December 15, 2010

I'm Going to South Africa!

So it's been awhile since I've put anything out there about what has been going on with myself and I want to let you in on it. I have been in Kansas City, Missouri a little over a year now serving at the International House of Prayer. During that time I've joined a worship team that serves at a inner city house of prayer called Hope City. It's an amazing prayer ministry that reaches out to the homeless community, and those coming out of drug addiction, prostitution and other abusive lifestyles. 



Our worship team has been ministering throughout the United States in the past several months. The picture above is from a trip we took to Chicago, IL to love on the people at the Chicago House of Prayer. P.S. that's me on the far left, the redhead with glasses. Recently we were invited to play a part in encouraging a developing prayer community in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team of people going is being lead by Kirk Bennett. A familiar name to some of you, but some of you might not exactly know who he is or what he does. So here's a little bio on him.


Kirk is a longtime senior leader among the IHOP-KC community and founder of 7Thunders, a ministry focused on prayer and works of justice. His tenure includes such postings as Director of Prophetic Ministry at IHOP-KC, Director of the former Zadok House of Prayer and as of 2010, Vice President in IHOP-KC overseeing the Justice Division which facilitates a variety of ministry initiatives and departments on the missions base. Kirk also has a broad and extensive travel ministry which continues to expand - literally reaching to the edges of the earth.

Even though training people in the worship and prayer model will likely be the main thrust of what we will be doing, we also have the opportunity to be with Jesus among the poor of South Africa. We have a chance to minister at a prison church, reach out to human trafficking victims, go on some prayer walks, and work with some adoption agencies there. This is something that my heart has been burning to do for about two years now, and I've been asking for a way for my heart to be marked with even greater compassion for the fatherless and the poor. I have had several personal encounters with God concerning His heart towards the orphan, and how He longs for them to know that He is their Father. Although I'm not a father myself, I can imagine what it would be like for my son or daughter, knowing they are loved by me, to sing to me about why they love me. I believe His heart is overcome when we sing our love songs to Him. We have the opportunity to help orphans of all ages learn to sing their songs of love to their Father. I cannot think of a better reason to go to South Africa.


My heart is stirred to be with Jesus among the people of South Africa. I believe this is a divine opportunity for me and I want to be a wise steward of it. I want you to invite you to be a part of it as well. A lot of the expenses of a trip like this have already been covered. Things like housing, meals, and transportation once we arrive. I still need to raise the funds for the initial flight over. The cost of the plane ticket will be around $1200, and another $300-$400 for additional expenses. Things like a passport. I found out that mine will be expired by the time we set out for Johannesburg. If there are any extra funds left, I'd like to be able to help people who don't have all of the funds together. Would you please pray and ask what God would have you give to help train his children to sing love songs to him? If you would like your gift to be tax-deductible email me at brandonmorris@ihop.org, and I'll get you all setup for that. There's also a paypal button over on the right side of this page if you would like to give right now.


I'll be updating this blog as things progress, you can also check out the facebook event that my friend Jesse created. It has our potential itinerary, testimonies, and you can see all of the people who are a part of the team so far.


Peace and Love in Jesus!