Praying for the Team in Japan!

 Hello everyone!

I have received an update on the Japan team!  It has been pressed upon my heart to ask you to pray for them.  There are a few members that are on the team that have ran out of funds and still have a week left in Japan, as well as the trip home.  Please be praying for the Lord to provide in a divine way.  One of the members is a leader, Joanna Patton.  Click HERE to hear about the amazing opportunities they have had to minister and serve the people of Japan.  If the Lord impresses it upon your heart to give to this team, please email me at leahjohnson@ihopu.org.  I will give you further instructions on how to get the money to them.  Thank you and may He bless you abundantly!

This is the team currently in Japan!  The two ladies in the middle in purple and black shirts are the leaders, Toni Lynn Chaco, and Joanna Patton (from left to right).  The Lord is doing some awesome things in Japan and in this team!

A Blessing in Disguise!!!

Hello!!!
My last blog entry was all about Japan.  I was planning to go to Japan with a wonderful team this summer, but the Lord had other plans for me.  The doors just continued to shut, instead of opening.  I am sad to say that I did not go to Japan this time, but it was actually a blessing in disguise.  As I was praying and asking the Lord some serious questions, I was wondering if I heard Him wrong, or if I just didn't do something right.  The Lord spoke directly to my heart.  He told me He will open doors and He will also close doors throughout my journey with Him. (Rev 3:7)  He had me think back upon the opportunity last summer to go to Uganda when everything came together and doors opened right and left.  I remembered the money came in and it was crystal clear that I was supposed to go!  Don't get me wrong, there were huge obstacles just to get to Chicago, but with every obstacle, there was the hand of the Lord making a way through it.  This time when the doors shut, they shut completely. 

About a month back, I was talking to my sister on the phone.  I had a lot of questions for the Lord.  Most of them were about the next step in my journey with Him, concerning my calling.  I was asking my sister for prayer when she cut me off and said that she heard as clear as she could, "Leah, just go to Japan."  You can imagine my surprise, when the time comes to buy my ticket and the finances and circumstances were not right.  I felt like I missed something...

Then the Lord spoke to me and had me think back upon my intercession times for the nation of Japan. In my prayer times, He gave me real strongholds that were over the people of this country specifically.  These words from Him were confirmed when I went to my meetings with my team weekly.  The leaders told us a little about the culture and some of the areas that the enemy has influenced the Japanese people.  The Lord then told me, while I was in my room, that this is what he is going to do with every location I am to travel to.  He will give me the areas that grieve His heart concerning the people group I will be serving. And then, through prayer and intercession I will be able to pray and prepare the ground for rain.  Then when I go, I will be able to JOIN with the people and pray for THEIR country.  I will be able to come along-side them and understand the in's and out's of their culture and serve according to what is needed and however I can give and learn from them as well. At times, the Lord might work through me to deliver specific ones that He has His finger on for emotional, physical, and spiritual healing, as well as freedom from demons and strongholds.  And other times, I will be doing the most important thing of all, INTERCEDING WITH THEM!  Amen!!!

He also showed me that prayer/intercession is not only important, but necessary and crucial to mission work.  They do not just go hand-in-hand, but that one CAN NOT function without the other!!! I feel like the Lord is bridging these two realities.  As an intercessory missionary, I will be doing the same thing that I am doing now, but I will be training others up to do it with me and joining with them in prayer for their own city/country!  This is a HUGE piece of the puzzle to my calling.  I would not have this revelation if it weren't for preparing to go to Japan.  The time that I spent with the team was not a waste, but a huge blessing!  I am currently in Japan in the spirit with them because I am praying for them daily and supporting them!  I may not be with them in the physical, but I know my prayers are changing things and shifting things there as they serve!

This next semester at the Forerunner Music Academy, FMA, I will be a senior.  My sister will be moving down here in about a week and a half!  We will be staying together and going to school.  Naomi will be attending The Forerunner School of Ministry.  This summer the Lord knew that I needed to prepare for her to come.  I have been blessed to work and save up money to go to school and to prepare for her.  I can't believe I'm in my last year of IHOPU.  Tuition is significantly less this year because they bless the seniors!! It is only $2,125/semester!  That's over $800/ less than last year all together! If you would like to sow into my life and the last year of my training, please click on the yellow button to the right marked "Donate", or for tax deductible donations, mail a check to:

The International House of Prayer
3535 East Red Bridge Rd
Kansas City, MO 64137

Please do not put my name anywhere on the check.  Simply, attach a sticky note with my name to the check...and...Voila!!! You're done!!

I am praying for you all continually.  Thank you for being in my life.  Thank you for all your support and prayers!! May He bless you abundantly in every way!

From Uganda, to Japan, and Back to IHOPU for one more year!!!

Hey everyone!
I apologize for not updating my blog in a while.  Life gets pretty busy here. I am going into my Senior year in IHOPU!  I am so excited for the final year in my training and am asking the Lord for what He has for me afterwards.  Last summer I had the privilege, with your help, to go to Uganda.  The Lord did amazing things there!  He encountered my heart and gave me the passion I have for missions.  He encountered the Acholi people and implanted the vision for 24/7 prayer and worship into their hearts.  He allowed me to grow, serve, learn from them, and them from me!!  I believe I will continue to go to the nations to build houses of prayer and do His kingdom work until He returns, teaching and training in music, biblical studies, prayer and fasted lifestyle, and evangelistic ministry.

