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Ministry Updates Archive Missed a newsletter? New to Amanda's ministry? Find the archives of Amanda's ministry updates here. December 2007 Ministry Update It's December, and that can only mean one thing--onething is right around the corner! We are in the calm-that-is-not-so-calm before the storm. onething is always our busiest time of the year, but our staff is rallying valiantly to the cause. The call has gone out for all hands on deck, and so far we have more than 800 people jumping into various areas of service. I'm going to be helping out the onething Team, assisting in leading a few info meetings, and working the floor in the bookstore. It will be hectic, for sure, but I'm also looking forward to it. I know the Lord has plans for this conference and for the thousands of young adults who will be attending. My team is continuing to grow and function as a home group. It's been great to pull together in a new way to study the Word. We're going through a series on the Song of Solomon, and we're learning more about the emotions of God. I have been blessed with some wonderful comrades here at IHOP-KC, and it's a joy to be able to run with them in the night. This will be a short update for now, but you can count on me having more to say after onething... October 2007 Ministry Updtate Well, it has been a ridiculously long time since I’ve updated this site, which I think requires a bit of explaining.
This past semester at FSM was, by far, my most challenging one yet. Our project was to write a commentary. As a group. On the entire New Testament. I enjoyed the work, and learned a lot. It was good to be able to dig into the Word, and I especially benefited from studying the Gospel of Luke. But after several months of really hard work, I’ve graduated as part of the first ever graduating APP class.
Immediately upon graduation, I was given charge of “The Source,” a leadership network on www.ihop.org. I will be managing content to go out to nearly 150 pastors and leaders who subscribe to our site, helping equip them to lead their groups in prayer. Besides writing and uploading content, I will be organizing interviews with IHOP-KC leaders, sending out resources, uploading media to our site, and whatever else needs doing.
I will be giving my focus more exclusively now to helping follow up with FITN Track II, giving them some tools to practically apply back at home what they’ve learned in their internship. We have an online form for them to fill out in order to keep track of how they’re plugging in back at their home church, and an initiative to get them leading Bible studies with some of their friends and peers. There will also be an online forum for them to discuss how things are going, and to fire questions at myself and Bret (the other missionary on this assignment). We will be fielding questions about theology, as well as tips basic leadership.
Also, I’m going to be getting involved with the dance ministry again. I’ve been on a six-month hiatus due to the workload of FSM, but now that I’m graduated I have the time and strength to jump in.
Perhaps the biggest news for the NightWatch in this past month is that we have been broadcasting our 4am prayer meetings live to a Forerunner Leadership Summit in South Korea. There were more than five thousand people in attendance at these conferences, and they tune into our meetings nightly. With the time difference, this was just before their evening session. There are ministry teams over there from IHOP right now, and we heard tremendous reports about pastors and leaders joining with us. According to Daniel Lim (a minister from IHOP), people were weeping as they prayed with us and watched us, deeply touched that a bunch of folks in the USA would spend night after night interceding for them. God is fulfilling our mandate to the nations in ways none of us would have expected!
The last bit of news for this update is that our worship teams in the NightWatch are becoming home groups. We want to do more than just show up at midnight and do our sets; we want to spend our whole day in pursuit of the Lord. To that end, we are now having several weekly meetings at Clay and Sarah’s house. We’re raising support together as a team (I’m actually writing this update from their living room), as well as studying the Word and praying together. It’s very encouraging to me, and it’s good for our team.
