10 years after starting ministry: an Update from Nate

Hello everyone!

If you are reading this, I'm assuming that you have supported me in some way over the years and care about investing in my life! Why else would you be reading this blog?!? lol... I am incredibly thankful for your support in my life and ministry over the years as I’ve tried to follow God’s call on my life. Thank you! In addition to thanking you, I want you to be encouraged by the impact of your support. God used each and every one of you to help me follow The Lord into vocational ministry and I am truly grateful!

I began my journey into full-time vocational ministry back in 2010 right after graduating high school (a trimester early!). On April 10th I joined the missions organization Youth With a Mission (YWAM.org) by becoming a student in their 6 month Discipleship Training School (DTS). DTS is their foundational training school for a life of missions and requirement to become a full-time long term staff member with YWAM. As a young 18 year old I was as passionate as ever to know God and make God known (the mission statement of YWAM).

Many of you supported me to do my DTS (which included a 3 month outreach to Thailand and Cambodia). Right after DTS I joined YWAM staff. As a new staff member I spent 4 solid months raising support full time. God provided me (through many you!) with an average of $1,500/month for my first 2 years on staff. During my first stretch on staff with YWAM, I worked with them from April 2010 until December 2013. After my DTS and outreach to Thailand and Cambodia, I went to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, the Philippines and ended up in Washington, D.C. Wow! This is me leading worship in Haiti, right outside the Presidential Palace in their Capital (they were so hungry to experience the love of God!):

Because of your support, I was able to preach The Gospel, pray for the sick, teach The Bible and teach others to teach it, lead worship and prayer in churches and on the streets, and love those that needed love. Because of your support I was able to know God and make God known through my ministry with YWAM. Over the years I’ve seen a multitude of people come to know Jesus for the first time, get healed emotionally and physically and see their lives totally transformed. Thank you again for your support!

Towards the end of my first stretch with YWAM, I was in Washington DC from June - December 2013. At that time the YWAM base was running a little prayer room in a church where we prayed (mostly for America) 24/7. We would each take turns to pray for 2 hours. Then, in the fall of that year we hosted an event called David’s Tent DC (more on David’s Tent below; also check out davidstentdc.org). At that point it was still an annual event (as it had been 2012-2014). I also went back on staff with YWAM DC and David’s Tent in the summer of 2016 and summer of 2017 after it had become a year-long event.

I’ve also been connected with the International House of Prayer of Kansas City (IHOPKC.org) in these last few years. IHOPKC primarily hosts a prayer room with live praise and worship 24/7 and trains others to lead sustainable prayer and worship. I spent two years at their worship school and regularly led corporate prayer for David’s Tent DC. While I was in their music and worship school, I gained a solid grasp of music theory, how to sing, lead worship and how to lead prayer meetings that are sustainable 24/7/365. This season of training has prepared me to move into this next season of leading worship and raising up other worship leaders to do the same.

Another significant thing that happened was that I helped organize an event on Appalachian State University in North Carolina called The Tent (I like to keep names simple!). We had 5 days of public praise and worship in a tent right in the middle of that campus. We had a few hundred students (and others) stop into the tent to worship and pray. Many unbelievers came just to watch. It was an amazing experience as we shared Jesus with a secular state university. It helped give me a vision for what God wants to do at college campuses all across America and The Earth and how God wants me to be a part of it. This is me leading worship at The Tent.

For the next chapter in my life...

I have decided to go back on staff with YWAM DC and David’s Tent again! My parents (and everyone else in my life) are fully supportive, and I am elated! Ever since I stepped down from staff in the summer of 2017 I’ve wanted to go back and now is the time! I’m currently living in Kansas City, Missouri and will leave here on Sunday May 31st and drive to get to DC June 1st (technically I’ll live right outside DC in Fort Washington, Maryland).

