saw a church deeply impacted. Relationships were reconciled, strongholds taken down, and homes dedicated to Christ. We were on holy ground.  

All glory goes to Jesus! He is building His church! Keep praying for the church in Salto as they contemplate and treasure the truths they have received and live out what God did throughout the weekend.

Praise God for the College of Prayer that took place on March 17-18 in Porto. People attended from 6 different churches in the area. We also streamed on Zoom and had Portuguese-speaking attendees from Paris, São Tomé e Principe (islands off the coast of Gabon), and a pastor from Mozambique. This is a direct answer to prayer! 

Each session was excellently delivered and activated prayer. At one point a 17 year old girl spontaneously shared scripture from Leviticus 6:8-13. It's about taking out the ashes daily, keeping the fire burning, and putting on fresh wood daily. As she spoke from her seat, people listened and their jaws dropped open. She was anointed. At the end of the day we had people come forward for prayer. There was such a moving of the Holy Spirit!

College of Prayer leaders from around the world gathered together February 7-11 in Atlanta, GA for their annual gathering. There were significant moments of Spirit-empowerment, repentance, worship, and testimonies.

The theme of the gathering was "Ask of Me" from Psalm 2:8. Much time was spent in intercession around the College of Prayer mandate to serve churches in every nation on earth by 2025 (currently we are working in 161 nations). Several leaders also testified to the impact the College of Prayer is having on entire denominations and church movements as well as whole communities where the spiritual atmosphere is shifting in response to prayer. Praise God as He continues to teach us to rebuild Upper Rooms that reach the nations.

Be encouraged by a few testimonies from 2022 and praise God for what He is doing around the world!

• A pastor and wife in Albania built their family upper room of prayer; in less than a year they led 48 M*slim neighbors to Christ and baptized them. All glory to Christ!
• As we preached on the Father's love and breaking off the orphan spirit to the Roma people in Europe, the translator was so deeply moved he started weeping. He sobbed so passionately he could hardly continue translation. The entire gathering was equally moved, and God poured out His love into the hearts of these precious people. All glory to Christ!
• One family began their family upper room of prayer in Africa (undisclosed nation) and within two years they have led 56 entire families to Christ. All glory to Christ!
• A pastor in El Paso reports that after attending the College of Prayer, his church is completely changed. It's like the Holy Spirit has taken over. All glory to Christ!
• A pastor in Baltimore says that the spiritual atmosphere in his church has shifted since they attended a College of Prayer training. They are more spiritually hungry than ever. All glory to Christ!
• A pastor in Washington, DC said, "I've been a pastor 20 years and I only wish I had learned these truths at the beginning of my ministry—it would have saved me a lot of time." All glory to Christ!
• In Pakistan the College of Prayer is now the largest organized prayer movement in the nation. We have over 100 campuses that are affecting the unity and power of local churches throughout the country. All glory to Christ!
• In Taiwan 31,000 pastors and church leaders attended College of Prayer training just last month. There was so much repentance that GoodTV (with an audience of 79 million) did a special broadcast that had the largest viewership in their history. All glory to Christ!
• We just completed three days of training for Roma pastors and leaders from 28 European nations, including many precious believers from war-torn Ukraine. These leaders will now be returning to their nations to implement the prayer training and mentorship. All glory to Christ!

Thank you for standing with us and for your partnership. We could never do this work without you and we love advancing Christ's kingdom together with you. On behalf of all the unreached people who will be reached because of your partnership, thank you! 

The College of Prayer continues to grow at an astounding rate throughout Pakistan. In the last 3 years more than 100 campuses have been planted across the entire nation. Our National Coordinator in Pakistan has gained significant influence and churches are being revived as prayer is spreading.

We also launched the College of Prayer in partnership with the Full Gospel Seminary in Lahore to serve their students. It was a powerful gathering with the second and third year students. We experienced times of repentance, freedom, and Spirit empowerment.

“I have been a full time pastor for 5 years, and before that I was an evangelist. The first time when I heard the message on the Upper Room that message not only changed my own life, it changed my entire church. That was the first time I felt the presence of God. When I heard that message I received the power of the Holy Spirit and went back to my church and preached the fullness of the Holy Spirit and my entire church was filled. God has changed our hearts and minds. I have enjoyed these last 3 days also. I have learned that there are people doing worship and doing preaching, but they are not actually encountering Christ because there is no prayer and fasting. For four months after first attending the College of Prayer we stayed in fasting and praying in our church. The College of Prayer has put this into our hearts. Wherever we preach these messages, the people are changed.” ~ Pakistani Pastor

What an amazing time we had at the 2022 Ignite gathering in Atlanta. Pastors and church leaders from around the country came for 3 Christ-encountering days. Watch this recap from Jon Mitchell.

Video Song: "As We Pray" featuring Thomas Miller
Producer: Walker Beach
Copyright: Gateway Worship, October 9, 2012

​As day two began, Craig spoke on the "Power of Forgiveness." In response, everyone wrote down on a piece of paper the things that they needed to be forgiven of. Then on the other side they wrote down the names of anyone that they needed to forgive. Then we threw the papers into a fire pit, symbolic of course of Christ's total forgiveness. This seemed to open the floodgates. That evening the atmosphere was different. God's presence was tangible even as you simply walked into the room. 

That night after I preached we called for a response and people responded in mass. As we stood there before the Father, I quietly prayed back to God something that He had spoken to me prior to the trip: "Ok Father, you told me to make room for you and you would fill it. Here it is." Soon after, one young man began to weep uncontrollably as he poured out his heart to God. Many other prayers followed. There was repentance. There was hunger. And there was a wonderful, peaceful sense of the Father's presence and love. There was a hunger and faith in the room as the Lord's presence was so tangible. After the meeting reached the 2 hour mark I made an announcement that we were dismissed but that anyone who wanted to stay before the Lord was welcomed to stay. Only a handful of people trickled out. The others would keep worshipping, praying, and calling out to the Lord for another hour and a half. The meeting belonged to the Lord and His Spirit was leading people close to His heart. My heart was so peaceful and full as we left the retreat center that night.

As I processed before the Lord that night and the following morning, I wondered, "Now what?" We had one more session, "Holy Spirit Fill Me" and I had a good, long, biblically rich message that I was joyfully ready to preach. But I also had the sense that maybe it was time to let them testify to what the Lord was doing. During worship, a young man approached Craig and said, "I have a testimony I want to share." As I prayed about what we should do I heard the Father say, "Let him share." His testimony was needed and it began a domino effect of people telling the stories of what God was doing. One girl even opened up that she had planned to take her own life just a couple days before coming to Betania. We were able to bring some ladies around her to embrace her and pray for her. I was so grateful for her courage and her vulnerability to share.

We prayed, worshipped, and prophesied for I'm not sure how long. God was there and there was no hurry to be anywhere else. Everyone who came forward was ministered to by God in unique and profound ways. It was a holy and beautiful mess as the Father poured out grace upon grace.