The Whatcom County Story
We believe that God answers prayer! As our churches have worked together to cover Arkansas in 24/7 prayer, we have found that many other communities across the country are doing the very same thing! Whatcom County, Washington is one such story. As the churches began to cover their community in 24/7 prayer in 2009, amazing stories of answered prayer began to emerge. We wanted to share this encouragement as we continue to write our story of 24/7 prayer here in Arkansas!
This comes from an excerpt of chapter 9 of City of Prayer: Transforming Your Community through Praying Churches written by Pastor Trey Kent and Pastor Kie Bowman in Austin, TX. You can pick up your own copy of this great book here!
Jason Hubbard launched 24/7 prayer in the Bellingham area of Whatcom County in 2009. They originally called it the One Church Initiative, but now refer to it as Day2Pray (in partnership with America Prays, Washington Prays, and Light of the World Prayer Center). Whatcom County and Austin, Texas, both launched the same prayer strategy on the same day January 1, 2009) without knowing the other existed. God is amazing!
Hubbard, though a young man, is known as the grandfather of this movement and has been instrumental in launching this one- church-a-day prayer model in cities throughout America. He has also been an influential mentor to those desiring to see their city changed through united prayer.
Hubbard provided this inspiring report on all God has been doing in Bellingham and Whatcom County.
About 10 years ago the churches of Whatcom County (population: 200,000) launched a united prayer strategy to cover the area in 24/7 prayer. Each church adopts a day of prayer once a month, every month, and asks their people to commit to 30- or 60-minute segments of prayer during their church’s Day2Pray. Forty-six local churches are now committed, led by their pastors, and each local church appoints a prayer coordinator to oversee its day of prayer. Also, teams of Kingdom-minded believers representing nine different sectors of culture gather on a regular basis to help provide prayer points for transformation: arts and media, business, church, development/social services, education, family, government, health care, and international missions. This canopy of united, strategic, and sustainable prayer has led to remarkable transformation over the last ten years.
- 10,000 new believers were baptized in water in the churches of Whatcom County.
- 80 church plants in ten years.
- 1,500 new Hispanic believers in the last few years and 11 new Hispanic churches were planted.
- Abortion numbers have dropped significantly since 2007; numbers have been cut in half in a university town since the prayer strategy was launched.
- En Gedi, a thriving ministry helping women come out of sex trafficking and exploitation, reported a 90 percent rate of women coming to Christ and transitioning into healthy lifestyles.
- Christian schools have come together in unity after years of division.
- Adoptions have been increasing (children into Christian families) and Skookum Kids, a robust foster care ministry, has launched.
- United Pastors prayer group meets consistently for prayer representing 70 percent of the pastors in the area.
- Light of the World Prayer Center, a citywide house of prayer, began in 2008 and now has 40 corporate prayer meetings each week.
- A Christ-awakening is erupting on our college campus, with ten percent of the student body meeting weekly among seven campus ministries. Several of our Christian professors are united together in the Western Christian Faculty.
- Project 92, an effective missions ministry to the least-reached peoples in the world, has launched. In 2018, 5,500 people came to Christ (1,500 were baptized in water) in areas of North India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. These are first-generation believers in areas with virtually no access to the gospel.
Our vision is to see a God-breathed Christ awakening movement erupt in the Northwest! We are praying day and night for Christ to have His supremacy in every area of culture in Whatcom County to the Glory of God the Father (Col. 1:18). In the paraphrased words of the Moravians, “May the Lamb who was slain receive the due reward for his sufferings in Whatcom County and beyond’ (Rev. 5:12).
There is a 13-minute documentary video that describes the prayer strategy and highlights a few of the transformative stories here.
Here in Arkansas, we are believing God for the same stories in our communities. Please click the link below to find out more about Arkansas Prays, view our live calendar, and learn how your church can adopt an open monthly day of prayer!
