FACES OF TRANSFORMATION IS THEME FOR 2005 SCHOOL

The Rev. James Wilson, PrayNorthstate

Pray California holds its annual School of Prayer at Neighborhood Church of Chico this year. The school spans Thursday, September 29, through Saturday, October 1, and has as its theme this year, Faces of Transformation. The event seeks to gather all Christians who are hungry to see the entire state in the process of transformation into a province of the Kingdom – and all of the many communities in the state – from the state and locally elected leaders to business leaders to educators to the entertainment community and its people. Organizers say that those who believe such a thing is impossible should come to the school prepared to give all of the glory to God. And for those not hungry enough to see God reign in no uncertain terms, one organizer says, “Tell them to come anyway – God will even supply the hunger!”

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, Redding, and Dr. Alistair Petrie of Partnership Ministries International.

Johnson is best known for his leadership in establishing multiple campuses of the international School of Supernatural Ministries and as a speaker and teacher on building a revival culture and living with God in that culture. He has presided over a dramatic outbreak of Holy Spirit activity in and around his church that has resulted in thousands of healings in people who suffered from every imaginable health condition from blindness to cancers to growing missing body parts and a number of creative miracles as well – although he does not consider himself a worker of miracles so much as one who is willing to call on God and wait until He shows up. He is the author of When Heaven Invades Earth and The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind.

Petrie has worked over the years with George Otis Jr. and The Sentinel Group as well as with many international ministries; he was featured on The Quickening video and is currently based in Kelowna, British Columbia. As a chronicler and teacher on the dynamics of community transformation in the nearly three hundred worldwide communities that have presently experienced the phenomenon he is without peer. His best known published works include Releasing Heaven on Earth and Transformed. He keynoted the Touching Heaven Changing Earth regional conference in 2003, the PrayNorthstate annual conference in 2004, and he has visited Chico to conduct clinics and conferences as well. He has had a heart for what the Lord is planning in the Northstate region for many years and is eager to assist us in that process. Both men will deliver two major addresses at the School of Prayer.

In addition to the keynote addresses the school will feature a series of workshops offered by leaders from the northern, southern, and central regions of the state – each designed to illustrate and facilitate a special “face” of transformation in the faces of those who work for it in their special context. For example, actress and producer Jaime Lyn Bauer will teach on transformation in the entertainment industry; Assemblyman Rick Keene will offer a workshop on transformation in government, and tribal leader Juanita Aranda will present on transformation in native communities. Pastor John Purcell will offer a workshop titled, “Madera: Church in the City,” Chris Adams, a public high school principal, will teach on transformation in public schools, and Lorraine Coconato will offer her vision on deep deliverance for leaders. The Rev. Jim Wilson, of PrayNorthstate, will teach on “prophetic acts with impact,” while the Rev. Fawn Parrish of International Reconciliation Coalition and the International School of Reconciliation – both under the leadership of Youth With a Mission President John Dawson – will present on the core role of reconciliation in the transformation process. This is just a sample of the offerings available at the school.

In addition to the workshop and general sessions participants are invited to worship – extravagantly – before each general session and in a concert of prayer and praise following Saturday’s morning general session. There will also be opportunity to pray at various strategic locations in the city of Chico on Friday Afternoon. Organizers say that many found the opportunity to connect with workshop leaders and keynoters, as well as with prayer leaders from their own region, was the most moving experience of the 2004 school, held in Madera. Ample opportunities to do this again will be provided.

Information about the Pray California School of Prayer 2005 is available at www.praycal.org on the internet, or by calling host Neighborhood Church of Chico at 530-343-6006. There is an advance registration asking of $30.00 per person and $50.00 per couple – with a $10.00 increase asked of those registering at the door. Advance registration can be handled online or by calling the church.