AUGUST NEWS August 31, 2010

    

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”      — Isaiah 43:19


I have the word ‘suddenly’ in my heart today… What I mean is that sometimes God changes things slowly... but sometimes He breaks in with a ‘suddenly moment.’ Here are some examples...

 - Ezekiel 8:4 — “Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there"
 - Mat 28:2  Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it"
 - Luk 23:45  The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.
 - Act 2:2  Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.
 - Act 16:26  Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!
 - Act 2:41  So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.


And then there’s the a story of Saul of Tarsus who was going about his business persecuting the church and killing Christians when God suddenly knocked him off his horse with a blinding light and he became our beloved Apostle Paul. It feels like the times we are living in are more tumultuous than ever… This has been a year of devastation around the world through natural disasters and economic crisis (to name a couple of things). But I firmly believe times that are riddled with the ‘suddenlies of devastation’ God desires to break in with the ‘suddenlies of His goodness.’ I think the more that we hope and believe for the ‘suddenlies of His goodness’ the more we will begin to see them in our lives.


I feel like the Lord is asking two questions right now… “Can a nation be born in a day?” (Isaiah 66:8) And “when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?” We know that the nation of Israel was suddenly born in a day in 1948 fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah. And I believe that the Lord is wanting other nations, groups, and families to awaken to their identity as citizens of Heaven.  The people of God have an opportunity right now to exercise their faith for God to again do great things. Joshua said, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” I think those who consecrate themselves (set themselves apart for God) and set their hope only in Him will marvel at what He does.


The first week of school 60(ish) people from several different ministries gathered to pray for our campus. We all agreed that we will continue to do this at least on a monthly basis. Several of the campus ministers from various ministries are also praying together weekly. This may seem insignificant but I have never seen such a move across denominational lines in my 10 years on campus. I believe that there is a ‘suddenly moment’ that God has appointed for Houston and for our campuses! These are exciting times…


Praying for His ‘suddenly moments’ to break forth in your life too,


     Ali

UPCOMING:

IHOP 'onething' conference at the University of Houston Oct. 1 & 2, 2010. Anybody's welcome! Register online: www.ihop.org/onething

 

PLEASE PRAY:

That God would continue to give wisdom to the campus ministers and students at UH to learn how to continue to grow into “One Body.”

That God would show each individual and ministry its particular assignment on the campus for the building up of the body in love.

For the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to abound at UH & TSU — Eph 1:17)

That the believers would be known for their love for one another (John 13:35)

JULY NEWS July 31, 2010

“ Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.”  — Proverbs 22:29

I thought you might like to know about some of the students that you’ve been impacting through your partnership and prayers who graduated this past spring and are now venturing off into other realms.

Emily Lacy— Emily double-majored in Philosophy and Painting with honors. She received the “Outstanding Honors Thesis” award for her senior honors thesis. She will be attending the University of Southhampton in England this coming fall to start her masters degree in Philosophy. Emily hopes that in her next degree she will learn “to trust God even more in my writing and publish articles in the secular realms of art and philosophy that reveal something of God's character and truth to a dark world. ” She also feels that going to England is her first step in her desire to go to the nations and bring light into the academic and intellectual community.

Laura Smith— Laura graduated with a Master’s degree in Piano Performance, studying under the legendary Abbey Simon. She is moving to Rochester, NY where she will be studying under a professor at Eastman School of Music. Laura says that her life purpose is to love and worship God and that she is hoping that studying there will help equip her more musically.  She has set a course to one day teach music and minister the love of God to musicians within the classical realm.

Chelsea Steward — Chelsea graduated with a degree in communications media production. She is off to the International House of Prayer University in Kansas City where she will continue to study how media can be used to advance God’s kingdom. Chelsea is a reservoir of creativity and I wonder how the Lord will begin to pull out her talents in unique ways. Her desire is to help produce excellent media that glorifies God. 

Jen Kirschstein — Jen actually graduated from Texas Southern University a year ago with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology.  However she has continued to participate in C-HOP this past year as she has been applying to medical schools. She has a deep passion for missions and is currently pursuing the Lord’s direction on whether she should receive training for regular missions or medical missions. Jen recently returned to her home country of Tanzania to be with her family whom she hasn’t seen in seven years.

I hope you enjoyed their stories. Thanks for giving me the chance to be a part of their lives at this critical time.



PLEASE PRAY:

That God would continue to give wisdom to the campus ministers at UH to learn how to continue to grow into “One Body” instead of a bunch of separate ministries.

That God would show each individual and ministry its particular assignment on the campus for the building up of the body in love.

