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President & CEO, The Presidential Prayer Team, since 2002
1998, Chief Development Officer for ChildHelp
1995, Regional Development Manager for PromiseKeepers
Worked 17 years as a volunteer
full-time staff with Youth for Christ - positions included Club Director, Ministry and Executive Director
Education: B.S. in Psychology in 1983, University of Oregon
Married to Marlene 22 years, 3 sons.
John Lind has been the president and CEO of the Presidential Prayer Team (PPT) since 2002. The Presidential Prayer Team's purpose is to encourage and motivate people to pray daily for the president of the United States, his cabinet, and America as a nation. A non-partisan, non-denominational effort, it exists in perpetuity for whomever occupies the Oval Office. It was established on September 18, 2001, and is in 125 countries through American business ventures, the military, and those of the world community who are concerned about the United States.
John believes that if a person prays daily for our president, our country, and our Armed Forces, he or she will learn to see results and in turn will learn to pray for things in his or her own life. The Presidential Prayer Team wants to change the culture through prayer and enhance a person's prayer experience.
Anyone can join the Presidential Prayer Team for free. The main way people can join is by going on PPT's user friendly Web site, which provides focused prayer needs for the president, voting, and the Armed Forces. Ninety percent of Presidential Prayer Team memberships have come through their Web site. The Web site, which is updated every Thursday and sent to its thousands of members, also provides American history, prayer resources, and a section for chidren to get involved. The Presidential Prayer Team strongly encourages people to visit their Web site. John Lind would like it to be like a Grand Central Station for prayer.
A current focus of the Presidential Prayer Team is to encourage people to pray during the days leading up to the national elections. There is a section on the Web site called "Pray the Vote". Members are encouraged to pray for the elections and get updated prayer points every Thursday. There is also a section called "Adopt Our Troops", where a person can choose to pray for a whole troop or an individual service person. People who sign up for this will also receive regular updates.
The Presidential Prayer Team holds what are called "Virtual Prayer Rallies". The first one was held February 16 of this year. It is basically a "prayer clock" where people can sign up for specified hours when they will pray for the specified prayer focus. The next prayer rallies will be on October 5 and November 1, and the focus will be Pray the Vote for the upcoming presidential elections.
The Presidential Prayer Team's History
After the five-week election process of November 2000, Bill Hunter from Scottsdale, Ariz., felt concerned enough to encourage his adult Sunday School class to pray for the newly elected president. Having taken up bronze sculpting after his retirement from a successful career in business and the Navy, he created a prayer reminder coin using the image of our first president, George Washington, as he knelt in prayer at Valley Forge. The members of the class loved the coin, and the effort to pray for the president grew. Hunter soon realized that the idea had a bigger future than just his Sunday School class.
Hunter shared his vision with a pastor and Christian leader who heartily agreed with the vision of prayer for the president, supported by prayer reminders like the coin. The men saw what seemed like a nearly unattainable goal-to enlist 1 percent of the American population (2.8 million people) to commit to pray daily for the president. Haan took the idea to potential backers who agreed that the time had come for a national prayer team. A November launch was planned.
Then came the tragedy of September 11. On September 12 a unanimous decision was made to launch the effort at the earliest possible time. With staff working around the clock, the Web site was created, additional staff hired, and support for the ministry was sought from many corners. The Presidential Prayer Team was launched on September 18 with a Web site and some e-mails.
The word of the new group quickly spread-largely via the Internet-as people passed on an e-mail that informed them of the effort and invited them to join. In the aftermath of the horrendous attacks, Americans were deeply concerned for their nation and their leaders, especially the president. As millions lined up to donate blood, others realized that their prayers could be the greatest help and support for the president, his cabinet, and others on his leadership team.
Beginning with a few thousand signups a day, the months following that launch saw as many as 15-20,000 new members a day, and on some days, 25-28,000 new members joined. By November 30, 2001, The Presidential Prayer Team was ranked the world's No. 1 most-visited religious Web site. And on December 15, 2001, the membership reached one million people. Today it has more than 2.8 million members.
The Building of a Prayer Team Leader
John Lind did not grow up in a Christian home. When John was in junior high, it was the influence of his godly friends that led him to Christ. From there he abided by the Scrpiture 1 Timothy 4:12, which states, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." After college he became active with Youth for Christ. Then he became involved with Promise Keepers and ChildHelp. He started his own consulting firm in 1999. His clients included Christian Family Care Agency, Mercy Ships, Venture International, and others. In 2002 John became president and CEO of the Presidential Prayer Team upon the referral of some of its board members.
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
