marcum family/ministry newsletter - oct 2015
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October 2015 edition of the Marcum family/ministry newsletter. The Marcums are full-time intercessory missionaries at International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MOTRANSCRIPT
The Marcum Family/Ministry News – October 2015 –
Dear Friends & Family,
We just completed a 3-day fast and “Solemn Assembly” and it was so amazing! For 3 days around
1,000 of us gathered 8 hours a day to fast and to pray especially for spiritual awakening in America.
We live in a critical hour and there is much hanging in the balance. We realized that as a
community here at IHOPKC, our fervency and focus for our main calling – TO PRAY – needed to be
stirred up. So on our 16th
“birthday” of 24/7 prayer here in Kansas City, the leaders felt instead of a
celebration this time we would renew our consecration to what the Lord has called us to and graced
us for. There were some times together of deep repentance, but it was often followed by a release of
abundant joy! The whole atmosphere here at the Missions Base and in the community feels different –
and there is such a renewed strength and hope for continuing to keep the fire of prayer burning
brightly. We pray that same renewal for each of your personal prayer lives, and for the praying groups
you are all a part of. Let us press on, for the Lord our God is with us!
– Love, The Marcums
Raising up a Generation of Worshipers & Musicians
This month we want you to meet our new IHOPU group that we are leading
this year! Many of you know, last year we led a group of IHOPU students who
were 3rd
& 4th
year students in the School of Ministry, particularly the House of
Prayer Leadership track. We were asked again this year to lead a group, and
we’re super excited to have 3rd
& 4th year students from the School of Music!
Many of these young people are already leading, singing, and playing in our
Global Prayer Room, as well as at the Hope City prayer room, and All Nations
Prayer Room. It is such an honor to be able to sow into their lives this year.
We began meeting together with these students the last week of August, and are enjoying getting to know them. Each week
we have had a different student share a bit of their life story, how they came to the Lord, and how they were led here to
IHOPKC for training in worship & prayer. They also have been sharing where they see the Lord taking them from here.
We pray over and minister to each one after they share, and it’s been really good. We also eat together and have a lot of fun
– I (Jim) grilled out for them one evening, and another evening Melissa cooked up a great spaghetti dinner. Other evenings
we just have snacks together. They are enjoying the home cooked food, and the home environment as well.
The schedule at IHOPU’s School of Music is fairly rigorous, and the students are
required to practice 4 to 6 hours per day, aside from their classes. So an evening to
relax in a family atmosphere means a lot. They have enjoyed Melissa and I telling
lots of stories from our life, and from our time pastoring and leading worship for so
many years. We already feel the Lord is beginning to impart some things and pray
that will increase as we spend more time together. To see the quality and heart of
these young people is such a blessing to us, and to see that they are being trained to
have a LIFE of worship & prayer and not just do it as a ministry.
One of the young ladies shared her testimony last Monday night. When she was just 5 years old, her parents were looking to
divorce but went in desperation to a marriage counselor. The counselor wasn’t even a Christian, but after hearing them talk
she said, “I don’t know any way to fix the mess you’re in. Counseling won’t help you; all I can suggest is you try praying 15
minutes a day and see if that helps.” Her dad actually did it, and 15 minutes turned into an hour and the Lord began to heal
the marriage. Eventually they found a good church, were discipled, and ended up on the mission field for several years in
New Zealand. They then moved to Hawaii and continued to do ministry for the Lord there. Her dad was a professional
musician, so she grew up in a very musical environment (she has an awesome singing voice!). After encountering the Lord
in a special way for herself in her teens, she wanted to give her life to the Lord and be trained in the Scriptures and in music.
The Lord opened doors for her to come to IHOPU’s School of Music to receive the equipping she needs.
We are looking forward to our time together with this special group of students this year! We are so thankful that this is one
of the ways we can serve the purposes of God here at IHOPKC’s Mission Base and IHOPU’s training schools.
