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At 6-foot-8, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman looms tall not only in person and politics, but also as a prayer point full of unconventional possibilities.

Last February, our IFA program team put a creative spin on a staff presentation by calling it “Mission Possible,” complete with a high-adrenaline theme song and black sunglasses. The point of the presentation was to cast a vision for how prayer makes the impossible possible. 

“Agents in the field” (state leaders) Bill and Betsy West were a key feature in our presentation, making a dramatic guest appearance on Zoom to give “intel” on Senator John Fetterman, a politician known for bucking the Democrats and the Senate dress code with his eclectic blend of blue-collar liberalism, outsider populism, baggy gym shorts, and hoodies.

Bill and Betsy reported that news of their senator’s stroke came shortly after their state group committed to pray for more “damascus road experiences” for their legislators. They were amazed at how Fetterman’s stroke and recovery became a “defining moment,” reshaping his mindset as well as softening their own hearts as a state group to press in with intercession. God prompted them to send encouraging notes and make calls to Fetterman’s office while he was hospitalized, and the response was always positive.

What no one in our staff meeting realized last February was that our zany mission-possible theme captured reality more precisely than we knew. 

Recently, Betsy texted IFA State Prayer Group Coordinator Amy Sabat when she spotted Fetterman wearing a “Mission Possible” sweatshirt on FOX News. What a surprise to discover that “Mission Possible” had been part of Fetterman’s campaign slogan for Senate! Our staff team couldn’t help but feel energized by the confirmation that God had pointed our prayer focus and theme in the right direction.

Inch by inch, Fetterman’s story unfolds a picture of hope and transformation for Pennsylvania intercessors. Several months after the stroke, Fetterman surprised everyone with his feisty support for Israel following the terrorist attack on October 7. When Palestinian protesters came to chant around his home, a remodeled car garage in Braddock, Pennsylvania, he went up to his roof and unfurled the Israeli flag, telling protesters to “get the heck off” his property.

Another jaw-dropping moment came when Fetterman pushed back against squatters, emphasizing, “I am not woke.” Betsy says her state prayer group wondered, “Where is this coming from?” But then she saw the Senator on a program where he made the comment that when you have a near-death experience, “your whole thought process is altered.” She immediately attributed his altered thought process to God answering her prayers to give a “lifeline” for her state, which can be such a discouraging place to live with so few elected officials holding to biblical values.

Granted, there is at least one thing the stroke has not changed: Fetterman is characteristically unafraid to rock the boat. Even last week, Fetterman called out Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for being willing to step on anyone to climb the ladder, warning that he would not make a good running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris.

These unvarnished comments hint at Fetterman’s spiritual potential, according to Betsy. “I look at this and think, ‘God, what an example he would be,’” she says. “We know that the day Fetterman accepts Jesus he will be vocal and will not hide it. Until then, sometimes I will get emails from intercessors, saying, ‘Look what he did! Look what he just said!’ I say, ’Listen, he is a work in progress and God has a hand on him and God has chosen him for some reason. You can line him up with anyone in the Bible … I know that when he has that revelation moment, there will be no stopping him.’” 

It’s God’s miracle-working power that Betsy, the Pennsylvania prayer group, and the staff here at IFA continue to cling to in our prayers that God would use Fetterman throughout his time in office. Bill and Betsy hope to meet Senator Fetterman one day and share how much God loves him and stirred the hearts of countless intercessors to pray for him and his family. Until then, the glimpse of the words on his hoodie are a reminder to dream big.