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DELAWARE
PRAYER FOCUS
Ground Taken in Delaware in 2004:
In 2004 we
progressed in worship from the most southern border of the state
to the most northern part of the state in one day.We did this
in obedience to the prophetic word given by Chuck Pierce in our "50 State Tour." We worshiped in each of the three
counties as well. The first meeting started in the Line Methodist
Church, as it is only feet from the Delaware Maryland State border.This
church had the longest runningcamp revival meetings in the state.
The floor of the church had to be reinforced with extra wood, because
the "shouting Methodists" were also jumping!From the "Cradle
of Methodism," we declare revival over this nation again!
Progress in Prayer:
Delaware has
been active in standingwith Washington, DC prayer events.Pray
that we, as the "First State," would take
our place in history once again to break the deadlock andhelpshiftour
nation back toGod.
Key Prophetic Words:
"Delaware is a First Fruits State. I need for Delaware to
go back because I made Delaware from the first fruits of America.
And if they will believe in My law of first fruits, I will allow
them to reconnect, and I'll snap them back into alignment with
what I wanted when I made them first fruits. I'll reconnect them
and the law of first fruits will connect and kick in again for
Delaware." Dutch Sheets
"’And the first fruits are Mine’ saith the Lord, ‘and
if the first fruit is holy, the whole lump in holy. So I am saying
to you, I am reconnecting you into a place of holiness that this
nation has not seen in a hundred years,’ saith the Lord." Chuck
Pierce
Key Initiatives for 2005:
Monthly prayer in the Legislative Hall
Establish a weeklyprayer focus through www.despn.org and email
Delaware Worships, June 18: From the rising of the sun... ‘til
the going down of the samethere will be worship on the Legislative
Mall.
Worship/intercession events in each county
Intercession and worship gathering of pastors and intercessors
at Barrett's Chapel, the "Cradleof Methodism"to honor
what God did
Prayer Focus Items for Delaware:
1. Pray thatDelaware
would connect to its roots as a "First
Fruits State." (Revival)
2. Pray that Delaware would be "first fruits...and holy unto
God." (Righteous Laws)
3. Pray for the Dover Air Force Base. (Protection)
4. Pray for our universities and colleges. (Revelation)
General History of Delaware
In the 17th century, the documented chief sachem between St. Jones
and Duck Creek, Kent County, Delaware, was Christian, whose Indian
name was Petticoquewan. He was sachem of a band called the Mitsawokett,
likely the ancestors of the present-day mixed-blood, remnant Native
American communities of Kent County, Delaware, and their relatives
who are dispersed throughout the United States and Canada.
From 1994 to the end of 1998, a group of archaeologists excavated
and researched a small house site (called Bloomsbury) in Duck Creek
Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, that was occupied at the end of
the eighteenth century. In the course of this research, it became
necessary to understand the community context in which the site
existed. The community study led to some conclusions, some of which
are detailed in a report posted at Heite Consulting's Web Page.
Essentially, the group headed by Ned Heite, a historian and archaeologist
working on the project for the Delaware Department of Transportation,
documented the continuous existence of a Native American remnant
community throughout the past 300 years. The group believes that
it has conclusively shown that the community defended its existence
as a distinct lineage group, even when there were no "Indians" on
the official record. Moreover, Heite and his co-workers show it
is obvious that the families recognized their Indian origins, and
that their non-Indian associates accepted this.
In 1600 the Delaware may have numbered as many as 20,000, but
several wars and at least 14 separate epidemics reduced
their population to around 4,000 by 1700 - the worst drops
occurring between 1655 and 1670. Since the Delaware afterwards
absorbed peoples from several other Algonquin-speaking
tribes, this figure remained fairly constant until 1775.
By 1845 it had fallen to combined total of about 2,000
Delaware and Munsee in both the United States and Canada.
The 1910 census gave about the same result, but the current
Delaware population has recovered to almost 16,000, most
of whom live in Oklahoma. Nearly 10,000 Delaware are in
eastern Oklahoma and, until very recently, were considered
part of the Cherokee Nation. After a long struggle with
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), they regained federal
recognition in September, 1996 as the Delaware Tribe of
Indians with their tribal offices in Bartlesville. The other
federally recognized group is the Delaware Tribe of Western
Oklahoma. Sometimes called the Absentee Delaware, its 1,000
members are descendants of a Missouri-Texas splinter group,
many of whom reside near the tribal headquarters at Anadarko.
