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Dear People of the Northstate Vision:
God says in Isaiah 55 that His thoughts are not our thoughts and that His Word never returns to Him empty – these are not two unrelated concepts but one reality with two connected faces. His mind is incomprehensible to us because we cannot get our minds around it. However, His Word accomplishes its purposes despite our non-comprehension. As we obey we come to understand from within that obedience.
More than two months ago God called us in PrayNorthstate to a specially focused project of strategic intercession. Based on a successful project conducted in Nevada County two years ago – in which God moved dramatically and verifiably – we plan to pray daily for God’s intervention in the areas of crime, unemployment, and public safety. We mean to launch this project the first of October and pray through the end of the year. The project – at this time – will only be conducted in Shasta County and we ask as many as are willing to join us. We will document a baseline of statistics in the areas of focus and we will generate fresh statistics at the end of the prayer period so that all can see what God has done. All of this – so far – seems like a wonderful and easily understood call to Kingdom action. But then He went and said I was to name it Paah-ho-ammi.
This word meant nothing to me. I speculated that it might be Hebrew or Native American, but I had no clue as to its meaning or origin – only the conviction that what I needed to know would be supplied when I needed to know it. Despite the recognition that some supporters of our ministry would believe I had gone off the deep end with this one, I began to speak about God calling us to this Paah-ho-ammi project and to ask others to participate. As I anticipated – some were charmed but others said they could not support what they did not understand and others even accused me of obsessing over all things Native – due only to the sound of the name. In the meantime I continued to pray for more information while I obeyed and proclaimed the input I had. Last week the Lord broke His silence with the word, “Look it up.” When He repeated that word a few days later I dragged out my concordance and checked the Hebrew dictionary in the back. Sure enough – Paah-ho-ammi is a Hebrew compound word that means, “Cry alas my people.” It is, of course, a perfect name for a project of strategic intercession. It is also a wonderful confirmation of God’s favorite refrain that we should, “Be not afraid but believing that if we obey His word we shall see His hand at work in our land.”
The Intercessors’ Summit returns to Cottonwood on September 24 and 25 – Friday andSaturday – at First Baptist Church of Cottonwood. The summit will offer training for Prayer Vanguard,Lighthouses of Prayer, and the regional and statewide prayer ministries that are shaping the Kingdom in California. Registration is $20.00 with breakfast and lunch included. Call 530-347-3691 for info or to register.
Excalibur meets July 1 and 15; August 5 and 19,12:30 PM,at DeMercurio’s on Hartnell in Redding. First Sunday is August 1, 7 PM,ReddingHoliday Inn.
We kick off July on the radio Pray California Executive Director Jerry Bowers on July 3. Jerry will discuss the statewide prayer movement. Teen Challenge Coordinator Jack Lauritzen comes aboard July 10 and wholistic health consultantRonda Nelson will be with us on July 17. July 24 guests Kari Nelson and Chris Henderson own Tac(o) the TownTacqueria and a big vision for good food and Christian music in Redding. We round out July – on the 31 st – with fitness consultants Seth Hinton and Chris Larson from Anderson Athletic Club.
On August 7 we will feature Carolyn Meyers of Habitat for Humanity while August 10 will showcase Moms In Touch with Carolee Abbott and Candy Reinhardt. On August 21 we are joined by Open SystemsImaging partners Ken Bishop and Bill Seals – talking about things like operating a business as a ministry while organizing outreaches like Freedom Fest 2002. We complete the summer with a young actress named Joy Collins on August 28. Joy lacks acting experience, but experience in obeying God is taking her into the offices of a number of Hollywood producers and casting directors.
PrayNorthstate TV for July features EnterpriseHigh School teacher Jeff Van Ausdahl on July 5. We’ll talk to Haitimissionary Sister Carol Henry on July 12. The last two weeks of July feature a husband and wife one-two punch-for-the-Kingdom. Maggie John directs the Northstate Bloodsource blood bank and guests on July 19. Ray John appears on July 26 to talk about coming to faith in Vietnamand how that prepared him for leadership at BishopQuinnSchools and Good News Rescue Mission.
On August 2 we are joined by missionaries to HaitiLarry and Alison Humbert with a different slant on that ministry. Dean and Michelle Adams do short-term missions to Mexico – when Dean can get free of his day job as a SWATofficer. They visit on August 9. Ginger Lum Murray will be with us on August 16 to discuss her book on single parenting. Christians and Chiropractic DoctorsJim and Heidi Roles will share their faith and their practice on August 23 and we finish the summer TV season with Alfredo and Debbie Romero – of the band JustifiedBC– on August 30.
PrayNorthstate Radio is heard every Saturday Morning at 8:00 on AM 1400 KQMS. Jim is also a periodic and frequent contributor to KVIP’s Saturday Magazine, heard at 1:00 PM on FM 98.1 and AM 540 KVIP. PrayNorthstate TV can be seen each Monday Morning at 6:30 AM on Family Channel 26/Cable 15.
