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SOUTH AFRICA - AFRICA |
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Feedback from South Africa: |
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Newcastle, KZN Thought you may like to hear how things went in our part of SA: This was our 7th year of participation in Transformation Africa/GDOP. Although not our biggest attendance, there was a sizeable multicultural gathering representing a large percentage of the local churches in Newcastle. Each attendee was given a wrist band and requested to bring a food, clothing or blanket item for distribution among the underprivileged in our community. After some united praise and worship, folks were welcomed in the three main languages (Zulu, Afrikaans and English). Thereafter a dance group ministered to some appropriate music for the occasion. We were then led in the combined prayer for the world as all participated enthusiastically. A symbolic altar of unity was raised according to Joshua 24 vs. 12 following. Each person took a white stone, symbolically representing their commitment to work in unity with all Christians in Newcastle. The spiritual leaders of each church also symbolically took engraved granite blocks with the words “EEN IN CHRISTUS – 11.05.08 – ONE IN CHRIST”. These will be placed in visible places in each local church to remind us all of the commitment we’ve all made to work together for God’s purposes to be established in our community. The afternoon continued as various ministers led prayers focusing on the various prayer themes for the day. The gathering broke up into small groups to give impetus to the day of prayer. Umhlanga, KZN We had 54 people participating in the 24 hour night and day prayer for the 10 days prior to the 11th. On Friday night, the 9th of May, we had a Youth a night of prayer – which was a first for our church; and 6 children, did a prayer walk. The prayer walk incorporated 12 stations and every one had to pray for that station and prayers lasted for plus/minus 5 minutes per station. Before they started the prayer walk, we read 2 Chron 7:14 and asked them to repent of any sin that the Lord bring to their minds in order to be able to pray. At the end of the prayer walk we made footprints which we put up on the notice board to remind the congregation of the children that prayed for our church and for the youth and for the country and for the world. We had only 50 people gathering for an evening service since the Durbanites attends the Symphonic orchestra for Mother’s Day in the Botanic gardens or were on the beach, since we had a lovely summer’s day on Sunday the 11th!! Our programme was made up by:
We plan, together with the greater Durban area, to have a run-up next year for a DURBAN FOR JESUS GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER IN 2010. Harding, KZN We had a wonderful 10 day series of evening combined meetings which culminated in our meeting in the Town hall on Sunday 11 May 2-4 pm. God is doing a great work among the church groups here in Harding. God Bless! Bluewater Bay – Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape Gathering of the local church with about 120 people gathering for 1, 5 hours prayer. The impetus to unity and working together is vital for the renewal of the church. The Sunday meeting was preceded by ten days of one hour of prayer at a local church. Between 12 and 30 people gathered each evening. Thanks for your had work – not one prayer is wasted Haenertsburg, Limpopo In Haenertsburg, where there are 4 different churches, all 4 took part in a gathering in our village hall from 11:30 am – 1 pm. We had the Roman Catholic Prior, the Haenertsburg Christian Church Pastor, the United Church pastor (this church combines Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian) and the Africa Church Plant pastor all helping to lead the different sections. We had the service fully interpreted from English into Sepedi and Shona (we have a large number of Zimbabwean refugees living in our district) and the Africa Church choir sang a couple of Sepedi songs. All the hymns and prayers were translated into the three languages so everyone could participate and understand what was being said or prayed. There were about 100 people and we made sure we had at least 4 sessions of praying in small groups during the service as well as times of silence for repentance. Seeing we only began 10 days before this, as no one could decide who should co-ordinate it, it was a miracle that here was such a good turnout and response. After the service ea meal was provided for the Africa Church Plant folk who had to come straight from work to the prayer meeting and were going on to their own service after that. Praise God for his provision and enabling Louis Trichardt, Limpopo In Louis Trichardt, around 500 believers united in prayer and praises and worship on 11 May. It was wonderful to see how the churches joined hands on this day. Past Michael Dippenaar urged all to speak life over their situation and declare that God reigns. We prayed in small groups under leadership of the spiritual leaders of our town for our land, Zimbabwe for forgiveness and praise to God. The event was a great success. We hope to see much more believers join hands next year! Edenvale, Gauteng Here in Edenvale, the churches were supplied with information on the Global Day of Prayer and were asked to incorporate