Delaware is not a Native American name. Exploring the Atlantic
coast north of Jamestown in 1610, Captain Samuel Argall discovered
a large bay which he named in honor of Sir Thomas West, Third
Lord de la Warr and the first governor of the Virginia. Apparently,
Governor West was unimpressed with this honor and returned to
England without ever bothering to gaze upon his namesake. However,
the name stuck. English colonists later used Delaware for the
bay, the river and the native peoples who lived there. The Delaware
called themselves Lenape translated either as "original people" or "true
men." The Swedish form was Renape. For many Algonquin, the
Lenape were the "grandfathers," a term of great respect
stemming from the widespread belief that the Lenapi were the original
tribe of all Algonquin-speaking peoples, and this often gave the
Lenapi the authority to settle disputes between rival tribes. Other
names: Akotcakanea (Iroquois), Anakwanoki (Cherokee), Delua (Delaas)
(Spanish Texas), Loup (French "wolf"), Mattawa (Mathe,
Mathwa) (Nanticoke), Narwahro (Wichita), and Tcakanea (Iroquois).
The most important colonial Delaware (Swedish) governor was Colonel
Johan Printz, who ruled the colony under Swedish law for ten years,
from 1643 to 1653. He was succeeded by Johan Rising, who upon his
arrival in 1654, seized the Dutch post, Fort Casmir, which the
governor of the Colony of New Netherlands had built in 1651, on
the site of the present town of New Castle.
Rising governed the Swedish Colony from his headquarters at Fort
Christina until the autumn of 1655, when Peter Stuyvesant came
from New Amsterdam with a Dutch fleet, subjugated the Swedish forts,
and established the authority of the Colony of New Netherlands
throughout the area formerly controlled by the Colony of New Sweden.
This marked the end of Swedish rule in Delaware, but the cultural,
social, and religious influence of these Swedish settlers has had
a lasting effect upon the cultural life of the people in this area
and upon subsequent westward migrations of many generations. Old
Swedes (Holy Trinity) Church built by the Swedes at Wilmington
in 1698 was supplied by the Mother Church with missionaries until
after the Revolution. It is one of the oldest Protestant Churches
in North America.
Following the seizure of the colony of New Sweden, the Dutch
restored the name of Fort Casmir and made it the principal settlement
of the Zuidt or South River as contrasted with the North or Hudson
River. In a short time the area within the fort was not large
enough to accommodate all the settlers so that a town, named
New Amstel (now New Castle), was laid out.
The year 1681
marked the granting of the Province of Pennsylvania to William
Penn by King Charles II and the arrival of Penn's agents on the
Delaware River. They soon reported to the proprietor that the
new province would be landlocked if the colonies on either side
of the Delaware River or Bay were hostile. As a result of Penn's
petition to the Crown for the land on the west side of the Delaware
River and Bay below his province, the Duke of York in March 1682
conveyed, by deeds and leases now exhibited by the Delaware State
Archives in the Hall of Records at Dover, the land included in
the Counties of New Castle, St. Jones, and Deale. On October
27 of the same year, William Penn landed in America first at
New Castle and there took possession from the Duke of York's
agents as Proprietor of the lower Counties. On this occasion,
the colonists subscribed an oath of allegiance to the new proprietor,
and the first general assembly was held in the colony. The following
year the three Lower Counties were annexed to the Province of
Pennsylvania as territories with full privileges under Penn's
famous "Frame
of Government." Also in this year, the counties of St. Jones
and Deale were renamed Kent and Sussex Counties respectively.
After 1682, a long dispute ensued between William Penn and Lord
Baltimore of the Province of Maryland as to the exact dominion
controlled by Penn on the lower Delaware.
The dispute continued between the heirs of Baltimore and Penn
until almost the end of the colonial period. In 1776 at the time
of the Declaration of Independence, Delaware not only declared
itself free from the British Empire, but also established a state
government entirely separate from Pennsylvania. Delaware's boundaries
were surveyed in 1763-68 by the noted English scientists, Charles
Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. With the advent to the Revolution nearly
4,000 men enlisted for service from the small state. The colonial
wars had built up the militia system and supplied a number of capable
officers who led the troops of Delaware in all the principal engagements
from the battle of Long Island to the siege of Yorktown. The only
Revolutionary engagement fought on Delaware soil was the battle
of Cooch's Bridge, near Newark, on September 3, 1777.
An important stimulus to the recovery of the state's economy after
the war was the invention in 1785 by Oliver Evans of Newport, Delaware,
of automatic flour milling machinery, revolutionizing the industry.