The reason I stepped down from staffing YWAM and David’s Tent in August 2017 was that I had some serious health issues. It has been an incredibly difficult chapter of my life. I have struggled with numerous negative emotions and difficult circumstances. I started seeing a counselor in August 2018. However, through all of the pain and sorrow, God never gave up on me! My amazing parents (David and Cindy Uttley) never gave up on me! The call of God never let me go! Even though I have spent the last few years trying to pursue a different education and vocation, ever since August 2017 I have felt God gently and persistently calling me back to YWAM DC and their ministry of David’s Tent. And now it’s happening!

During my time with YWAM and IHOPKC, I was empowered to grow my roots deep in my relationship with God. Because of these years of training, and the grace of God, I have had the perspective and strength to cling to Him and not give up in the midst of great difficulty. I am so thankful for the foundation laid during my time with YWAM and IHOPKC.

What is David’s Tent? I’m so glad you asked! In a sentence, David’s Tent DC hosts a public musical praise and worship service in a tent on The National Mall in Washington, D.C. and is 24/7/365. It was an annual event in the fall from 2012-14. Then on September 11th, 2015 it started and hasn’t stopped until April 1st due to Covid-19. That’s 1,664 days where Jesus has been praised every tick of the clock in our Capitol! Though there is currently a brief pause during the lockdown, I believe that the song will resume shortly and Jesus will continue to be exalted through singing in our National Capitol!

The tent is currently about 7 blocks west of the Supreme Court and Capitol Building and 9 blocks east of the White House. It’s right in the middle of the 3 branches of our federal government! As tourists and residents of the DC area walk amidst all of the museums, monuments and memorials, they will see the white tent and be invited to join in the song of praise! One of the previous locations was actually right in front of the Washington Monument, as you can see below.

Another key aspect of David’s Tent is that it is a “congress of worship.” They have made a schedule assigning each state to one week out of the year to send a delegation from their state. Since there are 52 weeks in a year and 50 states it really works out. This is part of what David’s Tent so unique. As state after state comes to DC, it’s a year-round love offering to God!

This ministry of praise and worship is very important to the Lord and for our nation. God inhabits the praises of His people and His power is released on Earth when we join in the unending worship of Heaven. Now more than ever we need that in our Capitol. God has great plans for America and as we enthrone Him on our praises in our Capitol we will be strengthened to be a tremendous blessing to all the nations of The Earth.

One of my favorite things about a praise and worship service moving from inside of a church to onto the street is that through music, they are sharing The Gospel! They are musical missionaries (aka musicianaries). Every biblically inspired worship song is drenched in the truth of The Bible, the character and nature of God and the love of Jesus. So, through music, Washington DC has been hearing the truth of The Bible every tick of the clock! What’s amazing to see is people’s response when they visit the tent and hear love songs to Jesus.

When some people think of “street preaching” they may have a negative image in their mind. But, when The Church shares The Gospel through music, people are way more receptive to hearing it. Even the hardest of hearts are drawn to the warmth of love being shared through song. In addition to hosting a 24/7 vertical “upreach” to God through praise, David’s Tent is simultaneously sharing a horizontal “outreach” to everyone that comes by.

While I was there, my role has always been to administrate the tent, run sound, share The Gospel, pray and intercede, and of course lead worship (as you can see below, sorry it was taken at night). Since the tent operates 24/7, there is always something to be done, whether that be to restock the staff food supply, answer questions about Jesus, pray with people, run sound, lead worship and more!! I also have the skills and experience to teach others music theory, piano, guitar, drums and singing. Most of the time when I was there my schedule was to spend 6 hours at the tent, 6 days a week. That includes leading worship personally for 2 hours most days. This will change slightly because of Covid-19, but I’m confident they will resume the song soon.

Looking back on the last 10 years, I can very clearly see the Hand of God at work. I’ve been moved to tears many times in the past few weeks as I’ve processed my life with Jesus. God is just so good! I’m so thankful to see that the seeds sown in my first years with YWAM are bearing fruit. I’m so thankful that God has never given up on me. I’m so thankful for each and every one of you and all of your support in my life. I’m looking forward to all that God has and being able to take this journey together in the future!