For the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to abound at UH & TSU — Eph 1:17)

JUNE NEWS June 30, 2010

 

 

“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”         — John 15:5

 

Now that another academic year is closing, we are preparing for the upcoming year. Every single one of my semesters in campus ministry has been different. This pattern has prevented me from getting ‘stuck in a rut’ by assuming that we should do the ‘same things that we’ve always done.’ As I’m praying about the upcoming year, I sense the desire of the Lord to begin to show the various ministries on our campuses how to fulfill their particular assignment and role. The Lord has been showing me that we can all be more effective if we begin to hone our skills in the areas where God has particularly gifted each one. Most campus ministries have traditionally tried to fill all kinds of roles including providing community, pastoral care, discipleship training, and outreach. This has resulted in a lot of different ministries  none of whom have ever grown very large. I believe that the time has come for this to change because God, in His love earnestly desires more of the prodigals to come home.

 

The Lord is also making my role more clear in the process. I believe that my role is to continue to build bridges between ministries, to be an encouragement to the other campus leaders and to help the other ministries grow in the areas of prayer and discipleship. I love the prospect of serving the other ministries in this capacity and have been seeing the Lord open up doors for me to teach about prayer and relationship with God. In fact, over the summer we have been working with Mission24, a church that meets on campus, getting to show them some principles for effective, enjoyable, worship-based corporate prayer. It has been an absolute blast and honor to work with them especially since some of them are long-time friends. Because of this opportunity, the Lord has opened up another door to teach about prayer with International Christian Fellowship (the international branch of Intervarsity).

 

Some of you have been in partnership with me for 7 years now and I would humbly like to petition you  to pray for unity on our campus now more than ever before!  In particular, will you join with me in praying the scripture from John 15:5 that each individual and ministry would get revelation on their particular role so that we can begin to function as “one body” instead of a bunch of separate entities?  I confess, I have no idea how to make this a reality, but through believing prayer, God will orchestrate the relationships and open the doors. I believe, in fact, that He is doing this throughout the whole earth and we all get to participate in our respective spheres of influence. This is such an exciting time to be alive! We have all been called “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) to be “the planting of the Lord so that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3). I am praying for you to get a deeper revelation of your calling at this time also.

 

Blessings and prayers,

 

Ali

 

Please Pray:

 

· That God would continue to give wisdom to the campus ministers at UH to learn how to continue to grow into “One Body” instead of a bunch of separate ministries.

 

· That God would show each individual and ministry its particular assignment on the campus for the building up of the body in love.

 

· For the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to abound at UH & TSU — Eph 1:17

 

Contact Me: Ali McDougall  |  Tel: (832) 722-6319 |  Fax: (713) 741-6438 | Email: click here

   

Donations to: Campus House of Prayer  |   P.O. Box 56563  |  Houston, TX 77256-6563  | Acct # 016  |  www.campushop.org

 

 

 

 

APRIL NEWS! April 30, 2010

Dear Friends, 

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”                    — John 15:5

Another academic year is coming to a close and I am grateful for new lessons learned. I’m learning, on a much deeper level, how to “abide in the vine” and that indeed there is “no life” in anything done apart from Jesus. If I’m in the vine, I don’t have to ‘work up’ anything, try harder or beat the pavement. I just have to trust and wait for Jesus (The Vine) to create opportunities and show me what to do and say. And the result has been joyful productivity in both relationships and ministry opportunities because God is the one at work—not me!

It feels, in fact, like the Lord has caused our ministry to become a refuge of sorts. Students and even other campus ministers wander to our doorstep (right next to campus) for counsel, encouragement, prayer and downtime.  Some days I don’t even make it to campus because the ministry opportunities just knock on my door (literally—haha!). Perhaps it’s because they know they’ll be reminded to “be still and know that He is God” and that in that place of trusting, God is free to work in their lives. And when we’re out looking for new relationships to share the Good News, the Holy Spirit ‘just happens’ to lead us to someone who is hungrily looking for something more. The Lord has been showing me that when we “wait for Him to initiate things” we become like a mustard tree that gives shade and refuge to the birds of the air (Mark 4:32). 

One recent story that I love to share is about a sweet African student named Efran who has been attending our Tuesday night Bible study. Efran, who happens to live in the garage apartment in my backyard, is really shy. He quietly sneaks in and out of Bible study without saying much each week. We wondered if he was getting anything from the teaching at all. Well, one night, much to our surprise, Efran finally broke his silence. We asked the students to share about a ‘God-thing’ that recently happened in their lives. He piped up and informed us that he was giving his life to Jesus and was getting baptized that very weekend. We were so shocked that he was talking, let alone informing us that he had made the biggest decision of his life! It still makes me smile just to think about because God was at work behind the scenes.