Rhoda, Taylor, Jessie, Michael, Mari, and Jono
Jim & Melissa
So Encouraged! It was SO encouraging to have Liz Cloutier in our home last Friday
evening. She has come for a 3-month internship with Fire in the Night, our
night watch ministry that keeps the fire of prayer & worship burning
through the night – midnight to 6 a.m. Liz is a young woman with a heart
for the nations, and has spent the past few years in South Africa and
Malawi working with Zehandi missions. She told us several FAITH
building stories of God’s supernatural provision in her life. As an intern,
Liz is staying in Hernhutt apartments, and she’s excited that two of her
roommates are internationals – from Hong Kong & Germany. Check out
Liz’s blog at: http://lizcloutier.blogspot.com/ where she tells about what
it’s like to be doing Fire in the Night!
Two National & Local Events for LIFE
We have been part of two ongoing events taking place this month in support of a
culture of LIFE. The first was an annual one-day event on Sunday, October 4th called “Life
Chain.” This was the 28th year for Life Chain, and it is something we did many times
when we were living in Joplin, MO. This year’s Life Chain in Kansas City was held on
95th
Street in Overland Park. Life Chain’s website explains: “LIFE CHAIN is a peaceful
and prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals standing for 90 minutes praying for
our nation and for an end to abortion. It is a visual statement of solidarity by the
Christian community that abortion kills children and that the Church supports the
sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.” Overland
Park was one of around 1,500 cities which participated in Life Chain this year across
America. Overland Park is the 2nd
largest city in the state of Kansas, and the ONLY
location in the KC metro where abortions are performed.
The other event we are taking part in this month is the Fall
“40 Days for Life” prayer vigil, taking place from
September 23 – November 1. We will be out praying &
standing for Life each Friday during the 40-day vigil, and at
some other special times as well. Here is an excerpt from a
recent article at LifeSite News about 40 Days for Life:
Over 100,000 people in 307 cities expected as 40 Days for Life kicks off Sept. 23
September 10, 2015 -- As new videos continue to document Planned Parenthood’s barbaric practice of harvesting and trafficking in aborted baby body parts, outrage at the deadly organization – and the entire abortion industry – is at an all-time high.
Starting in less than two weeks, you are invited to join with the 100,000+ people expected to participate in the largest, longest coordinated response to this growing crisis: the next “40 Days for Life” campaign. “40 Days for Life” begins on Wednesday,
September 23, in 307 cities around the world. First-time campaigns will be taking place across Cameroon, Colombia and in 22 additional new locations.
For 40 days and nights, people of faith and conscience will stand in constant, peaceful vigil outside hundreds of Planned Parenthood centers and other abortion facilities … to do the single most important thing we can do in the face of this evil: PRAY. We need to pray. Those at risk of abortion need our prayers. The workers inside Planned Parenthood who are questioning their jobs in light of their employer’s scandal need our prayers. The culture needs our prayers. God loves these babies — and their mothers and fathers — more than we ever can, and He will multiply even our simplest prayers and our smallest efforts to make a world-changing impact during these 40 days!
Source: https://www.lifesitenews.com/pulse/over-100000-people-in-307-cities-expected-as-40-days-for-life-kicks-off-sep
FINAL WORD: October is “partnership development” month for us. We appreciate your prayers as we invite others to join us in our mission. Thank you all, and keep in touch, we’re praying for you!
Because He is worthy of it all,
Jim & Melissa Marcum & family
Jim & Melissa Marcum P.O. Box 1099, Grandview, MO 64030 Phone/text: 816-287-3525 / 816-287-2228 Email/PayPal: [email protected]
International House of Prayer – Kansas City, MO
Gifts to the Marcums can be made out to “IHOPKC.” Contributions to IHOPKC are income tax deductible to the extent allowable under applicable law. Contributions to IHOPKC are made with the understanding that IHOPKC has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.
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