The Better Place News

Prayer Letter #20

22 July 2010

Dear Prayer Partners of The Better Place, In all of our prayers which are truly partnering with God for God’s purposes to be fulfilled, we are engaging in spiritual warfare. Our prayers are battering rams against the strongholds of a spiritual enemy. The results of such partnership praying are not always immediately evident. The walls of Jericho appeared to be just as strong and impenetrable after six days as they were after the first day of marching around the city, but it is a good thing the children of Israel did not quit on the sixth day.

Jesus taught his disciples to always pray and not give up (Luke 11:5-10 & 18:1-8). I want you to know that your faithfulness in prayer makes an eternal difference.

Thank you for praying for the workshop on Grand Island and for the spring Agape Prayer Ministry School. God showed up and abundantly blessed in both places. One participant at Grand Island wrote, “My expectations were more than met. It showed how my prayer ministry could be more effective by myself or with others.” – Of course, all the questions that arise as we consider something as truly serious and as huge as prayer ministry, can never be covered on only one day, or even two. I yearn for the day when we will have the campus God has given the vision for, where people will be able to gather for days at a time. But, thank God for what we can do now … and what I always celebrate about these events is the unity that is engendered in answer to our Lord’s prayer in John 17. – Yes, we can be the answer!

The unity of the Church was again moved forward in May because of the National Day of Prayer and the Global Day of Prayer events that The Better Place organized. This is Kingdom work being accomplished! And the second session of the 2010 Regional School of Prayer was mightily blessed by the presence of God. One participant at the School took time to write a letter afterward that included the following:

“Thank you so very much for sharing of yourselves at the School of Prayer I attended two weeks ago. I had been looking forward to it for months and it far exceeded my expectations. When I told my sister who lives in New Jersey about it, she wanted a copy of my notes (I hoped you wouldn’t mind) and a copy of your book when it comes out (as do I). … Our prayer coordinators group had a fantastic time praying through your guide to corporate prayer on the 14th and hopefully we can share this with more in the church. I’m praying about whom to approach to form a prayer triplet. [Our pastor] and I are motivated to see our church become a House of Prayer.”

By the way; the book has now been published. This is a big answer to your prayers! The official release date is the 1st of September. That is when anyone can order it from Christianbook.com or from Amazon.com, but you may order copies from me right now and help to support The Better Place in the process. I will attach an order form for those who receive this letter by e-mail. I will enclose order forms for those who receive this by post.

One ministry under the umbrella of The Better Place is the Chautauqua Lake Men of Integrity. As you pray, please keep in mind a big event they have coming up. They will be bringing Dr. Kevin Leman to Jamestown, NY on Saturday the 16th of October. Dr. Leman will meet with pastors and their spouses for breakfast that morning. Then there will be a time for men only that afternoon starting at 1:00 at the Reg Lenna Civic Center. The topic will be “Sheet Music! Creating a Symphony in Your Marriage.” That evening, also at the Civic Center, starting at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Leman will present the topic “Making Sense of the man or Woman in Your Life.” This will be for any adult; married or single.

– As you continue to pray, here are a number of thing to keep knocking on heaven’s door about (see Luke 11 again). Some of the items on this list have been here for a long time, but your persistence will bring the answers God wants to give:

• Speak to the “mountain” which is the wealth stored up for the righteous and direct it to The Better Place for the building of our campus, endowments, staff salaries and related monetary needs.
• Three more members for The Better Place Board
• The Board as they meet on the 18th of September
• The third session of the 2010 School of Prayer on the 25th of September
• A workshop that I will lead at the Fredonia, NY United Methodist Church on the 2nd of October. Two topics will be covered that day; “Why We Can Pray With Authority,” and “Prayer Walking”
• The fall Agape Prayer Ministry School in Warren, PA on the 8th and 9th of October
• The Chautauqua Lake Region Men of Integrity day with Dr. Kevin Leman on the 16th of October; pray for Dr. Leman’s safe travel and protection, for the financial underwriting of this three-part event, for hearts preveniently prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive what God will say and for everyone to be present in each of the three venues who God wants to be present.
• For the book, My Gospel, to be used to strengthen believers in their faith and to encourage believers to partner with God more knowingly to see His Kingdom come
• Please keep the day-to-day and week-to-week ministries of The Better Place in your prayers. There are regular requests for help in several ways by e-mail, the Healing Rooms are open every Monday, a number pastors prayer groups gather weekly, there is a growing call for on-line ministry through blogging and Facebook.
• For me as I preach in local churches on many Sundays
• For God’s steady guidance and perfect timing in all things related to The Better Place

