Sally Burke 0:00
So we saw students coming to know Jesus, teachers coming to know Jesus, parents coming to know Jesus. I babysat two young boys, and their mom was a teacher on campus. And I said, Well, I help in the Good News Club®​. They’ll have to go. She was great. And so then she comes to pick them up, and she goes, Well, what happened? I go, well, they received Jesus Christ. You know, they were like, seven years old. She goes, Well, what does that mean, and how can I do that?

Jeff Nichols 0:33
Welcome to Fellowship One:Seven, a podcast from Child Evangelism Fellowship® for the Christian community. On this podcast, we dive into the world of child evangelism and discipleship through interviews and discussions with ministry leaders and thinkers. In this episode, we have the privilege of sitting down with Sally Burke, the president of Moms in Prayer International. Together, we’ll share about the incredible joy the Lord has brought through our partnership and the way he continues to use prayer to transform hearts, families and communities around the world. You won’t want to miss this encouraging conversation. Hey, Sally, it’s great to have you here with us today on Fellowship One:Seven. Thank you so much for joining us.

Sally Burke 1:14
I am so excited to be with you. We love you guys here at Moms in Prayer. We thank the Lord for you.

Jeff Nichols 1:21
Well, I’m so glad we’re a ministry partner. When we think about what Moms in Prayer is doing and what Child Evangelism Fellowship is trying to do, we are so closely tied together in heart and mind and spirit that it’s just a big no brainer, as you can say, if we can say that yes, to be to be partnered in ministry like this. I love what y’all do. I love the emphasis, emphasis that you have. But I want to dive in to kind of where this all started back with Miss Fern Nichols back there. I don’t know if she’s a long lost relative of mine or what, but back when Miss Fern Nichols initially started this ministry, I love her story about just asking one mom to start to pray with her, having no idea that it was going to be an international ministry, just God moved in her heart to ask one mom to pray with her for her kids that she just sent off to the school. Tell us a little bit about that story.

Sally Burke 2:16
Yes, yes. Her two oldest were entering middle school, and she felt just this burden to be praying for them and the temptations they would face. And just as you said, she asked one other mom that one other mom said yes, and that was just the beginning of what God had planned. And now today, even though we meet locally, like she lives here in Poway, California. We’re in every state, 50 states in the United States, over 150 countries around the world. We continue to grow. We continue to pray for the children in schools. And our mission is to impact children in schools for Christ by gathering women together to pray. Our vision is that every single school in the world would be covered in prayer. We care about every child that’s on those school campuses.

Jeff Nichols 3:09
That is amazing. Again, our motto is every child, every nation, every day, that we want to be evangelizing boys (and girls) with of Gospel, discipling them in his word, and getting those boys and girls established in Christian in churches for Christian living, prayer is such an important part of that we can’t do it without it. Will say to us sometime, or ask me sometimes, like, why isn’t CEF® more well known and and why don’t more people know about the tremendous ministry of 88 years now for 200 countries around the world? My number one answer, I’m serious about this. Sally, my number one answer is we, this ministry has built, been built upon camel kneed blue haired ladies who have been lifting the ministry to God in prayer.

Sally Burke 3:54
I love it.

Jeff Nichols 3:56
It’s been built upon that ministry and our founder, Mr. Overholtzer, who just had a strong emphasis on that. We actually have a culture point. We have six culture points. And one of those culture points says, want to read it to you the importance of prayer as our foundation. It says it is not the work we do, the meetings we hold or the decisions we make that bring the greatest advances in the work. It is the time spent before the throne of God in prayer in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, power laborers and resources into the ministry. And I’ve been in ministry almost 40 years now. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been a part of a ministry that values prayer as much as CEF does, and to partner with Moms in Prayer in this way is just a match made in heaven. Literally.

Sally Burke 4:44
That is so neat. The first time that we ever really and we did partner was when my kids were in elementary school, and so we began to pray first for our children. We saw God answer those prayers, and we’re at an assembly, and I remember. Remember that our kids were getting all the awards, and we could hear God say, What about all the other children? What about them? And so we began to pray for them by name. We pray, you know, may they hear the words of truth, the Gospel of salvation, believe and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. We take their names and put it in there. A librarian comes up to me at this elementary school and goes, we’re thinking about doing a Good News Club on this campus. I’m like, that’s the answer to prayer. That’s it. And monthly, over 100 kids would come and hear the Gospel, and so many of them got saved. I was helping them. Today, they’re teachers, they’re preachers, they’re mighty men and women of God. So I got to see us in action. We would pray for the kids. We would pray for the club, and some of us, like me, would volunteer. We just witnessed God touch their hearts and souls. So you guys are answers to our prayer, and I hope we’re an answer to your prayer, because we’re praying for you and the children. But then it began to be more and more people, as I began to share, they started praying, why can’t we have a Good News Club on our school campus? So they began to pray and ask the Lord. So it just began, gosh, that was probably 30 years ago when we began to pray those things. So it’s been fantastic.

