“Nehemiah prayed twice as much as he worked, because to him prayer was the work, and it must be to us as well.” That statement from Pastor Philip DeCourcy inspired many of the 108 CBMC leaders who experienced the 2009 Leadership Conference at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina, March 29-April 1.

Pastor DeCourcy delivered five stunning messages on the life of Nehemiah, and when he finished, many thought Nehemiah might have been the Biblical figure from which CBMC’s strategic plan was crafted. The opening emphasis on prayer stirred many hearts.

Philadelphia’s Mike Ranaglia claimed, “I never heard preaching like that on prayer before. I know it’s going to change my life.” His wife, Mindy, added that she loved the fellowship with “all of these great people. I’m going to take them home in my heart.”

First-time conference participant, Tom Reed of Santa Barbara, California, said, “I’ve often focused on the fact that the work of God is to just believe, but Philip hooked that together with ‘believing, now talk to God about it,’ believe that you’re in this relationship, have that intimacy with God, and everything flows from that.”

Following each lesson, attendees assembled in small, 45-minute groups to discuss the message within the gorgeous mountain-nestled facilities. “That’s where all of the barriers to social connection start dropping,” Duane Epton of Anchorage, Alaska observed. These sessions proved to be some of the most meaningful components of conference.

“Before God calls a man to do the extraordinary, He looks at what that man is doing with the ordinary,” Pastor DeCourcy said. Ken Barackman of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania picked up on that concept, and praised the Lord for CBMC in his life. “CBMC is my lifeline for finding out what God has planned for my life. I love working in the lives of men.”

And who can say what the Lord will do through a life fully surrendered to Him? John Degner of Lincoln, Nebraska, considered that question at the conference. “We do have an almighty, awesome God,” he said. “He is real, and he is in our lives. What kind of a box have we put him in? Can we blow the sides out of that box and let him do his work, submitting our will to his?”