Why Los Angeles?

As I embark on full-time missions work in Los Angeles many may ask why does LA need missionaries? When we use the word missionary we often think of someone who is sent to a far away nation instead of our own backyard. For the past six years I have lived, worked, and studied in the greater Los Angeles area. For the past year I have lived in Los Angeles itself and I can tell you that LA needs a move of God as much as any other place on earth.

During the past year I have done door to door sales here in LA, before that in Orange County. I have worked in the hills of Hollywood, I have walked the streets of Compton, I have visited almost every kind of demographic that you can imagine. I have talked to grandmothers who saw their children get shot simply because they were standing on a sidewalk at the wrong time. I have made friends with those who grew up in the inner-city where waking up each morning meant you not knowing if you were going to live another day. I have heard the stories of those who made it out of those areas and those who still live it each day.

I have seen the homeless line the streets. I have over the past couple of months gotten to talk to some of them. The former car mechanic who now has to beg or barter for a meal. The children who have no one but the others in their little band of outcasts. The musician who came out here for a better life.

I have seen the prostitutes: Those who stand on a street corner selling their bodies to whoever will stop by. The woman in a luxury condo on the westside who thought I was her John. Then there are the ones who are trafficked and held against their will. Then again, all sex workers are held against their will, the enemy has enslaved them. Some are held by pimps, others by a drug habit, and others just can't imagine any other life.

I have met the ones who the world views as successful. Businessmen, actors, models, musicians. They are just as lonely and have just as much pain as the drug addict stuck in the inner city. They just look better to the outsider. But they need a touch from God just as much as anyone else. Los Angeles needs a touch from God.

Los Angeles has seen some of the greatest moves of God birthed from this place. The Azusa Street revival gave birth to the Pentecostal movement of the 20th century. Billy Graham had one of his first evangelistic crusades in the city. The 20th century missions movement and the idea of reaching the last unreached peoples were very much birthed out of the Los Angeles area. The Jesus People movement and the Charismatic Renewal both came out of Orange County which is right next to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is ready for the next great move of God. LA is key to God's plan for the nations.

The world looks at Los Angeles. It is a beacon of light to the world. Sadly, it is not a true light but a false light. The enemy has clothed himself in the glitz and glam of Hollywood and used it to promote immorality and perversion. God wishes to redeem it and for Hollywood to live out its destiny as a shining city upon a hill to reveal truth throughout the earth. 

There is a saying in politics that as California goes- so goes the nation. I say that as Hollywood goes- so goes the world. Can we transform a nation by transforming a city? I believe that the transformation and awakening of Los Angeles is one of God's great desires. He has brought people, from every nation on earth, to Los Angeles so that every nation may be touched when revival comes. 

I write this so that you will pray with me for Los Angeles. Pray that God will raise up the workers for the harvest is plentiful (Luke 10:2). And if the Lord wills consider partnering with me in prayer and finances. You can email me at the link on my profile.

The Aborted Mantles

This Sunday I was in the House of Prayer and the Lord caught me up in a vision. In this vision I was within a room in heaven. In this room was shelves with thousands of thousands of mantles. But these mantles were unlike the ones I had seen in heaven before. These mantles were much smaller than the mantles I have seen in heaven before. Christ was there in the room, along with an angel, and our Savior explained that these mantles belonged to babies who had been aborted before they had the chance to be born. These were mantles that had never seen the light of day.

The angel started showing me a few of these mantles. One of them was the cure for aids, another the cure for polio. There was a baby who had the mantle of evangelism and was going to be a powerful apostolic evangelist within the islands of Africa- but was aborted. Another African-American child was called as a voice of freedom within the inner cities of America to bring racial reconciliation. These are just a few of the mantles that God had in reserve. Christ and the angel were showing these mantles and speaking of the children who had been selected to bear them with such love. Sadly these mantles were never released.

I then followed the angel to another room and in the middle of the room was a large mantle upon a stand. I asked what was this mantle because I knew it was not for a child but for someone already grown. The angel told me that it was the mantle of Mordecai that was being held in reserve to be released once again. There are a number of people who have been selected for this mantle. The calling of Mordecai is to raise up the Esthers. God is going to raise up Esthers who will go before the rulers of this world and plead for the lives of those who have no voice. These men and women will carry great favor. Before the Esthers take their place of position they must be prepared for it by the Mordecais.

Along the walls of this room were troughs filled with swords and sickles. Christ then told me that there had been a period of grace over this nation but His judgement could not be stayed for much longer. If we allow abortion to remain in our land, if we continue to abort His chosen ones, judgement will come. These swords and sickles represent the tools of judgement that will be released upon the earth if we allow this scourge much longer.

We are coming to a kairos moment in our nation for the ending of abortion. 2013 will mark the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Forty years is length of a biblical generation. We killed a third of our generation before they could be born. I feel that the decisions made in 2013 will decide the future of abortion in our country for the rest of our history. We, as the Church, must make a stand for life. This election of 2012 will elect the president, senators, congressional representatives, governors, and state legislators who are going to be making the decisions of 2013.

Many Christians have given up on the idea that abortion can be ended. I proclaim that as both slavery and segregation ended in the twinkling of an eye so can abortion. Let the Mordecais and Esthers arise! Let the Church arise and proclaim life over this nation.