With much thankfulness,

-Nate “Nater” Uttley

An update from Nate: life since December 2013

To give a short update, I ended my time of staffing with YWAM in Washington, D.C. in December 2013, which is when I moved to Kansas City (KC), MO. I lived there until May 2015. During that time, I went to school at the Forerunner Music Academy, which is the music school of the International House of Prayer. As a student at that school, I did one semester online and 3 semesters on the campus. I was able to take music lessons for multiple instruments and spend many hours on worship teams playing drums, bass, singing and leading worship from the piano. It really helped me grow as a worship leader, which I believe will be a significant part of the rest of my life.

In May 2015, I went to Boone, NC to live with my parents and planned on staying for the summer. However, in April of that year, I started experiencing what I now know are called manic symptoms, which is the “upside” of bipolar disorder (though there is nothing good about it!). The symptoms got so bad I was taken to the ER on the night of Saturday, May 23rd. I stayed there until 1 pm Sunday when I was taken to a Behavioral Health Unit (BHU, which are formerly known as psychiatric wards). I was there until 3 pm Monday, June 1st, for a total of 194 hours. I just celebrated my 2nd anniversary of freedom from the BHU!!! My parents graciously let me stay at their house and provided me with food for the duration of my time in Boone. I ended up living in Boone until the end of January 2017, except for 12 weeks last year when I spent the summer on staff with David’s Tent DC in Washington, D.C. In January of this year, I moved back to KC.

While back in KC, I was getting lots of rest and restoration while spending time in the prayer room there. Then on April 30th, the founder and director of David’s Tent texted me, and ended up saying that they really needed help. Since I’ve been a part of this ministry many times in the past (6 months in 2013, 1 week in 2014 and 12 weeks in 2016), it was very appealing to me to come back. I began to pray about coming back on staff on Wednesday May 3rd, and within a few hours received what I would consider a supernatural confirmation from The Lord. I was so excited! Then, 3 days later, I told my parents and they gave me their full blessing. Without me even asking for it or suggesting it, they told me they wanted to financially support me! I arrived back in DC on May 12th and am so glad I’m here!

Praise Report: David's Tent DC

Last year I decided to leave my position as staff with Youth With A Mission in Washington, D.C. (YWAMDC) and be a student at the International House Of Prayer University in Kansas City (IHOPU). Since then, I felt the Lord telling me He was going to build and strengthen a bridge of relationship between IHOP-KC and YWAM DC. I also was commissioned by the staff of YWAM DC to bring a team of worshipers to David's Tent 2014. (This year it is 50 days of nonstop worship to the Living God on the White House Ellipse. Click on this sentence for a satellite photo with the tent in perfect view)

So I came to IHOPU as a student, and made a commitment to pray for David's Tent on the corporate prayer mic as often as possible (see the 24/7 prayer room webstream if you don't know what I'm talking about). After praying on the corporate prayer mic for a few months, I met another staff member named Stephanie Fountain, who was also interested in taking a team to David's Tent from IHOP-KC. She wanted to lead the team and I helped her. There were also 12 more members of our community for 14 total! The Lord answered my prayers and we had a team!

It was not without difficulty though, as we literally didn't know with what vehicles we were going to drive until the day before we left. Thankfully the Lord provided (of course!), and we set off on our adventure! After taking about 24 hours to drive from KC to DC, we got to DC about 10pm on Saturday October 4^th and went straight to sleep!

The next day we spent as acclimation to the next sleeping schedule, as we were staffing the tent from midnight-6am 5 days in a row. Monday morning, right at midnight we took our first watch at the tent, and were able to lead worship for a majority of the time there. It was such a blessing to be a “wave of refreshment” (as they called us) for the staff who were there at the tent for the whole duration.

In addition to helping fuel the worship during the Nightwatch at the Tent, we also did a few other things. On Monday Stephanie and I went to the Supreme Court and did a life siege. We were reminding God, the government in America, those passing by and ourselves that there are still thousands of abortions performed legally in America every single day.

