Your "A Time to Honor" Testimonies

The Conference was God Breathed
You know, I was at the conference in Boulder and sat there the entire time wondering what it was all about, as I had attended many events that were only for men. This was different but then I saw God at the end and had a Jewish Rabbi place a star of David on my shirt, at which time I broke down. But God - But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!

I went back to have a Rabbi pray for me and his words were anointed. He prayed something at the beginning that only the Holy Spirit could have spoken to him.

The conference was God Breathed.

God Bless You

-Wiley Work

Walking Through A Previously Closed Door
This weekend was pretty significant for me. For this was the weekend was the first evercoed Promise Keepers Conference. As a woman who serves in ministry I can tell you I definitely had my doubts. Especially since Alex and I would be serving as prayer counselors in the prayer tent. What I did not know is exactly how significant this weekend would be for me as well as my fellow "Ladies in the field".

You see I was about to become the very first women to be part of the conference evangelical team. These are the people who pray with individuals when the minister gives an altar call. Since the Promise Keepers is a men's ministry and had never ministered to women, they have never had ladies on these teams until now.

Well, little did I know that when I arrived in Boulder that I would be the first women to walk through the door to be trained for the EV team. When Alex and I went for the little training class. I was the only lady. There were other ladies around but no one was joining the team. Our team supervisor looked at me and said "Well this is going to be a little different because we have never had ladies on the team before." He was not being mean or anything. He just did not know what to do with me.

Our fearless leader told the team that the Men should pray with men and to "send all the women to Helen". If you have never been to one of these conferences, it is not unusual to have 500 - 600 people come up to the stage during an altar call. To say I was slightly nervous was the understatement of the year.

Finally I saw a few more ladies coming to join us. But we were still out numbered about 8-1. It was pretty much me and my supervisor Nancy in one section of the stadium. We had 10 ladies that made decisions for the Lord. And they all walked into the kingdom together with me hand in hand. It was quite an experience. At first I felt a little sad that these precious ladies did not get individual attention . But as I looked around the prayer circle they were holding on to one another. Some of them were perfect strangers celebrating their victory in Christ with their new sisters.

It was truly an awesome experience. All because I was given the opportunity to walk through a door that had been closed to women for so long.

Thank you

-Helen Retana

God's Reign
(Friday) night's conference was great with brother Jon and sister Hoyt's messages. When God's rain came down so did his reign, as the time of worship at the end was awesome....I have been to 18 events and this ending was by far the best due to the obedience of those of us left (still standing in the rain/reign) in his presence. (We)...were blessed to be able to have that time to worship Him...Thanks to all who stayed on the stage to lead that time of worship with us!

-John Newpher

Ministry of Mercy

I attended with my wife and a college student. I was extremely touched and motivated by Tommy Bartlett's talk about his ministries. I knew...during the his talk that I needed to do more in reaching out to the downtrodden.
I have been involved in prison ministry for 15 years and last year managed a program called Hope for Christmas for the families of inmates. 90 children and their guardians attended and received presents and Christmas food baskets.
Monday morning I received an email from my pastor about being involved in developing a mercy ministry to serve the needy in Fort Collins. God put the desire in my heart at the PK meeting and is now providing the opportunity to go forward with that desire.

-Larry Lewis

A Special Moment

As some of you may know Jill and I, along with Ron & Char, and Malcolm and Janet attended the PK conference in Boulder, Colorado July 31- August 1. For me, this was the 2nd best PK Event I've ever been to, 2nd only to Stand In The Gap, in Washington D.C. back in 1997. We had our wives with us this time, whom we honored, which was very special. Great worship as always, and great speakers as always.

The moment I want to share that was most special, occurred during the portion of the event that was dedicated to bridging the divide between Gentile and Messianic Jewish believers. As the last of the speakers finished, a Messianic Rabbi, Aaron Fruh, went to the podium, along with Bill McCartney, PK founder. The talk focused on the Holocaust, and the fact that the Church was mostly silent during this tragic period in history. There were some gentile Christians who did rise to the forefront and put their lives on the line for the Jewish people, and in turn lost their lives. Corrie ten Boom is one such great example. She, and others like her, are honored in the state of Israel, and remembered to this day.

McCartney mentioned that anti-Semitism is again on the rise in many parts of the world, including the U.S., and that it was time for the Church of Jesus Christ to stand up in large numbers this time. Aaron then asked Bill McCartney if he would put his life on the line for his Jewish brothers and sisters, if it came to that. With tears coming out the coaches eyes he said he would. To signify this commitment, Aaron placed a Yellow Star of David on the coachs shoulder. (The Yellow Star of David was placed on Jews during the holocaust to identify them as Jews, as they were dealt with in the concentration camps and ghettos. For the most past it was a death warrant from the Nazi perspective.)

Aaron then called up all those in the audience who were Jewish believers to the front of the stage and gave us a package of yellow stars. Then those remaining in the audience were asked if they would put their lives on the line for their Jewish brothers and sisters, if it came to that. If the answer was 'Yes', they were asked to come up, and one us would place a 'yellow star' on their shoulder.

I must have placed about 20 stars onto people, which included Jill. Janet, Malcolm, Char and Ron came up to hug me, but already had the stars on, as Ron's son Steve, and daughter-in-law Sophie (1/2 Jewish), also came to the conference with us, and Sophie got to them first.

And now the 'special moment', which I will never forget. A little brother and sister, who couldn't have been more than 5-6 years old, came up to me. As I knelt down to place a star on each of them, both said that they will fight for me/Jewish people. Behind them stood their grandfather, who had brought them down, beaming in a moment that had to be as special for him as it was for me.

In closing, I was able to bring back a small package of yellow stars with me. They're available for anyone who might want one.

Blessings,

-Neil