Purpose
International Prayer Ministries is an Interdenominational Christian mission organization whose purpose is to educate, train and motivate believers, churches, and Christian organizations to pray for personal revival, spiritual awakening and world evangelization.
Goals
- To teach individual believers to pray Luke 11:1
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
- To equip spiritual leaders Ephesians 4:11-13
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
- To unite believers in prayer John 17:21
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
- To develop and distribute materials John 20:31
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name
- To establish an Intercessory Prayer Center Isaiah 56:7
These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."
- To establish a Mercy, Education & Evangelistic Ministry in developing nations Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
History
International Prayer Ministries first began in the hearts of Glenn and Jacquelyn Sheppard in 1972 when they were pastoring a church where God moved in a definitive work of revival. The young couple realized the difference in ordinary “church” and a church touched by the Holy Spirit. Mercy Drops of God touched the town, other churches, and the surrounding area as Christians were revived by the Presence of God.
Later, in another pastorate, God moved again in a Sovereign work of revival that touched a major Atlanta suburb and placed the church in the top one percent of the fastest growing churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1978, the North American Mission Board asked Glenn to pioneer the work of Prayer and Spiritual Awakening for the Southern Baptist Convention. For the next eight years, Glenn taught and preached in churches across North America and the Virgin Islands.
In 1986, he felt the Lord calling him to the nations of the world and a ministry that crossed denominational lines, uniting the Body of Christ in prayer for revival, spiritual awakening and world evangelization. Since then, International Prayer Ministries has become an interdenominational prayer and mission mobilization ministry, reaching 150 nations on six continents.
In the Americas
IPM’s work in America centers on church conferences, retreats, seminars and evangelistic campaigns. Glenn and/or Jackie have ministered in all 50 states in over 15 different denominations. Seventy per cent of Glenn’s preaching is in churches in the USA where he serves as a Founding Member of America’s National Prayer Committee.
Jackie serves as wife, mother, and intercessor. In addition to speaking and teaching for IPM, she is the Founder and Director of Springs Academy, a non-traditional Christian high school that has been influential in winning and discipling young people for the Lord, and in sending them to mission work around the world and in corporate America.
She maintains an intensive counseling ministry to adolescents, their parents, and others. A former newspaper and magazine writer, she just has completed writing a book, “The Tarnished Bride,” an allegory of the church in Contemporary America.
The Home of Blessing
Chiang Kham, Thailand
IPM’s work in Thailand began after Glenn and Jackie’s son, Tre’, served on a mission team there. Returning home, he did not forget the people nor the devoted pastor and wife he met, Sayan and Siriporn Kusaveedee, who worked with the unreached tribal people of North Thailand. Tre’ began asking for prayer and support for this family and their work. God’s people responded, and Sayan was able to establish 14 young churches because of their financial gifts. Then, he asked IPM to help build a school and home for girls who are at high risk for being sold or lured into prostitution.
Today, The Home of Blessing serves over 100 girls and is staffed by seven workers. Following high school, they are helped to learn a career so that the threat of prostitution no longer haunts them. They are encouraged to return to their villages as teachers, medical workers, and leaders who will help change the future of the village children. The Kusaveedee’s are establishing a Pastors Training School to train village pastors for 17 villages who have come to Christ as a result of the girls’ ministry.
Nepal
Our workers in Nepal are witnessing unprecedented fruit. In this beautiful Hindu Kingdom, believers have grown from an obscure number, to a significant percentage of the population. The ministry through IPM extends across the entire nation and beyond. The youth of this wonderful country are coming to Christ in amazing numbers and entire villages are experiencing the transformation of lives lived for God.
How you can be a part of IPM:
You Can Go
The heart of IPM is expressed in these words by Dean Sherman: "Instead of using people to fulfill your vision, use your vision to fulfill people." This is the philosophy of IPM. Through joining in praying, giving, and going, you will see your life take on new meaning and vision.
You Can Pray
The world is changed as you pray.
We plead with you to pray consistently for IPM and the growing facets of the work. Prayer changes the world and the individual destinies of people. You, yourself, are changed as you pray and join in the work of prayer. God moves through the prayers of His people.
You Can Give
Change a destiny for Christ.
You are asked to give to the work and to the people. A gift of $40 will support a girl in the Home of Blessing. Right now, there is a crucial need for more sponsors, for finances to build additional space, and for support for the nine workers.
You can give to the Becky Martin Memorial Scholarship Fund that helps to fund further education and training for the girls when they graduate from high school. You are asked to invest in Nepal. A gift of $50 per month will support a Nepali worker and his family and will pay for basic housing and food. They live lives of great sacrifice in order to share the Gospel. Funds are needed to complete, furnish, and support the new building so that we can do a greater work for the Lord while the window of opportunity is open in Nepal.
We need your support of IPM. No administrative costs are taken from your gifts so that 100% of what you give reaches the field. However, there are administrative costs and necessary salaries for the IPM staff and the eight missionaries in the Sheppard family. Your giving enables them to continue the work.
You Can Go
"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;" Luke 10:2
You are invited to join us on one of our short-term mission trips to South East Asia. Using the tools of medicine and evangelism, tribal people in North Thailand and in the Himalayans are touched with the love and compassion of Christ. There is something you can do on one of these teams to change the world for Christ. You are invited to serve with us through prayer for specific people, events, and projects.
You are invited to serve with us. If God is burning a vision in your heart, let us know. Perhaps we can enable you to obey His call. The only thing you have to lose is your life.
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