New England Region Prayer Journey to DC
In August, three gals from Maine, Rose Duran, Joan Faulkner, and Chris Poitras, US Director, New England Region, left to drive to Washington, D.C., on the Prayer Journey (a three-fold cord is not easily broken). Even though the team arrived in D.C. about 9:30 p.m., they started praying as they left Maine and as they went through each state. They declared, sang, and prophesied into each one. Chris said that it was amazing to see how things unfolded as they traveled along.
On Tuesday morning, the team headed to the Family Research Center to take part in their prayer meeting. It is always a special time, and they met up with Tina Peck, who helped set their agenda for each day. Chris said that it was so good to meet up with others from DC who are in the city for prayer. After the time at FRC, the team moved to meet with Lindsey, who works with Faith and Liberty Organization. This organization does so many wonderful things, and it is great to know there are so many things going on in D.C. that are having an impact. Chris said, “We prayed with Lindsey, and she was so encouraged and so were we, as she covered us in prayer, as well.”
The team next met with Jason Hersey, who started David’s Tent eleven years ago. (Jason also spoke at the Lift the Standard Aglow Conference in September.) Chris said, “Jason is such a delight to visit and pray with. He shared that there is a transition taking place with those working with him. Some of the people are young, and their lives are changing. There is no division among them, but they feel they are now being directed into a new season for their lives, which is very hard for Jason. He has nine children, and I believe the oldest is beginning to be used with their gift of music, etc., so we encouraged him that maybe his own family would be helping in the ministry. We asked him how we could pray for him, and he said, “Pray in tongues,” which we did, and the Holy Spirit moved in a powerful way and ministered to him and us, too. He is a strong man of faith and knows how to move in the Spirit. We believe with him that God will meet his every need and continue to use him mightily.”
Chris noted the team’s amazement at how the different ministries they visited speak so highly of Aglow. A special friend of Aglow’s, Mark Pritchett, shared with the team that he felt that because of the prayers of Aglow and our coming to D.C. consistently, it has been one of the greatest impacts in the area. Jason and Lindsey also said the same thing about Aglow. Chris said, “It was a great feeling to realize that our prayers, along with many others, are impacting Washington, D.C. and our nation.” While the team was having pizza, a call came into Mark, who relayed a need for prayer, and the team was honored to cover the need in prayer.
On Wednesday, we spent quite a bit of time in the morning in the prayer room at the Trust before we went out for the day. In the afternoon, the team drove over to the Capital Hilton where the Aglow International Conference was going to be held. The team had hoped to go in, but there was no parking anywhere. They were determined to pray, and they pulled right up in front of the hotel and began to pray in the vehicle. Chris said, “We then knew why we did not go inside, as the Holy Spirit moved so mightily as we prayed for the hotel and the Conference. We never would have been able to pray with such passion out loud inside of the hotel…Father Knows Best!! And nobody came to the hotel at that time or asked us to move our vehicle…persistence pays off!”
The team then met up with a friend that they had connected with while at FRC the day before. This young man, Israel, came to DC with his parents when he was about four years old. They were from Africa, and the Lord told his parents that they were to go to America as missionaries. Now, here he is as a young adult being part of the prayer movement in D.C. How wondrous are the works of God!! The condo he was in is owned by Sean Feucht, and he stays there while they are travelling all over the world! We had a powerful time of prayer for him, and he was so encouraged. One of the team, Joan, had met him from another trip in D.C., and she felt to pray for him every day since that time. He was so blessed by that. Rose also had kept in touch with him. When we were praying, he said he had a vision of Maine, as the crown of the nation, being way up north on the map, and that the Spirit of the Lord would move from there and flow through the whole nation. He gave us the scripture in Isaiah 62:3: “Thou shalt also be a crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of God.” We thanked him and received that for our region. This was a very pivotal time, and because of relationships that are built as each region sends in a team, God seems to orchestrate special times.
On Thursday morning, Pastor Jay Johnston, from FRC, was going to meet us at the Capitol for breakfast and a tour. He is a pastor in Louisiana, where he lives, as well as being part of FRC. Chris said, “It was a wonderful day, as we started at the bottom of the Capitol and moved “upward.” He took us by the hall where students from all over the nation painted pictures, and they were on display. He took us to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s office, and we were able to go in and meet with some college interns that work for him. The interns were delightful, and we had a time of prayer with them and took some pictures. One of them is coming to Maine to college next year. We then were taken to the Prayer Chapel and were able to spend some time praying. We went to the Rotunda and also out on the balcony and got some nice pictures. We prayed as we toured. The Capitol is a magnificent building, and it is exciting to hear all the “good reports” of what God is doing. It is always an honor to be part of it. Pastor Jay shared with us that there are a few personal family health needs, and we will be praying for them after we leave for home and as often as Holy Spirit reminds us. We were blessed to be able to go to D.C. and pray and have ‘boots on the ground.’”
Chris closed her report with this: “I want to personally thank the team that went on this journey and also a BIG THANK YOU to all those who prayed for us, encouraged us, and helped financially… from my family, our church, Aglow teams, and friends…what a blessing you are, that you wanted to be part of this great journey…and you were! We were able to bless all those we met who are doing a wonderful job by giving them a love gift, as well as praying for them. Your seeds of love were planted worldwide, and we were so grateful to sow them.”
Aglow is doing a marvelous work through our nation and the world by prayer, sharing the “good news” of Jesus Christ, and being an Ambassador for Him…To God Be the Glory!! Contact your U.S. Regional Director to find out when a prayer team from your region is going into DC to pray. Even if you cannot go physically, you can be praying for those on the ground and all they will touch, and you might want to sow a seed into the trip as a blessing. Aglow has been taking prayer teams monthly into DC consistently beginning in 2008.