The international missions ministry of Every Home for Christ has seen over 243 million people respond to the gospel throughout the world since 1946. Yet in 2020, the organization’s director Dick Eastman was concerned that the entire organization might need to close their doors completely. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the earth, every country was suspending travel. Jobs were lost and donors were forced to reduce their giving. How could an underfunded missions movement that goes door-to-door sharing the gospel continue in the midst of a global shutdown? Eastman shares these recent struggles, and incredible victories, in episode 89 of the Presence Pioneers podcast.
Eastman also details the roots of this global missions movement, which started during a season of 24/7 prayer in California during the Jesus movement of the 60s and 70s. While leading a local youth group, God began to burden his heart for prayer. They hosted a prayer retreat with a handful of teenagers and also began to gather weekly for prayer. The Jesus movement launched around that same time, and young people began coming to Christ in droves.
After a supernatural encounter with God, Dick felt led to launch the Prayer Corps, a 24/7 prayer initiative for young adults. In the midst of the revival, they acquired a house where they invited young people to spend six months living together and serving the Lord through prayer right after graduating high school. The students dedicated themselves to keeping the non-stop prayer watch, fielding prayer requests and praying for a harvest in the nations. This is one of the early expressions of organized day and night prayer in America.
Out of the Prayer Corps, Eastman developed a school of prayer, which was distributed through Every Home for Christ. This prayer school would impact future leaders of the prayer movement, such as Mike Bickle and Lou Engle. Eventually, Dick would become the international director of Every Home of Christ, and his added emphasis on prayer for the nations has fueled the ministry’s worldwide impact. You can hear more about this amazing journey, and how EHC survived the pandemic, on the Presence Pioneers podcast.{eoa}
Matthew Lilley is the director of the Awaken the Dawn Leadership Network, the host of the Presence Pioneers podcast and the author of the book David’s Tabernacle: How God’s Presence Changes Everything. He ministers locally and itinerantly as a worship leader and Bible teacher. Matthew carries a vision to see the establishment of day & night worship and prayer, leading to revival that touches the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He lives in eastern North Carolina with his wife and four children.
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