Yesterday I received a phone call from Pastor Meredith from Shoreline Church in Connecticut. That call made my day and I asked her to email me what we discussed. Her email is below.

What blessed me so much?  First, I remembered the work of Rev. Shelia. In the short video she shares on 1-1-11 how that for the 1st time history every single city in her state had a National Day of Prayer event.  She was awarded the NDP Coordinator of the year award. But she attributes that success to the continual prayer Operation Rolling Thunder helped her mobilize throughout the year. Click here. 


Second, ORT is now called 1Church1Day. It's the same strategy and here Ps Meredith is reporting 6 years later how they are still rolling on. This is an example of fruit that remains. This strategy empowers the Church to occupy the mountain of the Lord's house of prayer for all nations 24/7/365 when every part does their share. 

Ps. Meredith emailed: 

Hi Tim,

It was such a blessing talking to you today.  I know it was not an accident.  The Lord impressed me to seek out the "Rolling Thunder" ministry, web-site, or leaders.  I did not realize I would end up speaking to you, the Founder of ORT.  My husband and I are the founding pastors of Shoreline Church in Old Lyme, CT.  We started Operation Rolling Thunder in our church years ago after being encouraged by Sheila Kimball , and we have also been using the 7 mountains/spheres of prayer.  We are the church which launches ORT with 24/7 prayer the first of each month in Connecticut.

September 2015 has been the most exciting ORT we have experienced yet. I believe one of the reasons why ORT seemed much more effective was because  everyone who was signed up for an hour of prayer was asked to contact the next person assigned to intercede with a phone call or a text, at the beginning of every hour.  It made all of us more accountable to God, and also to one another. 
This accountability was one reason, I think, which caused an excitement about ORT, more than we have ever had. We were very connected with one another.  One of the ladies stated the Lord woke her up as she heard the two intercessors praying in the Spirit who were assigned to pray before her at midnight and 1 am.  ...... Maybe we could encourage one another to keep passing the Lord's torch, and pass on His baton of prayer...

It was a pleasure speaking with you!

Blessings,

Meredith Calo
co-pastor Shoreline Church
www.SLC77.com

By Steve Buss, One Hope Executive Director,

With bright sun and blue sky above, we walked into Grace Community Fellowship to prepare for the Community-Wide Worship/One Church – One Day dedication. The air conditioning welcomed our efforts as we placed ten prayer banners representing ten sectors of our local community on the walls. The worship event was set to draw Jesus’ people together from many churches, with a unique focus of dedicating ourselves, and asking God to enable us to pray together 24/7 every month. This was the commissioning of One Church – One Day, a strategic prayer initiative where more than 31 churches take one a day a month to pray for 24 hours, so that every day, every hour is filled with prayer.

Men moved stacks of chairs as the worship center seating spilled out into the lobby. The standing room started singing with little children and senior citizens raising their voices as we all praised Jesus. Our friend, Pastor Jason Hubbard, Skyped-in from Bellingham, Washington to share stories of how God is transforming their community through 24/7 prayer. Then local pastors aligned before the converged streams of saints. They read verses focused on Jesus and prayer. We dedicated ourselves to the Lord, and then we cried out to God, asking for His grace to empower us to pray together as a community of churches, every day, every month, to the glory of God.

Hundreds of people lingered in the lobby after our agreement for an unceasing season of prayer. Cups of coffee, cups of water, and homemade cookies fueled the fellowship as friends enjoyed the time together. And then we stepped outside. Clouds covered the sky while the wind blew briskly, causing us to shiver as we finished our conversations. To the south we saw the first flashes, distant yet beautiful. After enjoying a meal with friends, we drove home with a consistent lightning show surrounding us. The thunder grew louder as I read in my bed, while my wife started to doze off. The thunder rumbled again waking her up. Recalling an earlier conversation she hit my back and said, “Operation Rolling Thunder!”

