India has now been listed as one of the top ten most persecuted countries in the world. Christianity is constantly under attack from the government as well as militant religious groups.  Almost weekly, I personally receive reports of Christian leaders being killed and families being beaten. There are also the more subtle forms of persecution like being shunned by your family or not being able to rent a home or be accepted into a certain school.  In the regions of India that they go to pray there are less than 2% Christian.  Millions still have not heard the Good News even once.

• Please continue to pray that our fellow believers will be full of courage and continue to preach the gospel and plant churches even in the face of much suffering especially among the unreached people groups.
• VOM’s India Prayer Guide: click here

This past June we partnered with BridgeBuilders and took a prayer team to St. George, Utah.  Utah is said to be less than 4% evangelical Christian.  Talk about an unreached people group! We had a wonderful, highly trained team of 11 people and we spent 3.5 days prayer walking the region.  We were able to partner with our new friends, David & Karen, who have moved there to see the Kingdom of God established in that region.

What we experienced while we prayed was overwhelming as God gave us revelation after revelation. We very much believe that breakthrough in this region is the key to seeing the lost come to Christ by the thousands.

• Pray for David and Karen, that God will strengthen them and sustain them.
• Pray that God will give them a “Person of Peace” who will open doors for them in strategic places.
• Pray that God will bring them another couple to partner with them who have a kindred spirit to see the Kingdom of God come to St. George and the surrounding region.

 All eyes are focused on Arizona during this historic time and we know God is at work. Here at “home” it has been a joy to become part of BridgeBuilders and work with Hal and Cheryl Sacks as we pray for Arizona and our nation.

Recently, under their leadership, we sent out a call across the valley for leaders of intercessory prayer networks to gather, connect, and hear from the Lord. More than 40 leaders gathered and the Presence of God was wonderful as we fellowshipped and prayed and heard from many of them of what God was doing in their ministries.  It is our desire to strengthen these relationships and work together more closely to see a great move of God. What a joy to be found in such a great company of prayer warriors who just love Jesus.

• Please continue to pray with us for a great Awakening in Arizona and in our Nation.
• It’s a great time for focused prayers on your own state, communities and neighborhoods. Check out SEAPC’s Pray America initiative happening in July: https://www.prayamericas.com/

Recently, my dear friend Mark Geppert stayed at my house for a few days. Mark is the man who mentored me, imparted into me and activated me to go to unreached people groups beginning in 2011. We have been on five trips together and have spent hundreds of hours seeing and doing what very few ever get to see and do.  Because of those experiences we have a very deep bond that few could understand.  In short, we “get” each other and it is a blast to get together and reminisce about old times. 

Over and over the conversation would begin with, “Do you remember…?” “Do you remember when we camped at 17,000 feet?” “Do you remember Kar Dung La?” “Do you remember the helicopter ride that never happened?”

With each “Do you remember” we would laugh as we retold all the details of each memory. Then Mark looked at me and said, “Do you remember Kailash?” We both went silent, just staring at each other as the memories of holy awe swept over us. “Yeah, I remember.” I said quietly. “That was the day of all days”.

Kailash is a mountain in Tibet near the border of India.  It is known as the throne of Shiva, who is regarded as one of the main gods of the Hindu religion. It is a high holy place where thousands come every year to make pilgrimage and pay homage to their gods. There at the base of the mountain is a small village at 15,000 ft altitude.

It was here that Mark brought a team of 15 people to pray in 2012. As the team began to spread out we began to attract the attention of the locals. Suddenly, our Chinese translator grabbed my arm and said, “Come, come, someone needs healing prayer.” She took me to a woman who was blind and immediately I remembered a vision God had given to me before the trip…a vision of a blind woman being healed. This was that woman!  At that moment God gave me the faith and grace to pray and God healed her eyes!

Continue reading (and enjoy more pictures)…

Our team of 10 was trekking a narrow mountain path when it began to rain. Soon we were all wet and our boots covered in mud from the slippery path.  As we came to a road an apple truck came by and offered us a ride.  We all immediately climbed onto the truck laughing and feeling blessed that were able to get a ride. 

After a few miles we were dropped at a tea stall in a small remote village.  As we all climbed down a young man from the team approached me with his coat tied around his waist and a look of total fear in his eyes.  “What’s wrong?” I asked.  Sheepishly, he opened the jacket to reveal a huge split in his pants.  My eyes grew big and my jaw dropped as I watched his brown face turn red from embarrassment.  And I, being the man of compassion that I am, laughed and laughed.   In fact all of us got a great laugh which did not help the guy at all but it really was funny.  Then, to our amazement, directly across from the tea stall was a tailor.

Obviously God loved him more than we did because he provided a tailor in the middle of nowhere.  The entire teamed marched over and snickered and laughed while the man held out his pants to the tailor from behind a curtain. One of the young women in our group showed compassion and paid for the much needed repairs.

Their story continues…

We have so enjoyed praying across Arizona in partnership with BridgeBuilders. It’s been wonderful to meet local pastors and intercessors of kindred spirit and lift their arms as we pray with them for their region. In October our dear friends from India, recent Bethel graduates currently still in CA, came to AZ to join on some of these journeys. We had a blessed, fun week with Rhema and Joby. We were honored and humbled that they would come to pray with us for our state and nation, and we know many in India have also been praying.

We have also had the joy of connecting with intercessors here in the Valley, many of them young people who love to burn before the Lord day and night. Their love and passion for the Lord is intense and it is so much fun to pray with them in various weekly meetings, special 4 hr sessions, a 24 hr session, as well as a gathering with Dutch Sheets with nearly 1000 people in attendance.  Prayer is the heartbeat of 5 Rivers, whether at home or across the world.

This fall during the civil unrest in the US, God told me to go to Washington DC with boots on the ground to pray.  The dates I picked just “happened” to be the exact day that Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court and also “happened” to be the same day that Lou Engle and Sean Feucht were hosting a prayer and worship rally on the National Mall.  What a powerful evening worshipping and praying with nearly 30,000 believers for our nation. God is doing great things and we are so humbled and blessed that He has invited us to be a part of it.