that in their services. Roodepoort, Gauteng Roodepoort’s Global Day of Prayer took place at NG Ontdekkerskruin. We had approximately 40-50 people from various churches. Pastors, Dominees, Reverends prayed for the various topics (i.e. crime, HIV/Aids, families, etc). It was really awesome to pray with other brothers and sisters in Christ from the different churches and cultural groups. The praise and worship was jus such a blessing that the people kept singing at the end – no one rushed to get home. I think everyone who attended this prayer meeting went home blessed. Kempton Park, Gauteng God het by ons ‘n amazing ding gedoen met die natuur; dit was sonskyn sonder ‘n reenwolk in die lug en toe het dit, tot almal se verbasing, ewe skielik begin reen. Groot druppel. Net waar ons was, nie eers buite die struktuur nie. Asof Hy sê as julle vir sonskyn vra, sale k vir julle sonskyn gee en as julle vir reen vra, sale k vir julle reengee en al werk sonskyn en reen selde gelyktydig saam, sale k vandag sommer albei vir julle gee want Ek is lus en Ek kan want Ek is God! Krugersdorp-Roodepoort, Gauteng Dis die derde jaar wat ons in Mindalore/Witpoortjie omgewing die Global Day of Prayer hou saam met die 24/7. Dit was ongelooflik lekker om saam met voorheen ‘vreemde’ denomnasies te kon bid. Die Here het werklik MURE tussen die kerke in die omgewing afgebreek en daar was 8 verskillende denominasies betrokke. Dus is die liggaam van Christus besig om gesond te word, en kon ons almal saam Nagmaal gebruik. Vir ander klink dit miskien nie baie wonderlik nie, maar vir ons omgewing is dit ABSOLUUT ‘N WONDERWERK!! Aan God al de eer! Rivonia- Johannesburg, Gauteng We had about 250 folk at Ridgeway Ministries in Rivonia and had a fantastic response. Instead of one group we divided into 7 prayer stations and used the prayers for the day as guidelines. Many folk wept as they prayed and we felt God coming through for Africa. A prophetic word was this. “The old boundary lines of Africa are coming down and as we see ourselves as one continent – Africans and I the Lord will restore you as I have promised.” Isaiah 62 Westonaria, Gauteng Net ‘n vinnige terugvoer van Wêreldbiddag in Westonaria. Ons program het geduur van 15:00 tot 16:30 en is bygewoon deur mense van verskillende denominasies. Alhoewel daar teleurstellend min mense opgedaag het (Moedersdag het ‘n rol gespeel) was on seen in die Gees en kon ons onsself voor God verootmoedig, ons skuld bely en intree vir ons dorp. Land en die wêreld. Dit was ‘n wonderlike geleentheid. Dankie dat ons kon deel wees en vir al die harde werk! Soweto – Sunrise Park, Gauteng We had prayers in our church from the 1st to the 11th; on the 9th we had a whole night prayer. The last day on 11th at 14h30 we were joined by other churches and we had a concert of prayer. Guess what, all heaven came down, we were truly blessed. We developed a hunger for GOD. Klerksdorp, Stilfontein & Orkney – North West Province The Spirit of the Lord has truly moved like a mighty wind through the KOSH area in the North West. People in Klerksdorp, Stilfontein and Orkney took hands, united and humbled themselves before God. Churches prayed in groups uninterrupted from 1-11th Starting from the 1st of May, groups of people, in every town, carried the cross from church to church, inter-denominational, handing over a blessing with the cross. The three crosses united on the 11th of May at 11h15 at AGS Oase and was then carried in a march of more than 500 people over the N12 to a big shipping mall where the final event took place On the 9th of May businesses closed shop between 12h00 – 13h00 and gathered for prayer. About 500 people attended the prayer meeting. At the same time about 80% of the schools in the KOSH area closed early and gathered in their school halls for prayer. The headmasters reported that the children had a awesome time praying together for their city and land. For me the highlight of our time was the Bible Reading Marathon. This started on 7th at 10h00, on a stage in the parking area of a big shopping mall. We read the bible out loud over a microphone without interruption. Nearly 250 people participated and we finished in 86 hours. What a blessing!! The Marathon was opened by our Mayor. He signed a declaration, committing himself to God and he continued reading the first chapter of the Bible. Three council members, his PA and his wife also participated in the reading. About 1500 people gathered for united prayer on the 11th at 12h00 We ended our festival at 18h00 in NG Goudkop where we celebrated the Bible in Afrikaans 75 yrs. About 1000 people attended. The community opened their hands and we received food, blankets, bibles and donations. We are organizing outreach teams that will go out in the community to serve Jesus. This was such a blessed time for the organizers. We’re already looking forward to next year! We believe that God has brought a unity in church leaders, businesses, schools and members of the community and our own will greatly benefit from it. Truly God has mad living waters spring up from dry barren ground!! New life is everywhere! Sun City, North West Province I prayed alone in my house because my group wanted to go out for Mother’s Day lunch. Seeing that this was not as agreed I could not join them and decided to enter into prayer alone. This nearly stole my joy but God strengthened my inner man and made me remember what I once said to