In 1994 Derek Prince Ministries hosted a conference for Christian leaders in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This short article, adapted from one of Derek’s talks prior to that conference, sums up clearly and compellingly his vision for teaching and resourcing leaders and serves as a wonderful reminder of God’s calling to us to intercede for our ministry today.
The ripple effect
Every time someone mentioned the name Almaty to Derek Prince, something leapt in his spirit, and he had a feeling that he was due to go there one day in the service of the Lord.
Subsequently, in 1994, Derek Prince did go to Almaty to speak at a conference hosted by Derek Prince Ministries. There were Christian leaders from eleven nations: Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Northwest China and Mongolia.
These nations had been dominated by the powers of darkness throughout history. Derek understood this, that is why he spoke about the three powers of darkness in this region: demonic paganism, Islam and atheistic Communism.
And he knew that if he was to strike at the very heart of the darkness, he should do it by teaching first about the importance of evangelism followed by equipping leaders who attended to take the Word of God back to their own people.
He also knew that the pastors who came to the Almaty conference, much the same as the Christian leaders who attend our DPM conferences in India, Sri Lanka or Armenia today, have had few opportunities to do in-depth study of God’s Word and little time to build up their maturity in faith.
That is why he compared the potential impact of the Almaty conference to the analogy of throwing a big stone into the middle of a pond.
Those who attended the event would benefit from the teaching shared, (the big splash) and then they would take what they had learnt, (like the ripples in the pond) to their local churches.
No impactful ministry can happen without powerful intercession
Then Derek shared a second example taken from the military. When an army invades a fortified area or a country, there are three main phases in the invasion. First, there is bombardment from the air, and he compared this to the intercession from a distance.
The purpose of the aerial assault is to sweep the skies clear of enemy aircraft, and he believed that the purpose of the intercession is to sweep the skies clear of the satanic principalities and powers that have been dominating an area for so long.
The next stage in the invasion is the heavy artillery which is closer at hand, and he likened that to intercession by those who come to intercede on the spot. The third phase is the infantry assault, and he likened that to the actual ministry of God’s Word.
But in warfare unless the first two phases are successful, the third phase will end in defeat, and Derek Prince believed the same was true of the situation in Kazakhstan.
That is why he invited supporters of Derek Prince Ministries to become intercessors and to pray fervently for all the aspects of the Almaty conference.
The truth is that our ministry has always, and will always, depend upon our intercessors.
So, the purpose of this brief message is to share our vision with you and to invite you once again to intercede for our Derek Prince Ministries worldwide outreaches.
We believe, as Derek Prince did, that this is the harvest hour. This is when the harvest is ripening, in today’s former Soviet Republics, in China, across the Indian subcontinent, Europe and Africa.
Let us take our places as intercessors in praying for our outreach workers, translators, volunteers and mission partners and for their plans and projects around the world. Let us commit ourselves to pray regularly for those who work hard to put life-changing discipleship materials into the hands of those who are persecuted or are fighting against the forces of darkness.