In the following
year, John Dickinson of Delaware presided over the Annapolis
Convention, which called for the Federal Constitutional Convention,
that met in Philadelphia the next year. When the new Constitution
was submitted to the states for ratification, Delaware was the
first of the thirteen original states to ratify the Constitution
of the United States. This unanimous ratification took place in
a convention of Dover on December 7, 1787, whereby Delaware became "The
First State" of the new Federal Union. Proud of this heritage,
Delawareans continue to honor the traditions which made them the
First State to ratify the United States Constitution, the document
that continues to protect our nation's justice, strength, and liberty.
The Delaware state flag has a background of colonial blue surrounding
a diamond of buff color in which the coat of arms of the state
is placed. Below the diamond are the words "December 7, 1787," indicating
the day on which Delaware was the first state to ratify the United
States Constitution. Because of this action, Delaware became the
first state in the Union, and is, therefore, accorded the first
position in such national events as presidential inaugurations.
According to members of the original commission established to
design the flag, the shades of buff and colonial blue represent
those of the uniform of General George Washington. Inside the diamond,
the flag recognizes the importance of commerce {the ship} and agriculture
{wheat, corn, the ox and the farmer} to the state. Tribute is also
paid to the revolutionary war soldiers. The words in the ribbon
banner read Liberty and Independence.
Historic Figures of Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, 1728-84: Patriot, statesman; born in Dover, Del.
He served in Delaware's provincial assembly from 1761 to 1776 with
only one break, in 1771. A member of the Continental Congress (1774
- 76), he rode 80 miles on horseback and arrived in Philadelphia
on July 2, 1776, just in time to cast a decisive vote in favor
of Richard Henry Lee's resolution on American independence. He
signed the Declaration of Independence, served again in the Continental
Congress (1777 - 78), and was president (governor) of Delaware
(1778 - 81). Delaware placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.
Oliver Evans, 1755-1819: Inventor, manufacturer; born near Newport,
Del. Self-taught, a natural mechanic, he invented a high-speed
machine for carding wool in 1777. By 1785, despite a chronic shortage
of funds, he had designed and built automatic machinery that made
it possible to mill grain in one continuous process. He became
America's first steam engine builder, improving on James Watt's
invention with several advanced models, including an amphibious
steam-powered dredging machine (1804), America's first self-propelled
land vehicle. In 1807 he established the Mars Iron Works; at the
time of his death, the company had produced some 50 steam engines.
Richard Allen, 1760-1831: Methodist minister and church founder,
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Born a slave, he was sold
as a child to a farmer in Delaware. He converted to Methodism as
a young man and then converted his owner, who allowed Allen to
obtain his freedom (italics ours). While working at odd jobs, he
educated himself and traveled throughout the mid-Atlantic state
preaching. By 1874 he was accepted as a Methodist preacher and
he returned to Philadelphia to preach (1786-87). After an incident
in which white parishioners forced the African-Americans present
to segregate themselves, Allen led his black parishioners to form
a Free African Society (1787). In 1794 he established a separate
Methodist church for African-Americans. In 1816 a number of independent
black Methodist churches around the Northeast came together to
form the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Allen was ordained
its first bishop (April 11, 1816) and led it until his death as
it expanded not only as a religious force but also in civil and
social activism. This has often been called one of the most enduring
institutions ever organized by African-Americans. Allen himself
was a strong patriot, even supporting the War of 1812, and he denounced
the notion of sending African-Americans to colonize in Africa.
Henry S. Canby, 1878-1961: Editor and writer, born in Wilmington,
Delaware, USA. A teacher of English at Yale University for over
20 years, he helped found the Saturday Review of Literature and
as its first editor (1924 - 36) made it into a top literary magazine;
he also wrote literary biographies and criticism, and a three-volume
autobiography.
Henry Heimlich,
1920-Present: Physician, born in Wilmington, Del. While a New
York City thoracic surgeon (1950 - 69), he developed a procedure
to reconstruct the esophagus, followed by the Heimlich valve
to help chest drainage. Moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, he devised
the antichoking "Heimlich maneuver" in
1974. A week later, the first choking victim was saved by the
method. Since its introduction, the Heimlich Maneuver has saved
50,000 people in the United States alone from choking or drowning.
In 1980, Dr Heimlich conceived of the Heimlich MicroTrachtm, a
tiny tube inserted into the trachea at the base of the neck under
local anesthesia. Immediately approved by the Food and Drug Administration,
the MicroTrachtm has many advantages over other methods of oxygen
delivery. During the 1980s, Dr. Heimlich also developed a method
for teaching stroke victims and other patients who were fed through
a tube to swallow again. He wrote Dr Heimlich's Home Guide to Emergency
Medical Situations (1981).
In the present decade, Dr. Heimlich has turned his attention to
two devastating illnesses for which medicine has not yet found
a cure - cancer and HIV.
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