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The Durham Police Department and Project Safe Neighborhoods is holding the first FaithActs Summit on Saturday, June 2nd from 9:00 to 12:00 at Duke Memorial Methodist Church (504 West Chapel Hill Street).   Durham Police Department officers will present information about domestic violence, gang awareness, and mental health. The sessions are designed to support faith leaders, your church family, and outreach ministry teams.  A delicious continental breakfast will be available during registration from 8:30-9:00 am. Each participant will receive a special FaithActs bag and promotional items.  Due to the expected turnout pre-registration is strongly encouraged.  Please contact Jennifer Synder, Project Safe Neighborhoods Coordinator, Durham Police Department at 919/560-4438 x29230 or email her at jennifer.snyder@durhamnc.gov.

My day started out at Durham Ministers In Prayer. I had picked up Javier who is homeless. Three years ago Javier was a drug addict and a drunk. Now he is on fire for Jesus! I was led by the Holy Spirit to start picking him up for these prayer meetings because I strongly feel that he is going to be a preacher in Durham.

Javier was placed in the middle of the circle and prayed for by Pastor Pedro and Pastor Ricardo to receive healing in his body from a fairly recent accident. He was also prayed for that the Lord would prosper him and that he would be able to move out of the woods where he presently lives.

Javier had prayed where I could hear him for the whole hour that we prayed. At the end he also needed a translator as he prayed for all the rest of us!

Terry Shuff – Bull City Outreach Ministries

Jeremiah 29:8 instructs us to “…seek the peace and prosperity of the city…”  PrayDurham is an adopt a street prayer initiative to cover every street and every block in Durham with daily prayer.  Imagine every home, every street, every neighborhood, every workplace, every school, every business, and every government facility covered in prayer.  How might things be different?

DMIP invites you to join with hundreds of other believers to Connect – Pray – Serve our city.  Click the link, find your street, and fill out a short form to adopt a street in prayer.  Encourage others to do it too.  You’ll be registered and have access to online mapping that will let you see how we’re doing.   Join PrayDurham.  Let’s see what God will do when our entire city is lifted up in prayer.

The 3rd Tuesday of each month we pray for 30 minutes at our regular location and then we head out somewhere in Durham to walk and pray.  We work with the police, schools, city government, community organizations, and other ministries to go where prayer is the most needed.  We’re always done by 11:30 AM.  Won’t you join us?  You’ll be amazed at the way God shows up and directs our prayers.  He has led us into ministry with school principals, community leaders, and people on the street.  Serendipity.  Come with us as we connect Heaven with our community.

Prayer has not always had a central place in my life, even in my life as a pastor. In fact it was Durham Ministers in Prayer that finally led me to a personal showdown over my actual practice of prayer, as opposed to merely talking about how ‘prayer really matters blah blah blah.’ Through DMIP I was exposed to Jim Cymbala’s teaching on ‘The House of the Lord’. Since that day, I have been practicing prayer and learning to pray. It’s still a goal to be reached but I no longer see myself as one who talks about prayer while rarely praying.

Honestly, I believe I was not alone. I think more pastors talk about praying than pray. And I believe that many pastors demonstrate by their actions their real belief: common prayer is not going to change things, so I choose to do other things that are more meaningful or more significant.

Durham Ministers in Prayer meets at 922 Ninth St which happens to house the church family of which I am pastor–Dayspring Fellowship. I believe that Tuesday morning meeting is the most strategic kingdom of God use of our facility, even more strategic than our own worship service. Why? Because Jesus wants His church to be one; and there is no better way to be one than to stand before God together, not as Baptists or Charismatics or Methodists or Pentecostals or Presbyterians or whatever else–but simply as those who love and follow Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

“THEY WILL KNOW YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.” That love has to be visible and it has to have a shape. Because of DMIP, we have developed a deep love for brothers across racial, ethnic and denominational lines. No one can come to DMIP for more than a week or two before it becomes very clear: these people, some pastors, some lay leaders, some parachurch leaders–these people love one another. How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!!!!!

Without prayer, nothing happens. With prayer, anything can happen. If you really care about the Gospel, the city of Durham, and demonstrating unity in the body of Christ, you are already a member of DMIP. You just haven’t attended your first meeting yet.

See you there. Any Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. ~ Mac Bare

Today, I ran out of time, oh that precious commodity–TIME.  I wanted to take a bike ride across all three of my prayer spaces:

1) Mile zero of the American Tobacco Trail, north on Blackwell, Corcoran, Foster and around the YMCA on Seminary.

2) The Rocky Creek Trail

3) The Third Fork Creek Trail

It did not happen.  If you are out and about in need of a project look over these spaces in need.  Ride these trails, walk them, hold them in your heart. If you don’t know where they are, find them on a map, go exploring.  They would love to have some extra prayer love.  And seeing how the 4th Sunday of Advent is almost upon us the word of the week is LOVE.

Do these spaces need me as much as I need them?  I’m not sure.  My suspicion is I need them more.  They tell me how to orient myself toward God, my neighbor, and the Bull City.

Praise God for Pray Durham                                       Rocky Creek Trail

We know everyone that shares the burden to pray for revival in Durham can’t make it to a prayer meeting on Tuesday morning.  So, this year we’d like to invite everyone to participate in this ongoing concert of prayer by committing to encourage your church to pray for these two items every Sunday:

1.  For revival in the churches.

2.  For spiritual awakening in Durham.

If you will commit to helping foster those prayers in your church, please email us by clicking here.  Simply put “yes” in the subject line, your name, and the name of your church.  Let’s see if we can get the church at large in Durham praying together every Sunday for these two things.  We believe if enough of God’s people do that, we will see significant shifts toward God in our society and the blessing of God in our city.  Wouldn’t that be great?

Of course if you can make it you are welcome any Tuesday morning at 9:30 for prayer at Dayspring Fellowship, 922 9th St. in Durham.  For more information  email us.  Please join us in this prayer effort for Durham.