In my previous post I explained, more in depth, the calling I feel the Lord has given me and the mandate upon my life.  The next step in that Journey is another mission trip! I will be going to Japan in just a couple weeks!  I am overjoyed at this opportunity to partner with His heart for the nation of Japan and the church.  I will be going with a group of 11 students and alumni from IHOPU. We will be working with a church, doing street evangelism, skits, and (what we call) Holy Spirit scavenger hunts.  We will also be teaching and preaching about intimacy, prayer, and other House of Prayer realities to the believers.  

Some facts about Japan:

•  Almost 127 MILLION people populate Japan
• 1/3 of them live in Tokyo
• 70%  are Buddhist/Shinto
• 3%   are Christians   
• 3.4 Million pass through Shinjuku train station EVER DAY!!
• 30,000 people commit suicide each year...that's equivalent to the number of people that died in the earthquake and Tsunami last year...

The nation of Japan is in need of Jesus!!  Just like every other nation, there are a lot of strongholds there.  Mainly depression and suicide, but due to the culture, the child stops receiving any and all affection around the age or 5 or 6.  There is no affirmation, no love.  This pushes the people of Japan to fantasy, perversion, immorality, numbness to emotions, and striving for success in the work-place. They are in need of the Lord's love, truth of who they are, and what the Lord thinks about them.

The church in Japan is ALIVE and thriving! Amen!  We want to refresh them and push them closer to Jesus!  We are going to bring hope and plant small seeds into those who have given up hope.  I want to be a light where ever I go.  I'm not going with a western-mindset that I will change them.  Or that I have all the answers.  I just want to partner with His heart and give the small things that the Lord has given me and bring hope to those in bondage.  I want to serve in every way possible and go low just as Jesus always went low.  

My question for you is:  Will you partner with me in prayer and/or financial support again?  I can't go without your help.  The total cost of the trip is $3,500.  I currently have $600 of that.  I believe the Lord is calling me to go and I am asking Him to provide!  I have been asking him may questions about my future, and what the next step is and He told me "Leah, just go to Japan!" I know without a doubt that I need a miracle to go and God is a God of miracles!! Will you prayerfully consider giving to me and sowing into the nation of Japan?

In faith, I booked my first plane ticket to California July 13th at 6am.  I believe the Lord is going to do a miracle.  If He places it on your heart to give you can click on the paypal button to the right and give with an account number or a credit/debit card. If you would like it tax deductable, you can mail your check to 3535 E. Red Bridge Road.  Please make it out to IHOP and don't put my name anywhere on the check.   Simply attach a sticky note to the check with my name on it.  (Keep in mind that if you want me to receive a certain amount, taxes are taken out of your donation.  So if you want me to receive $100, you would want to make it out for $120 so that I receive the full amount you intended to give. :)

If you want to be put on my email update list for Japan, please email me at leahjohnson@ihopu.org!  I will be updating my blog regularly and letting you know the amazing things He is doing while I'm there! Also in the email, please include your address.  I would like to bless you in return for praying for me and giving to me and the nation of Japan!

Many Blessings!

What the Lord has been doing this semester!

Hello Beloved ones,

I apologize for not writing in my blog for quite a while.  Life has kinda gotten away from me. I pray that you all are doing well!  Time is flying by in FMA.  I can't believe I'm a Junior already!  The Lord has been impacting my heart greatly this semester and I just want to share a little revelation that He has given me!  I've been on this topic for about 4 months now with God and He has gripped my heart with His truth!

The Lord has been teaching me more about weakness.  I know that we are called to weakness, but there is a tangible reality that hits you when you're faced with your own weakness.  In a way, I felt like my weakness hit me in the face.  A lot of what I knew has been stripped from me.  Nothing is the same.  In the midst of pretty difficult times, I have learned to lean.  Many people view leaning as a negative thing.  But instead of going that route, the Lord has changed my perspective altogether!  Weakness is true humility.  False humility says that you have to be strong, perfect and poised.  It puts expectations and weights on your shoulders that you were not meant to carry.  False humility can also go the other way and drown you in self pity or depression.  The Lord's way of humility says, "I know am weak, but I boast in my weakness; and in that, the Lord is made perfect in me!" 

"And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  ~2 Cor. 12:9

"He gives power to the weak, And to [those who have] no might He increases strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew [their] strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."  ~Isaiah 40:29-31

 I know the Lord delights in my weakness.  He says, "OK, now that we've gotten your pride and self ambition out of the way, I can really work."  It's when I came to the end of myself that He could then transform me!  I realized that HE DOESN'T NEED ME!  He is sufficient in and of Himself.  It's not about what I want.  It's about what He wants.  Just like Misty Edwards sings, "It's an inside outside, upside down kingdom, where you lose to gain and you die to live."  When I allow the Lord to transform me, He uses me in ways that I could never imagine.  I am just a weak person with nothing to offer, but He decides to show His majesty through me to glorify His name.  He chooses the weak, not the strong.  He chose the disciples, the throw-aways of biblical culture that couldn't "cut it" and weren't good enough to go to rabbi school.  The ones who weren't incredibly intelligent or gifted.  And the Pharisees that had all the wisdom, wealth, and status, He called foolish.  

"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."  ~1 Corinthians 1:29-31

I'm here to glorify Him in my weakness.  I may not be the best at everything.  I may not measure up to the world's standards of greatness.  I may be wasting my life.  But it is all worth it!  I get to sit before the feet of the King of Kings every single day and adore Him, behold Him, and learn from Him. And if at the end of the day, I never become anyone big, or do anything huge, it's ok.  It's not about labels or names or status.  I just want to please Him. And I know that He desires me and loves me.  In my weakness, He is making me a stronger woman every single day!