Biography
We are both originally from Illinois and moved to Kansas City, Missouri in the fall of 2004 when we launched Hearts-a-Blaze Ministries. Before joining the International House of Prayer (which HAB Ministries serves), I was a youth and young adult pastor at a Baptist Church in Southern Illinois, and Amanda worked full time as a registered nurse.
We both radically gave our hearts to the Lord in 1999. We were college students at the time just outside of St. Louis. We were both well acquainted with the "party scene" of the college campus and I personally had come to the place of severe drug abuse. In the mercy of God, through a series of events I was delivered and Amanda, while visiting a friend in Pensacola, Florida, was converted at the Brownsville Revival. After months of pursuing the Lord together, we were engaged to be married while ministering in Mexico City, Mexico. We were married on a Saturday night -- June 23, 2001.
Throughout the entirety of our walk with the Lord, we have vowed to be faithful stewards of God's grace and gifting that He's given us and to be found with tender hearts full of passion for Jesus. Like every believer, the primary will of God for our life is to go deep in God's heart and to be found alive in the inner man (Lk. 24:32). We pursue this reality primarily by living a life of prayer, fasting and the study of God's word. We place these fundamental practices of the Christian walk at the very foundation of our discipleship of this young adult generation.
We long to see an expression of Christianity that truly models the life of Jesus as seen in the book of Acts in the New Testament. We believe that God is currently orchestrating this change of expression through the current worship and prayer movement across the whole earth. There is a turning in the Church from the place of settling and lethargy, to a place of wholehearted abandonment to Jesus. God is raising up a Church that will be faithful and loyal to His Son Jesus in their lives even unto death (Rev. 12:11).
Vision
The vision of Hearts-a-Blaze Ministries is to call forth a young adult generation to wholehearted loyalty and abandonment to Jesus and to equip them to sustain a life of intimacy with God that leads to impact in the world. HAB is convinced that the primary way that the Holy Spirit is doing this work is through the current night and day prayer movement across the earth. In the place of prayer and fasting, a believer connects with God's heart and is filled with His desires, burdens and power. It is in this place of experiencing His heart that we will be the "light of the world" (Matt. 5) by loving our neighbors and blessing our enemies.
Wes' Role at IHOP-KC
Director One Thing Internship: When we arrived at IHOP-KC in the fall of 2004 I jumped on the leadership team of one of the short-term training programs known as the One Thing Internship. I served on that team as an Associate Director for a couple of years and then began Directing the program in January of 2007. The internship is a six-month program for 18-25 year olds that come from all over the States to encounter God. We average 60 interns in every program. We plant them in the place of prayer and fasting as the core backbone of our entire schedule. They spend nearly 30 hours a week in the Prayer Room serving the Lord in focused intercession and study in the Word. From that place we focus on other parts of Missions such as evangelism, feeding the poor and healing the sick. I have a team of 17 full-time missionaries that serve as my staff in running the internship. Visit the One Thing Internship website for more information.
Section Leader in the Global Prayer Room: Along with directing the Internship, I also oversee a six-hour 'section' of prayer meetings at IHOP-KC in the Global Prayer Room (GPR). We have two prayer rooms: the Global Prayer Room that has been going 24/7 in worship and prayer since Septermber 19, 1999, and the Justice Prayer Room that has going nearly 100 hours/week since July of 2007. At the GPR we have several teams leading in various capacities during every two-hour set. They range from the Media Team, Prayer Room Teams, Worship Team, Prophecy Team, Healing Team, Dance Team, and more. As a Section Leader, I oversee each of these teams with the goal in mind of having a section of enjoyable worship and prayer for everyone who attends. I love this role! There's something about setting back and watching a room full of people enjoy God's presence knowing that He also is enjoying their devotion that pleases me as I know my Father in heaven is being glorified. Amen.
You can visit the Prayer Room live via the internet.