New Forest House of Prayer was birthed in the autumn of 2005. During a vist to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, USA, at Easter of that year, Mike and Carole Coomber were drawn inextricably into a dynamic and life-changing encounter with God. "As soon as we walked into the prayer room, we knew, both of us, that this is what we were made for - to give our lives to worship and prayer until Jesus returns", is how Mike describes it. This was a defining moment for them, and plans were made for a return to IHOP in the summer, where they spent a month talking to people and getting to know the values and lifestyle of the folks at IHOP. On returning home to the New Forest, it was time to decide whether to sell up and go to America and commit to serving the community at IHOP, or to seek God about establishing a House of Prayer in England. "We said to God, if you open a door for us by the end of the year, then we will know that we are meant to stay here and establish a House of Prayer", says Carole. During the autumn we were talking to our church pastor and she asked us if we thought we might be able to "do some of this harp and bowl stuff " in the church...... whooosh....... the sound of a door opening.....!

So began in December 2005 the first meeting of what has become the New Forest House of Prayer. It has been an enjoyable journey, with many ups and downs: some have come and gone, others have stayed and stuck with the vision. There have been many lessons to be learned on the way, and God has been very gracious in his dealings with us as we have progressed. We have learned what it means to do what we do "for the audience of One".

In the Summer of 2007 the leadership was augmented with the joining together of Hephzibah prayer house with New Forest House of Prayer. Peter and Helen Burch had been running Hephzibah for the past seven years, and felt God taking them into a time to review the past and the future. During that time they felt a clear leading to bring the two houses of prayer together. They shared their vision with Mike and Carole, and after a period of prayer, discussion and planning, the two became one in September 2007. One of the changes that has come out of this amalgamation has been the introduction of different formats for prayer meetings: the formats may be different but the heart and purpose remains the same.

As for the future - we continue to press in to what God has called us to. It is not about numbers, but about partnering with God and encouraging others to do the same. We have seen some encouraging signs: a few weeks ago the headline in our local newspaper read "Crime rate drops". The report gave details of the crime rate across the New Forest having dropped by 17% over the past 3 years - exactly the time that NFHOP has been praying over the area! We are beginning to see a change in the spiritual atmosphere over our region......