This past week we were invited to two sociology classes at Houston Community College that were asking questions about psychics and other supernatural phenomena. We were asked to present the Biblical view of the supernatural realm. So four of us from C-HOP got to participate. We explained that having a relationship with God is totally supernatural because God speaks to us and even intervenes into our lives when we pray. We also employed a fun little exercise called the “chair of cheer” (the term is loosely borrowed from The Grinch movie). One person sat in a chair and the rest of our C-HOP group asked God for something encouraging to say. After all, the Bible instructs us to “encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today” (Hebrews 3:13). Our group has gotten quite practiced at hearing God... So when we began encouraging the HCC students, probably 90 percent of whom are non-Christian and/or international, they were absolutely astonished and deeply touched because the encouragement spoke directly to their hearts.  The first class eagerly followed us out the door asking questions and wanting to know where we go to church. In the second class God decided to out-do Himself. The students also loved the “chair of cheer” but two people volunteered to receive prayer for healing. One girl was instantly healed of chronic neck pain and another girl of a hip problem. Both injuries resulted from car accidents.  By then we were all astonished! Several of the students have contacted me since. Please be praying...

And many, many thanks to you for making these things possible by your love and support,

        Ali

PLEASE PRAY:

-For Efran to get solid foundations as he grows in his relationship with the Lord.

-For the seeds that were planted in the hearts of the HCC students to spring up in good soil.

-For unity to continue to be built among the believers on our campuses so that God will command His blessing (Psalm 133)

CONTACT ME:   Tel: (832) 722-6319   |  Fax: (713) 741-6438  |  EMAIL: Click Here

DONATIONS TO:  Campus House of Prayer  |  P.O. Box 56563  |  Houston, TX 77256-6563  |  Acct # 016

www.campushop.org

MARCH NEWS! March 22, 2010

Please Pray:   · For our campuses to awaken with the desire for greater intimacy with the Lord through enjoyable prayer  (I will bring them to My holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in My House of Prayer — Isaiah 56:7)   · For the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to abound at UH & TSU — Eph 1:17)   · For unity to continue to be built among the believers on our campuses so that God will command His blessing (Psalm 133)       Gifts to:    Campus House of Prayer    P.O. Box 56563    Houston, TX 77256-6563    Acct # 016     www.campushop.org

 

 

Dear friends,

 

"I will bring [them] to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer... For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."

                                                        — Isaiah 56:7

 

In 1 Chronicles 15 & 16 we read of the story of King David appointing singers and musicians to minister before the Lord day and night. This was called the Tabernacle of David. We also know that under David’s leadership Israel expanded all the way to the Euphrates river and up past present day Lebanon. In fact, in studying the maps of ancient Israel, I estimate that Israel’s borders expanded to more than 20 times its present day borders. I believe that in appointing the singers and musicians David set up his kingdom for victory and conquest. We also read that when the Nehemiah and Ezra began to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls after the return from exile they also appointed musicians and singers to minister to the Lord day and night. In fact, Ezra compiled the book of Psalms so that the Levites had something to sing as the walls were rebuilt.

 

Since Israel is a prophetic picture of the church, I also believe that this provides a blueprint of what is available if the Church would truly allow prayer and worship to be the foundation of every other type of “ministry.” In Genesis 1:28 God said “fill the earth and subdue it.” We as believers know that our role is to get to partner with God in filling the world with His love. Communion with God in prayer is the means to this end. In Acts 15:16-17 we read God’s promise to raise up the fallen Tabernacle of David in the last days “so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord.”

 

I wish I had words to articulate how different my campus ministry experience has been since we increased our prayer time as a community. I have never had so much fun as the Lord continues to open up the doors of opportunity for us. He has positioned C-HOP as an instrument of encouragement to the other campus ministries as well as a catalyst in the movement toward unity in His body. He has been effortlessly adding people to our group who are passionate about knowing Him. And we are beginning to see the signs of authentic Acts style community which is so important in our quest to pull students out of a culture of darkness and into a lifestyle of holiness.

 

We’ve participated in several important events recently… we took some students to a training conference at the newly opened College Station House of Prayer. Also the Baptist Student ministry invited us back to help them as they were studying how to live a Spirit-lead life (prayer is critical in that process). We also got to help host a mini-conference with Mission24, a church on campus. Staff and students from at least 12 other ministries participated in the mini-conference which concluded with a joyful evening of worship and intercession. I have never seen so many people gathered together in one place at UH in such passionate prayer. I was so thankful to participate. About five years ago God told me that he wants to fill the stadium on campus with worshippers. This was a step in the right direction!

 

Thanks for participating in the journey. And may you find even deeper joy on the journey through communion with the King.

 

Your campus missionary,

Ali