Tulsa: Hindu receives Christ in Prayer Room - 27 Apr 2006

A Hindu student became a follower of Jesus in a 24-7 prayer room at Tulsa University on Good Friday. "There's been really good fruit from our season of 24-7 prayer," writes Jerry Lout, "and now there's a momentum that's likely to carry on well into the future."
 
"The Hindu student received Christ right there kneeling on the carpet with three believer friends following an hour or more of rich dialogue. He was very hungry - readied by the Holy Spirit."

The prayer room on campus combined creativity and a sense of God's presence. "The walls were soon covered in unpredictable patterns of art and prose," says Jerry. "The one 'predictable' was the centrality of Jesus mirrored all round and expressions of worship, intercession and poignant Scripture pieces." The presence of Christ was even noticed by non-Christians. For instance an Iranian student spent time in the venue commenting, "there's peace in this room". Jerry observes that this particular student is "growing in his attraction to Jesus, having a strong pull to know more of him."

"I'm thinking that Tulsa's not likely to recover from the impact being made through the various prayer initiatives now going on here" says Jerry.

 
The way in which Jerry managed to mobilize 24-7 prayer so effectively on campus may well be a useful model for others to follow. Here's his report:
  1. Our international student campus ministry purchased and distributed to other ministry leaders Red Moon Rising, the book about 24-7 Prayer, inviting them to get together and talk about a united prayer launch.
  2. Our group, ISM, had already done some prayer walking on the campus.
  3. Response was very good among the other guys. We met together a couple times, feeling to move forward. One of the ministries, Wesley Foundation, which has a strategically-located facility in the heart of the university, made their small chapel available. With an easy-access entrance it was ideal.
  4. After notifying a bunch of students we asked them if they'd like to get going on some creative re-design of the room for a sacred space. They showed up after 10 p.m. one night (who does this but college stdts!) and worked into the wee hours, spending time praying at the end. It was great. Papered walls (in Black) covering 3/4 of the room with the other wall highligted by the existing stained glass.
  5. The launch happened 1:00 p.m. Friday of Palm Sunday weekend and virtually all hours were covered by someone over the next eight days through to Easter weekend.
  6. At 11 p.m. on Easter Sunday a group of 20 or so met in the room for worship, reflection and sharing. The consensus was vibrant and spontaneous - "Let's keep this place open through the rest of semester!"
In His Grace,
Jerry Lout

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