Resurrection Pageant Prayer Room

The last few months have involved a Prayer Tent at SonRise, traveling to Hawaii to dream with Kay Kuzma of writing a book and then on to Australia to visit family and friends. I am so blessed to meet people along this journey that are taking seriously the call to discipleship. Each one of you encourage me greatly.

An Interactive Prayer Tent for the 2010 SonRise Resurrection Pageant. We were so excited to get permission to create an interactive and fun prayer tent this year at SonRise 2010. Every year Southern Adventist University near Chattanooga is host to an incredible interactive walk through experience that puts you right there at the very scene of Christ's final days leading to His death and resurrection. The cast was made up of 500 people with about 15,000 visitors walking through markets, court houses and gardens with Jesus and the disciples witnessing very moving scenes from this powerful reenactment of history. Thousands of people walked through every half hour and after the final moving scene of Jesus' resurrection they came outside for free refreshments and could take time to contemplate and process the resurrection they had just witnessed, in the Prayer Tent. This beautiful sacred space was full of people all day. Families, children, costumed characters, skater kids, newly arrived immigrants, people from the community, people from other countries and from other states, all entering in to wrestle with the concept of Jesus as their Savior and how they could invite him to become their best friend, mentor and guide. It was a very diverse crowd so it was wonderful to see so many people enter into a prayer space where they could talk to God and God could talk to them. The feedback from those experiencing the prayer tent was overwhelming. The most interesting insight was from a young man who stopped by to help me pack up the tent after an exhausting day! He shared that the prayer room I created at his academy a few years ago had really impacted his life spiritually when he was at a really difficult place in his life. He wondered why there weren't more creative spaces set up like these prayer rooms in churches, schools and in the community to help those people who need different ways to connect to God by providing unique ways to help them on their spiritual journeys. I could not agree more! It is such a beautiful thing to know that rooms like these can allow God to speak powerfully into teenage boys lives (and everyone else). If teenage boys can be challenged, moved, inspired and reached spiritually through worship experiences like these, it seems that every church and community should be building them! In May, I was living in Chattanooga and writing my book called, A Pocket Guide for Travelers. One day I was asked by author Kay Kuzma to visit her in Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands to talk about some discipleship programs at her son's wonderful yet small struggling school at Kahili. (They need volunteers if anyone is interested?) So, as is my usual procedure before booking flights, I asked God what he thought about where I was going and when to book and for how long. I opened my Bible to the verses in Acts 28 that said, 30 "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." ...11 "After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. There we found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with them." Since I had just spent a delightful winter in the Chattanooga area and a total of two years in the Sines house, I knew God was speaking to me through these texts and answering my questions specifically. So I knew he wanted me to spend three days in Honolulu where I had spent time last year ministering to many churches and spend a week with Kay on the island of Kauai. For all those who don't regularly ask God for help in major life decisions, I highly encourage it because who else knows all things? God definitely speaks and he will guide you with even the smallest decisions that happen every day. I used to book dates and worry about whether I was doing the right thing. Now I don't have to worry about any decision. I have complete faith and trust that God wants me there for a purpose and he will open all the doors and provide for all my needs while I am there. God has been speaking to me more and more and I am overwhelmed by his insights and revelations. I encourage you to chase after hearing the voice of God throughout your day. A great book that inspired me is: Forever Ruined for the Ordinary: The Adventure of Hearing and Obeying God's Voice by Joy Dawson. The week in Kauai with Kay was wonderful and busy but we managed to dream together and start writing a book that I am working on right now called Teaching Children to Pray Creatively. It has lots of creative ideas to make prayer fun and uses the senses to help children pray in different ways. If you have any unique ideas please let me know! I booked my ticket to Australia in order to do the Week of Prayer at Karalundi an aboriginal community school in WA. At the last minute they could not find the funds so I spent the time catching up with family and friends and encouraging and being encouraged by spiritual disciples I met along the way. More photos of the 2010 SonRise Prayer Tent. Official Photos of the SonRise Resurrection Pageant by Sherrie Williams. If you would like to volunteer as a teacher or gardener or housekeeper etc or STAY at the beautiful Kahili School and Retreat Center you are most welcome! Photos. If you would like Nicki to come to your school, conference or church to help infuse a passion for prayer please email: BlissfulMinistries@yahoo.com Books Nicki is Currently Writing. A Pocket Guide for Travelers. This book will contain Travel Tips, Cultural Awareness and a Discipleship Guide that will equip, challenge and inspire new ways of doing missions overseas. For tourists, pilgrims, and disciples. Teaching Children to Pray Creatively. 101 Creative ideas that make prayer fun! Includes prayers that are with the family, outdoor prayers, prayers that use art, how to build a prayer corner, prayer journals and prayers that use the senses. It will also teach children how to listen when God speaks.

Thank you to all those who are supporting this powerful ministry - I could not do this without you. I would love to find people who would become monthly sponsors and/or, intercessors - praying for my protection from spiritual attacks, praying for my financial needs and praying for God to work and speak and create through me to touch the lives of those I minister to. Please email me to be on the prayer list at blissfulministries@yahoo.com. If you would like to support this ministry financially (either with a one-time gift or monthly support) please contact me (donations are tax-deductible in the USA). Checks can be made out to FLASH Ministries (the non-profit 501c3 that is sponsoring my ministry). Please include 'Prayer Ministries' on the subject line and send it to Flash Ministries PO Box 495 Ooltewah, TN, 37363 USA. Those in Australia or overseas can email BlissfulMinistries@yahoo.com for bank account details. Thank you for blessing this ministry and helping to change the culture of prayer. Blessings, Nicki Carleton I believe! Blissful Ministries

Prayer Rooms Update If you are in the location of a prayer room and would like to help or participate in an upcoming conference or mission please contact me. JUNE: Southbend, Indiana and Atlanta GC. JULY: Southbend, Indiana. Future Missions possibly to Nunavut Arctic Circle to build a Prayer Room and India to do prayer ministry. (These are still in the dreaming stages and still need funding.)