When Northeast Urban Church Planting (NUCP) began in 1988, one of the first disciplines we established was spending Friday mornings fasting and praying. The vision for NUCP was Owen Carr’s and included a training segment, an internship in urban church planting. Teams would form to plant churches. Most team members were Bible College students. The first group hailed from Missouri, Ohio, New York, Texas, and Florida, places Pat and I had only visited.
The team held few experiences in common. Neither lady had grown up in a family with a Christian father. One fellow’s parents had divorced and he shuttled between overly permissive parents. It is little wonder that his life spiraled downward and that he needed the ministry of Teen Challenge. One young man’s parents were pastors, college classmates of ours. Another student was the product of a severe legalism in his home and church which allowed him to excuse his judgmental attitude over everyone with whom he disagreed. One had been in the Army and had been delivered from alcohol abuse. All were attending Central Bible College except one, a student studying at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. Pat and I were suddenly responsible for organizing a team. We often felt that we were trying to stuff feathers back into a pillow and someone kept turning on a huge fan!
To illustrate, I once followed the van to the place we would be praying that day. I noticed a large white cloth pinched into a window opening, flapping wildly. I investigated when we arrived at the church. The cloth was a large pair of men’s briefs whose owner explained, “I didn’t have time to dry them and thought this would be a good way to finish my laundry.” No one had thought about writing a proscription for using the van as a laundry machine! On another occasion, the team was allowed to use the van to visit the sights of New York City. They all agreed to park in a “No Standing” zone in Midtown Manhattan. Within minutes the van was ticketed and impounded, costing the students over $20 each. Their explanation, “We thought ‘No Standing’ meant ‘No Loitering!’” That may be true in Missouri, but ...
Teaching strategic prayer was a daunting task considering the disparate cultures, varied experiences, and youthfulness of the team members. Our first prayer meetings were tentative, lacking much intensity. I quickly learned young students are well-intentioned, but easily distracted. The first meetings seemed like three days long rather than three hours. How much I was to influence the weekly sessions? How does one teach prayer in that setting? I felt responsible for teaching the youthful charges to move beyond personal devotions to meaningful, united intercession and competence in leading others in prayer.
That is when my friend taught me. Brother Carr made a visit to observe the progress of the work. On Friday morning he was fully engaged. After sharing a brief word of encouragement about prayer, he paced quietly and spoke, “Jesus,” softly, frequently, communicating to all who heard, “Jesus and I are friends, and I love Him!” He called out to Jesus as Savior, he appealed to Jesus to heal. We all learned from Brother Carr as he wept over the city sharing Jesus’ grief that people were living as sheep without a shepherd. And, the seasons of silent prayer communicated as powerfully as the times of impassioned intercession. As Brother Carr prayed in the Spirit, he was clearly communicating his spirit with God’s Spirit. We were learning from our friend.
Several months ago Pat and I were in a church where an intern from the next church planting team is now on the pastoral team ministering. Her testimony was, “I will never forget being frustrated when I was expected to pray for three hours. Ten or fifteen minutes was my limit. I thought, if I have to do this, I better learn how. So, I made sure I was near Brother Wegner and listened. That is how I learned.” What that young lady didn’t realize is, I had been listening to Brother Carr.
Thank God for friends!
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