We also were able to pray for the building in which a world-class Bible museum is being built. The museum is set to be completed in 2017 and will provide a seamless, airtight case for the authenticity of the Bible as a historical accurate document.

What we did on Wednesday was the highlight of the trip for me, as we were able to worship The Lord and intercede in the center of the U.S. Capitol building itself (which is also the center of the whole city of DC). What a delight! My group and I were so excited to be a part of such a historic event in setting in motion things to come through our prayers and worship. Since that night of worship and prayer, I've been gripped several times with a heart for prayer like never before, specifically for God to raise up 24/7 prayer in the U.S. Capitol building. I've literally felt as though I've been in labor (although I'll never TRULY know what labor is like, being a man), giving birth to something powerful through intercession. May God truly raise up day and night prayer and worship in the very center of our Capitol! (click on this sentence for an awesome video snap shot of our prayer meeting! And this one too!)

This is what my heart has been burning for, that from the center of our Nation's Capitol, Jesus would receive the reward of his sufferings and we would place 24/7 prayer at the center of all we do in our nation.

Please join me in praying to that end:

Jesus, you are infinitely worthy of so much more than we could ever give you. We agree with Heaven that 24/7 is not extravagant, it's only our limitation to how much we can worship. May you give us your heart for day and night prayer in DC, and grip a whole nation to labor spiritually and physically to that end. Strengthen the YWAM base in DC as they are spearheading the efforts along with others in that city.

May the Lamb receive the reward of His sufferings in Washington DC!

P.S. I'm still planning on being a student here at IHOPU, but I'm also trying to get as many people from IHOP-KC to support those laboring in DC. I have thought about moving back to DC but feel the Lord wants me to stay here for the foreseeable future.

What did Jesus say about the Old Testament?

What shall we do with the 39 books (Genesis-Malachi) of the Old Testament (OT)? Burn them all as rubbish? Take scissors and cut out the parts we don't like? Decide that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament (NT)? Honor it as the inspired, true, reliable and authoritative word of God? This question has vast implications for the way we live our lives and even where we will spend eternity.¹ Yet to answer such a question we need look no further than the GOD-man Jesus Christ.²

Why Jesus? Because He is God. And what He says is true. The most compelling evidence for the truthfulness of Jesus is that He predicted His own death and resurrection at least six times³, and then just as He foretold He was raised from the dead, to never die again. For evidence of His resurrection, take the evidence of the radical change in the disciples' lives. Because of His resurrection (and the power of the Holy Spirit), His disciples, who previously had their doors locked out of fear (John 20:19) were filled with such zeal and boldness that they publicly preached His resurrection in Jerusalem, the very same city where He was publicly crucified. Many disciples even died because of their continual preaching of the resurrection (Acts 12:1-3, etc.). Because of their bold witness for Jesus they “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Jesus surely is alive, as evidenced by the historically accurate NT accounts, the changed lives of the disciples, etc. Because He predicted his own death and resurrection as it actually happened, surely we can trust everything else He said.

So, how did Jesus treat the OT? According to Matthew 4, after getting baptized by John the Baptist, He goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. While confronting the most wicked being in the universe, He needs to pull out His most powerful weapon. Just as a man would use his most powerful weapon to shoot a charging rhino about to take his life, Jesus pulls out the “big guns”. The OT! What does He quote? Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:13, & 16, words which Moses wrote over 1400 years earlier.⁴ He demonstrates that the Scripture is the most powerful weapon against Satan, that it is trustworthy, true and is spiritually powerful. If Jesus trusted the OT in the face of Satan, we too can trust it when facing adversity.

“But wait!” You might ask. Isn't the OT historically inaccurate, though there may be some positive spiritual truth? Not possible! Jesus doesn't give us the option to think that. He talks about many characters from the OT as though they were completely historical and never once questioned their reality. Jonah and the great fish, Noah, Elijah, Daniel, the places Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. are declared by Jesus to be as real as you and me. He even tells about the very first man and woman to ever exist, named Adam and Eve.⁵ According to Jesus, the OT is also historically accurate as well as spiritually powerful.

