Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Boston and the New England area to serve on a ministry trip with my school (IHOPU). Many of my classmates have been in New England for several weeks on this trip, and I went to the join them for a portion of the full time. Over all, students have been invited from March 1st through April 9th, and there are about 40 students who took the opportunity to travel for the full time (while taking classes over distance learning). Several of my classmates have been gone for the entire time but I had the chance to join them in the middle of their journey. I left Kansas City on March 29th and returned April 2nd after a very exciting week. This blog will give you an idea of what happened on my trip.
The trip happens in weeks. The focus and emphasis shifts from week to week. When I arrived, the focus had shifted for one week to the prayer room. In the weeks prior, each day had consisted of morning prayer room hours and afternoon evangelism and evening services. The week I arrived, however, was focused mainly on fasting and on preparing in the place of prayer for the large push of the final week of evangelism. I arrived late Monday night in the middle of the evening session. I found my spot on the concrete floor of the church basement where the boys were staying and settled in for the week.
For my first day, I played electric guitar in the morning session. I am the only electric guitar player to be traveling to Boston from IHOPU so my talents as a musician were much needed and much used. That morning, the Lord visited the students in a time of great intercession for the lost of the city. Many times we (as students) enter into a prayer meeting where we don't often feel the heart of God over the issue of prayer, but there are particular prayer meetings where the Lord visits us in the midst of the meeting and our prayers come alive. This was one such meeting. We then had a bit of a break and time for sharing testimonies in the afternoon and a time of worship just to sort of rest from the weekend (which I missed) and then I played guitar again for the evening session. I played an average of 7 hours per day...
Day two, I played electric in the morning again (much fun and very refreshing for a set), and then we visited MIT in the afternoon. We met with Christian student leaders and were encouraged to see their love for God and their efforts to fuel prayer on that campus. We were able to pray over the leaders and get a guided tour (with the prayer points) of the campus. Evening session, more guitar : )
NOTE: Playing guitar 7 hours/day gets you playing very good, so by day three, I was ripping some good solos : )
Day three, morning guitar, and intercession for the afternoon evangelism. PB&J for lunch (as always), and the students were SENT OUT to evangelize around Harvard. We used the public transportation so for my time on the subway I presented the gospel in a very loud way to those on the train with me. "I appeal to you on behalf of a God who desires you!" and from there you get the idea. People didn't usually respond right away to the alter call for salvation, but many would often come forward later with questions and concerns in their own heart where we were then able to see people saved. Once we left the train and I saw Harvard campus, I felt greatly compelled to go pray over the buildings, so I did. From the moment I set foot on that campus, I felt a weight, as if many of the hearts on campus were stone, and my heart also. I began to pray "Awaken love for Jesus" everywhere I walked (where you see the picture above in front of the library). Later that evening, the leaders shared about the heaviness over Harvard and the difficulty that students have there even in the spiritual realm. I felt as though my prayers counted towards a shift to glory on that campus.
Day four, I traveled home to Molly! It was Good Friday and good it was to see my wife again. My classmates continued on to Yale for the weekend to hold services on the campus. Overall I have heard that they have seen more than 30 be saved, several healings, deliverance from depression, and the strengthening of the believers in that area. One of my classmates with bad eye-sight walked into the evening service one night during the worship and his eyes regained much of their sight just by being in the Lord's presence. I remember seeing him from the stage as he took off his glasses and looked around with more clarity than he has ever had. Praise God!
The trip was a blast and I am excited to see what the Lord does in New England in the next few weeks! Please continue to pray for salvation at the universities in New England! View my flickr page for more photos.
