Prayer + Fasting Retreat | By Jessica Beamond, MDC Communications Director
As Minnesota ministers gathered at Lake Geneva Christian Center September 28–30 for the annual Prayer & Fasting Retreat, the pace of ministry gave way to prayer, worship, and time in God’s presence. Pastors Jeff and Kristi Kerr, lead pastors of Homestead Church, led worship throughout the retreat. Joe Oden, National Prayer
and Evangelism Director for the Assemblies of God; Rick DuBose, assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God; and Dr. Carolyn Tennant, Professor at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Professor Emerita at North Central University, challenged ministers to seek God more deeply.
Superintendent Mark Dean opened the retreat with a prayer that became a theme for the days that came after.
“My prayer in coming into this retreat is this: God, stretch us,” Dean said. “Increase our hunger. Increase our capacity. Increase your vision that would flow through us in your anointing.”
This vision for the MN District is reflected in goals our leadership continually brings to God in prayer: 20,000 salvations, 5,000 water baptisms, 5,000 Holy Spirit baptisms, 1,000 people called into missions, and 12 new churches planted each year. Together, they represent a shared prayer for a greater harvest throughout Minnesota.
Joe Oden called leaders back to prayer as the starting point for this spiritual awakening, praying that they would leave with “a greater desperation, a greater hunger, a greater burden for the manifestation of God in our lives personally, corporately and across this district.”
Rick DuBose emphasized that ministry cannot rest on words, strategy, or leadership ability alone. “If we’ve ever needed the church to have power, it’s right now,” DuBose said. “If all we have is words, we’re not going to get this done. There has to be the work of the Holy Spirit.”
Dr. Carolyn Tennant turned that challenge toward leaders’ spiritual lives. “If we want to see a move of God here in Minnesota, we’ve got to go deeper,” Tennant said. “Because if He’s going to take our people deeper, He’s got to take us deeper first.”
By the end of the retreat, the message was clear. God was calling Minnesota ministers to go deeper, trust the Holy Spirit’s work, and believe Him for what lies ahead.
Pastor Mark closed with a simple prayer. “God, this is beyond us, but it’s not beyond where You are.”
Recordings from the Prayer and Fasting Retreat sessions are available online at mnaog.org/media