In mid 2002 Christians in Nevada County embarked on a prayer project they called Arrowhead. Working under the leadership of Sierra Ministries International, one of the partners in Pray California, they covenanted to pray daily for three concerns of public significance: public health, unemployment, and crime. They committed to pray for ninety days and – with the cooperation of officials from both public and private sectors – they compiled baseline and endline statistics for their county and for the state as a whole. They found that crime rates in multiple categories dropped by as much as twothirds. There were no workmen’s comp cases filed at the local community hospital and no traffic fatalities. Unemployment dropped in the county while rising throughout the state. They could find nothing to explain these results other than the factor of consistent, concerted, focused prayer – and when their prayer efforts slackened during the following quarter the fruits of their earlier efforts were likewise diluted. It is clear that God moved dramatically in the Arrowhead Project; it is just as clear that His movement was triggered by the prayers of His people.
We have seen similar impact in the more than 60% reduction of abortions and the almost total absence of Halloween-related violence in Chico over the past two years, and in the repeated miraculous breaking of drought in Shasta County after concerted prayer. Again the common denominator is simply that people of faith prayed daily, in agreement, and with focus on items of strategic intercession.
In Nevada Countyapproximately one hundred and twenty-five Christians were divided into three groups – each with an assigned focus on one of the three categories of prayer. There was no specified period of time required for prayer in any given day, but each praying person covenanted to pray every day for his or her group’s assigned category.
At PrayNorthstate we believe that ShastaCounty is called to a similar effort. The topics of prayer will differ slightly in what we plan to call the Paah-ho-ammi Project. The name is a Hebrew compound word meaning, “Cry alas, my people,” or “Cry out your grief, mypeople,” and it was given by direct revelation. We will ask daily prayer in the categories of unemployment, crime, and public health as it is manifested in traffic fatalities and hospital admissions for cancer and multiple sclerosis. We will ask all groups to pray special protection for youth against violent death. The topical changes we envision are due to what we believe to be God’s stated intention to create a cancer and MS free zone in Northern California – and to the disproportionately high number of young and violent deaths in our region during the past few years.
Paah-ho-ammi will be launched on or about October 1 with a worship service and plans for periodic group meetings. These meetings – other than the launch – will be for support and encouragement and attendance is not mandatory in order to participate. Watch our September newsletterand website for updates. We also want to ask ShastaCounty residents in our network to contact us if you feel led to participate and have not necessarily been present for one of Jim’s summer speaking engagements.
Last month we reported the upcoming (June 17) Celebration of the Spirit Night at the Shasta County Fair – a night of music devoted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ – and asked for ongoing prayer that this would be the first of many such events in such a public venue. According to the KQMS news department this night was the second most successful opening in the history of the Shasta County Fair – following many years of declining attendance. Praise the Lord and get ready for next year – and way to go PastorIvan Richeson and co-sponsors Gateway Fellowship, Little Country Church, DestinyFellowship, Outreach America, Air 1 Radio, K-LOVE Radio, and PrayNorthstate who made this glory to God possible.
Also in ShastaCounty – the Good News Rescue Mission has launched its own mental health program called In-Step. Chaplain Dave Honey and Director Steve Davis were guests on PrayNorthstate TV June 7. The program – launched in a time of cutbacks in government run mental health programs of the region – provides volunteer mental health professionals for counseling, medication screening and monitoring, and a whole lot of prayer for homeless and indigent people suffering mental illness or crisis.
Lou Engle is the associate pastor of HarvestRockChurch in Pasadena– but better known as the visionary and organizer of The Call – a nationwide series of events over the past three years in which worshippers and intercessors packed stadiums across the country – including San Francisco’s Candlestick Park – to beg God for revival and reconciliation in our land. His newest vision is to orchestrate a similar series of events for youth known as The Cause – the heart of which is a call for 50,000 young people to meet and pray for fifty days in Colorado Springs. Engle brings his vision and ministry to Redding July 28-30 when he is a keynote speaker at the Jesus CultureConference. The conference will be held at Redding’s Bethel Church. Other keynoters will be nationally known prophets Bob Jones and LarryRandolph. Registration is $35.00 before and $40.00 after July 23. Call 530-246-6000.
Out of Trinity County emerges a new ministry of prayer and vigil called Forty-eightHOP. The name signifies a forty-eight hour house-of-prayer watch for the Lord and it is the vision of Pastor Eric Johnson, associate of Mountain Chapel in Weaverville. The watches will be devoted to targeted prayer for such issues as abortion, the statewide crisis over marriage, and other issues of Kingdom significance in the region. Johnson says that the beauty of the ministry is its continuity coupled with lack of structure. Christians are invited to come and soak in the presence of the Lord while imploring Him to establish His reign over the region. Watches already scheduled or completed include Mountain Chapel, Weaverville – June 4-6 – BethelChurch,Redding – July 23-25 – and Arcata Assembly, Arcata – August 13-15. Watches are scheduled from 9:00 PM on Fridays until 9:00 PM on Sundays. Johnson can be contacted by e-mail at fortyeighthop@tbbnet.com or by telephone at 530-623-3933 for information about setting up watches or attending existing watches.
