Michael Leroy Bickle (born July 17, 1955) is an American evangelical leader best known for his leadership of the International House of Prayer (IHOPKC). As the leader of IHOPKC, Bickle oversees several ministries and a Bible school. Bickle has written a number of books and served as the pastor of multiple churches. Ministry Mike Bickle became an evangelical Christian at fifteen when his football coach paid his way to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes student conference in Estes Park, Colorado. After listening to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach speak of his "personal relationship with Jesus," Bickle committed himself to become an evangelical Christian. After serving as a pastor in several evangelical churches in St. Louis, Bickle moved to Kansas City to start the Kansas City Fellowship (now known as South Kansas City Fellowship) in November 1982. Eventually, Kansas City Fellowship joined the Association of Vineyard Churches led by John Wimber in 1990, and was renamed Metro Vineyard Christian Fellowship. It remained a part of that association of churches until 1996. During his tenure as the pastor of Metro Christian Fellowship, Bickle pastored a group known to both detractors and supporters as the Kansas City Prophets that, by some accounts, included Bob Jones, Paul Cain, John Paul Jackson, and others. Bickle asserted no formal group known as the Kansas City Prophets ever existed, but that the term "clustered a whole bunch of personalities into one group and one stereotype." During his ministry, Bickle claims to have had several encounters with God, including hearing the audible voice of God and being taken to heaven twice. In 1999, Bickle stopped working for the church that he was pastoring, Metro Christian Fellowship, then a megachurch of over three thousand members. He then started the International House of Prayer (also known by its acronym IHOPKC). IHOPKC is most well known for its daily prayer meetings based on its "harp and bowl" worship model that are held 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since September 19, 1999. IHOPKC also established a Bible college, known as the International House of Prayer University and several internships for young adults. In addition to these training programs, IHOPKC also organizes various evangelism and charitable programs locally and internationally. The ministry currently consists of approximately 2,500 full-time staff members, students, and interns. IHOPKC organized an annual Onething conference at the Kansas City Convention Center. In