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Loudoun Transformation Moves Forward
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” [James 5:16 NIV]
Loudoun Transformation
Transformation is the process of change that occurs when Jesus Christ is lifted up, the power of darkness is cast down, and the eyes of the lost are opened so that they press into the Kingdom of God. It is a grass roots movement that unites pulpit ministers and marketplace leaders to advance the Kingdom of God in each community it touches. When this happening begins to take root, the spiritual atmosphere over a community is improved. Big and small miracles are experienced (i.e., Mary’s House of Hope in Purcellville and Center of Hope in Ashburn Village) in the Marketplace and Church. People are prayer walking and blessing their own neighborhoods. This approach ensures a “heads in the clouds, feet on the ground” mindset.
Through the process of transformation we can become agents of positive influence and change through prayer, blessing and community service for the purpose of impacting business, ministry, government, education, media and the arts.
In Loudoun groups are meeting weekly in Middleburg, Purcellville, Lucketts, Leesburg and Ashburn.
“Pray Middleburg” currently a bible study is held every Friday at the Middleburg Tennis Club with about 26 men participating. There is a strong possibility of forming a “Pray Middleburg” prior to June 2009. This would be a partnership between pulpit ministers and marketplace leaders who desire to pray for Middleburg and are willing to help people in Middleburg become agents of change and influence.
"Pray Purcellville” meets weekly to pray at the local train station. Representatives from Intercessors for America and Breakthrough Prayer Ministries attend this meeting. Intercessors 
is a non-profit Christian ministry founded in 1973 which serves the Church of Jesus Christ by encouraging effective prayer and fasting for the Church, our nation, and our leaders. Breakthrough is a non-denominational, non-profit, evangelical ministry founded in 1980 processing over a hundred thousand prayer requests annually. These requests go to a network of nearly 4,000 intercessors who pray individually and faithfully for each request. Their prayer family extends into nearly eighty countries worldwide. The results from these weekly meetings are as follows:
· Establishment of a healing room to pray for those who are sick – to be launched May 2009.
· Mobilization of the community to pray for the needs of schools, to build relationships with the school board and school personnel.
· Development of a new food pantry (i.e. LINK West) in anticipation of harder economic times in the near term. The good people at LINK are working with the folks out in the west.
· Support of the local teen center and the Loudoun Music Teen Challenge.
· Development of joint multi-church services which are planned for Thanksgiving, National Day of Prayer, and the Global Day of Prayer
· Request (prayer) of the community leaders to invite Jesus to have authority over their town.
· Passage of a new bill that for three years had been blocked thus stopping the appropriation of funds so a new school could be built. Following prayer with the local mayor, the process is now in place by the board of supervisors and school board to move forward with the urgently needed new school.
“Pray Lucketts” coordinated a joint multi-church Thanksgiving service in 2008 to honor school principals and teachers. Follow on communication with cluster schools resulted in a relationship which established a prayer partnership with 5 local churches.
“Pray Leesburg” meets weekly at Thomas Balch Library at 208 West Market Street. This group now enjoys the participation of a local community leader that prays with them. Over 500 people are expected to participate in a local Bible Reading Marathon on the courthouse steps of Leesburg during the upcoming National Day of Prayer. In 2008, approximately 350 Christians and Jews registered to participate as Bible readers. Perhaps 40 Churches and as many as 30 individual ministries took part in the reading. A total of nine languages were read: Spanish, French, Romanian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Urdu, Hebrew, and Swahili and of course English. I am told the readers ages ranged from 5 to 93 years old.
“Pray Ashburn meets weekly to pray in the chapel/conference room at the Good Shepherd Alliance Center of Hope in Ashburn Village. The group plans to initiate prayer walks within the streets of Ashburn Village in the Spring. Churches in Ashburn are now signing up to support the Good Shepherd Alliance Campfire and Friday Night Live initiatives where congregations entertain homeless women and children by providing a game, craft or music and serving a hot meal at the shelter. Pastors from Sterling presently pray with the “Pray Ashburn” group and the goal is to establish a “Pray Sterling” during 2009.
Loudoun County: A County-wide Family Fest is being planned for 2009 involving 60 local churches and many organizations and businesses.
Local clergy, ministry leaders, intercessors, and non-profit organizations from the various county jurisdictions meet monthly for a meal, prayer, and fellowship. This very popular gathering is known as “The Shepherd’s Table” and is fast becoming the centerpiece for Northern Virginia. The Shepherd’s Table was established in January 2007. The event is organized by Loudoun Church Alliance in association with Prison Fellowship at Lansdowne, 40 local churches and faith based non-profit organizations. The vision is to inspire, motivate, unite and strengthen congregations across denominational and racial boundaries, so that we can become more socially relevant, evangelistically focused and influential in reaching our changing society with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Loudoun County. In biblical times, the elders of the city met at the city gate to discuss matters of the city. Similarly at the monthly Shepherd's Table, pastors and elders meet for fellowship, prayer, to identify synergistic opportunities, thrash out ideas and discuss focus items and share a good meal together.
These transformation prayer groups are no longer meeting in Churches. They meet in train stations, libraries and in the offices of faith-based non-profit organizations. The result is an influx of pastors who never before attended pastor meetings but are motivated to participate or lead community prayers. Pastors are challenged to go into the streets and be at the forefront of community involvement and prayer initiatives.
For more information about the Loudoun Transformation goals and objectives, please contact Jack Stagman at 703-581-4390 or by e-mail at jackstagman@comcast.net.
I believe Christian society has yet to comprehend the importance prayer has in releasing the will of God. We need to educate believers with the fact that one has to pray for change in this world by committing all things to prayer. Jesus Christ always went to pray to the Father for guidance and comfort.
If you are interested in submitting a faith column for this site, please contact Mark Gunderman at gunderman2001@aol.com.
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