HOPE CITY BLOG

2008-07-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, another summer here and this thing is still going. It's so amazing to see what God is doing at our weekly Monday night prayer meetings. The Salvation Army has joined our family here at Hope City. They are partnering with us in our prayer meetings by sending some of their leadership team and some of the recovering drug addicts and alcoholics from thier rehabilitation center. The International House of Prayer also continues to serve the community along side of us by sending the Fire in the Night interns. These young adults are on fire for the Lord, and have dedicated their summer to staying up all night and giving themselves to prayer. It's amazing to see young people with such firey love for God. While most of their generation is out partying or hanging out with friends on Friday and Saturday nighs, this unique group of twenty-somethings spends their weekends on their faces before the Lord. That in itself is a sign and a wonder. We are on the verge of something huge. Miracles are on the way ! There is coming a day when there will not be one sick or needy person among us. We are seeing little pockets of God's glory every week.

Eileen

2008-06-10T19:04:00.001-07:00

Hi Eileen, welcome to full time 58 days and life to go.
8/8/08 or bust

Where Do we go from here?

2008-04-22T18:29:00.001-07:00

Its been a wild and crazy ride this past winter.
with spring upon us and summer fastly approaching,
where do we go from here God ?
For Allison, Kimberly, David, Phillip, solomon, and Lajean

we are sad

2007-08-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

We are so sad,
our wonderful friend and Team mate is leaving us.
Joyska our Canadian , blogger , cooker, parkmate, friend to the homeless, singer, flyer putter togetherperson, hospital visiter, borrow a room for a night or a month person, babysitter, websiter, cheeseburger, photographer, driving around the city person, giftwrapper ,Hmmmm Lets see oh and our Endtime intercessor team mate is going home!!!! Our hats are off to you for all youve done for Hope City Joyska. And we will miss you dearly.
but we will make it our business to come for a visit Hey.
Love you, Lisa, Ray, Ronna and Jim, Allison, Jane,Chase
and all the crew. Call us at 1-800-call us we are sad!!!

We have found a flow

2007-08-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

People from all parts of the city have begun to join us for prayer at Hope City.
We are honored and a bit amazed.
But God is in our midst and we are loving every minute of it.
Recently we were able to attend a prayer walk with our friends from Mt Hebron church,
43rd and Troost.
We went from 27th st. on down to 43rd where they had fixed a wonderful meal for us.
We had amazing encounters along the way, from Helping a homeless women with some change for breakfast, to singing Jesus name over an Islamic temple. (lead By our wonderful friends Solomon And Sister Humphrey.) We are thankful for what the Lord has begun to do.
And excited for what lies ahead.

Don't want to stop!

2007-05-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight's corporate prayer meeting for the city was AWESOME! There was definitely a feeling of the Lord's presence in the room and the worship was definitely annointed. We started at 6:00, went until 7:30 ish, prayed for those who were sick, and blessed the food. The worship team kept going as everyone else went to the kitchen to eat.

The team kept going, and going and going... At 9:00, still in full worship, the sound man turned OFF the sound, and they kept going, the lights went off and they reluctantly stopped. The Lord was so present tonight and it was a great time!

We wait with expectation and anticipation at all that God is doing and is going to do in our midst!

The time of our lives

2007-05-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

its amazing, absolutely amazing , who says a little persistence wont pay off? a little persistence fueled by a powerful vision from God, added to a great group of people who refuse to quit until they get what God has promised . Who says it wont pay off ? We are having the time of our lives . Crying out to God for the City, and watching him join us all together from all walks of life to do it . Wow . Who would of ever dreamed it up besides God ?

and He will send them

2007-04-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

who says a little advertizement won't work? Lately we have been handing out little flyers saying that we are praying on different days of the week for and with anyone who would like to join us. The other day we were praying, and in walks a man obviously homeless. He introduced himself and sat down and joined us for prayer.

