Author of Anti-Homosexuality Bill Selected for “Servant Leadership Team” after Meeting Held by US-Based “College of Prayer International”

Staying with Uganda, the New Vision reports the latest on David Bahati, the MP behind the proposed draconian “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”; he was among attendees at a recent prayer meeting for parliamentarians, after which (emphasis added)

…eight MPs were selected to be in the servant leadership team for Parliament for three years.

They included Ruth Tuma, Alice Alaso, Beatrice Lagada, Moses Ntahobari, Capt. Grace Kyomugisha, Benson Obua, David Bahati and the East African legislative assembly MP, Maj. Gen Mugisha Muntu.

The prayer meeting was run by Dr. Fred Hartley, president of the College of Prayer International, who instructed MPs on the power of prayer:

Hartley explained to the MPs that the Kingdom of God involves righteousness, joy, peace and the Holy Spirit. He told the MPs that if they prayed in line with the Kingdom of God they would be able to cast out demons.

“True signs of wonders will follow if you pray in truth. The blind will see, the lame will walk and the deaf will hear,” he said.

One MP explained how he had helped a woman give birth through prayer; others, however, were more interested in politically-tinged miracles:

During testimonies, Soroti Woman MP Alice Alaso (FDC) testified that Apostle Julius Oyet prophesied in 2000 at Lugogo stadium that she would win elections in 2001.

“Indeed, I won elections without spending money and I will continue doing so,” Alaso said.

Oyet is not the only Ugandan neo-Pentecostal leader to have made electoral prophecies; I blogged on Robert Kayanja’s efforts here.

The College of Prayer International is based in the USA (Georgia) and has numerous campuses around the world. According to its website:

The College of Prayer is a ministry of the Revival Prayer Institute, Inc. established to mentor Christian leaders who will reach a lost world through a revived church. We are a faith ministry organized exclusively for the purpose of mentoring and encouraging pastors, wives, Christian leaders, missionaries, intercessors – all who desire to more effectively impact their world through fervent revival prayer, prayer evangelism, intercession, and worship.

And as for Hartley:

As President of the College of Prayer International, Fred is our visionary leader. He was mentored by Armin Gesswein, whose ideas and passions helped shape the COP. Fred is also the Lead Pastor at Lilburn Alliance Church, a church located in metro Atlanta, Georgia where he and his wife Sherry have served since 1988. Fred is the author of thirteen books.

His church bio adds the details that his father was the comics illustrator Al Hartley, and that his grandfather was Congressman Fred. A. Hartley, Jr.

The late Gesswein was a much-respected figure in American evangelicalism, known for his emphasis on prayer; as a revivalist he was among the first to promote Billy Graham, and he was associated with Fuller Theological Seminary.