Intercessory missionaries Roger and Doreen Brown came from the United Kingdom to northern New York in 1995 with one goal: to spread the fires of revival. The Browns had experienced the power of prayer firsthand, having cut their evangelistic teeth laboring with the Salvation Army and Youth With a Mission and helping plant charismatic churches throughout the U.K.
“We see ourselves as intercessory missionaries now, part of the growing global 24/7 prayer movement,” they say.
Their target now is a region that’s been in a spiritual deep-freeze for years, including the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park. Mainline denominational churches have closed, and congregations continue to dwindle in the area. “People are hard to reach for Christ,” says Paul Keehr, pastor of Calvary Assembly of God in Glens Falls, N.Y. “It goes back to the independent, rugged individualist character of the North Country and the ‘I don’t want to be bothered’ mentality.”
Under this cloud of protracted indifference, Roger Brown advances with confidence and joins with clergy leaders to pray for the Holy Spirit to flood New York again, just as He did in the 19th century through Charles Finney’s revivals. Brown began this work by prayer-walking the state with his wife, traveling from the Peace Bridge near downtown Buffalo to the Lake George region of the Adirondacks—a 350-mile trek. “We invited believers to join with us as we passed through communities,” he says.
In 1999, the Browns established the House of Prayer ministry in Lake George. Pastors from mainline churches and Pentecostal and charismatic fellowships set aside differences and joined together, and they still pray weekly to seek revival. As Roger explains, “We see others as co-laborers for the kingdom, rather than competitors.”
In 2007, Brown and local pastors signed a covenant of unity, repentance and celebration as children of the living God through faith in Jesus Christ. They joined the Global Day of Prayer movement and have since conducted prayer walks and community service projects on its behalf. Brown also launched One Heart Cry 24/7 in 2012, committing pastors, congregations and ministries to pray for 24 hours at least one day per month, thereby covering the entire year in 24/7 prayer. Standing on 2 Chronicles 7:14-15, they will join the 2013 Global Day of Prayer on Pentecost Sunday, May 19, with a prayer concert, preceded by 10 days of prayer and community service.
These works are bearing fruit. Steve VanDixhorn, senior pastor of Pine Knolls Alliance Church in South Glens Falls, N.Y., points to dramatic change among local churches in the past decade. “There was very little cooperation and very little communication,” he says of the earlier days. “Pastors rarely trusted each other.”
Today, VanDixhorn sees a genuine coming together and unity among churches in the area, which is laying the foundation for revival. “God is bringing about something supernaturally under the banner of Christ,” he says.
Keehr is also encouraged by the resulting attitude changes among area pastors. “We can be one without being the same,” he says, “by praying and being kingdom-minded.” Keehr, having witnessed people getting saved in his church every week, senses something good is about to happen.
Beyond this work, Brown and his group of pastors are launching a One Month to Live initiative in September to encourage Christians toward outreach efforts that ask, “What would you change in your life if you only had one month to live?”
Can one couple and a small group of dedicated pastors crying out in prayer spark a revival that then sweeps across New York state? Roger Brown is convinced the answer is yes.
“There is a definite stirring of God in the North Country in a fresh way,” he says. “We are believing for the entire Adirondack region, and that’s the vision God gave us.”
