Peggy Welch

Greetings from Bloomington, Indiana. I am Peggy Welch and I have the humbling privilege of serving as the 2017 ICOM Prayer Chair. Thank you for joining the ICOM blog to stay connected and prepared for our time in Peoria.

When I meet someone new, I ask lots of questions, so I thought I would answer some questions I would ask if I was just meeting me.

Peggy, tell us a few things about yourself.
I am a girl from Mississippi, who met an Indiana boy on a blind date in Washington, DC, and became a Bloomington Hoosier—many years ago. Still married to that boy and with him, we have one beloved son, who has blessed us with a wonderful daughter-in-law and three incredible and delightful grandchildren. I grew up in a Christian home; came to understand the difference between just being saved and Jesus being Lord at the age of 14—and of course, still learning what that means; and my husband and I are active members of Sherwood Oaks Christian Church (SOCC). My professional life has been varied, but in each position I have known that the Lord placed me to work as unto Him and to positively reflect Him to others. If you really want to know more details, you can go to: www.peggywelch.com.

How did you come to be the ICOM Prayer Chair?
Great question, which I can only answer with “it is a God-thing!” I have done various mission trips, but my heart is drawn to Africa. I have traveled to Africa five times, with three of those being medical mission trips to Ghana. My first trip was with FAME, and the last two have been with Global Health Outreach (GHO). Each time we connected and worked with Enoch Nyador and his team at Ghana Christian Mission. As you may know, Enoch is the 2017 ICOM President. Over the years, Enoch and I have come to know and trust each other. In August 2016, after returning from Ghana and having lunch with Enoch and friends in Bloomington, Enoch surprised me with an invitation to serve as his prayer chair for the 2017 ICOM. To be completely transparent, I knew nothing about ICOM, even though many members of my church have attended the conferences. I told Enoch I would need to learn about ICOM and ask the Lord what He wanted me to do. After prayer and consideration, I accepted the invitation, and the leadership of ICOM has kindly embraced me and is educating me.

What have you been doing to prepare for the 2017 ICOM?
I love praying the Word, so I purposed that I would pray a section of Scripture each Sunday for Enoch and Dave Empson, the ICOM Executive Director, and email it to them. On Sunday, January 1, 2017, I started this weekly missive by praying all of Colossians for them, and each subsequent Sunday, they have received a prayer of Scripture that I have been led to pray or they have requested.
Dave Empson did a virtual introduction of me and several past prayer chairs. I am still in the process of “interviewing” them about what they did and how they did it. Their passion and insights are continuing to inspire me, and ideas are coming!
I have requested that a small group of friends be committed to praying for me, specifically, as I lead intercession for ICOM.

What are you praying for currently?
To have the Lord’s eyes, ears, and heart for what and how He wants these next nine months to be used in intercession and preparation.
For many prayer partners who will join me in regular prayer for ICOM. There will be frequent messages of prayer requests via this blog, emails, and possibly other social media. And as expected those messages will become more frequent as we get closer to November 16th.
For a core of prayer warriors…men and women who are committed to praying with fervency for ICOM 2017. It was suggested by a past prayer chair that I have at least 40 prayer warriors.
That the Lord raise up someone in the Peoria area who will help me with the ICOM Prayer Room….someone with Holy Spirit-directed creativity.
Direction to understand enough to know what questions to ask and what to pray for!!

What are you currently envisioning?
I would like to share the weekly Sunday prayer for Enoch and Dave with anyone who wishes to receive it.
I plan on leading a prayer preparation 40 days leading up to the conference. Unless the Lord directs another way, I will use Mark Batterson’s Draw the Circle as our guide.
If you are familiar with spiritual retreats like Walk to Emmaus and the Great Banquet, you know that each retreat is covered by continuous prayer from the beginning to the end of the weekend. I would like to have brothers and sisters across the globe commit to a designated 30-minute period on a structured prayer calendar to cover the 2017 ICOM event, beginning to end, with continuous prayer.
In the prayer room, I would like to have a big world map with a small bowl of olive oil close by that a pray-er can dip a finger into and specifically anoint and pray for a country and/or missionary. At the end of the conference I would like to see a drippy map covered in dots of oil –a visual representation of all the prayers that were lifted up to our Heavenly Father!

Please let me hear from you with your suggestions, ideas, concerns, and/or if you wish to join us as a prayer partner or warrior. I want to hear from you!! My email is: peggy@peggywelch.com.

In closing, I want to share a suggested link to a wonderful presentation on prayer. I had the great privilege to attend the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. The keynote speaker was US Senate Chaplain Barry Black. Wow! His talk was about having your voice heard in heaven. I think you will enjoy it. Be sure to have pen and paper on hand because Chaplain Black references numerous Bible verses you will want to read for yourself.

Oh, Eternal Godhead, I look forward to joining with You and many sisters and brothers from around Your world as we pray for ICOM 2017 and all the details and challenges that go along with such an event. May we be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in our prayer lives, being alert, intent, watching, and waiting, as we pray with thanksgiving. And I pray this in the Name of the One Who is both alert and intentional regarding us. Amen (Colossians 4:2 and Psalms 5:2, Amplified)

Grace and Peace, Peggy