Because of these reasons and much more, I agree with Jono Hall, teacher of OT survey at IHOPU: “It is... impossible to believe in Jesus as Son of God and not believe the events of the Old Testament. If we are to believe Jesus’ truthfulness, we must believe his statements about the Old Testament.” Jesus is the Son of God and if He said it, we should believe it. The OT is the inspired, true, reliable and authoritative word of God.

1 While I do affirm that salvation is through faith in Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9, etc.), true biblical faith necessitates that we believe and agree with everything Jesus actually said. If He said the OT was the inspired, true word of God and we don't agree with Him, we've made Him a liar and therefore don't have the biblical faith that leads to salvation. Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26), and our supposed faith in Jesus that includes a rejection of His view of the OT is not true saving faith.

2 The Bible clearly declares that Jesus is God. While there are many more verses, here are the most basic verses often used to support His divinity: Philippians 2:6-11; John 1:1-2, 20:28; Mark 2:5-12.

3 From the Gospel of Matthew alone: 12:38-40; 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19, 26:32

4 Jesus affirmed the long standing tradition that Moses wrote Genesis-Deuteronomy (see John 5:46 , etc.), and the dating comes from 1 Kings 6:1, that states the Exodus happened 480 years after Solomon started building the temple. Scholars date this event at 966 BC, placing the Exodus at about 1446 BC. Deuteronomy was written after the 40 wilderness experience, at about 1406 BC (Deuteronomy 1:3)

5 Jonah (and the great fish sometimes): Matthew 12:39-41, 16:4; Luke 11:29-32

Noah: Matthew 24:37-38, Luke 17:26-27

Elijah: Matthew 11:14, 17:11-12; Mark 9:12-13; Luke 4:25-26

Daniel: Matthew 24:15

Sodom and Gomorrah: Matthew 10:15, 11:23-24, Luke 10:12, 17:29

Adam and Eve: Matthew 19:4-6

Praise report: Salvation, Unity and Glory in America!

Thank you all so much for your prayers for the IHOPU teams that went out to 12 locations earlier this month!

We saw the Lord do great and amazing things:

1. over 100 people decided to follow the Lord as we ministered to them
2. many people received accurate prophetic words for strangers as they walked by the Spirit
3. in many places there were several ministries from different denominations coming together for a city wide prayer meeting, demonstrating Christ-like humility and unity
4. many people got supernaturally healed! (see below for two of my favorite stories)
5. The Lord was worshiped much in these twelve cities, because each team spent much time in worship and prayer. Many locations even joined with others to do at least 24 hours of nonstop prayer, some even had a whole week of nonstop worship and prayer!

So, here are two of my favorite stories of healing. One of them actually is a double testimony because it involves answered prayer from my friend Karson who stayed in Kansas City. Karson was praying for one of the teams from a list given to him and when he got to the name Atien (even when he didn't know Atien) he felt the Lord say that He would give him the gift of healing to see limbs grow out. To Karson's delight, Atien prayed for people and saw about 10 limbs grow out to the right size during his trip! The Lord answered Karson's Spirit inspired prayer and many people were touched!

The second story is just so cool! Someone was paralyzed, and after prayer they were able to move their hand for the first time in a long time, and they were able to walk with assistance (which they were not able to do before). They weren't back to what most consider normal, but the ex-paralytic has a definitely new normal! They were able to get out of their wheelchair!

The coolest thing about the trips we saw the Lord do all those thing right before we started a school wide fast from April 21st (today)-May 11th. Just as God poured out His Spirit in a powerful way here in 2009-10, we are believing God for another great awakening at IHOPU, so that we will be sent out with power everywhere we go. I also believe that it is the strategy of Heaven to show that He really does answer prayer. If the people who pray night and day receive a visitation from God, it should encourage the body of Christ to continue praying and fasting.

Thanks for your prayers, and please keep us in prayer as we start this fast today, asking for a great awakening in our school, city, nation and planet!

