THE PAAH-HO-AMMI PROJECT

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 prayed daily for three concerns of public significance: public health, unemployment, and crime. They committed to pray for ninety days and – with the cooperation of public and private officials – 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. County unemployment dropped while rising throughout the state. There was no explanation for these results other than the factor of consistent, concerted, focused prayer – when their prayer efforts slackened during the following quarter the fruits of earlier efforts were likewise diluted. Clearly 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 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 Paah-ho-ammi. The name is a Hebrew compound word meaning, “Cry alas, my people,” and was given by direct revelation.We will ask daily prayer for unemployment, crime, and public health as it is manifested in traffic fatalities and hospital admissions for cancer. 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 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 launches on Friday, September 24, 7 PM, with worship, communion, and commitment to serve on one of three prayer teams. September 24 is Yom Kippur, as well as the launch for a forty-day period of prayer and fasting across the nation with which we want to cooperate. Periodic later 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. The launch service is in Simpson College’s Labaume-Rudat Building, Room 204.