Central Region June DC Prayer Trip to DC

Back row: Les Becksted, Jamie Becksted, Pauline Henning, Kay Wright, Peggy Brophy, Lola Mathias, Joan Waters
Front row: Karen Troup; Kathy Sanders, Cheryl Newbanks, Kay Belvins, Linda Kay Woodworth, Mark Pritchett

On Monday, June 23, twelve intercessors from Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, and Texas began their journey to Washington, DC.

The next day, we headed out to the Capitol to meet with the Chaplain of the House, Margaret Kibben. Chaplain Kibben was generous with her time, taking our many questions and explaining her duties. We were surprised to hear that when the House is in session, not only does she open each day with prayer, she stays on the floor when they are voting on a bill and does not leave until they leave! We were excited to see her the next week as we were watching the passing of a bill. Before we left, we were able to pray for her as she carried out her duties, and then her staff escorted us to the gallery, where we listened as she opened that day’s session with prayer. What a treat!

That evening, Jordanna McMillian, US Director at the Israel Allies Caucus Foundation. Jordanna was accompanied by the newest edition of her family. This was a real treat for us as we had prayed for Jordanna last year to have a 4th child, and here she was, the answer to our prayer! Jordanna told us of the increase in antisemitism being seen almost everywhere. It was a joy to pray over Jordanna and her family for the challenges of the coming days.

The next day, we spent time in worship and prayer before going out to the Family Research Council. We met Jay Johnston for the first time. He had invited the staff down to receive prayer from us. We had time to hear his heart and talk about challenges before others came and were privileged to pray over Jay.

We were surprised when 8 interns filed into the room and counted it joy to hear the next generation share before we prayed with them. Because the group was made up of 4 young women and 4 young men – all dressed very professionally, we prayed for the young women first. We then invited them to join us in praying over the young men. Our hearts were glad as we felt God’s Presence and how He is drawing young people into their places in the Kingdom.

We ended our day back in the Capitol as we participated in the Wednesday night service held by Rev. Dan Cummings. To know that worship and the Word is going forth in our nation caused each of us to feel encouraged. God is in the House!

Thursday morning, we met with Jason Hershey, YWAM, Director of David’s Tent, a 24/7 worship and prayer tent that has been going on for 9 ½ years in DC. We met with him at the American Center for Prayer and Revival, which is located on the street behind the Supreme Court. Because of the strong foundation of prayer and worship that has been going on in the ACPR, we have found that we don’t have to fight through warfare; instead, we find ourselves right in God’s Presence, and the worship is rich and the prayer is powerful.

While we were listening to Jason share things going on, he told us that two of their permanent staff were leaving, and they were finding themselves short-staffed with a wedding coming up on Saturday. He particularly couldn’t find anyone to man the tent from 2 to 8 am. As we listened, one of the group finally said, “Could we take that shift for you? You know, if you really can’t find anyone else?” We realized that we would need training, etc. Jason said he would let us know.

Later, we laughed amongst ourselves because one of our favorite places to spend time while in DC is at David’s Tent. Because the temperatures were so high, we knew it would be really hot in the tent during the day, and some in the group had been joking about going out around 2 am to the tent. Needless to say, we were all in agreement to go if Jason were to call.

Next, we crossed the street to the Supreme Court building. The only access was through the front, and because of protests, we had to walk a long way to get there… in the heat of the day. While we did have lunch there, we were also praying as we went. When we came out of the building, two protest groups were at the front steps. One for abortion and one against. It was difficult to tell which was which,h and one of them did succeed in running the other group off. That day, the Supreme Court did rule in favor of life in a case they were hearing.

We split into three groups, with some going on the Supreme Court tour, others visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and others heading back to our home away from home.

Over dinner at the American Christian Trust, Mark Pritchett gave us a report about his recent trip to Israel. It was amazing to hear of ways doors are opening in Israel with a worship service being held in the Knesset in Israel and again, at the Israeli Embassy in DC. God is on the move as He connects His people with Christians, His people, too.

After dinner, we heard from Faith McDonald from the Anglican Persecuted Church network. Faith networks with so many groups and always has stories to tell, some heartbreaking and some heartwarming. We are always so ready to pray for the situations and for Faith.

Friday morning, we headed out to the White House for a tour. We had a group of 13, as Mark Pritchett came with us. Mark is a walking encyclopedia of information on almost all subjects. He filled in the gaps for us, and it was a joy to have him with us. While some of us had been to The White House before, it had such a different feel to it… a lighter feel, one of a hope and future. We were greeted with pictures of President Trump’s inauguration, and as we left, there was the picture of him after he had been shot. Our assignment was to be in prayer, in his house, as we toured through. President Trump was in that day, but did not come out to meet us. It was an honor to be there and to see the newly installed flags on the north and south lawns.

We thought we had another tour of the Capitol, but upon arrival, no one in the office was aware of us coming. As we headed home, we found out that Jason Hershey did indeed need us to man David’s Tent the next morning from 5-8 am. That night after dinner, we watched the training videos and got to sleep early so we could get up early.

While there are always so many highlights while in DC with God ordained moments, to be at David’s Tent, awakening the dawn in the early morning hours with praise and worship was priceless. Aglow was in the house with God, and we did what Aglow does. We read the Word aloud. We sang. One played the piano for 3 hours! We danced. We flagged. And we cleaned up by sweeping, cleaning each chair, and opening up the tent flaps in preparation for the coming noon wedding.

All Glory and Honor and Praise to God!