Afterward; during our meal time, he told us that someone had given him a flyer. None of us knew him, and he found us. He had a good hot meal, got some prayer and away he went. We don't know if we will see him again... and we look forward to many like him!

Power and Prayer

2007-03-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

When I think about what Hope City is about, I am constantly reminded that the reality is in waiting for the power in response to the prayer. And lately the power and the prayer go together!

This past week, after a time of strategizing and asking the questions "where have we come from and where are we going?", the power came. One of the women that has been with us for awhile and has been free of drugs for a little while, received prayer that really broke through some of the pain in her life. It was awesome to watch, and be a part of. The Lord met her in a place of great desperation and fear, and replaced it with great love and acceptance!

The following day, in the prayer meeting, she opened the scriptures to Isaiah 35 and began to read. "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, Be strong, do not fear!" As she read, the reality of the scripture washed over her and it moved her heart. She turned to me at one point and said "I've heard it all my life, but I never UNDERSTOOD it!"

The power that comes when the word comes alive is a wonder to behold!

2007-03-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

The last week at Hope City has been humbling and powerful. It seems every time we turn around the Lord has something to say. This past week, we have seen a young man see how pointless life with out Jesus can be, and rejoiced with him as he gave his life to Jesus and found in his words "a place to fit". We have seen natural answers that mirror the Spiritual answers we have been asking for. We have seen a unity and strength grow with Pastor Ray, his family and his congregation. We have been humbled and reminded how important it is to listen to the Lord. We have seen the prayer room explode with powerful worship and intercession, and today we heard testimonies of God breaking in to people's lives and setting them free. It's been a good week.

We have also seen the release of our website, some financial answers, and just a sense that we have stepped into a new season. It's exciting and terrifying all at once, and yet exactly what we have been asking for!

YEAH GOD!

2007-02-20T15:44:00.000-08:00

Today was amazing, our friend Jonathon who was living on the street started the Fire In The Night program here at IHOP. It has been such a wonderful story to watch. Over the last 2 weeks, Jonathon has gotten saved, had food to eat, a warm place to stay (other than an unheated front porch) got his leg and back healed, made ten new friends, and is now enjoying the Fire In the Night! woohoo!

Yeah HOPE CITY! Yeah GOD!

Hey i can do this

2007-02-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hey mom look what I can do.......

Enough to make you cry

2007-02-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Kris praying for healing.

Yesterday at Hope City at our prayer meeting downtown there was an incredible sense of the Lord's favor and grace on what we were doing. Yesterday, we prayed two more into the kingdom! Kris and Butch, both confessed with their mouth that Jesus was Lord in their lives. It was awesome.Kris is a great kid who is "working it out". He just came out of a short time in jail and part of his probation is to go into a 3 month live in program. It's a great thing and a difficult thing as he won't be able to join us 3 times a week and be with "positive praying people". We know the Lord has His hand on this man and are thrilled to see his progress. Pray for him though, we long to see him truly embrace the new life that is in him. It was wonderful and heart wrenching as I heard him say to Pastor Ray "I'll be back, maybe not for three months, but I'll be back because I need you guys!"

Then there was Butch. He got to us yesterday. Butch lives in an assisted living situation. He's a big man who 4 years ago hit his head and went into a coma, so there are some residual mental issues that we are awaiting the Lord to heal. Yesterday, we saw him walking down the street with a thin t-shirt and a wide open jacket, ripped sweat pants, and no socks in his shoes! Keep in mind, in Kansas City right now it's belowing freezing, lots of snow and a bitter wind.When we got him to the prayer meeting, we asked him why he wasn't wearing socks. "I asked for help to get em on this morning, but the nurse said I wasn't going no where and didn't need em". His basic need aren't being met there and it was killing us. (We did go get him a pair of socks and put them on for him!)

Butch at the prayer meeting

These are precious ones in the kingdom. We love them and we see the Lord moving on and in them. We can't wait til they lead us! It's enough to make you cry!