So it’s good to be back in the flow of things. I want to revamp the site and keep it updated monthly; so thanks to anyone who’s still reading, and look for another update soon! January 2006 Ministry Update January is here, and with the new year are lots of new changes... Firstly, the onething Conference was fabulous this year. We packed out the Kansas City Convention Center with over 12,000 people in attendance. I was working in the internship booth and rehearsing our dance for much of the time, but when I was able to come into the sessions, it was amazing. I loved seeing so many young adults gathered to seek the face of God together. There are few things quite as powerful as staring across a full arena of peope worshipping the Lord as a whole group. The dance went very well. It was a terribly long day for me (I was awake for 24 solid hours!), but the dance was excellent. Our choreographer, Rachael Bailey, did a tremendous job coordinating the music, movement and costumes to put together what was not only a good dance but a powerful message. The piece we did was based largely on Matthew 25, the parable of the ten virgins. It had a huge impact, and we've received dozens of testimonies of people who were touched--some even to the point of tears--by watching the scripture put to live action. I'm getting ready to embark on my final semster at FSM. Lord willing, I will be graduating this June! School has been terrific, and has done so much to prepare me for what I am to do. However, I have to admit that I'm excited at the prospect of my schedule opening up a bit more when I finish classes. I'm feeling the tension of wanting to be released fully into what I came to do, but having to be patient for another four or five months while I finish training. God is good, and He's teaching me a lot through this. The new track of FITN is here--and due to a last minute need, I am now core leading again. I'm still retaining my role as a Ministry Assistant, but now in addition, I am also assisting a good friend of mine lead an apartment. I really like our group, and am looking forward to where we'll go together in three months. The Prayer Room itself has seen lots of changes. The stage has been entirely overhauled, and looks and functions so much better. The lights have been dimmed a little, which makes it easier to read for hours at a time without feeling strained. The structure of our singers on the platform is even changing, and the new format is designed to allow a greater freedom to hear the Lord and declare what they feel is being said. It's taking some getting used to, but the changes are all very much for the better, and it's amazing to see our little prayer room growing. In light of everything that's going on, the Night Watch is also setting aside 90 days of consecration. We're taking this time to intensely focus our time in the Prayer Room. It's only been going for three days or so, but it has been amazing how the Lord has showed up in our midst already. The time in the Prayer Room is so much sweeter--our time in there feels more sacred. It's a much-needed refocusing for our section, and is going very well. December 2006 Ministry Update The FSM semester is over! I just finished up my class on the book of Isaiah, which was an extremely thought provoking class that was very helpful in equipping me to study Isaiah more in-depth in the future. Only one more semester to go... Fire in the Night continues to go well. This is a great group of interns! ...Well, I suppose I say that about every group that comes through, but it’s still true. I’m getting used to my role as an MA, and it’s going really well. I find I still have lots of opportunity to connect with the interns as I assist core leaders in their apartment meetings and nightly prayer room briefings. Right now I’m also meeting one-on-one with a very sweet girl, and I’m helping her study the book of Daniel. The big news around IHOP is the upcoming OneThing Conference. December 28-31, we will again be calling a solemn assembly for teens, young adults, and whoever else wants to come and gather for four days of corporate prayer and worship. It’s a huge amount of work, but every year it is worth it as we hear great reports from young people who really find a way to connect with God. If you’re interested in joining us for OneThing, or know someone who would like to come, registration is free online at www.ihop.org. We’re expecting up to 15,000 people this year! The dance ministry of IHOP puts on a big presentation every OneThing, and this year I will be in the dance. I love the choreography, and it’s coming together nicely. I will write more details on this once we’ve actually danced it! Keep us in your prayers as we practice. We want to present not just an excellent dance, but a message that will inspire people to pray. Prayer Requests and Updates
I’m nearly done with school! Classes have been tremendously challenging, but God has been giving me lots of grace and my grades are doing well. One semester to go—thanks for praying! Our Halloween outreach went very well. We had several hundred people make decisions for the Lord. Thanks for your prayers—they bore good fruit! My roommate is having a bit of a financial crisis—pray for Andrea for favor and provision. (If you would like to give to her, send me the check and make a note that it’s for Andrea Van Voorst.) With 2-3 weekly dance rehearsals for OneThing (5-9 hours) in addition to my normal dance sets, my knees are starting to be a bother again. Please continue to pray for my healing.
October 2006 Ministry Update September was certainly a full month! On September 19th, IHOP celebrated their 7th anniversary of 24 hour prayer. (Incidentally, I also turned 21 on that day. I guess that means I’m an official grown-up now!) We celebrated with fellowship, worship, and recalling the promises of God. It was a very encouraging time. The new track of FITN is in! With tracks 1 and 2 combined, we have about 80 interns. The Lord certainly continues to grow us! I am functioning in a slightly different role than I have been; I am now a ministry assistant, which means I will be lending supervision and support to the core leaders. There is also a possibility I will be helping teach a couple of classes to the interns. I’m excited to see what this track holds... School continues to go well. I am currently studying the Pauline Epistles, which has been a challenging, but very edifying class. I feel like I’m getting a much better grasp on Paul’s letters. Prayer Requests Continue to pray for grace for my schedule. New position, new responsibilities… Pray for me for grace to continue to pursue my main calling here (intercession and worship) without distraction.
