My pastor Frank Damazio, wrote a report of our recent Northwest Intercessors Conference for our website (www.citybiblechurch.org) and asked if I would post it to the new-wine list. So, here it is....
Larry Asplund
Portland, Oregon
Northwest Intercessor’s Conference 1999 Official Report
We have had conferences for years on leadership development and now have added a prayer conference. This has grown out of our own local church journey into a deeper commitment to prayer intercession for our church, the churches of our region, our city, our state, nation and the nations of the world. The Northwest Intercessor's Conference was attended by about 1,000 from our church and another 1,800 from our city and other areas around the Northwest. Our speakers were all well known for their prayer ministry, prayer teaching and prayer burden - Dick Eastman, Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, Rachel Hickson (from England), Julie Anderson (from England) and George Otis Junior, Ken Wilde and Wendell and Gini Smith along with our prayer pastors Mark and Susan Jones and Mike and Willa White. I spoke in one general session and did several opening service short messages on prayer intercession.
The mission statement for our conference was: to raise up interceding churches that confront the powers of hell, release the power of God and successfully reap the harvest (Ezekiel 22:30).
Our emphasis is to help pastors, leaders and intercessors raise up interceding churches that will believe for open heavens over our cities and see a tangible spiritual effect upon our regions. All of the speakers were outstanding. Every session, every time, God was in the house. The worship mingled with prayer intercession was marvelous as God was working with us every service. Many young people were present; this is a good sign.
We had an unusual service Friday night when the whole campus and several blocks around us lost power. It happened at a very unique time in the service as Chuck Pierce was referring to revival coming to the Northwest and a spiritual explosion taking place. We were all stunned. We moved into about ninety minutes of prayer with exhortations from several key people and a special song by Jamie Owens-Collins. I'm not sure what
spiritual significance the power going out had, but it certainly had an impact on the prayers in that auditorium. It was a very fulfilling time with great word, great teaching, and great prayer.
Let me quote one of my staff's summary of parts of the conference: "Saturday morning Pastor Frank brought a key exhortation on the 'Lydia Anointing,' taken from Acts 16. It was the joining of the intercessor ministry and the apostolic ministry that birthed the church in Phillipi. As Lydia came under the authority of the Apostle Paul and as
Paul honored the ministry of intercession, a city was opened to the gospel. We have heard so much about a move of God coming to the Northwest yet there is a crucial need for intercessors and pastors to be joined together. As intercessors come under the covering of their pastors and as pastors recognize the importance of intercessors, we will see more "holes poked in the darkness" and revival come to our cities and nation.
"Throughout the conference there was a strong prophetic sense of God moving in the Northwest. Speaker after speaker spoke of the Northwest as being a birthplace for a move of God that would impact this nation with healings, signs and wonders and miracles. An urgency was heard that we need to be a people and a church that is praying Holy Spirit anointed prayers from a place of positional intercession in the cities
God has placed us so that we may carry the atmosphere of His presence into our cities."We pray that we will not just have attended an equipping conference,but that we will each return to our churches and our cities in right relationship with our pastors..in the right place at the right time .praying Holy Spirit led prayers...walking in holiness before God .carrying the atmosphere of open heavens over our lives .to see healings and miracles take place and cities and nations .transformed by the power of God."
Pastor Frank Damazio
Senior Pastor
City Bible Church