Greetings Beloved!

April has been a very crazy month and full of transition.  As some of you know, I have been on the island of Oahu for the past couple years to help pioneer a house of prayer.  In my time here, the Lord has ‘arrested’ my heart for these islands, and I am now with a small group of mostly 20-somethings, contending for revival in Hawaii.

Our mission is very simple.  Love and adore the Lord Jesus Christ through worship and prayer, giving and hospitality, and boldly proclaiming His Kingdom and His justice.

In our pursuit of this upward call, we are laboring to establish a communal house of prayer.  The reality of laboring in spiritual things is that, ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers build in vain…” Psalm 127.  My first two years have bore the appearance of laboring in vain.  Whenever there is an appearance of building and growth, reality looms upon a dreaded realization… my timing is rarely God’s timing!  Nevertheless, I am confident that these past couple years have been very fruitful, and I am looking back on them with greater and greater appreciation.  I expected outward results that were not there, yet reaped some beautiful inward results of which I believe will carry me through the years ahead.  I have begun to learn that God is much… much… much more interested with the renewing of our inner man than He is with our outward success.  On the other hand, I do believe that the Lord is establishing His house of prayer on the island of Oahu and also that we will see and do the great exploits of His kingdom.

It is for this reason that we are planning to officially start the house of prayer on June 1st.  Earlier this month it became evident that we had a team of people willing to commit and run with the vision.  The relationships that have been established over the past few months have been incredible.  It is as though the Lord was hiding all of us only to draw us out one at a time and place us together.  Because of this, April has been a swirl of changes, and May looks to be a month of pressing in and laying hold of new opportunities.

Regarding the house of prayer, we are looking for a house big enough for about fifteen adults!  These will be the core team that will lead the house of prayer.  We are looking to have this house by June 1st, though we will not need it to move forward with the vision.  The beautiful thing about being a prayer ministry is that prayer doesn’t cost money!

It appears we are also receiving a few corporate mandates as a house.  Beyond being a house that prays, we will be contending for revival on the UH and HPU campuses, in Waikiki, and in the islands in general.  We look to continually perform acts of justice, such as evangelism, feeding the poor, and ministering to prostitutes.  Once we move in to the new house, we might have a couple Koreans living with us as well.  Some of us feel a strong connection to Korea and will be praying and learning the language and culture.  For all we know, our first missions trip may be to South Korea!

On a personal note, the biggest immediate change is my job situation.  I have been working at the vegetarian grocery store in Kailua since the time I moved to the islands.  I will be breaking free in May to begin working at farmers markets selling kettle corn!  Though it is much different from anything I’ve done before, I seem to be catching on very quickly.  I look forward to the extra time and flexibility it will offer me so that I might give more time to the house of prayer.  Working in the sun is a nice benefit as well!

Even in the excitement of the house and all that goes with it, my heart still burns for the ending of abortion.  We are at the cusp of a great shaking in this nation, a judgment unlike anything we’ve seen in America.  Even in the midst of personal blessing and favor I realize my deep need to stand in the gap for my country, countrymen, and most importantly for the life of the unborn.  We will continue to pray and are seeking the Lord for wisdom regarding a possible pro-life campaign in August, that we might push this issue to the forefront again.

We will make an account for the shedding of innocent blood.  This is fact.  Whether or not our account is one of mercy or wrath largely depends upon how we respond to the Word of the Lord.

There is much more I could write, but it will have to be for another time.  May you all be filled with the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ!

Blessings!

-jm