September 2006 Ministry Update This month has been a relatively calm one for Fire in the Night. It’s been a good break for the interns (and their core leaders) to be able to settle into a regular schedule of prayer room and study hours. My girls continue to be a blessing, and I love seeing them fall in love with different passages in the Word. I just finished the lecture section of my first class at FSM. I was taking “The Theology of Social Justice,” which proved to be an extremely helpful and challenging class. Stuart Greaves, our instructor, has a very unique background—he has lived in several different countries growing up, some of them very poor. He spoke to us from very solid biblical wisdom, as well as a profound amount of insight from personal experience. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I had never fully considered before, and gave me a vision for how to speak into situations of injustice. The practicum for this semester has already stretched me a lot. It’s focused exclusively on helping my graduating class solidify our life and ministry vision, so when we graduate, we will have clear direction on where to go next—as opposed to simply coasting along with a certificate, a blank stare, and a resounding “Now what?” I am extremely grateful to our proctor, Ian Rutherford; he has been tirelessly pouring himself into our class, meeting with us in small groups and individually, coaching us through the process. Even as daunting as the assignments are, I can see the wisdom and the necessity of them, and I am looking forward to the further sharpening of my focus that will come from this class.
August 2006 Ministry Update It’s been another full month for us at the IHOP-KC Night Watch. The Fire in the Night internship has been continuing with its typically hectic schedule, but this track is wonderful and it’s a privilege to work with them. July 26 and 27 was a two-day Relational Wholeness Seminar for the interns. Every track, we do one of these seminars to minister to Fire in the Night. Frequently, when interns come through their program, there are different painful experiences in their heart in which they need to find the Lord and be healed. A wonderful couple from IHOP taught this seminar, and all of us core leaders jumped on board to help pray for the interns and minister to them. Each day we took seven hours to meet, learn, and pray; now, the core leaders will be sticking with the interns over the next few weeks to continue to pray with them and walk them through as the Lord speaks to them. Over this summer, I’ve been focusing my studies on the book of Daniel, working on organizing my notes into a usable format. My goal is to lay a solid foundation of study that I hope to be able to teach from in the future. I’m currently involved in three separate Bible studies centering around the book of Daniel; I really want to get this message in my heart so I will be able to speak it with clarity in such a way that it will inspire people to love the Lord more.
July 2006 Ministry Update Summer is well underway! The new track of Fire in the Night is in, and the girls in the apartment I oversee are amazing. They’ve only been here a week, but I already really love them! This track has already been a stretch for me—I am the head core leader over these five gals, all of whom are at least five years older than I am. But the Lord is good, and I’m counting on His grace and His wisdom to make this track amazing for them. I am working with a new core leader named Gabrielle, who is an extremely sweet person who is definintely wired for pastoral care type of ministry. I'm still getting to know her, but I'm anticipating that we will make a very good team. This past week has been a bit of a blur; it was orientation for the interns, and the schedule was packed with various registration tasks and meetings to get the new group settled. We moved the interns into their apartments on Friday, June 23, and the next seven days consisted of a daily 4-6 hours of orientation, on top of the normal six hours a night in the Prayer Room. The interns were troopers, though. Every new track brings with it this type of hectic schedule, but it is so worth it to watch a group of young adults get launched into a deeper walk with God. Even though the schedule can be taxing at times, I am so honored and thrilled to be able to minister for a brief three months into these lives. I’m looking forward to what God has in store for this track. The dance team is changing again—two of our leaders have moved away, but a new one has stepped up. We also lost a couple of Fire in the Night dancers with the old track, but are auditioning new ones soon. It’s an ever-changing process! There are a lot of interns expressing interest in the dance teams; please pray that the Lord adds strong dancers to the Night Watch! It has been good to have a breather from FSM classes. I've been able to take some time to dive into an intensive study on the book of Daniel, and I'm really loving it. My final year of FSM starts in the fall, and I'm taking the opportunity of the summer break to prepare my heart before the Lord for it. Prayer Focus: IHOP has just finished a week-long intensive, praying for the ending of abortion in the United States. Although our intensive has ended, praying for the unborn is one of our mandates as a house, and we continue to pray and believe that the Lord will end this practice in our nation. Join us as we intercede!
June 2006 Ministry Update This last semester at FSM has been very good, and very, very intense. The homework load was, without a doubt, the most demanding one to date, but it’s done, and it has given me so much to carry with me into the Prayer Room and incorporate into my ministry. The new track of Fire in the Night has been great. The interns are all hungry for the Lord and have been an absolute joy to work with. My group has been studying through the book of Romans together, and I can see the girls one by one catching the vision for a life devoted to prayer and to the Word of God. I am so blessed to be able to minister in the internship and lead such amazing people. The Night Watch dance leaders and myself have recently auditioned four new dancers. We have two girls who are very strong in classical ballet, one with more of a jazz style, and a guy who is a very skilled break dancer. It’s exciting to be getting more dancers in the night, and especially exciting to be incorporating different styles! I can’t wait to see where God takes us.
Prayer Focus One of the big prayer points we’ve been focusing on lately is revival in college campuses in the U.S.A. The college culture today is so full of darkness, we’re praying for God to raise up voices for Himself on the campuses, to start revivals, and to establish prayer movements.
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