Our Story
When I [Stalin] first came to Granite Bay Hilltop Seventh-day Adventist Church as an Intern Pastor in August 2024, I was filled with excitement and vision. I had all these ideas—discipleship, small groups, church planting. I was ready to get started. But no matter how much I prayed, the Holy Spirit never gave me peace. And that confused me.
So I kept asking the Lord for direction: “What is Your will for me here?”
Then the Lord reconnected me with an old friend—Pastor Martin Kim, a man of prayer I met in Thailand back in 2017. He had taught me how to pray in united prayer groups, and that seed never left me.
He invited me to attend a week of prayer for AFCOE, and though I had heard some of the messages before, they were exactly what I needed. It was as if God was answering my prayer: “This is what I want you to focus on. Prayer.”
A few days in, Pastor Martin told me he wanted to start a prayer line at Granite Bay using a conference call. I felt impressed and suggested, “What if we use Zoom? It will allow more people to join and grow together.” He was hesitant—it would take more effort—but after some persistence, he agreed. God had already prepared someone who could help us get it up and running.
At the same time, I remembered something Elder Johnny Wong once told me: before starting his ministry in Australia, he reached out to 120 people to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That story stuck with me.
So I shared the idea with Pastor Martin and Pastor Jeff (my supervisor): “What if this wasn’t just another prayer line? What if we modeled it after the Upper Room in Acts 1—where 120 prayed for the early rain—and now we gather 120 to pray for the latter rain?”
They were deeply moved by the idea.
We wrote a letter and began recruiting people right after Sabbath service. Soon after, Pastor Martin—after much prayer—came up with the name: “The Upper Room.” I immediately loved it.
So we began. For 10 days, just like in the book of Acts, we prayed every morning and evening. Pastors and volunteers shared short devotional thoughts, followed by united prayer in breakout rooms. It was a revival. Many testified their spiritual lives had been rekindled.
At the end of those 10 days, no one wanted to stop.
Then, in God’s perfect timing, Amazing Facts launched the 15-part evangelistic series “Prophecy Odyssey” in New York. This gave us a focused reason to continue praying—and so we did. Even after the meetings ended, the prayer continued.
God began expanding the vision.
People from different states and countries joined the Zoom room. We eventually multiplied, launching a dedicated Weimar Upper Room for the students and faculty of Weimar University. God was building something much bigger than we imagined.
But then came the challenge:
How do we multiply this model to other churches and ministries?
The process was beautiful but complex—managing Zoom, WhatsApp, music, Prayer Facilitators, breakout rooms, devotionals—it wasn’t easy to replicate.
In the midst of this prayerful struggle, a friend of mine—Marxianne—casually said, “I wanted to build a prayer app, but it never worked out.” She didn’t have the team or time to pursue it. But her words were like a divine answer to our conundrum.
The Holy Spirit impressed me:
“That’s it! This is My answer to your prayers. Build a platform that automates the prayer model and enables churches and groups to run prayer groups easily.”
From that moment, the vision to build the Upper Room Prayer App was born—not just to simplify what we were doing, but to make it replicable, scalable, and impactful worldwide.
Then, on May 17, 2025, God opened another door—we officially launched Upper Room as a nonprofit ministry.
Just weeks later, He opened yet another: we were able to attend the 62nd General Conference Session in St. Louis (July 3–12, 2025). There, we connected with thousands of people, shared the vision, and—most importantly—prayed with them.
What’s Next?
We are now building the Upper Room Prayer App—a tool designed to help people pray like the 120, anywhere in the world.
We plan to build the app in phases, using everything we’ve learned:
- Phase 1: Prayer Journaling and Fasting
- Phase 2: Creating Prayer Communities and Groups
- Phase 3: Prayer Walking
- Phase 4: Initiating Prayer Calls with Breakout Rooms in Respective Groups
Our goal? Revival and reformation, one prayer group at a time, until the latter rain is poured out and the work is finished in power.
From One Upper Room to the World
We believe God is calling His people back to the upper room—to seek Him in one accord, to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and to finish the work in unity.
This movement didn’t begin with a strategy. It began with a burden, a prayer, and an answer—spoken through a friend, shaped through obedience, and sustained by grace.
We invite you to join us.
Let’s build the Upper Room—in your heart, your home, your church, and the world.