From Margaret Arant, PFOTBG Founder

In the early 90’s God gave me an unquenchable desire to pray so I prayed for all of the missionaries I could find and all of the staff of our church and other churches. I felt called to go to various countries on mission trips and specifically called to pray for evangelism, for discipleship of believers, and for protection, strength, and wisdom of those on the front lines of ministry. In the fall of 1999, I had a dream one night while I was in a jungle in Papua New Guinea on the Sepik River at a mission house where I was staying with a mission team.

The dream was set in England in a very formal garden with a formal clock. (This setting in England was the opposite setting of where I was in the jungle.) A group of us were sharing and praying with people in the garden. The clock started behaving in a very peculiar way. It chimed the hour and did not mark the minutes. The clock chimed: one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock, etc. All of us in the garden stopped what we were doing and looked at the clock.

As I woke up, I said, “Lord, if this is supposed to mean something to me, will you please tell me what it is?” I felt in my spirit that the Lord said, “It is time to be a friend of the bridegroom.” We left New Guinea and came home to Chattanooga. I prayed for six months about this message. How was I not a friend of the bridegroom? How was I supposed to be a friend of the bridegroom?

At the end of March 2000, I read in the devotional book My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers two entries on the “Friend of the Bridegroom” in John 3:29. As I read these entries, the Lord gave me the understanding that I was to begin a worldwide prayer ministry. I was blown away by this proposition and said I couldn’t do this, but He said He would do it. I know this is God’s ministry, not mine. He told me at the very beginning that He would accomplish His plans and purposes for PFTOBG. “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Thus began the journey of PFOTBG.

PFOTBG became a non-profit organization and was incorporated in 2001 by the State of Tennessee and was given IRS 501(c) (3) status in 2006 and retroactive to include 2005. 

Today God has blessed PFOTBG to have a Board of Directors, Advisors to the Board and Advisors for certain areas, a prayer and Bible study group in Chattanooga, a worldwide prayer network, and works with many people around the world in prayer, evangelism, and other ministry.

GIVE GOD THE GLORY!

Margaret’s Personal Testimony

When I was 8 years old our doctor put me in the hospital for a severe pain in my side. After various tests and with the opinion of other doctors, nothing could be found to help ease the pain. I thought I was going to die and knew from going to church with my family that if I died I wanted to be with God and His Son Jesus. After my parents left one evening while I was in the hospital room I found a Gideon Bible and prayed through 'Romans Road’. Lately we have renamed Romans Road the ‘Way of Salvation' because a verse from the book of John is included. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and had peace. I knew that even if I died I would be with God. The next morning I woke up with no pain. When my parents and the doctors came I told them I had no pain. The doctors said I could go home. I know God healed me and the hospital visit was a divine appointment for me to become His child. That was the beginning of God’s teaching me to pray using His word. I am very thankful for Jesus and how the Holy Spirit continues to teach me to walk with Him, listen to Him, and follow and pray His Word. Every day I am blessed to have another day of life to serve God.

Moldova Ministry Trip 2014 sharing at homes in a village

God led the way while I was in Moldova to join some people from the local church to visit a nearby village. As we visited the first home, the team leader introduced all of us and said “Good news comes from afar, Margaret, it is your turn to speak.” I prayed, “Lord what do you want me to say?” He answered, “The Romans Road.” So I asked one of the group members to read the first verse from a Romanian Bible. After the first verse was read, I asked the man, “Do you believe this? He answered “Yes” Then we read the next verse and I asked him, “Do you agree with this? He said, “Yes” Sometimes he asked a question about something or we discussed the meaning of words but when we had finished reading the Romans Road along with John 1:12, he had agreed with all of the verses. The local people talked more with him and promised to visit him again….we shared like this in many homes that day. All of the people were very hospitable and kind. One lady had a lovely lunch for the team at her home. An odd thing happened with several of the people who read through all of the verses with the team. All of a sudden, they realized and were incredulous that they believed what the Repenters or Evangelicals believed. We left there knowing God had planted many seeds that day.

Margaret’s testimony given in Moldova August 2016

I shared my testimony at El Shadai camp focusing on prayer and at a regional women’s prison. The people in both places were very appreciative of God helping me get well. We talked as we had special treats, like cookies (a favorite of mine thanks to my mom and which I think we need to do more often).  They said they were thankful for the testimony and the bookmark with the Way of Salvation, which they would use and share.  Two of the people at the camp received Jesus.

Way of Salvation Presented in Peru 2017

In one village in Peru  I asked Pastor Samuel if he would please read each verse of the Way of Salvation to the people and ask if they had  questions to see if they agreed with the content. As he read, they responded and nodded and discussed the bookmark. At the end they said they believed all of the verses. He told them, “Go and share this with others.”

Updated September, 2017