Prayer request: IHOPU ministry trips

From April 5th-13th we as IHOPU students are getting an incredible opportunity to minister all across America. We are sending out 12 different teams to 12 different locations (listed below). I'm so excited about what the Lord is doing in raising up 24/7 prayer all across America and causing great exploits to flow from the place of prayer. As far as I know, all the teams will be strengthening worship and prayer wherever they go. Many locations are even hosting a whole week of nonstop prayer!!! Of course, wherever prayer takes place, signs and wonders confirming the preaching of the Gospel, so we will be testify about Jesus everywhere we go.

As for my team and I, we're going to be staying in Kansas City and working at the local University of Missouri, Kansas City campus. We're joining with about 11 other ministries to put together a week of nonstop worship and intercession. As usual, I get the incredible honor of worshiping Jesus in the middle of the night, from 2-6am. This really has become a theme for me and I wouldn't be surprised if I spend much more of my life worshiping Jesus at night. Such a joy!

We're also going to be working with a local church, going door to door and asking people about their needs, sharing Bible teaching and praying with them. On the other days we're going to be working with an IHOP-KC ministry called Hope City.

Please be praying for us, that Jesus would be glorified through His church being full of love for Him and the people that He loves.

Also please pray for each of the ministry trips, sent out all across the country:

1. Birmingham, AL 
2. College Station, TX 
3. Kansas City, MO 
4. Peoria, IL 
5. Chicago, IL 
6. Dallas, TX 
7. Twin Cities, MN 
8. Cincinnati, OH 
9. Seattle, WA 
10. Boston, MA 
11. Pagosa Springs, CO 
12. Orlando, FL 

Thank you so much, I hope to send a report of what the Lord has done after the teams get back.

God bless!

Spring Break in Haiti

Hey everyone!

I'm here at IHOP getting wrecked by God's heart for 24/7 prayer all over the Earth! IHOP has been praying 24/7 for almost 15 years now! Wow! Our great Lord wants all the nations of the Earth to pray without ceasing, being in constant fellowship with Him, just like it was in the Garden of Eden at the beginning (Gen. 1-2) and will be again in the New Jerusalem for all eternity (Rev. 21-22). God is raising up 24/7 prayer all over the Earth!

One of those nations is Haiti. Devastated by an earthquake on Jan 12th, 2010, this nation has been brought to it's knees and humbled before God. Since then I've seen God moving in very powerful ways. I was very blessed by the Lord to be able to go to Haiti for about 6 months in 2011 with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and I met some incredible people there. Haitians are seriously some of the coolest people and are so in love with the Lord no matter what circumstances they may face! Since praying for them often since 2010, being there in 2011 and doing a Bible school with my good friend Robert in 2012, I'm more and more convinced that God is going to do great things in and through Haiti. God is on the move and I want to be a part of what He's doing!

To that end, from about March 16th-23rd, instead of using my spring break to be as sinful and foolish as possible, I'm going to Haiti to do ministry with my good friend Robert. We're going to spend our time in worship, intercession, evangelism and teaching. One of our biggest prayer points is asking God to raise up 24/7 prayer in the Haitian presidential palace, so that just as God's throne in Heaven is surrounded by worship and intercession (Rev. 4-5) the Haitian President's "throne" would be surrounded by worship and intercession. Can you imagine what God would do in a nation where His glory is given first priority?!? It makes me so excited to think that I could play any part in this at all!

This will also be an important trip in my life as I prayerfully consider how I'm going to serve Haiti in the future. I've often thought I would go there for my whole life and am still prayerfully considering spending much time there in the near future!

So, here's the part you get to play, if you dare!! My first and greatest need is prayer. If God doesn’t move and release His power I have no hope at all! I also need finances, because if I don’t have money I won’t be able to physically go to Haiti! So, will you prayerfully consider supporting me while I go to Haiti to partner with what God is doing there? I will need about $1000 to go to Haiti (for travel & food, extra ministry opportunities).

If you're interested in donating, toward me going to Haiti, until March 13th you can still donate through my missions account YWAM. Click on this sentence to go to another page that has additional instructions.

Thanks and God bless!