Shooting in Hollywood

Last week there was a shooting at Sunset & Vine near the Radiance prayer house. You can read the LA Times article here. What happened was a lone gunman, who had just moved to the area, wandered into the street and started shooting at cars. One man, a music industry executive, was critically wounded. Things like this don't just happen without a prophetic significance. The following is what I feel God is saying through all of this.

The enemy has raised up his agents, many of them mere pawns, to abort the destiny of those God has called. God is calling forth many within Hollywood. He has given destiny to those in music, film, and television. Hollywood is meant to be a city shining upon a hill. But the enemy seeks to abort this destiny before it is able to be birthed. God desires for the kingpins of Hollywood to come to Him. The enemy is going to do everything He can to stop that. The accuser has brought sexual perversion, drug addiction, and the occult into Hollywood to enslave the creative ones. When that won't work then he will kill to accomplish his goal.

In 2012 God will be establishing His government in the Church. The apostles and prophets are going to rise up in power and authority to rule as God has called them. The gunman was stopped by two LAPD officers who happened to be in the area at that time. It was governmental authority who ended the enemy's attack against destiny. God is raising up His government during this time. They are going to put things back in order. We will see destiny come forth in this nation and we will see an end of premature death. By the grace of God the shooting victim still lives- let us pray for his recovery and that he will be a prophetic sign of what God is going to do within Hollywood.

The Son of God will rise along Sunset!

The Modern Abolitionist

Recently, I watched the movie Amazing Grace. This excellent film, which I highly recommend, recounts the story of William Wilberforce and his crusade against slavery in England. God has been speaking to me some time about His desire to see those like Willberforce rise up in this generation and take their stand against abortion and human trafficking. Wilberforce, elected to British parliament at the age of 21, devoted his life to the ending of slavery. This movement, given momentum by the great awakening, took years to accomplish. But Wilberforce never gave up and eventually saw slavery ended within the British empire.

In this generation we witness a different kind of slavery. The sex trade. There are more slaves today in the world than any other time in history- much of them in the sex trade. These are women and children who are kidnapped and forced to do unspeakable things against their will. Their captors use threats, blackmail, drugs, and violence to keep these defenseless ones within their control.

God is raising up those who will take their stand and be the voice for the voiceless. Wilberforce was a voice for the Africans who were being enslaved. He forced the nobility of England to view the damage of the trade. We need to do the same. God is raising up those who will be champions of freedom. At The Call Sacramento a speaker recounted on how he asked someone who was doing work in East Asia to bring back some objects from the sex trade over there that they could put on display within the states. He held up the blood stained pajama pants from a small girl no older than seven. You could see the stains from her abuse from over fifty feet away. This is what is being done. This is what God is witnessing. His Spirit is grieved- what is the Church doing?

God is raising up those who will devote their entire lives to the abolition of this trade. Don't think it's isolated to other parts of the world. It's just as active here in the western world. If it wasn't for those of European descent there wouldn't be such a demand for the trafficking of women and children. Are we going to be the generation that devotes itself to ending this injustice? Or are we going to be yet another generation that ignores it. The great awakenings were coupled with the ending of slavery in England and America. The third great awakening is going to be coupled with the sex trade, abortion, and the rise of adoption.

My Reassignment

The transition of 2011 into 2012 will also witness my transitioning from the marketplace to vocational ministry. Following is the support letter that I am sending out. I'm posting it here for two reasons. One, to update you, my readers, on what God is doing in my life. Two, to ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with me both in prayer and in finances. I am spending this last month of 2011 to transition out of my job and to raise support. 


For the past two years God has assigned me to the marketplace. Recently I have felt called to leave my job, and the career that I have been building, in order to be a full-time missionary in the city of Los Angeles. For the past few months I have been involved with a ministry called Radiance International that launched earlier this year. Our vision is to see Hollywood transformed by the power of God and touch the nations. The primary focus of our ministry is 24/7 prayer and worship. We see this described in Revelation and it is the model that we choose to emulate as we seek to see heaven here on earth.

On earth as it is in heaven! That familiar line from the Lord’s Prayer is one of the biggest cries of my heart. As a full-time missionary, here in Los Angeles, I will be involved with several things. One is the prayer room; I will be spending about 20 hours a week leading prayer watches focusing on particular topics as we pursue the heart of God for the city, nation, and the world. I will also be involved with our street team that is launching this January. Our prayer house is located in the heart of Hollywood and we plan on hitting the streets to pray for those who need physical, emotional, and spiritual healing during the busiest club nights.

Much of my other roles are going to be defined over the next month or two as I transition into full-time ministry with Radiance. There are opportunities for international missions, teaching Bible studies, equipping college students, discipleship, and working with marketplace leaders, just to name a few.

This is a huge transition that has scared me for some time but I know that the timing is now. In order to step out into this mission I need to raise support. I am looking for a team of people to commit to $100 a month, or any other amount. It is my goal to raise support by the end of the year so that I might enter into the house full time starting with the new year.

I covet your prayers. Please pray for protection as I minister on the front lines. I am excited to see what God is going to do during 2012 and beyond. Let me know if you have any questions at all.

Blessings from the city of the angels of our Lord,

Matthew Prewett


If God leads you to give financially then please email me at matthewprewett(at)gmail.com for details on how you can give a tax-deductible donation.