In Butte County the churches of the southern part of the county gathered for a concert and time of worship sponsored by First Presbyterian of Gridley, BiggsUnitedMethodist Church, and The Father’s House in Live Oak. First Presbyterian Church in Gridley is home to the Butte County Prayer Vanguard, led by Dwayne and Jenine Tenabe.
In HumboldtCounty – the Eureka City Council has signed over to the Wiyot Tribe forty acres of lands considered sacred to them on IndianIsland in Humboldt Bay. The land is the site of an 1860s massacre in which settlers hacked and beat to death a band of sixty Indian people as they slept. Area churches – under the leadership of the Humboldt Evangelical Alliance (HEAL) – have raised money, prayed, and occasionally lobbied for several years in an effort to bring reconciliation over this incident. The land return was decided on a unanimous vote of the city council.
In the greater Sacramento area the Apostolic and Prophetic Conference Fellowship will offer their annual Leadership Conference from September 2-4 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Sacramento. Convener Dr. Rudy Parker can be reached at apcfellowship@aol.com or by phone at 916-686-1903. This conference is for the purpose of equipping leaders – those leaders called by God to bear witness to the Holy Spirit whether or not they have a previous track record. The event is for mentoring and maturing those leaders. Dr. Parker is affiliated with the regional prayer summits of the Chico hub and is a convener of the pastors’ prayer fellowship of Sacramento.
Jim and Diana will be taking some much needed vacation from June 28 through July 7 before jumping back into the saddle for the summer. (We plan to take about ten days between August 16 and 27 as well.) Jim is planning to assist (in Redding ) with the Aglow In-Focus training conference July 9-10 atSimpsonCollege.Sunday, July 18, finds Jim on the coast, preaching at Rio Dell Assembly at 10:15 AM and at RohnervilleAssembly at 6:30 PM that same day. He will be with Pray California leadership in Fresno on July 20 to help plan the second annual statewide pastors’ prayer summit. On Wednesday, July 21, he speaks at Redding’s Good News Rescue Mission at 6:00 that evening. Jim and Diana go to Montague on Sunday, July 25, where Jim will teach at 9:45 and preach at 11:00 AM . He will offer a workshop on becoming Ambassadors of Reconciliation at 2:00 that afternoon, all at Copco Community Church.
Much of August is still TBA for Jim, although he will speak at First Sunday on August 1, at 7:00 PM – at the Redding Holiday Inn Espresso Bar. He will speak to the Redding Aglow Lighthouse Intercession groupon Wednesday, August 11, at 9:00 AM and preach at Redeemed Ministries inRedding at 10:00 AM on Sunday, August 22. That evening he will also preach at Christ the Rock in Anderson – at 6:00 – for a special service intended to introduce Paah-ho-ammi to several south county congregations. Jim will participate in the pastors’ prayer summit August 29-31 in Pasadena .
Diana is keeping a low profile this summer as she recovers from some topical chemo therapy. She is fine – but we covet prayer for a quick and complete recovery.
Please pray for the Board of PrayNorthstate: Jim and Diana Wilson, Dr. Andre VanMol, Supervisor Mollie Wilson, Charles Davidson, Charlie Harper, Frank DiSalvo, and Dr. Ray John. Please pray for the television ministry of PrayNorthstate and for the radio and TV sponsors: Sam’s Satellite, Taylor Motors, OpenSystem Imaging, Hue and Cry Security, Dr. Andre Van Mol, B& T Satellite, New Song Music, King Richard’s Used Cars, Attorney MaxG. Arnold, Nicolette Glass, Carl Van Dyke Allstate Insurance, Truscott’s Functional Design, Children First Foster Family Agency, Tac(o) the Town Tacqueria and Nor-Cal LeavittInsurance. Pray for Imago Dei Ministries and for Pray California.
Please pray for Emmaus Way Ministries of Tel Aviv, Israel, and for Israel. Pray for missionaries Bill and Lori Gardner (Kenya), Colleen Schafer (Mexico), David and Tovah Potter (Mozambique), Teresa Hancock (Middle East), Eric and Linda Zane (New Guinea), Drake Travis (Vietnam), and Tugsuu and Gantuul ( Mongolia and China). Pray for Excalibur Group, the Kingdom InstituteSchool of Business, and the Hignell Group.
Correspondence – and donations – may be addressed to PrayNorthstate, P. O. Box 493743, Redding, CA96049-3743. Call us at 530-941-3470. Our web site is www.praynorthstate.org; our e-mail is praynorthstate@charter.net. |
