Jim & Melissa Marcum Intercessory Missions Update August 2017

2017
Dear Friends & Family,
Summers here at IHOPKC can be summed up in one word - CHILDREN! We always have a lot going on
here during the summer, but the training taking place at our children’s camps is a prominent focus for us all.
We are preparing for our third “round” of camps (we run 4 at a time), and hundreds of children will be coming to
learn about living lives devoted to Jesus. At the beginning of the summer, I (Jim) had forgotten that our first
camp had started when I headed in to the prayer room one morning. Sometimes I’ll notice if the parking lot is
full, so I’ll expect a full prayer room, but this day the lot wasn’t too full. But when I opened the door of the prayer
room to enter in, was I surprised! The room was packed. Then I looked around and saw whole sections filled
with children – Bibles and notebooks in their laps, singing and praying along. What a blessed sight to behold!
I’m so very thankful for our large team of workers who minister to these children all summer long. Won’t you
pray with us for many young lives to be marked by the Lord here this summer in Kansas City? We appreciate
each one of you – thank you for giving us the opportunity to share some news with you again this month!
-Love, The Marcums
Walk for Life!
For the third year in a row we recently participated in “Walk for Life” to help raise
support for a great Christian pregnancy resource center – Advice & Aid, in Overland
Park. We’ve spoken a lot about Advice & Aid in our newsletters, as they are the
pregnancy center which moved their facility to be right next door to Planned Parenthood.
Thank you SO MUCH to those who sponsored us and donated to this awesome ministry.
In total we had 375 walkers this year, and raised over $59,000 – it was a great success!
One matter of prayer every year is the weather. Early on June 2, the morning of the walk,
it was quite stormy. But in just a couple hours time the storms quickly moved out, and
the walk took place right on time in fresh, sunny, and much cooler conditions due to the
rain. Radio and TV stations were present, so Advice & Aid had a great opportunity to
share with the community a testimony to what the Lord is doing.

Ever since their move to the location next to Planned Parenthood,

there has been talk and prayer about ways to highlight the facility to
women as they are driving up looking for PP. Very recently a new
sign was put up close to the road where it can be easily seen. Of
course, the “abortion information” provided by Advice & Aid is the
truth about what abortion really is! You can see in this picture the
building in the background – that’s Planned Parenthood. Advice &
Aid’s facility is not shown, but their driveway is right in front of the
sign. The corner of their building is just to the right of the sign. Ruth,
the director of Advice & Aid, wrote to us recently in one of her prayer
request emails: “Thank God for our new sign. We have had a few
more women come in because of our new sign - women who were
planning to abort--- praise God!”

On June 26th, not only Advice & Aid, but all Christian pregnancy centers experienced a great victory! The United
States Supreme Court voted 5-4 (thank God for Judge Gorsuch) to strike down a law passed in 2015 by the state of
California that sought to force the over 200 Christian pregnancy centers in their state to advertise or refer for
abortions. The striking down of this unjust law sets a precedent of protection for all Christian pregnancy centers –
similar laws were being threatened by New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Texas, Hawaii, and Illinois. We thank God
for NIFLA (National Institution of Family and Life Advocates), who defended the case along with their lawyers from
Alliance Defending Freedom.
A Season of Victory
For many years during the past 45 years since the passage of Roe v. Wade, both the federal and state legislatures and
courts of America have often moved in favor of abortion advocates and against pro-life advocates. But the tide is
beginning to turn! On May 2, the governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, signed into law a bill handed to her earlier in the
week by the Iowa state legislature which BANS ABORTION AFTER A FETAL HEARTBEAT is detected (as early
as 6 weeks). This follows closely the passage of bills by the governors of Mississippi and Kentucky which ban
abortions after 15 weeks and 11 weeks respectively. As was expected, the bans in Mississippi and Kentucky have
been temporarily blocked by federal judges, and the same is expected in Iowa. However, this is setting up a legal
challenge which the supporters of all these bills have been seeking – a challenge at the United States Supreme Court
to overturn Roe v. Wade.
With the announcement of the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on June 27, and the
nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh on July 9, we have an opportunity for the assembling of a Supreme Court that
would now hear a case to overturn Roe v. Wade. Whether it will be “The Moral Outcry” petition that we have been
working on, or one of these state bills signed by governors being argued all the way to the Supreme Court, we cannot
say. But we can almost assuredly say the day is soon to come when a case WILL BE HEARD by the Supreme Court
that will challenge, and we believe will OVERTURN Roe v. Wade.
In the nearly 6 years since we have been intercessory missionaries here at IHOPKC, we cannot count the times we
have prayed into this scenario! In the Global Prayer Room, we have led the room in prayer for God to move upon
the Supreme Court. We have prayed for the Justices by name. We have been in countless side room small prayer
groups as our Life Team prayed again and again and again for the courts of America, especially the Supreme Court.
Many times on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood, or Center for Women’s Health abortion clinic, we have
paused and prayed together specifically for the courts and judges of the land. And most recently, last October, we
were in Washington D.C. praying and interceding with tens of thousands on the National Mall in front of the White
House. We all faced the White House, knowing just on the other side was the Supreme Court, and we called upon
God to move His hand upon the highest court in our land, and specifically to replace Justices who sit on that court.
The day before, we (Melissa and I) had taken a personal journey to the Supreme Court, walked up those long steps,
and knelt beside the huge pillars by the front door. We prayed much, but our most fervent prayer was for the
replacement of pro-abortion judges and the appointment of pro-life judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.
GOD HAS HEARD OUR PRAYERS! Ours, yours, and so many others. We fervently believe that overturning Roe
v. Wade (and its companions) is the single most important thing that must take place in order to deliver America AS
A NATION from its most deplorable national sin and crime – the killing of our children in the womb. It won’t be the
immediate end to abortion in America, but it will be a new beginning for our nation on this issue, and it will make
room for true national repentance.

THANK YOU JOPLIN!

We want to sincerely thank all of you who came to The Moral Outcry presentation in Joplin on June 22-23. We
especially thank Jeff & Misty Frost for opening Victory Ministry & Sports Complex and for their leadership and
tender hearts. And we thank Nathan & Kandace Rather, directors of Harrison Creek Retreat Center, for hosting the
event and for the way they minister to so many – you are such a blessing! A highlight of the weekend was on Friday
night when the whole room came to the front and formed a circle, and different ones began to speak out and pray out.
We all experienced more of the Father’s heart, and the tears flowed freely. I remember one moment in particular
when someone led us in prayer for God to move upon the justices of the Supreme Court. Well, just four days later
Judge Kennedy stepped down, hmmm…… I (Jim) can’t help but think once again of when I was in Joplin in 2011
and had the dream, then spoke to President Obama (while he was IN JOPLIN) to “remember the unborn.” Joplin,
you still have an important role to play in the spiritual battle to overturn Roe v. Wade and end abortion in America!

Final Word: We hope to share in our next newsletter a report from a 31-day outreach in Moscow that several
from IHOPKC participated in during the World Cup. One of our bookstore employees went on the outreach and
our team prayed often for her – so we’re excited to hear the report and share it with you!

Because He is worthy of it all, Jim & Melissa Marcum

P.O. Box 1099, Grandview, MO 64030

Jim & Melissa Phone/text: 816-287-3525 / 816-287-2228

Email/PayPal: intercessorymissions@gmail.com
Egiving:www.ihopkc.org/give/staffsupport (JM204009)
Jim & Melissa Marcum International House of Prayer – Kansas City, MO