Jeff Nichols 6:20
And I love that, because we have no idea what the Lord is going to do, do we? He just calls us to be obedient, and in our obedience, we’re opening up the door for God to work, having no idea what the conclusion of it is going to be, the difference it’s going to make in those kids lives, what their futures are going to hold. We’re just saying right now today, this is what God wants, and he wants us to be covering these schools in prayer, and I’m so thankful for that. You know, I’m curious about your own journey to this, Sally. You grew up in Florida. Why are you leading a worldwide prayer network instead of working on the space shuttle, which I know you grew up, that’s what you wanted to do when you grew up, right? So what caused you to swerve in this direction.

Sally Burke 7:02
Yeah, it’s so funny, because you’re right. I worked on the space shuttle. My husband and I did, and he came home one day and he says, I’ve been listening to the radio. I heard the Gospel, you know, and I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I’m like, Whoa. What has happened to my brilliant engineering husband. We’re both fellow engineers on the shuttle, and so his life was transformed. He buys me a Bible, points me to the book of John. I read that Jesus is God, and I bow the knee. And then somebody invites me, Hey, do you want to hear about praying for children in schools? And that was over 35 years ago, and I’m like, Yes, never prayed out loud, never anything. But God really used Moms in Prayer to teach me who God is, by name, by attribute, by character, to pray His Word over the children and to watch the salvations that I’ve been able to see on my kids’ campuses and now around the world.

Jeff Nichols 8:00
It’s amazing. Only God, right? Only God.

Sally Burke 8:03
Yes, yes.

Jeff Nichols 8:04
You couldn’t have written that story if you wanted to. Could you?

Sally Burke 8:07
No, no, no.

Jeff Nichols 8:09
So when you started praying like that, how? What were those? What were those answers to prayer that you immediately, that you started seeing that fed that appetite, that fed that hunger. Because many people, you know, honestly, many Christians pray and they’re just saying words, and they’re not seeing that effect on their life and the difference in the lives of the people around them in a significant way. So they just kind of get lukewarm in their prayers. What was it about the Moms in Prayer approach to this that sparks something inside of you?

Sally Burke 8:39
And this really was a gift from Fern. We prayed. So you walk into that Moms in Prayer hour. It’s only one hour, and we praise God according to his name, attribute, character, silent confession, time of Thanksgiving. I call that a Holy Spirit party, because we see answers to prayer, from kids learning to tie their shoes, to coming to know Jesus, to finding best friends in Jesus, then we pray God’s word like one of the scriptures. You know, may they love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength and love others as they love themselves. Well, that’s God’s will. So as we pray forth God’s Word, we witness him answer those prayers, and it was like the children receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior, or just praying that they would not be unequally yoked, that they would find best friends in Jesus Christ, that they would know the height, the depth, the width, the length of love of Christ. So we take God’s Word, we pray it over them, I think too. We also pray for the teachers. And this is another fun good news story. So you would have good news on the campus, and the kids would go back in their classrooms, and they’d be singing Good News songs. They’d be practicing their memory verses. And the teachers are hearing this, well, we’re praying that the teacher’s eyes will be open. They’ll turn from darkness to light from the power of satan to the power of God so they could be forgiven of their sins, a place among those who are sanctified by faith. We saw 15 out of those 22, original teachers come to know Jesus. Wow. They started a Teachers in Prayer on that campus. They would send their kids to Good News Clubs. They would even, in fact, tell me, I have a troubled kid. He needs to go to new you know, Good News Club, and we would watch God just really answer His will. You know? How do you know he’s going to answer your prayer? For you pray according to His will. What’s his will? The mighty Word of God. It never comes back going. It always fulfills His purpose. So we saw students coming to know Jesus, teachers coming to know Jesus, parents coming to know Jesus. I babysat two young boys, and their mom was a teacher on campus. And I said, Well, I help in the Good News Club. They’ll have to go. She goes, “Great.” And so then she comes to pick them up, and she goes, Well, what happened? I go, well, they received Jesus Christ. You know, they were like, seven years old. She was, well, what does that mean? And how can I do that?

