Welcome to the Victory Blog

This is about the amazing power and glory of God. About two and a half years ago, when I was waiting at the altar for people to come to be prayed for, I noticed that there was a family coming towards me. Both parents came with their two little boys. One, who was being carried by the father, had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and the doctors said would not be able to walk. I was astounded to see their faith, believing their son will be able to walk. So I prayed with them, envisioning how Jesus healed a paralyzed man and all who came to Him.

After a while, I forgot who they were and did not even remember their names. Then, a year ago last December, they came to me one Sunday while I was working at Electrocity and told me that they had been searching for me. Excitedly, the father showed me a video of his son in his phone, and I saw the little boy walking. It blessed my heart that day, for I had a military son in Iraq at that time whose life I am so concerned about. Then I lost track of this family again. While visiting my eldest son in Tampa for Christmas, I told him the awesome power of God and how He knows our needs and that He healed this little boy at Victory World Church.

Then, last summer, my military son was redeployed, and once again, I was concerned. During this time, my eldest son and his family were in town from Tampa visiting with us. We invited them to our church, and after the service, although we were in a hurry to go for lunch, this same family stopped me, showing me the little boy. For the first time, I saw him walking….straight to my son who just came from Tampa! It was as if the Lord was telling me, He wants my son to see with his own eyes how powerful He is! And once again, He comforted me about my concerns for my other son in the battlefield.

I wondered about the chances of meeting this family again, not even remembering their names, yet they were there to remind me time and again that our Lord is there for me too. Such is the power of God in prayers, and I am so grateful for our church to give me the privilege of being in the altar ministry. ~ Marilou A.

Dear Church Family:

I wanted to share my story of healing and answered prayer with other women who desire to become pregnant.

My husband Ardell and I have been members of Victory for over 10 years and shortly after our 5th wedding anniversary – over 6 years ago now – weprayed to the Lord to bless us with a child of our own together. Over the years, we remained faithful, serving in various ministries within the church, encouraging and praying for others, watching others go through courtship, marriage and birthing their own children, and still, although receiving blessings in other areas, we had no children of our own yet. We sought medical attention from doctors who labeled our condition as “unexplained infertility” because they could find nothing physically wrong with either of us that would prevent us from conceiving.

Then one day during a service, as Pastor Colleen prayed for healing for the congregation, she specifically mentioned healing for closed wombs and those women who desired to become pregnant. My husband and I opened our hearts to that prayer for ourselves and others and held on to the promise that we were both whole and perfect and would soon bring a child into this world. Later the same day, as we were preparing to head out to our cars, Pastor Colleen stopped us at the door and spoke a word over us to say that our prayer would be answered “soon.” Of course, this reinforced our faith and we continued to look forward to God’s blessing of a child of our own together. Knowing how much of a virtue patience is and also that God works in His own time frame not ours, our faith was still challenged when nearly two years passed and we were still awaiting his promised blessing.

Well, today I just wanted to testify and say that His timing is perfect and His word never fails; we are expecting our first child this coming April 24, 2010. This blessing from God did not require any man-made intervention, only prayer, faith, love and patience. I hope that others can be encouraged by our testimony to stand on God’s Word and on his promises. Our timing is not the same as the Lord’s, and no matter how long it may seem to take, always remember: He will never fail to deliver, and when he does, it is always right on time!

~ Ayanna W.

If you’re a regular attender at Victory, we’d love to have you share your story about what God is doing/has done in or through your life at VWC. Click here to submit your story.

Last summer, a group of people from Victory dedicated themselves to making a difference in our community through prayer…and it worked – big time! It started near the end of the 2007/2008 school year when Gladys Torres, a VWC staff member (Marketing) whose daughter was finishing her senior year at Meadowcreek High School, began to feel a tremendous burden to pray for that school during our weekly prayer meeting.

Meadowcreek had come to have a very negative reputation, with many people referring to it as “Ghettocreek.” In recent years, the school had experienced an unusually high decline in overall support, tremendous pregnancy rates, high numbers of violent acts, gang and drug activity and an overwhelming number of suicides. Large numbers of families began to move out of the district in order to avoid having their children in the school.

At the same time, however, Meadowcreek had come to play an integral role in our (Victory’s) basketball program for kids, serving as our “homecourt” – a real blessing! Additionally, we have been blessed with the support of the school staff.

Coming on the heels of R.E.A.L., a series in which Pastor Dennis challenged us to be Real, Engaged, Authentic and Living, it became obvious that God was moving us to reach out and do some serious work in the spiritual realm on behalf of the students and staff of Meadowcreek.

With this burden pressing heavily on her heart, Gladys went to Amanda Dance, another VWC staff member (Children’s Ministry) and prayer warrior. Together, they launched two teams of dedicated intercessors that would pray around the school every week throughout the summer. Beginning on June 10th, they prayed for at least an hour every Tuesday and Thursday evening, walking the grounds and, eventually, with the blessing of the school administration, throughout the common areas inside the school itself.

Among many other things, they prayed:

• Against the “Ghettocreek” stereotype and all that it encompassed.
• That the students would come out of the school with more vision and purpose.
• That God would send godly teachers who would speak life into the student’s lives.
• To break the power of addictions, fatherlessness, perversion, witchcraft, rebellion and other such strongholds evident in the school.
• That the students would succeed and not fail.
• That God would bring joy, peace and hope into every teen’s life.

With summer’s end, the teams stopped meeting. BUT THAT’S NOT THE END OF THE STORY!

On June 7th, almost exactly one year after the launch of the summer of intercession for the school, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published this article, entitled “Meadowcreek High Revamps Reputation.” The article speaks of a turnaround for the school, with higher test scores, a graduating class with high levels of college scholarships including multiple full-rides and increased pride in the level of cultural diversity represented in the student body.

Truly, this is a direct answer to the prayers that were prayed. And, it is a challenge to all of us to make a difference in our world through the power of concerted prayer. We look forward with great anticipation to many more such reports!