Back in 2006 I met a pastor of an inner city church. I mentioned to him how nice the neighborhood was around his church. He was quick to tell me that it was not always that way. In fact, he informed me that it was once known as the most dangerous place in that city. When I inquired as to how it all changed he recounted the story of how he and his church members decided to take the neighborhood back for God. They set up a systematic prayer walk that covered every street and park. People took responsibility for different streets and committed to regular prayer walks. Within months minor changes were noticeable and within a year the neighborhood was significantly improved, and as they continued praying the neighborhood only got better. The tide had turned in the spirit realm over that neighborhood and now the efforts this church to meet the needs of the community were far more successful.
For our ministry efforts to yield the most fruit we must win the war in the heavenlies first. Air supremacy insures victory!
Paul Amabile
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Loving Our Neighbors
Walking Down the Block
Paul Haroutunian Loving Our Neighbors Project Coordinator
My wife and I like to take walks at night. It gives us a chance to connect and process our days together while we get a little bit of exercise at the same time. We have noticed another unintended benefit–we are starting to get to know our neighbors. One little boy yells out, I remember you…and we smile back. Recently as we were passing by a house a man and his wife were standing outside, and he yelled to us, look up, that’s the international space station. At the particular moment we were walking you could see the space station with the naked eye. It was one of the brightest objects in the sky. Wow. I had no idea. And that started a conversation. We met his wife and child, and after a nice conversation we walked on. I commented to my wife, isn’t that cool the way God sets things up so that we are walking by his house at just the right moment to see the space station?
A couple of weeks later as we were just minding our own business and walking by, he just happened to be outside again. He said hi, and we had a very lengthy conversation, and spiritual things came up. He mentioned God first.
My wife and I are so excited about this. Currently we are giving ourselves to 20 minutes of prayer each evening, starting with some scripture reading. We have been praying for a long time to connect with our neighbors. We think this is a start of an answer to prayer. Will you join us in living an intentional prayer, care, and share lifestyle? We think this chance meeting is more than a coincidence. To be continued…
Paul,
If you are the Paul of Paul and Cheryl Amabile, I used to attend church with you years ago in Framingham, MA! :-) Nice to find you here!
I wanted to share a story of how my husband and I have been praying on our walks around the neighborhood for years, asking God to transform our community. We had even held a Christmas party and invited the neighbors one year, but didn't think we were seeing much fruit.
However, last year, a Christian mom-friend of mine asked if I would join her in praying for a Community Bible Study to start in our town. I did, along with several others, and we "prayed in" a group of 25+ people who now meet on a weekly basis to study the Word and pray! I hadn't realized that this friend was walking a different area of our town at the same time God had us walking and praying in our area.
The best part? When the leadership team began meeting prior to the study's launch, two next-door neighbors of ours (who had moved uptown several years ago) showed up. They are now on-fire Catholics, in love with Jesus, and have just gotten hold of the Bible for themselves. People we thought were lost have been radically impacted by the Word of God and are now leading alongside of us every week. Several members of their family - in laws, grown kids, etc - come to the study because of their enthusiasm for Christ! Wow!!
It is absolutely true that God honors the prayer-walks and intercession for our local communities. All we have to do is ask. :-)
Deborah Perkins
www.HisInscriptions.com
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