John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

pray

Clasp Hands

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To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”

— Karl Barth
Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash

In the Theological Roundtable class for our interns, we talked this week about how we think theologically. Part of our time was spent looking at what we do as Christians that comes from tradition, from reason, and from experience.

Why do we pray?

It should be more than just something we do because we are “Christian.”

Or because the Bible talks about prayer.

Or because we know God answers our prayers.

We pray because it is our time to join with God in declaring that the things of this world do not define us. The chaos, the clatter, the distractions, and disruptions do not dictate our actions.

It is a rebellion against the systems of the world.

We stop the noise.

And we pray.

We join together with God as we pour out our heart and find direction in the disorder. 

Join the revelation. Clasp hands. Pray.

Year 3

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On August 1st we will welcome our third intern class to the Branding Iron Academy.

Our third!

In August 2016, the Academy was a vision in our minds and a dream in our hearts. It was an exercise in faith.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Two years later, we have graduated 9 interns serving on five campuses here in Oklahoma and 1 intern serving with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. We have helped staff one new campus ministry, with two new campuses in the works.

“Faith without works is dead.”

But the vision was never to simply train new missionaries. The dream was never simply to pat them on the back and say, “Good luck”.

The church has been praying for laborers, and Jesus has given us a mandate to go to a world that is lost. There has been, and will always be, one call and one harvest. But someone has to be a part of the teams that go.

We cannot do it all, but we can do our part. So, by midnight, June 30, 2025, we pledge to train, staff, and send 50 missionary teams around the world.

“One call. One Harvest. Fifty Teams.”

Will you dream? Will you pray? Will you give?