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Sally Burke 11:25
And so it was the bus driver started a Bible study at the bus depot. Revival and spiritual awakening is continuing. We’re watching 10s of 1000s of students coming to know Jesus. The harvest is plentiful, right? But the workers are few. We are seeing a revival, and we know it’s because of praying for each student by name.

Jeff Nichols 11:51
That’s right. And I can’t help but think all of those students that have been reached for the Gospel over the years through those Good News Clubs have grown up into middle school, into high school their college age, yes, and the revivals that we’re seeing on college campuses today, the way that God is moving in this generation, I think it has a root back there in those prayers that were prayed for those children back there at some time.

Sally Burke 12:15
I agree with you. There is one young lady, she was in third grade. We had prayed for her, and she went to Good News Club. She received Jesus. And I would see her in middle school. I go, how’s it going? She goes, it’s hard. I go, how’s it going. And I it’s hard. And then in college, she decided she’s gonna become a teacher. She teaches at a Christian school, impacting all those students for Christ. But it’s because of what she found out when she received Jesus at the Good News Club, and then we just get to pray for her in a journey going forward. So it’s been a great joy to work alongside of you.

Jeff Nichols 12:50
Are so many needs in the world today. We live in a crazy, chaotic time, recently, very crazy time, but CEF has tried to stay laser focused on our mission, Moms in Prayer, I see staying laser focused and not doing 1000 things. A mile wide and an inch deep, like, Why the focus on schools specifically? I mean, I think you’ve been talking about it, but just articulate a little bit more, why the focus on schools with everything that you can be praying for right now in the world?

Sally Burke 13:25
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they’re in desperate need of our prayers, and we’re seeing the fruit of it, or we’re seeing as we pray for each child by name, God wishes none should perish. All should come to repentance. And as we pray, God moves through our prayers. He’s answering those students then impact fellow students. They impact their their their homes, they impact their communities. And I agree with you. We have been praying for 40 years now, and we are seeing the fruits of those prayers. 10 years ago, when I stepped in this role, I said, I told them, I go, we will see one of the grace revivals. I just felt that within my heart and and God is is showing that, yes, this is occurring. But you’re right. They have to hear the Gospel. They have to hear the Gospel. Our part is that their hearts are ready. Their hearts are prepared. So as you share the Gospel, we’re praying that their hearts are ready. That’s good soil. And then as they have memorized the word, that was one of my favorite parts with the good news was they were memorizing the word I always had my children, you know, memorize the word that’s just vital, that’s going to be a shield that’s going to keep you strong, that’s going to keep your mind from, you know, moving away from the Lord. And that’s good news, does that too. So we pray for them that they will be rooted and grounded and established in God’s word, and so I just think you’re right. We stick to the children’s schools. It can be a homeschool mom because she does the Good News Club in her neighborhood. It can be a private school, a charter school. It doesn’t matter. Our heart is for every child, just like your heart’s for every child.

Jeff Nichols 14:56
Yeah, it’s a world, CEF, is a worldwide ministry. Moms in Prayer now is a worldwide ministry. I love the what Miss Fern said, the hearts of moms beat the same all over the world. I love that quote, because they do, right? They do. Kids are the same all over the world, and mom hearts and moms all over the world are the same. How are you seeing prayer work throughout the world as it’s extended to these other countries? What is that looking like for Moms in Prayer?

Sally Burke 15:22
Now, it’s unbelievable. So like I get testimonies, I read reports from 150 countries every other month, and one of my favorite is the students in Oxford stayed up all night and they prayed. The next day the Gospel was given, and so many students came to know Jesus. They said, “We lost count. It broke our system.” And so wherever there is Moms in Prayer, wherever we’re praying, we’re witnessing revival and spiritual awakening. I love the little town in Chile who this missionary. They’ve been trying and trying to get the word out. And it was a Moms in Prayer group that started, and then the school got on fire, then the town got on fire. She goes, I know, for such a time as this, Moms in Prayer came to our town, here in Chile, and this is what God did. It’s wherever there’s Moms in Prayer, it’s growing. We’re on every continent, and the children are coming to receive Jesus. My first sign of revival happened in Switzerland, where 900 students came to know the Lord at one time. That’s a small country. 900 is huge amount there, but it’s happening all over the world.