Heard at IHOP

2007-02-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

This morning in the wee hours (6:30 ish) the prayer room at IHOP was full of intercessors crying out for the prayer rooms in the nation and the world. I sat in my seat and prayed for Hope City. We are a prayer room. We are crying out for the city, the nation, the world.

The singers responded with these phrases:

Give grace
To tarry in the city as we wait
For the promise of the Father
give grace
Pour out your Spirit

That is what we need here at Hope City, at IHOP and around the earth: GRACE

We need grace to wait for the things He has promised,
We need grace as we cry out for him to come
We need grace as we long for His rescue and His hand
We need grace to walk through the "stuff" that hits us everyday

But I love how the phrases ended: POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT.

His grace and our survival only comes as He deposits HIS Spirit on our weak efforts.

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer, and tell you great and mighty things that you do not know." We are calling unto you Jesus. COME

The beauty of simplicity

2007-02-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

We have begun "harp and bowl" style prayer meetings at Hope City. And it is beautiful!

Yesterday, it went something like this:

On the piano was a girl who has never led worship from the piano
The Chorus leader had never led choruses
The singers were a formily homeless man, a pastor, and another man who none of which had sung prophetically.
The prayer leader was a man who, you guessed it, has never led a prayer meeting

And everyone else was sitting in a circle with a scripture ready to read and pray.

Potentially: chaotic and disasterous
Reality: Simple and beautiful.

The prayer time was amazing as person after person prayed their heart, and we sang "Bring restoration". It's hard to explain and share the relevance and importance of this prayer meeting. The people in the room ranged from homeless kids who are sleeping under stairs, to those of us who have been at IHOP for years, but there was no difference, as one of the homeless kids (late teens- early twenties) stood, prayed and literally preached, another received prayer and told us later he had never been prayed for before, while yet another received prayer and felt God's love. We all felt the presence of the Lord in the room.

I don't know exactly where the Lord is taking us, but the simplicity and the beauty are astounding!

Bethlehem

2007-01-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

See this humble little building? This is Bethlehem... the birth place of seemingly little things.

Yesterday; 1-11-07, we gathered together in this tiny buiding with 15 people and cried out for the Lord to come and move on our city. We prayed for God's truth, healing, and strength to break out.

We prayed, prophesied, sang, layed hands on the sick and watched the Lord move. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

A Year Ago...

2007-01-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

A little less than a year ago, an amazing thing happened at Hope City. We were still in the Clyde Manor (two buildings ago!) and we were still really just feeling our way through... This is what happened:

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Well it is Tuesday and that means Hope City!!!Last night when the crew went downtown to feed the poor, one of the guys invited an older woman in who was walking by. It was taco night and there was LOTS of food left when she came in. With a heaping plate of food and a nice warm spot to hang out and eat, Marsha started to cry. ON further investigation, she shared that she was on her way to go get booze and when she was invited in, the feeling "lifted off or her"... she didn't want the alcohol anymore!! She, after talking with some of them gave her heart to the Lord!!! SO then today, we are praying and Marsha shows up!!! She hangs out with us as we pray, and then Manny, one of the guys from IHOP, begins to prophesy over her. He calls out destiny over her life and invites her to say YES to walking out the commitment she made last night. After we went on and finished the prayer meeting, Marsha asked if she could say something. She went on to say that she wanted to say yes, but she knew she was going to fail again and again.Before anyone could reply, Goldie (i LOVE this woman!) begins to share how she fails again and again, and how God keeps taking her back... that is NOT about being perfect it's about saying yes! Goldie is a recovering crack ADDICT! She is also a follower of God, and she prayed for Marsha! This is what I have praying to see for a long time. Later Goldie shared her first prophetic vision. She saw a huge white house that was always full where prayer and music was always happening and how anyone from the street could come in and find God! It was the prayer room in the city! I couldn't believe it! And yet... yes, I could.Of course we will continue to walk with these women. The Lord is doing such fun things and it is fun to be a part of it!
Joyska at 6:19 PM

Goldie has gone on before us to be with Jesus, and Marsha has become an integral part of the team! This is Marsha at Christmas, still with us, still alcohol free and following the Lord with a prophetic Spirit and a growing wisdom that is astounding and glorious. This is one of His precious ones that He has connected us with and we are honored and humbled by His gift!

