www.thesaltmag.com
2 Prayer Warriors that Rock Arkansas!
Religion
by Nicole Pettit Name: Fernando Ramos From: Puerto Rico Current Location: Siloam Springs, Northwest Arkansas
2 Prayer Warriors that Rock Arkansas!
Occupation: Forerunner First Ministry: Crisis Response International Crisis Response International was created to raise up mercy missionaries for the end times. They do search-and-rescue, wilderness first aid, and FEMA work. They work with HOPs to make them self-sustained, “cities of refuge.” Second Ministry: The Pointe Ministry The Pointe Ministry is a combined house of prayer and church. It is also a refuge center. Ministry Contact Info: http://thepointeministry.org, or www.thepointenwa.org God Story or Life Purpose: Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Fernando is fluent in both English and Spanish. He moved to the United States at age 19. Fernando and Eric (see next page) have been friends since 2009. Both went to missionary college, and “the Lord provided the whole way.” They then became mentors at Bethany College of Missions in Minnesota. After leaving school, Fernando did “off-grid” training in the Mojave Desert with Crisis Response International, learning to be part of a self-sustained community and to “minister in the midst of crisis.” The crew used generators and a mobile kitchen. At the time of onething, the ministry was in New York helping those affected by flooding. He moved with a crew to Arkansas and now works for a day-and-night praying church that has a crisis response unit. “I came here [to onething] asking for clarity and my life’s vision to really be clear,” says Fernando. He is not sure exactly what God has in store for His future—whether that will be returning to a Latin American country, or something else—but he does have a heart for mentoring. “My role is to raise up [mercy missionaries] and equip the next generation.” He would tell them, “This is what you’re facing, and this is what it’s going to take to go. The heart that you are going to need is going to be of prayer, of intercession, and also knowing that perfect love casts out fear… but also having the discernment to not jump in right away, to assess the situation.” “Don’t be afraid of being radical for Jesus… Let that be something you leave behind on the earth, a legacy.”
by Nicole Pettit Name: Eric Rainwater From: Fort Smith, Arkansas (in the River Valley) Current Location: Alma, Arkansas (in the River Valley) Occupation: Full-Time Intercessor Ministry: Mercy House of Prayer in Alma, Arkansas Mercy HOP had its grand opening at the end of January. Besides growing as intercessors, contending in God’s throne room for His mercy, they desire to show mercy in practical ways to a hurting world in the end times. They also proclaim the mercy of the blood of the Lamb due to Jesus’ death on the cross, which cleans us. “The Lord’s throne in heaven is called the mercy seat,” Eric points out. “He wants His intercessors to cry out for mercy.” Every Saturday, they have a justice prayer meeting that emphasizes adoption and the end of abortion. Human trafficking is also an issue dear to this ministry’s heart, and they recognize it is a problem even here in the United States. “What we are crying out for in Arkansas is that there will be no orphans, that they will be adopted… There is a spirit of adoption that will take those babies.” Ministry Contact Info: www.mercyhop.org God Story or Life Purpose: When Eric was working in the mountains in New Mexico in 2007, God “wrecked” him, giving him a “Mount Sinai” experience. “Since then, it has been a journey of being called into missions. I have been given a vision to go to Central Asia [Mongolia], and I have a heart for Jerusalem, for seeing the King glorified on His throne in Zion. In the path He has shown me, part of how He will do it (just like He said in Amos 9:11) is raise up the tabernacle of David. He is doing it in the earth… You can’t stop a Godsized vision, because we are not in charge! He is in charge. “The next season will hopefully be hooking up with some cowboy missionaries that have a heart to ride horses and live with nomadic people, to live kind of like Abraham, be a forerunner like John the Baptist, and have a heart of worship like David.”