Ten months previously we met with Tim Taylor, a friend who had created and implemented this community-wide prayer strategy in other communities. Tim told us several documented stories about how when this prayer initiative was presented to leaders in a community, the Lord would often confirm the effort with unique lightning and thunder. You see, the original name for 1Church1Day was Operation Rolling Thunder! The name came from Psalm 18 when God responded to David’s prayer: “The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them,” vs. 13-14.
That night bright bursts and rolling thunder prevailed for hours. The pounding woke me again and again. I cannot recall a time when such a storm lasted so long in our community.

Thundering Agreement
In the morning I called the National Weather Service asking them for the lightning strike stats for the night. In Lane County there had been 225 strikes. I asked if they kept consistent records, only to dis-cover that they did not. However they told me, "we don't see that normally, that's a very rare occurrence." The talk in coffee shops and offices the next day was about the thunder and lightning. The local newspaper featured a front page story, with the above photo, two days after the storm.

God’s people agreed to pray together, 24 hours a day, everyday. We cried out to the Lord asking for His grace to enable us in unceasing intercession. “The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.” There was a shaking in the sky and also a shaking at sea. Beginning that same evening, from midnight to midday, there were five earthquakes 200 miles off the Oregon Coast. The fourth one, which happened at the start of our Monday staff meeting, was 4.4 on the Richter scale. Our organization, One Hope, is founded on Ephesians 4:4*. Our community is on the 44th parallel, and the earthquakes were centered around the 44.4 parallel.

Again, Psalm 18: “… I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, … He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare,” vs. 6-7, 14-15.

We are only beginning to pray together as a community of Christ-following churches. We believe that the Lord is only beginning to answer. May our prayers bring Him pleasure. May His presence be the answer that transforms our lives and leads our neighbors to know the unfailing love of Jesus.

Lightning strikes and earthquake information provided by the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey website.

*There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were call to one hope when you were called.
Ephesians 4:4

By Steve Buss,
One Hope Executive Director
www.onehopenetwork.org

By Tim Taylor 1/19/15: Pastor Jess (senior pastor) and Pastor George (executive pastor) of Living Hope in Renton WA hosted "Building Healthy Bridges Across Racial Divides" on the day we celebrate Martin Luther King's impact on civil rights in America. They've been working with us in the South King County area taking a day to pray using the 1Church1Day strategy for the last 2 years. 

Inspired by the recent Ferguson riots and desiring to serve our community they visited the mayor last year. They invited a variety of people from the city and community representing the 7 spheres in order to hear from them:

1. Where do you see racial conflict?
2. How are you answering this challenge?
3. What else can be done?

A number of ministers and people gathered to hear a panel discussion facilitated by Pastors Jess and George,  The panel consisted of a college professor, youth worker, Renton's Chief Administrator, the Chief of police, the Deputy Public Affairs Administrator and the City Council President. The purpose of this event was to help the Church at large to learn what was happening in our city so we would be better positioned to serve it. What follows are some of the things I learned from attending. I was fascinated to discover that Renton and Kent are the only two cities in Washington where...

The Family Policy Institute is leading an effort to sound the alarm and mobilize the body of Christ in Washington State in support of marriage and religious freedom (freedom of speech and conscience rights).  The Attorney General's lawsuit against a grandma, her business and her family is what has caught our attention.

She is the sweetest thing. In fact, why don't you take a moment to here Grandma's side of the story and learn a little about what the Alliance Defending Freedom is doing about the case. click here. 

The goal is to have 500 show up in support of Arlene's Flowers on December 19th in Tri-Cities (click the article on the left for details). It will make a strong public statement to the judge and the Attorney General. But action is only part of the battle. The other aspect is a powerful prayer in support of marriage, truth, and freedom of speech and religion.

Let us pray:

• 500 at the courthouse on December 19th - click here for the location & times in Tri-Cities etc.
  
• Good weather for those traveling across the mountains
• Local pastor engagement
• That our 1st amendment rights for freedom of speech and religious liberty would be upheld and that those who go would handle themselves so as to reflect the character of Jesus Christ speaking the truth in love. 
  
• That this grandma would not lose her business and her family's inheritance
• Protection from the hate being generated by so many bullies