Peoria Ministry Trip: Part 2 [Jesus Heals at the UMC] - by Matt

It is often talked about in different circles that someone is sick and in need of healing. However, most people leave it at that. We "throw up" a prayer to a God we hardly know and we watch our friends and family suffer and die. The people at Bradley-Epworth United Methodist Church have been given the revelation that God loves to heal the whole person (spirit, soul, and body) today. As our team ministered at this church to and with these wonderful brothers and sisters we saw many healings, and it became evident that we don't have to simply "throw up" a random prayer, but that God wants to heal through all of us.

This church is in the midst of renewal. The whole church is excited about all that God has for them and their city in the coming days. They are pursuing God with all that they have and will not settle for anything less (they will not be caught dead sitting in a pew in powerless religion - they want all that God has for them). So, the church (which has its own unique story) is continually asking, seeking, and knocking for the fullness of God to be made manifest in their lives as the Scriptures continually show is available and needed for all of us. This is exciting! The sign on this small United Methodist Church was simple, but very powerful (as seen above). The church is committed to these three things and it was evident in how each person lived their lives: Bible Based, Christ Centered, Spirit Filled. This is powerful stuff. With the church in agreement with whatever God wants to do to bring "revival" to their church and city it was easy to partner with God to bring healing to so many people in such a short amount of time.

As mentioned in Part 1, our team helped with the Food Pantry that is held at the church once a month. We asked every person who walked through the door, "How can we pray for you?" So many people were in bad shape and in need of healing, deliverance, or an encouraging word from the Lord. We saw so many people touched by the Lord spiritually and emotionally. However, the main thing we saw the Lord doing was healing the physical needs of these precious people. This is how it usually went: [This is a true story and was typical of many other true stories] Someone from our team would ask one of the recipients how they could pray for them. They would say, "Well, I have a curved spine and cannot stand up straight. I have been hunched over and in need of this cane for almost 20 years now. It is pretty painful. It would be nice if the pain would decrease." Our team member would ask the Lord what to do and then lay hands on the person (James 5) while praying for complete healing. Then the the recipient would feel 'heat' in their back, stand up straight, look astonished, and have no pain. Then they would say something like: "I haven't done this for 20 years!" Our team member would reassure them that Jesus is alive, He loves them, and He has healed them. It was powerful! God really loves to partner with His people and do miracles that bring Him honor. Here is another testimony of healing: There was a lady in her 60’s who asked for prayer for pain in her foot, and nothing happened. The team prayed again and it felt a little different. The third time they prayed she saw Jesus on the cross and he said, “I’m going to take away your pain” and when she stood up it was completely gone. Our team then had her go around and pray for others who had foot problems - she had never prayed for healing before - it was awesome. There are so many others who were healed just like these ones and others who were partially healed or touched by the Lord through us. At other locations throughout Peoria they experienced the healing power of God, too.

It was a glorious weekend, but God has more, much more, for Bradley-Epworth, Peoria, and all who would believe in Him. If you have more time and would like to hear more testimonies of the move of God be sure to listen to Pastor Tom Eckhardt's sermon from May 11th on their website, click here. Keep contending for God to have mercy on your city and come with power to heal, save, and deliver everyone. He is Good and we can trust Him - let Him come however He wants to. Amen. In the next part of this series of posts I will discuss the prophetic ministry that we did at this church and God's heart for His people - He loves to speak to and encourage His people.

If you have any questions about God's healing power or would like prayer for healing please email us at longingfortheday@gmail.com.

Peoria Ministry Trip: Part 1 [Overview] - by Matt

On May 1-4 a group of 225 first and second-year students from the Forerunner School of Ministry (FSM) and The Call Institute (TCI) took part in a ministry trip to Peoria, IL. We ministered in different ways throughout the city, but we were emphatically spread out to six different locations (churches and parachurches). The team that I was a part of was phenomenal. Our 26-person-team (from FSM) served at Bradley-Epworth United Methodist Church, which is only a couple blocks from Bradley University. The weekend was such a great experience that it is hard to put it into words. In this first post (Part 1) I will only be giving you a rough schedule of events that took place May 1-4. In following posts I will go into more detail and give more testimonies of how God was moving among us on this trip. Jesus is alive and He loves Peoria!