pastor Bilong when the turn out at a Sun City revival was very low. I said; “Not everyone adheres to specific calls – only the called will attend” Based on the above, I then said to God that He knew before hand that I was going to pray alone and invited the Holy Spirit and Jesus, my Lord and Savior to be my partner. I read both congregation and pastor’s prayers and felt the mighty presence of the Lord with me. Willowmore, Eastern Cape This year we made a few changes for our global day of prayer. Our first year was very well supported and then we found numbers got less. We realized the morning service wasn’t working as too many didn’t want to go from their morning service into another service. We tried it at 3pm and held it in the biggest church in our village. We were over 300 people and at the end we all had communion together which was very special as well. There are part of our community however that is not attending these services and this is a matter of concern. We trust that the Lord will change their hands and attitudes. Colesberg, Northern Cape After three months of intensive intercession and preparations, it was Pentecostal time. The Mercy Ministries SA Team, consisting of rev Fanie & Mada Engelbrecht, Neels & Annabet Els as well as a Xhosa speaking Past Lucky Mabutyana & Maria Dos Santos (YWAM – background), arrived on 28th May. From 29th April – 2nd May a workshop on Healing Relationships was presented for 45 members of the VGK- & NGK in Africa. Rev Japie & Lizeth Taljaard of the NGK also attended the workshop. Those who grew up without fathers discovered the Fatherheart of God, and the two Xhosa speaking churches had the opportunity to express their feelings regarding matters which caused tension and woundedness between them. Prayers and acts of confession and forgiveness followed. Two series of Pentecostal services were then presented by MMSA-reverends at the NGK and VGK congregations respectively, which were concluded with a communitive Holy Communion Service on Sunday 11th May at the NG Church, which was attended by approximately 450 people. According to rev Ben Kock this was the first time in 151 years that these two congregations had communion together in this church building. Rev Els preached on forgiveness. After the sermon rev Els asked forgiveness for the way the whites and the NGK treated the coloured and the VGK in the past. Then Mr. Malgas, head of the Traffic Department, spontaneously stood up and forgave the whites and the NGK, and asked for forgiveness for their hatred towards the whites. Tears of relief and joy flowed freely. Communion was served by rev Taljaard and then rev Kock lead the congregation in prayers for SA, Africa and the world. At the end of the service the congregation lifted their hands spontaneously with the singing of the Battle Hymn. We trust that this is the beginning of a process of building new relationships between Christians from different churches in our community. Kuruman, Northern Cape It has been an honor and privilege to serve the Lord in our community for the past four years as co-ordinators of Transformation Africa. At the beginning of this century the Lord gave Graham Power a vision to invite firstly, the people of South Africa to come together and seek His face. This vision had two parts: Firstly the world to join together in prayer on Pentecost Sunday, and this vision was fulfilled in 2005, Our Kuruman region is part of this vision. In 2005 believers from all cultures and denominations came to pray together in Wrenchville; 2006 we gathered in Kuruman, 2007 in Mothibistadt, and 2008 once again in Wrenchville. We wish to thank every person who has participated; those who prayed from the old age home, other people in their own homes, churches, to those who assisted in organizing the gathering, and those who came together as the example set by the first disciples: Act2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. Kriel & Thubalihle, Mpumalanga At 15h00 on the 11th of May more than 200 people from the town of Kriel and Thubalihle came together to pray. Las year we were 50 and this year more than 200!! God is great! In the small town of Kriel there is more than 17 churches and we are very glad that this year we took hands with more than 200 co-believers! Sabie & Graskop, Mpumalanga It surely is wonderful to read all the stories coming in and to see that God is working despite the constant bad news in the media. W really need to be praying for our media and their preoccupation with the bad and the ugly while ignoring the good! In Sabie we had a very successful event, around 140 people in the town hall, which was about the same number as last year. We have still been unable to gain the participation of the main Afrikaans churches despite encouragement. We are happy to report that there is greater participation from the local township churches, and next year are considering splitting into two locations which will make it easier for people to get toe the venues. This year we tried to be more inclusive, with more prayer action coming from the floor, small group prayers, and do on, rather than having prayers only led by pastors. We also wanted to expose our towns Christians to different styles of prayer which they may not be accustomed to. Graskop held their event once more in a tent in township. Approximately 200 people and quite a few more churches than last year participated, so it was