Strategic Prayer Breaks Cold Case Wide-open - Serial Murderer Apprehended

Carl & Brenda Krames - Gainesville FL

Carl and Brenda Krames began working with us using the Operation Rolling Thunder (ORT) strategy (click here) in Gainesville FL and on the University of Florida campus.  They've been focusing on the 24/7 prayer portion of the strategy.

About a year ago they asked us  to begin to pray for them about forming the strategic councils which are part of the ORT strategy.  They started a government council by facilitating a meeting with pastors and local law enforcement (police chief & sheriff).   

I remember them asking us to join with them to pray.  One of the first requests for prayer was regarding cold cases.  Yesterday they reported how that law enforcement in their county was credited with solving a 30 year old case which led to the capture of a serial murder.  Click here for Local records chief hailed for helping crack a nationwide cold case.  Thank you Lord! 

That my friends is a testimony that illustrates what Christ can do when God's people step out in love with God's wisdom to serve their community.  

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ORT provided strategic wisdom but the Krames working with local church leaders put their faith into action and reached out to serve their community.  Their strategic prayer and actions served much more than their city and county.  They helped crack a nationwide cold case.  In fact crime has taken a downturn since the Church in Gainesville began to pray strategically.  Recently law enforcement reported how crime was down 5% for the last 6 months of 2012 and they were cautiously optimistic as crime was down 24.5% the first two and half months of 2013.  

Operation Rolling Thunder seats the courtroom of heaven so that we can plead our case.  Christ's abiding presence changes everything.  It is a revelation of the relationship between Jesus, justice and mercy.  Here is a brief report I received from them yesterday that details the powerful impact that the praying Church in a community can make.

From: Brenda and Carl Krames  
Sent: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 10:41 AM
To: Tim Taylor
Subject: RE: Is the ORT Prayer Strategy Working?

Dear Tim,

With the solving of the nationwide 30 year old cold case murders in the paper this morning, I thought it would be good to reflect on a few of the answered prayers God has provided within the last 10 months.

Solving Cold Cases has been an ongoing prayer request that God has been working on since the formation of our Operation Rolling Thunder "Government Council" that meets with Gainesville Police Chief Jones (monthly) and Sheriff Darnell (quarterly) since June of 2012.

At our very first meeting with Chief Jones, one of the requests was for cold cases to be solved. We also happened to meet with Alachua County Sheriff later that same day. In both meetings that day we prayed with law enforcement leaders for cold cases to be solved.

Keep in mind our next Prayer Meeting with Chief Jones was scheduled for July 20th.

On July 17th, God began to answer this prayer request when authorities cracked one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in recent memory with the arrest of a man they say committed a vicious sexual attack on a female jogger in Haile Plantation in 2008. Andrew Payne Jr., 38, was arrested in Willacoochee, Ga., east of Tifton, around 10 a.m. on July 17 by a posse of law enforcement officers.

On July 18th, Alachua County sheriff’s officials arrested a 54-year-old man in connection with the Feb. 24 robbery of a Bank of America in Gainesville. The robber walked into the police headquarters parking lot and turned himself in!

These two cases solved before our next prayer meeting!! Needless to say, this caught Police Jones’ attention (and ours!) As many of you know, he now comes equipped with a list and crime watch reports and maps every month!

But then God continued to answer this prayer request…3 months later…in September, a 20 year old cold case was solved: a DNA match between a hair and a mouth swab led authorities to believe they solved the 20-year-old murder case of Elizabeth Foster, whose body was found in the woods near a former U.S. 441 restaurant in south Gainesville in 1992.

Then in October, the body of a murdered college student was found in an extremely rural area in another county by two hunters (what are the odds?) The murderer plead guilty to the charges. A devastatingly emotional case that rocked our campus town had closure.

We are blessed here in that local law enforcement leaders have relationships dating back to their police academy days. They are always so thankful for the prayer meetings and come with a list of specific items to pray for. They often bring in other department members for specific prayers. 

Also, we have churches that pray monthly with ORT and have created a One Hour Prayer Guide that includes law enforcement (under government heading). Specific requests are often emailed to a network of local churches.

All of the answers to these prayers are documented on www.Gainesville.com.

To God be the Glory!

Glad to be serving with you!
Brenda & Carl