Jeff Nichols 16:32
That is amazing. I want to shift gears just a little bit well. I want to get a little bit more personal when we get it more on the on the parent, on the parent level. Parents are out there, and they are frustrated in their prayers because they’re not seeing answers to the prayers from their children and their own children’s lives and their family. How do you entrust your children to the Lord and leave it there? You got to leave it there. No you can’t control, can’t direct. You have to leave there. How do you do that? How do you do that?

Sally Burke 17:02
Yeah, yeah. Well, we understand who God is. He’s the victorious one, He who began the good work, and our children will complete until the day of Christ. You know, we point them to Christ, but it is him who draws man to himself. And so I love our four steps, because as we praise Him. God enters the praises of His people. We are in His presence. We can boldly and confidently enter that throne room of grace to find mercy and help in our time and need we confess when we blow it, we thank him for when we see answers to prayer, and that builds our faith. But we intercede according to His will. I’m not gonna tell God what to do. I’ve had two kids with incredibly hard diseases and to surrender, God, your will be done, not mine is a really hard thing, but he knows better than I do. He has numbered their days. He has ordained their days. But I would say, Pray his word. Don’t pray, just your will. Open up his word. Open up his word and pray. Pray through it. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Go to our website. We have prayer sheets, 100 of them. There’ll be a lot of times when men will go, Sally, can you help us start men’s in prayer? I’m like, No, I got enough women. Tells us of women. But Go, go to our website, download our prayer sheets, and they will so it gives them an attribute, like, God is sovereign. And then it gives them scripture, and then it gives them a scripture to pray for your child, or you can go to our books or whatever, and we have enough resources for a parent to go, Okay, Lord, I want your will, because you know what’s best. And we watch prodigals go through their prodigal season, and then when they come back, they come back on fire, because that mom continues to put their name in Scripture, trusting God, not what she sees with her own eyes, but looking up and being confident in who God is and that He has a purpose for their child.

Jeff Nichols 18:53
Yeah, I think the power of what you’re talking about is the fact that you’re connecting people to the Word of God and to God, not trying to connect them to a special formula that Moms in Prayer has worked out through the years. You’re connecting them to the Lord and to His Word, and that’s where the power of the Gospel is going to come from. I love that. I know there’s a lot of people that are hearing this podcast today that want to get connected and want to learn. They want to find out more, even just how they can pray more sincerely, how they can get connected to Moms in Prayer. How can they do that?

Sally Burke 19:23
Just go to our website, momsinprayer.org, and you will find out everything you need to know. So it will help you go through you can fill out information. Somebody will contact you, help you get started. Or you can just cruise our website and feel free to use our materials. It’s free to pray. That’s our goal, that when two or more women gather together one hour once a week and they pray, that’s that’s our heart’s desire. But if a parent’s out there and you have a prodigal, a strong willed child, we all understand that. Watch what God does in that child’s life. My strong willed child was so strong willed I was on Focus on the Family. They could not believe how strong willed that child was, but she was part of a revival that happened on our Christian campus. 91 kids came to know Jesus. So that strong willed will impact. I had a friend who had a really strong prodigal child, and now he’s a pastor at a at a church. It’s like, just wait, just wait, God’s gonna do something incredible.

Jeff Nichols 20:09
Awesome. I love that. I love that. I love that we get to partner together Sally. I love that CEF and Moms in Prayer are like this together. We’re praying together. We’re praying for you, and thank you for your prayers, for our ministry, those clubs that are meeting in those schools, community centers all over the place. Because God has his eye on all 2 billion children in this world today has his eye on them, not willing that one of these little ones should perish, he put little ones in there for a purpose, not willing that any of these little ones should perish, that all should come to repentance. So thank you for what you’re doing, for the kingdom, for the Lord and for the children.

Sally Burke 20:59
And thank you. I love how you teach the Gospel. I love it. The kids can so understand it and comprehend it. It’s a joy to be in the room. I sat with these children and watched them receive Jesus. What you do is amazing, incredible. It’s, it’s our joy. It’s our honor to be praying for you, to be, be your Air Force, where we get to pray for you.

Jeff Nichols 21:24
Thank you for being with us today on Fellowship One:Seven, thank you. God bless you.

Sally Burke 21:27
Thank you. God bless you.

Jeff Nichols 21:29
Bye, bye,

Sally Burke 21:30
Bye.