This is our small team of FSM students and the pastor of the church (far left) we served at.

We left Kansas City, MO early on the morning of May 1st with our seven car team. Our team was so pumped for this trip (we had been praying about this trip the whole semester) and our convoy set off with every car-load praying in the Holy Spirit while driving down I-70. As we worshiped and prayed the Lord met us and many of us were set on 'fire' by the Holy Spirit before we even got t

o Peoria. What a road trip it was.

We arrived at Northwoods Community Church that evening for a large group dinner and commissioning to begin the trip. All of the churches involved were present and we worshiped Jesus together in unity. It was a great way to begin our time in Peoria--with the presence of God in our midst. It was powerful.

Our team woke up early the next morning (May 2nd) and began to serve at Bradley-Epworth's monthly Food Pantry for the poor. We helped carry food and we prayed for almost everyone who came through the doors. I will give testimonies of the Lord's healing power in a later post.

This is the prayer room during an intercession set. We prayed for Peoria the whole weekend.

After serving at the Food Pantry we trained their worship teams how to run a prayer room. Some of our team members taught the Harp & Bowl model during this time (worship music and prayer combined to make prayer easier for everyone to engage in). The worship teams at Bradley-Epworth were very quick learners and it was a great time of worship and prayer while they were being trained. One of our main ministries was setting up a prayer room much of the time we were at the church. I served as the prayer leader (as seen in the picture above) for multiple sets, and I even got to do some singing. The prayer room was the place where God encountered many of us throughout the weekend. As we partnered with God in intercession for Peoria He moved on our behalf and is bringing change already to this city. I am excited to hear more testimonies of God's work throughout the city.

Friday night many people from the church and about half of our team hit the streets of Peoria to speak of Jesus to those the Lord would show us. We did prophetic evangelism and went on 'treasure hunts' (A treasure hunt is a term used for doing evangelism by asking the Holy Spirit to show us where to go, who to look for, and what to say once we've found them...thus we go out to find God's treasured persons and minister to them - it's quite powerful when the Holy Spirit is involved ;o) ). My 4-person-team has a crazy story from our time on the streets, but...it'll be in a later post.

Saturday (May 3rd) our team was mostly running the prayer room all day. From 1-6pm about half of us served by doing prophetic ministry. I will write a post about this later, but I must say...This was an amazing time to build up the Body of Christ and watch the Lord exponentially grow His people more in love and in line with Him. I was able to lead one of our five prophetic ministry teams during this time. It was a great time to listen for God to share His heart concerning His people. (I'll share more!) That night someone from our team taught on prophecy and many people from the church were released to prophesy. God is good.

Our final ministry to this amazing church on this particular trip was during the Sunday morning (May 4th) church services. While one of our team members preached concerning having the fear of the Lord, a large part of our team was in the 'upper room' interceding for the people, the preacher, and the power (I just made that up - it is accurate, but not our exact words ;o) ). The services were powerful. I even was a part of the Sunday morning worship team (singer) and got to then pray for many people to receive power/grace to walk in the fear of the Lord and thus not sin against Him.

This is the final gathering of all the churches and students involved in this ministry trip. Thank You, Father, for an awesome trip.

After church and a wonderful lunch (the church provided many great meals for us throughout the weekend - it was so great to have such servants blessing us with food) we all (the large group of 225) met at the Gateway Building on the Illinois River. All of the students and all of the churches met to pray for Peoria and thank God for a great weekend. It was an awesome weekend and God was faithful to come (as always) when we invited Him. There are many great stories of my experiences in Peoria and God's great power throughout the weekend that I will share with you shortly. Grace and peace to you until then. ;o)