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer!

Your partner in the adventure,
Roy L. Miller

Director, The Better Place, Inc.

Roy@TheBetterPlace.org 716/488-9918

Employer ID #83-0362390 NYS Charities Bureau Reg. #20-49-47

Do your web searches at www.goodsearch.com and help to support The Better Place by typing The Better Place in the “Who do you do Goodsearch for?” box.

GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER GATHERING

The Global Day of Prayer is observed each year on Pentecost Sunday. This year, that was the 23rd of May. On that day, The Better Place Ministries organized a gathering for all of Chautauqua County that took place near the geographic center of the county in Sinclairville. The gathering was small in number; nevertheless, there was a broad geographic representation. People were present from Kiantone, Frewsburg, Westfield, Fredonia, Jamestown, Sinclairville, Mayville, Stockton and Gerry.

Starting at 5:30 p.m., participants viewed the video documentary, A Force for Change, about the spiritual transformation that has taken place in Sao Paulo, Brazil – largely through the police force. Following a brief discussion of that, from 6:30-8:00, the participants entered into a time of “Harp and Bowl” prayer. This was facilitated by the praise band from Park UMC in Sinclairville and by The Better Place Director, Roy Miller.

VISION FOR PRAYER IS AWAKENED ON GRAND ISLAND

The Director of The Better Place was the featured speaker at a weekend-long conference that was held on Grand Island, NY April 17-18, 2010. The conference was hosted by the Trinity United Methodist Church with most of the other congregations of the Island represented. People from other congregations in the Buffalo, NY area were also in attendance.

During this conference, Dr. Miller addressed five topics on Saturday: Jesus Our Model, Prayer Walking, Releasing the Power of Prayer, Persistence and Vision for Transformation. The Sunday topic was, Discerning Our Call to Prayer Ministry.

Host pastor, Jeff Childs, led times of worship in song. Carleigh Kaiser, a student at Elim College, ministered in sacred dance. And the Holy Spirit ministered in power throughout the two-day event.

Believers of the Island are now moving forward with plans to hold regular unity prayer gatherings. Also, the participants are following through with many practical ideas to strength the Church of the region to be a House of Prayer. This is being done with the gifted leadership of local church prayer facilitators such as Sue Kaiser from the Trinity UMC.

Here is some information regarding the Agape Prayer Ministry School to be held in the Cattaraugus / Chautauqua / Warren region: The school will be held Friday and Saturday the 8th & 9th of October 2010 at the Wesleyan Church in Warren, PA.

All first-time attendees must have their pastor’s approval to attend the School. (The pastor’s signature of approval is required on all registration forms). If your pastor has questions, please let me know and I will be glad to send out an information packet or suggest an area pastor he or she could call to discuss the Agape Ministry. [Roy Miller, 716-488-9918 or roy@thebetterplace.org].

A Registration Form and the accompanying Profile Form may be printed from this site. A School Schedule is also available for printing.

Please return your Registration and Profile as soon as possible. Applications must be postmarked by the 21st of September. Registration is $65 for individuals who have not previously attended an Agape School. [A $5 late fee will be assessed for registrations postmarked after the 21st of September.]

