Madison: A Marker Moment for the 24-7 Movement

Published: February 19th, 2007

It’s an icy-knife of a day in the snow-covered city of Madison, Wisconsin, where a hundred weird-looking people have gathered from ten locations in USA, Mexico and Canada. Some of those in the room (such as the group from Pittsburgh who’ve been praying non-stop, night-and-day for many months and have brought along two brand, new Christians) are here because they’re excited about the impact 24-7 Prayer is having in their locale and they simply want to connect. Others - the majority - are here because they are leaders in a growing network of modern-day monasteries called Boiler Rooms here in North America.

There have been certain landmark moments in this crazy, white-knuckle ride called 24-7: the red moon that rose over our launch in February 2000, the night we first saw signs and wonders in our mission to Ibiza, the day our original Boiler Room opened in a derelict pub in Reading, England. If you’ve been tracking with us, you’ll know the story. In any true movement of the Spirit there are freeze-frame moments that confirm the past and define the future.

Well folks, I believe that this gathering in Madison counts as one of the most significant marker moments in the 24-7 movement since I wrote Red Moon Rising. The simple fact of the matter is that, as little as two years ago, 24-7USA didn’t exist – there was no infrastructure, no leadership, just a bunch of American prayer rooms blinking in amazement and asking ‘what’s next?’ Today, just twenty-four months later, I’m looking around the room at many representatives of a thrilling new network of organically-connected, deeply-missional, and essentially prayerful communities.

If you feel connected to the 24-7 movement then this moment matters, and I want you to feel part of it. Let me tell you what I see – who I see – in this room right now so you can catch a little taste of what God is doing here. But this aint gonna be the shortest article you ever read online so you may want to make yourself a cup of tea, kick back a little or even print it out to read elsewhere. OK, I’ll try and download the scene to you.

Eric the Viking

An open fire crackles and sighs, throwing softly dancing shadows across the great Presbyterian hall in which we have gathered. Outside, sub-zero temperatures slap the faces and gnaw at the bones of pedestrians hunched in their winter-coats as they hurry by. Silhouetted against the window I see Eric St Clair, a man with the jungular beard of an Orthodox priest. Eric and his wife recently bailed out of the American Dream in North Carolina; sold their house, their car and paid off all their debts in order to move to Iceland to establish a prayer-community. He’s somehow got himself acquainted with the band Sigur Ros, played Twister with Björk and, although he has no money, has his eye on a $3 million building in Reykjavik!

Open Doors in ‘Closed’ Counties

Beyond ‘Eric the Viking’ sits Julie Cox, an elegant blonde from South Africa whose heart beats for the AIDS orphans of her homeland. Just beyond Julie is Mary Arndt who’s preparing to move to live in the Middle-East on a top-secret mission from God! The Lord is propelling more and more members of the 24-7 tribe into the Muslim and Communist parts of the world. It’s often a call to fly under the radar, to jump off our surf-boards and dive into the undertow. Last week I talked to a 19 year-old who’s planning to transfer from his university course amongst ‘rich white kids who just wanna smoke pot’ in order to study at the American University of Beirut. Two days earlier, one of our key leaders shared with me her growing sense that the Lord is calling her to China.

Here in Madison, just to the left of the fireplace, sits Peter Wohler, the hulking, dreadlocked artist-evangelist from Minneapolis whose inner-city Source community is deeply inspired by the ancient Celtic Christians. He’s balancing one of his daughters on his knee. Most of the artists in their community are not yet believers.

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