A week in the life of a Christmas Card

2006-12-24T12:25:00.000-08:00

Someone picked a name off of our tree and lovingly and generously filled the boxes with gifts and wrote a card. It was intended for Todd in it's origin, but God had other plans.December 16th the card and the gift were brought to IHOP and were added to the many we had already received.

It was brought then to my house where it sat waiting patiently to be given away. It was jostled and moved, rearranged and piled over and over again as we tried to organize and make sure that it and all the other gifts and cards like it got to the right place.

Monday arrives and the party is planned and preparations are underway. While the turkey and ham and everything else yummy was being made, the presents and cards where moved once again to the living room of my house and soon transported to the IHOP shuttle to make it's way down town.From the shuttle to church, the card waited. As we gave out the presents we realized that Todd was not there, but there were some men that we didn't have a gift for. Todd's gift was given away, but we kept the card. While cleaning up, we threw the card in another gift bag that was being held on to for a lady who didn't come. Once again it was thrown into the shuttle, and back to my house.

And there it sat until Thursday. We took the presents for the people we missed to the park on Thursday. It was taken from my house to Ronna's truck, and forgotten while we ate chili in the park with our friends.

One of the ladies we haven't seen since the "goldie" days (Goldie died a number of months ago) came down to see us. She has been in rehab and is doing great! She graduates in a week and is coming to hang with us again. As we talked to her, and hung out, Lisa felt like she was to go and get one of the presents (again intended for someone who wasn't there). It was a specific gift she felt she was supposed to get. She went and got it.We laughed as Todd's tag was inside the bag. She then pulls out the card. Todd's card. We laugh again. Because we haven't seen Todd for awhile, I decided to open the card and Lisa says "if there is anything in it, it goes to Ginger". I opened it, and out falls $50.00. We hand it to Ginger and she is moved to tears. That card could have ended up anywhere, but the Lord intended it for Ginger to bless her and encourage her in her new life.

So again, thank you to all of you who so generously gave to the "adopt a homeless person" event. The Lord orchestrated every gift and it was an honor for all of us at Hope City to be the hands through which the gifts were distributed!

I love it!

Christmas is upon us!

2006-12-13T06:25:00.000-08:00

For the last two weeks, Hope City has had an "Adopt a Homeless Person" tree up at Forerunner Christian Fellowship. The idea is to take a name from the tree, spend around $30.00 on some warm clothes, socks, and a bag of candy and bring it back to us to hand out to the homeless people we know.

The response has been amazing. The drop off date is the 16th, but already my room is filling with large bags of Christmas presents for our friends. This is one Christmas that we will truley be able to bless the people through the generosity of God's family! We are so grateful!

Keep watching for pictures of the party and the "drop offs" that will be coming this week!

Hope City makes it's online debut

2006-09-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! A space to call our own!

the Hope City staff

Welcome to our on line journal!

Hope City Kansas City is a ministry under the International House of Prayer (IHOP) that seeks to restore dignity to the poor and reconcile our hearts and lives with Jesus through weekly meals, prayer services and gatherings.

This blog is to serve those who are curious about who we are, what we do, and how to be involved. We also desire to just have a space to tell the awesome stories and testimonies that we get to hear everyday! God is on the move in Kansas City and we are thrilled to be a part of it.

Keep checking back, add us to your bloglines and come along on the journey with us!
Her are just a few pics of what we are already doing!

sack lunches anyone?praying together on tuesdays

food for all!