The Salem House of Prayer was established in 2004 as a city-wide, multi-denominational, worship and intercessory ministry to the body of Christ in Salem, Oregon and the surrounding area. Our goal is to build a “corporate altar” of night and day prayer where we may stand before Jesus, unified and strengthened in our unyielding love for the worthy Son of Man. It’s a place where the first commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, is put into practice, result­ing in outward expressions of loving your neighbor as yourself.

The Salem House of Prayer is a focal point for local churches to come together in unity and pray for revival of our minis­tries and for the spiritual awakening of our communities to the Gospel of Jesus. We will continually cry out for God to visit our city and release great love for Jesus, a massive harvest of souls, abundant signs and wonders, and a powerful spiri­tual movement among the youth. We are committed to city-wide involvement of this ministry and to partnering with the body of Christ in the city of Salem.

To offer up to God continuous, non-stop, 24 hour a day Worship and Intercession in the Spirit of the Tabernacle of David, until Jesus returns.

On 8/8/08, SHOP launched 24/7 prayer which continued non-stop for three and a half years.  After this we felt the Lord leading us to cut back our hours for a time.  Although we have not yet returned to 24/7 prayer, we remain committed to our mandate from the Lord of establishing continual day and night prayer in the city of Salem.

1. To encounter God in a personal way that transforms us. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
2. To change the spiritual atmosphere of the city, opening the heavens for anointed evangelism and community transformation. (Psalm 133)
3. To contribute to unity within the corporate church in the area. (John 17:20-26)

For years we circled the city in different locations “punching wells” until we finally landed in our 8th location in the heart of the city, just a few blocks from the State Capitol. This is important because what happens in Salem effects the entire State. Now more than ever, there is need for a corporate altar of night and day prayer in Oregon’s “Jerusalem.” After years of fasting, prayer, and physical toil, God helped us finish construction on a beautiful Prayer Room. Then, He sent more loving laborers to complete a beautiful state-of-the-art Café, that can be used for community fellowship, events and outreach ministry, and of course good food and coffee. We are now positioned to go to the next level of prayer and mercy ministry to the city and valley.

We are currently leasing our building, which has been on the market for some time. We feel that this is the home the Lord has for us, but have not yet been financially able to purchase it.  When an offer was made on the building earlier this year by a potential buyer, the Lord began to stir our hearts about owning this building we had invested so much into.  We had a very short window of time in which to exercise our right as the current tenants to match the other offer and buy the building ourselves, and it would take a miracle to do it.

Before we moved into this building, we were just a few feet away in the building next door.  This building was a nightclub.  At night we could hear the thumping of the bass through our shared wall, and we would lay hands on the wall and pray for the people partying in the club.  The Lord also began to stir our hearts to pray for victims of human trafficking.

Years later when we moved into this building, the Lord started showing us how he'd been answering our prayers.  We found evidence that human trafficking had likely been going on in this very building.  And then the testimonies started coming in.  One girl came from the International House of Prayer to see the transformation of the nightclub where she used to party before she knew Jesus.  She was amazed to hear that we had been praying for her on the other side of the wall.

Another woman we had unknowingly prayed for was Sarah.  When we met Sarah, she had been free from the sex trade for five years.  But on the inside, she was still deeply broken from her years as a slave.  She came in with some friends one day and received radical healing and deliverance from the Lord on the spot.  She left a changed woman.  We found out that she, too, had once been partying on the other side of our wall.

During her tour of the building, Sarah saw the graffitied door we had found when we moved in.  We were told by a US Marshall that the symbols on the door were a language used by the Triad gangs, and they meant, "Young Girls Here".  So Sarah painted her own door (pictured at left) which now hangs in our Prayer Room.  She painted Chinese letters on it which say, "Freedom is Here."

When our window of time closed, it seemed there was nothing we could do. But we serve the God of the sudden turnaround! Because of some clerical oversights, we suddenly found that we had a second opportunity to make an offer on the building. During this time, we put out the word for help and gifts began to come in from people all over Oregon who believed that Salem needs to continue to have a House of Prayer in the center of the city. Then one day a young man and his family came in. 

Jason (his name has been changed in order to preserve anonymity), came in weeping, his wife and children by his side.  He had an envelope in his trembling hand. One of our senior staff members, Deborah Huber, asked if she could help them with something. Jason began to tell the story of how he and his wife had been seeking the Lord about the needs of the house of prayer, and how He had suddenly encountered them. They began: 

“We’ve been praying about the purchase of the House of Prayer, and we felt the Lord tell us, ‘If you take care of My house, I will take care of yours.’” 

With that, they handed her an envelope stuffed full with one hundred dollar bills. It was a moving moment as it became apparent that this was no regular offering, but one that required a significant amount of sacrifice for them. In the envelope was thousands of dollars that this young family had scraped together, for the purpose of putting a down payment on their own house. It was an offering like Mary of Bethany’s, who took a box of expensive oil, her future nest egg worth an entire year's wages, and poured it out on Jesus' feet. To others it was a waste, but not to Him. 

We took their offering and all the rest of the money raised, ten thousand dollars in all, and put it down as earnest money for the purchase of our building. It seemed like such a small amount compared to what needed to be raised, but time and time again we have seen God move and His people respond. We believe He will do it again for His house.