The History of The King's Court Foundation
 

This ministry was officially re-launched in May 2004 with a new President, Board and focus. It was formed in November 1995, became inactive in 1999, and was then given to Michael Spence to help start a new ministry. When a Communist government came to power in Mozambique, Michael began at boarding school in South Africa.  During this time he witnessed a thriving economy become one of the world’s poorest and saw some of the devastating effects of a 'Christian' nation’s Apartheid policies.  He learnt early on that a nation built on a faulty philosophy or ideology can cause untold injury, pain and loss.  Martin Luther King was right when he said, "Jesus is eternally right. History is replete with the bleached bones of nations that refused to listen to Him.” At 19 Michael became a Christian and realized that God loved all nations, that He wanted to positively heal and transform them. William Wilberforce, Lord Shaftsbury, George Muller, DL Moody, Reese Howell, Isobel Kuhn, John Wesley, Hudson Taylor, Brother Andrew and other men/women inspired him. Their brazen faith, their willingness to trust God in the face of overwhelming obstacles, stills positively effects the lives of millions of people around the world. Michael worked for several years for a multinational corporation in Europe and South Africa where he learnt the critical importance of good governance, cross-cultural communication, value based servant leadership, valuing the dignity and expertise of all employees, and well-designed research when working on projects seeking to improve productivity and benefit all employee levels. In April 1994 Michael left the corporate world to study at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California.  He wanted to learn how the Body of Christ could become powerful agents of positive change in the lives of individuals, communities and nations.  Immediately prior to leaving South Africa he participated in a large prayer gathering organized by African Enterprise (AE) and local churches.  This rally, the Jesus Prayer Rally, was the culmination of a series of Christian initiated activities that moved God to directly intervene in South African political affairs.  So much so, that Time magazine declared "History has thrown up an authentic miracle!" In late 1998 Michael joined African Enterprise in their USA office and a year later the opportunity arose for him to launch the AE Transformation project.  The timely launching of the first Transformation video by George Otis, Jr. gave a clear visual representation for the goals of the project: to bring lasting Godly transformation to any city by exercising biblical principles.  Principles, methodology and theology from other ministries and parts of the world were to cross-pollinate with AE's existing citywide missions to help achieve this. All senior AE leaders were sent a copy of this video and as well as other pertinent books on the subject.  Most of AE's leadership then received training from a ministry called Harvest Evangelism (HE) in Argentina, the USA and Africa. For many years HE pioneered a successful reproducible model, called Prayer-Evangelism, which helps mobilize city churches so that the 'spiritual atmosphere' within a city becomes positively changed and many receive Jesus. At least two AE teams went a long way toward incorporating HE's strategy into their city outreaches.  One was AE's Team in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and the other was in Rwanda.  Despite positive outcomes in both of these locations, the terror attack on the Twin Towers in New York led to a drop in funding for AE USA and by November 2002 Michael was told that the AE transformation project had to come to an end. The Lord then very clearly told Michael to continue the vision and goals of the AE Transformation project by forming a separate ministry.  And to validate His leading The King's Court Foundation was given to him by a Christian brother within 48hrs of AE's decision.  In July 2005 the IRS finally accepted the ministries new bylaws and activities and during Nov 2004 the Lord had told Michael to focus the ministry's efforts on Pasadena.  David Thompson from HE was invited to teach on prayer evangelism to a Pasadena prayer group early 2005. Kingdom research continued through December 2007, including field research in Uganda.  Several of the persons speaking in the Transformations II video where interviewed. In May 2008 Michael coordinated the First Pasadena Global Day of Prayer (PGDOP) in Memorial Park with the support of different denominations and ethnic groups from 'the church of Pasadena.' Many pastors, several Pastors groups, including the Clergy Community Coalition, Interdenominational Ministry Alliance of Greater Pasadena, Pastors Praying for Pasadena, and Hispanic and Armenian congregations participated.  Different congregations took evenings of prayer between the National Day of Prayer at the Rose Bowl and the PGDOP.  It was a wonderful grass-roots expression of Kingdom unity. In December 2009 Michael became a facilitator for Kingdom led transformation in Pasadena, sharing insights with Pastors and Christians leaders that were learned from the research.  During April 2009 Pastor Tim Taylor from Watchman ministries was invited to come and teach on 24/7 prayer mobilization over cities.  Twenty-three congregations and ministries signed up to each pray 24hrs on a different date between May 8 and the second Pasadena Global Day of Prayer of May 31, 2009.  Michael jointly coordinated the second PGDOP with Pastor Mike Wilson, which was held in the Court of Champions at the Rose Bowl Stadium.  Once again this was a grass roots event, just larger, with many from different congregations participating. Congregations continued to take 24hr prayer watches throughout the year.  Continual 365 days of 24hr prayer did not materialize but this nevertheless huge swell of prayer, together with all the other prayers in the city, made a significant difference.  The Pasadena Police Chief openly acknowledged the role of prayer in keeping crime and homicide rates down in Pasadena.  Kingdom Research continued during the summer of 2009 and continues today, some for  the Center for Faith and Enterprise. Over the next couple of years Kingdom research will be a primary focus of this ministry and so Pastor Mike Wilson and others have taken the reigns for the coordination of the third Pasadena Global Day of prayer on May 23, 2010 and also for the 24hr prayer watch. Through the different foci of the King's Court ministry it is our prayer and desire that many of the Body of Christ, particularly the next generation, in Pasadena and beyond be encouraged and equipped.  We passionately desire that the Kingdom of God come 'on earth as it is in heaven."