Purpose: The goal of the Agape Prayer Ministry School is to equip Christians to sensitively and compassionately minister the freedom of Christ from the bondages of sin and Satan, thus freeing more and more people to live in the fullness of Christ and to minister to others the fullness of Christ. The training experience includes foundational scriptural teachings on the healing of wounds, breaking of bondages, forgiveness of sins, confession of sin, receiving God’s forgiveness, and spiritual warfare. There are also three ministry sessions during the School where participants have the opportunity to observe and directly participate in the Agape ministry pattern. Ideally, each participant observes one ministry session as a prayer backup, receives a ministry session him/herself, and serves as a prayer warrior in a prayer vigil during a third session.

Key Points of Preparation: All trainees must be born-again in Jesus Christ and be peacefully open to the full workings of the Holy Spirit.

Before attending, participants should read Healing for Damaged Emotions, by David Seamands.

Description of the School: The School is an intense two-day experience running from 8:00 AM until 9:00 PM on Friday, and from 7:45 AM until 6:00 PM on Saturday. Please make every effort to arrive at the School in a rested condition. The dress in the School is casual and modest. Please bring your Bible and a notebook. Plan your schedule to be able to stay for the total School.

Teachers & Trainers: The people involved in teaching the sessions of the Agape Prayer Ministry School are pastors and lay people from various congregations of the Church, who have participated in and have been certified by the Agape ministry as supervising leads and teachers. They are recognized as qualified because of their gifting, experience, and their on-the-job training in a number of Agape Prayer Ministry Schools.

Your partner in the adventure,

Roy L Miller

Here is some information regarding the Agape Prayer Ministry School to be held in the Cattaraugus / Chautauqua / Warren region: The school will be held Friday and Saturday the 23rd & 24th of April 2010 at the Park Church in Sinclairville, NY.

All first-time attendees must have their pastor’s approval to attend the School. (The pastor’s signature of approval is required on all registration forms). If your pastor has questions, please let me know and I will be glad to send out an information packet or suggest an area pastor he or she could call to discuss the Agape Ministry. [Roy Miller, 716-488-9918 or roy@thebetterplace.org].

A Registration Form and the accompanying Profile Form may be printed from this site. A School Schedule is also available for printing.

Please return your Registration and Profile as soon as possible. Applications must be postmarked by the 7th of April. Registration is $65 for individuals who have not previously attended an Agape School. [A $5 late fee will be assessed for registrations postmarked after the 7th of April.]

Purpose: The goal of the Agape Prayer Ministry School is to equip Christians to sensitively and compassionately minister the freedom of Christ from the bondages of sin and Satan, thus freeing more and more people to live in the fullness of Christ and to minister to others the fullness of Christ. The training experience includes foundational scriptural teachings on the healing of wounds, breaking of bondages, forgiveness of sins, confession of sin, receiving God’s forgiveness, and spiritual warfare. There are also three ministry sessions during the School where participants have the opportunity to observe and directly participate in the Agape ministry pattern. Ideally, each participant observes one ministry session as a prayer backup, receives a ministry session him/herself, and serves as a prayer warrior in a prayer vigil during a third session.

Key Points of Preparation: All trainees must be born-again in Jesus Christ and be peacefully open to the full workings of the Holy Spirit.

Before attending, participants should read Healing for Damaged Emotions, by David Seamands.

Description of the School: The School is an intense two-day experience running from 8:00 AM until 9:00 PM on Friday, and from 7:45 AM until 6:00 PM on Saturday. Please make every effort to arrive at the School in a rested condition. The dress in the School is casual and modest. Please bring your Bible and a notebook. Plan your schedule to be able to stay for the total School.

Teachers & Trainers: The people involved in teaching the sessions of the Agape Prayer Ministry School are pastors and lay people from various congregations of the Church, who have participated in and have been certified by the Agape ministry as supervising leads and teachers. They are recognized as qualified because of their gifting, experience, and their on-the-job training in a number of Agape Prayer Ministry Schools.

Your partner in the adventure,

Roy L Miller