Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Moving to Little Rock, Arkansas

Molly and I are so excited to announce a new season in our ministry journey! You have likely already heard that we are planning on transitioning into a leadership role at a new house of prayer called PrayNow in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is a big change for us so I thought I'd share the backstory for whoever is interested!

Molly and I first heard about PrayNow in 2011 from Molly's family friends in Little Rock. Back then it was a group of people meeting at houses to pray and hopefully plant a house of prayer. Over time we were able to meet with some of the leaders and hear their vision. We loved everything we heard, but we never considered moving down as a real possibility, especially with the momentum of my high school missions ministry in Kansas City. A year past and PrayNow continued to gain momentum in Little Rock. It became clear that the Lord was building this house of prayer as they were given a free building, renovation material and financial support for their first full-time staff members. Molly and I celebrated all of this news in our hearts, but still didn't consider moving anytime soon.


In December 2012, as I was planning diligently for the 2013-2014 high school missions calendar, Molly and I took a last minute trip to Arkansas to celebrate her brother's engagement. On this last minute trip, we had last minute meetings with the leadership of PrayNow. They continued to share great news about their house of prayer and more of their heart for Jesus, and although Molly and I had a great time and loved them dearly, we still left thinking we were staying in Kansas City. It wasn't until we were driving home that we began to wonder "what if we moved down?"


I am always very slow to accept change, in particular, so I knew if I was going to consider moving, the Lord would have to make it very clear. Before we finished the drive home to Kansas City, Molly found out that if we did decide to move down we were offered the perfect house to live in for little-to-no-rent for the next 2 years while we make the transition. It hadn't even been an hour since we started considering moving, and already the largest logistical obstacle was behind us. That was big news! But we still wanted to be sure it was the Lord.


We prayed over this opportunity and sought the counsel of all of our mentors over the next several weeks. The more we looked into it, the more people blessed it and the doors kept opening. Molly became especially excited at the idea of building a small house of prayer together, and it was clear to me and our mentors that something new was coming alive inside of her. A few weeks later, I was listening to sermon given by Dwayne Roberts, who is moving to Brazil to build houses of prayer, and at the end of his message he prayed for those who were considering starting a house of prayer. The Lord spoke to me very clearly during his prayer that it is in fact His will and His timing that we move down to serve PrayNow this summer. The only other time the Lord was that clear with me was when I first felt called to start the High School Missions ministry I am doing now! 


After that, we met again with the leaders of PrayNow, told them our story, and of course they had all kinds of excitement and confirmation from the Lord that this is His direction! So now it's official! I will finish out this school year strong with High School Missions at IHOPKC while training my replacement, and starting this summer we will become full-time staff with PrayNow in Little Rock, AR! I am so excited to see what the Lord will do through this amazing house of prayer! You can learn more about PrayNow at their new website: www.praynowlr.org! Check it out and partner with them to see Jesus glorified in central Arkansas!


Partners: We will still be raising financial support while we serve at PrayNow in the same way we have been. Logan will remain on full-time staff at IHOPKC until May, so nothing will change until then.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year From The Blooms!


This month's headlines: 25,000 attended the Onething 2012 conference and over 50,000 watched online! We're continuing to prepare for the Point of Life Outreaches coming up in February and training next years student leaders in the spring semester. Molly also shares her reflections from 2012!