a huge success. Piet Retief, Mpumalanga Psalm 133 says the following: On Sunday the 11th of May everyone who attended the Global Day of Prayer in the town hall of Piet Retief experienced this Godly love and unity amongst fellow believers. May God bestow His blessings on our Town! Four hundred Christians from different denominations and cultures attended the Global Day of Prayer in the town hall of Piet Retief. Together with millios of Christians around the world they prayed, repentedand worshipped God. The Global day of Prayer was precededby ten days of Prayer which started on Ascension Day the Christians of Piet Retief started praying for ten days for our continent, country and town. They gathered at a different church every evening at 18h00 to cry out to God. The tend days of Prayer ended in the Global Day of Prayer on Pentecost Sunday. Daniel Brink, from Jericho Walls Prayer Network was the guest speaker. He reminded the people gathered that when God wants to do a new thing in the earth, He first calls His Church to pray. In the last 3 years there was an unprecedented increase in prayer, not only in South Africa, but world wide. The Lord said in Isaiah 62:6, “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silet day or night. You, who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest,” 24 Hour Prayer Watches are increasing daily worldwide. In South Africa alone there are over 3000, 24hour Prayer Watches. The Mkondo 24 hour Prayer Watch has also been launced on the Global Day of Prayer. Uschi Filter is the coordinator. May the love and unity that we experienced in the town hall of Piet Retief on Pentecost Sunday increase more and more in our town and surrounding areas for Jesus Christ said in John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”. Witsieshoek, Free State We are grateful to the Lord for enabling us to hold this significant event We gathered in a hall at the hospital, about 58 people attended, with more than ten pastors; for pastors to share the platform in this way is a real achievement. To us statistics is not an issue, what matters most is the attitude and motive (God is not impressed by multitudes but by a broken heart). There was unity and oneness of heart. People were deeply touched and blessed. Odendaalsrus, Free State We gathered in the JC Motumi school hall. Leeu Gamka, Western Cape Here was goed vir ons in all opsigte – glo daar’s ‘n groot deurbraak in die hemele. Hopefield, Western Cape Our prayer meeting was a huge success and a blessing besides the rain and the celebration of Mother’s Day. We had a overcrowded venue and the spirit amongst the brothers and sisters were overwhelming and the atmosphere was really fantastic. The day was attended by people from Moorreesburg, Hopefield and Vredenburg. Except for one spiritual dance and praise and worship, we spent out time in prayer. One highlight of the event was when the youth, who were well attended, stepped forward to pray for the church leaders and also commit themselves to serve them. The leaders then did the same and promised the youth to be their mentors and help them in any way they can. That was indeed prayer answered (Mal 4:6) Everybody agreed, our prayer event was a success and a blessing. Here are a few reports from individuals: “Ps 133:3 …. ‘Where there is unity God commands a blessings’ this was what I experienced on Sunday afternoon in Hopefield when everybody praised God and called upon His name to heal our towns and restore our youth. All borders (church, race, age and sex) disappeared. Thanks for the privilege to share this unique time with you.” Marina Khun “People went home with more what they bargained for. I believe all the prayer requests were the correct ones for out towns and that was encouraging. It was a WOW experience. It was great to be part of the prayer event in Hopefield and we want to become more involved in the prayer initiatives of the West Coast.” Ingrid Barbery “First of all we want to thank you for al well organized and successful event. It was a bridge building event between the different denominations. We all had a common goal – to glorify God and worship Him.” AGS, Moorreesburg “The event really edifies me and to be part of it was a huge bonus. Let’s do it more and more and not once a year.” Past Nicolas “For the Police Service to be part of the event was a real blessing. The highlight of the day was to see and hear such a huge amount of people praying a change in our communities.” Child Protection Unit – SAPS Belhar – Cape Town, Western Cape We were about 300 people that gathered at our venue in Belhar. It was truly wonderful to se our pastors rallied their congregants to attend the GDOP and the role that the youth played must be commended. We believe that as our prayers ascended, so did our faith to see the hand of God manifested in our communities. Hope burned brighter that day! The picture below was taken in Sekhukhune land in the Limpopo Province. Apart from the fact that history was made when the different denominations took hands in Unity for the first time and 16 different venues prayed, these “young men” went to the highest point and prayed the Prayer for the World, taking along their Shofar and proclaiming the area for the Lord.
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If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land
(2 Chron.7: 14)
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