The Marcum Family/Ministry News

January 2015
Dear Friends & Family,
We pray you all had a blessed holiday season, and we are excited about the Lords plans for the New
Year! We know that He is faithful to direct you into His will for all that is ahead in the coming year.
Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the
fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Cor. 2:14)

OneThing 2014 Conference

Jessianna singing on Main Stage with Jonas Parks team

It was so great to be able to host many thousands from the Body of

Christ who gathered this year at OneThing 2014 to exalt Jesus. There
was a serious tone to the messages this year, as we believe this is a
critical hour for America. Especially the messages by Corey Russell,
Allen Hood, and Mike Bickle were very pointed, revealing the true
condition that we are in, and calling for repentance. The message by
Reinhard Bonnke was so stirring as he called for America to be saved.
You can watch sessions at www.ihopkc.org/resources/events/onething.
Both the teachings and the worship times can be viewed.

This was our third OneThing conference to serve at since moving here to be a part of the ministry of IHOPKC. It was really
exciting to see Jessianna get the privilege to sing on the main stage with Jonas Parks team. You can watch it at the link
above go to the section special songs and look for the Session 4 Special Song, by Jonas Park. For the four days of the
conference we actually move the main prayer room of IHOPKC downtown to the convention center at Bartle Hall. Joy sang
several times with Clay Edwards team in the prayer room during the convention.
Every year we are amazed at the colossal amount of work the community here does to prepare and host this event. This year
Jim & Melissa were extra, extra busy as both of us worked many hours in the bookstore at the conference, as well as helping
to man the booths of Life Initiatives and Orphan Justice Center. We also worked the two days prior to the convention
doing set up, and one day after doing tear down. It ended up being 7 days straight, 14 hours a day whew! I (Jim) got to
drive one of the Penkse trucks that carried pallets of materials to the event (can you imagine how much material we haul!).
We also opened our home to host people who needed a place to lodge for the conference. We were planning to have a few
more, but ended up only hosting 3. This is something we really enjoy doing!
Here is a picture of the new T-shirt that we
rolled out this year at OneThing 2014. It has on
the front the words Remember the Unborn.
The director of Life Initiatives and the ministry
team decided to use this as a byline for our
ministry, as these were the words Jim spoke to
President Obama in 2011, after having a dream
that included meeting the President and speaking
to him about ending abortion in America.

Life Initiatives booth at OneThing

Gods Amazing Provision!

Thanksgiving 2014 was very special for us this year! The Lord provided the gift of a
car through our wonderful long-time friend, Peggy Luther. It is a 2007 Toyota
Corolla in excellent condition with only 85,000 miles, and gets great gas mileage.
We received the car on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Peggy actually had to
drive it here from San Diego! She moved there a few months ago to take care of a
sick loved one, but planned on flying to Joplin for Thanksgiving. Instead she drove
the car all the way, visited family in Joplin for the holiday, then drove to KC where
we took her to the airport. Wow! (Go to next page for rest of this amazing story!)

We just have to tell you the rest of the story about receiving this car. Many of you know that shortly after moving to KC, Jims car
(a 2001 Taurus) overheated and the engine was ruined. We did fine for awhile sharing the van, because both of us (Jim &
Melissa) were in ministry internship together and had the same schedule. But after our internship, things became quite
challenging! Melissa took on a leadership role with Orphan Justice Center & Safe Families, and much of her responsibilities as
Intake Specialist require her to be out in the field, in the KC metro area, meeting with families. Jims ministry with Life Initiatives
takes him to sites where the team does Life Stand prayer vigils and other outreaches. One car was not working anymore! I (Jim)
put a short message on Facebook early last year asking for prayers and for any leads anyone would have to an inexpensive car we
could use as a ministry car.
Time went by, and one day I saw a young man from Ukraine who was in our internship driving in the parking lot of the GPR, and
he was driving a very nice Honda car. Melissa and I (and others) used to give him rides because he had no car. I hailed him
down, and said, Wow, did you get a car? He said, Yes, brother, the Lord is so good! Then he told me that for many months
he prayed for the Lord to provide a car, then one day the Lord impressed on him, What car would you like? He had never
thought to ask for a specific car, but there was a certain Honda car he really desired. So he asked the Lord for that car. In the
meantime he had acquired an old junker car that he could barely keep running. A friend called him one day about a car for sale.
When he asked what kind of car, it was the exact Honda hed been praying for. He went to sell his old junker and found out for
some reason the engine was rare and the car was worth quite a bit of money! He sold it for the exact amount to buy the Honda.
Well, a few weeks went by and one day I was praying on my back deck and I remembered my friends story. So I felt to get
specific with the Lord about a car, but oddly enough I just couldnt think of any particular car that I wanted. Suddenly, I
remembered that in 2011, Melissa and Joy and I had wanted to go to a special conference in Fredericksburg, Virginia but did not
have the means to buy plane tickets or to rent a vehicle that could make the drive. One day, Peggy Luther came up and said t he
Lord had impressed upon her to drive us to Virginia for the conference. We took turns driving her car there and back, and I was
impressed with Peggys little car! So since I remembered Peggys car, I just asked the Lord, Lord, I would like to have a car like
Peggys. You already know the end of this story! A short time later, Peggy was at IHOPKC for a visit and took me aside. She
said, Jim, the Lord has provided for me to get a new car, and I know youre needing a car. Im praying about giving you my little
Toyota for a ministry car. Wow! I told her the story of how God had led me to pray for a specific car, and I had prayed for a car
like Peggys. May this story of Gods provision encourage YOU to be specific with your requests to God, and know that He
hears and will answer! Thank you so much, Peggy, for this wonderful gift. And thank the Lord for His amazing answer to prayer!

Helping Kids During the Holidays

Melissa & the OJC team wrapping presents

December and the Christmas season were quite an eventful time for Orphan Justice
Center and Safe Families for Children! We started the month with our annual
fundraiser and had a delightful time serving together as a team to share the mission
with local business owners and others from the KC area. Soon after, we were
excited to partner with a local YMCA to provide gifts for about 25 of the children we
are hosting or have recently helped through SFFC. The Y set up an Angel Tree for
the members to choose names and gift ideas, then we had fun wrapping all the
presents when they were returned on the 22nd. I was so blessed as I helped deliver
the gifts to the waiting children; another way to share the love of Jesus to the
orphaned and the oppressed.

In the midst of preparing for the holidays, I received 3 new calls during the week before Christmas from families in crisis. This
represented a total of 12 children! One of the mothers called from the hospital, having just given birth to a baby girl, her third
child. Being currently homeless, she was considering adoption, but the social worker told her about our ministry and she was
so excited to have an option with hope for keeping her family together! We were able to help her and one other family, but due
to a staff shortage, we were unable to help the 3rd call, a mom with five children. I have just recently been in contact with this
mom and offered help through a donation given for her, but we are still unable to offer long-term help. Please, pray with us for
more people to volunteer their hearts and time so that we can continue to facilitate a way for the church to be the hands and
feet of Jesus. Also, join me and the OJC team in prayer that this would be the year for us to break ground and begin building
the actual Orphan Justice Center and Training Facility. There is such a need and so much work to be done!
Must go now, thanks again for reading! Please keep in touch, were praying for you!

Because He is worthy of it all,

Jim & Melissa Marcum & family

Jim & Melissa Marcum

P.O. Box 1099, Grandview, MO 64030
Phone/text: 816-287-3525 / 816-287-2228
Email/PayPal: intercessorymissions@gmail.com
International House of Prayer Kansas City, MO