A Report from the USA: Prayer Exploding on University Campuses - 5 Feb 2008
It's one of the most audacious and exciting developments in the 24-7 story so far: in the USA, a bold plan has been hatched to mobilise unprecedented levels of prayer on the United States' 4000 university campuses in a single academic year: 2009 -10.
The plan, which is being co-ordinated by Wendy Andrews and a national Board, was conceived on 23rd January 2005. At about 5 in the morning God woke Pete Greig, author of Red Moon Rising, in a hotel room in Redding, California with a very clear word: "Campus America... Call Campus America to pray!"
That night, God also gave David Blackwell (one of the leaders of 24-7 USA), who was sharing a room with Pete, a series of dreams about the same thing. "It was a fear-of-the-Lord moment", recalls Pete. He goes on to explain that "God was speaking about the universities, colleges and seminaries of America. The Campus America vision has been born out of that commission in obedience to the Lord. Its an insanely ridiculous thing to attempt. No one's ever done anything like it before, but we are moving forward because we believe that God has spoken and He will therefore make the impossible happen!"
"The momentum for Campus America is really building in the most amazing way as we step into 2008’, Wendy Andrews said. Statewide networks of campus leaders committed to the CA vision now exist and are emerging in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Indiana, California, and Arizona! That's 9 of the 50 States.
Right now, the University of Michigan is praying for 40 days. Dartmouth College in New Hampshire is in the middle of a week of prayer, and Mt. Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio is praying for 21 days. UCLA will pick up the baton in a few days, starting 3 weeks of 24-7prayer.
A student at Missouri Western State University recently shared the following story of God’s breakthrough during their prayer week. "A student named Gerrick Ingram was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago. Gerrick is a man on fire for the Lord. Throughout the week of prayer, we spent hours praying for him, and he spent much more time praying for himself. Gerrick knows that God has a plan for his life, and he was determined not to leave this world yet. Just a week after our five days of 24-7 prayer, Gerrick told us all that 95% of his cancer was gone. But, it gets better! A week after that, he went back to the doctor for testing, and to everyone's surprise, there was no sign of cancer in his body. Gerrick Ingram is 100% cancer free, without any surgery or radiation! He was healed by the power of God!"
We also had another story from McDaniel College about the power of God’s presence. "We saw God show up in some truly powerful ways this semester!", recalled Josh Foster. "Many of them happened only through the moving of the Holy Spirit", continued Foster, "like the woman who chased down a small group leader in the dorm and said, 'I went to church for the first time in years this week, and during worship, I felt a presence, larger than me, that was all around me. Can you help me understand what was happening?' Two nights later she gave her life to Jesus."
Please pray for Wendy Andrews, Pete Greig, and Jon Petersen, as they meet together this week in England to strategise for Campus America.
Pray also for Allison Brooks and an Ohio student, who are taking a week-long, 5-city Texas tour at the beginning of February, to meet up with leaders from around the state, share and hear stories, and see if something statewide might emerge!
