"When Visions Come Together"
The Kansas City Israel Mandate Conference
| Dr Daniel Juster, Director |

The Kansas City International House of Prayer (IHOP), is a prayer community of about five hundred, many of them young people, who live in Kansas City and are committed to maintaining prayer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are reminiscent of the famous community in Hernhutt, Germany, under Ludwig Von Zinzendorf in the 18^th century. (That prayer outpouring launched the modern missions movement.)

Twenty-one years ago on March 7, 1983, Bob Jones prophesied to Mike Bickle of a future House of Prayer in Kansas City, and of a coming global youth prayer movement in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, to be directed towards the nation of Israel. This prophetic word is beginning to come to pass as IHOP has continued in non-stop prayer and worship for the last 5 years. in 2003, the Israel Mandate was birthed and since then, prayer for Israel has been a major focus in their prayer meetings.

The International House of Prayer in Kansas City hosted their first annual Israel Mandate conference on March 7-13^th, 2004. Centered around the holiday of Purim, the call went out to churches and ministries internationally to mobilize fervent prayer and fasting for the salvation of the Jewish people and to make a commitment to support the Messianic Jewish ministries that are building the kingdom of God in Israel.

Mike told the most amazing story of how the Israel mandate was given by God and became one of the seven pillars of the fellowship in Kansas City. Even the choice of Kansas City to carry an Israel mandate was not an accident. This city was the childhood home of President Harry Truman. Truman gave vital support in the UN vote for the establishment of the state of Israel, contrary to the counsel of his Secretary of State, George Marshall. Mike Bickle and I became friends and began to correspond starting in 1989 on issues of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, apostolic-prophetic ministry, the end times, the unity of the church, and the restoration of Israel. It was during this time that Mike became convinced of the need to join with Tikkun to truly undertake the Israel mandate. The 2004 Israel Mandate conference marked 21 years to the day from the time that first Bob Jones' prophecy was given to Mike Bickle. Over the years, many people have asked Mike why he had not done something about the "Israel mandate" part of the prophecy, and all he could say was, "God has not told me yet what to do." But now is the time for this vision to come to pass.

That was part of the stirring message given by Don Finto, who spoke of those special times when the promise of God and the timing of God intersect. Jim Goll also spoke of the coming together, or "confluence" of prophetic streams.

At the conference, significant teaching was released by Israeli and American leaders. There were times of deep worship lead by Rachel and Avner Boskey, Robert Stearns and the IHOP-KC worship teams.

Over 1,000 guests showed up for the conference over and above the local IHOP community, which made for an overflow situation, so that many of the locals had to give up their places at the conference. Our thanks go to the local volunteers who put a lot of effort into arranging the conference. Our friend Mike Frank has taken responsibility to oversee the IHOP Israel mandate in the coming years.

Mike Bickle gave an urgent call to the western Gentile church to understand the end-time significance of Israel and the importance of prayer, fasting and commitment to stand with God's purposes for Israel. Based on Romans 11:20-33, he shared revelation about the coming apostasy (falling away) of the church due to ignorance of the mystery of Israel, under the pressure and persecution that is coming. There was a strong warning against deception and distractions that are preventing Christians from praying God's will and being prepared for end-times trouble.

Asher's evening message spoke of seeing Yeshua as the King of Israel coming back to take dominion over the earth. Many were impacted with new revelation, relationships and deep insight into the realities of life and ministry in Israel. The young adults were particularly impassioned by Ayal Frieden's message on youth evangelism to visit and serve in Israel.

The conference ended with a deep, symbolic marriage of covenant friendship between the Jewish and Gentile leadership present, inspiring full-scale "wedding" worship celebration by all present. This relationship speaks of the unity of the Church and Israel, as well as the covenant of cooperation between Tikkun and IHOP.

The IHOP-KC community has a commitment to make the establishment of the Messianic Jewish Body in Israel a top priority in prayer. They will pray for us. This was a conference worth waiting for. There was great worship, preaching, prophetic power and practical commitment. May God bring many more into such commitments for the restoration of the Church and the salvation of Israel. This restoration will lead to the redemption of the World. The two communities have received the same vision and understanding of the word. These visions are now coming together. When people with common vision come together, great things happen.

The full series of tapes and DVDs can be ordered at the Kansas City bookstore at www.fotb.com or (816) 763-0200.

By Daniel Juster