On 15
May
2005 a total of 156 countries united in repentance and prayer
to seek God's glory. Millions of Christians participated in 24/7 prayer
rallies and fasting during the 10 days leading up to 15 May.
International television channels broadcast numerous events
reaching people who could not gather at a stadium, church or other public venue.
Even in countries where Christians are still persecuted they came together secretly in order to join the rest of the world.
This was the biggest Christian prayer gathering in history.
We have received several reports from countries where Christians had to pray secretly in order to prevent persecution. Let's appreciate our freedom to praise God in public and pray for the countries where this is still a dream.
Here is a list of the countries we received reports from.
Just click on the link to the country's report you wish to read.
"At over 146 venues all around Australia people will be in combined thanksgiving services and global day of prayer activities over this weekend. For such a little push this year it is so exciting what God is doing down under. I can't wait until we go all out next year and actually really get involved.
Bahrain
Due to sensitivity reports cannot be published.
Under a glorious canopy of blue skies and amid recorded strains of classical sacred music, Bermuda’s celebration of the Global Day of prayer took place. With the blessings and presence of the Premier, hundreds of Bermuda’s multicultural interracial populations filed into the Bermuda National Sports Centre to pray with a sense of joy and expectancy. This specific period of prayer was being observed in twelve time zones by at least 215,000,000 million people from 151 nations around the world.
Bermuda has never experienced this before, this is the first time believers from all walks of life came together to join our hearts with millions around the world to pray. It was the most moving experience for Bermuda. The feedback . . . "It was awesome"!
“We had a wonderful time of prayer in Lobatse, Botswana. We were only 47 people, but we really had a great time in the Lord's presence.
The reason for the low numbers is that we had two events in Lobatse: 1) the Pentecost Celebrations, and 2) the Transformation Prayer Day. Unfortunately, the people involved, were not in a position to cancel or combine and we decided that the congregations were to send representatives to both events, which is what happened. We only have about 22 Pentecostal ministries in Lobatse and they were all very well represented at both events.”
"Today the Presbyterian Churches, directed by Rev. David Quisbert in the cities of "LA PAZ" and "EL ALTO" (over 13 thousand feet of altitude in BOLIVIA, South America) was united in PRAYER with YOU. We are having Blessings Services today. God blesses you. Greetings in the Love of Jesus."
"Our GDOP event started at 9 pm on Saturday, 14 May and ended at 5 am on Pentecost Sunday, 15 May. It was held in St. Andrew's Church Parish Hall and the prayer time started with some 150 people (at 9 am) ending with about 80 people (at 5 am). Our event started with worship, personal reflection time and a sharing based on Habakkuk 2 : 14 and what the glory of the Lord means in 5 areas of our lives : in worship, in unity, in becoming like Christ, in serving the body and community, and in telling others about Jesus.
“I am happy to let you know that the day of prayer went well here in Bujumbura - Burundi. It was nice to see so many church and Christian organizations meeting for the same reason, which was praying for Burundi, Africa and the world. We thank God that many leaders came.”
Cambodia
Due to sensitivity reports cannot be published.
"Despite all odds, no light (even the generator hired broke down during the program), heavy down pours at the beginning of the meeting, poor funding. . . more than 400 Christians still challenged the rain and came for the meeting. It was great as the prayers were beamed to the Lord whose presence could easily be felt.
We thank God for testimonies that are very encouraging. People are happy, they prayed and are willing to be involved next year. To God alone, we give the glory!
People also gathered in Dschang and others prayed in churches in Mbouda and in Foumbot. Their repport is also very satifactory. More details will be coming soon"
Canada
"Praise the Lord! 500 people, representing every
congregation in our mountain valley and many First Nation
believers gathered outdoors to celebrate the birthday of the
Christian Church and to join with the Global Day of Prayer.
Our day included lots of fun with free pony, horse and wagon
rides, group activities and a large BBQ. The Scriptures were
continuously read and a number of worship teams filled the
air with praise. The day concluded with a prayer for the
world service.Thank you, Africa, for leading the way."
Overall it was a remarkable day and event."
Calgary,
Alberta
“I was blessed.” “It was inspiring…” “I felt the presence of
the Holy Spirit….” “It was incredible - the amazing oneness
among the believers in so many churches….” “Thank you for
connecting us with others around the world.” “Awesome!” “I
could not contain my tears.” These are just a few comments
heard after 11,000 + filled the Pengrowth Saddledome to join
with the world to worship and pray to our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
Prince George: The event included representatives, prayer leaders, worship teams, dancers, singers, and speakers from a wide spectrum of Christian traditions. Participants we engaged in a prayer journey and celebration of Christian diversity that ran the gamut from Catholic contemplative to Charismatic exuberance. In all, it was an awesome experience...an awesome time of prayer...and an awesome unifying event for the family of Christ in Prince George."
“Greetings in Lord Jesus' name! Global Day of Prayer in Central African Republic was a great event in the capital Bangui as well as in 33 other cities all over the country. In Bangui it was something we had never seen before in the National Stadium. We gathered despite many gun shootings resulting of political trouble in the northern part of the capital due to contest of the elections partial results. Many denominations and church leaders attended this meeting from 14h00 to 18h00. Both Catholics and Protestants prayed together for our country and other African nations; it was fantastic!
This prayer brought peace amongst political leaders. For the time everything is calm and rest is a reality. For other cities many miracles occurred afterwards. In the City of Ndolobo and Nola the factory owners decided to resume their activities and rise the salaries of all workers.”
"Our Global Day of Prayer celebration was held in Constitution Plaza just outside the Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile. About 4,000 people were in attendance from a wide range of denominations and churches.
It was truly remarkable and very touching to see the doors of the Presidential Palace remain open into the night during the prayer event, especially considering the fact that they normally close at 7:00 PM! Comments following the event were uniformly positive: "it was marvellous", "how beautiful to see the pastors together", ”this is a new beginning", "how excellent", "this is revival", etc."
"One of the unofficial sites participating in the GDOP event was Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Knowing that we would be there, I asked if they would like to participate in the GDOP. There wasn't enough notice to get an arena for the event, but someone suggested that we get a bus. So that's what we did. We held a "drive by praying" event, stopping to pray at key sites on the Naval Base. We designated someone to lead in prayer at each stop and we sang praise and worship songs in between the stops. It was an awesome event!"
"All four Sri Lankan Churches in Cyprus were represented at the Global Day of Prayer.We all could sense that the Lord was revealing His plans for Cyprus and was strengthening His people and also guiding them in achieving His plans & purposes for Cyprus. Everyone who was gathered cried to the Lord enthusiastically for the salvation of Cyprus. The way the event was organized challenged those gathered to stand up for the Kingdom of God.
As Sri Lankan Christians living in Cyprus we committed ourselves to pray for the salvation of Cyprus unceasingly
The Lord's Plan of Salvation for this land shall be expedited in the Name of Jesus- Amen!"
"We had our meeting in Kinshasa, not in stadium but in the protestant cathedral with around 5 000 people. We had another prayer time, as a follow up of May 15th, on June 19 and June 29 in Kinshasa, in Matadi, Gemena, Mbandaka."
The Mokattam Mountain was shaking because of the joy and the praises. Jesus did not come on a donkey this day but on a cloud over the Mokattam hill.
More over, 4 000 Sudanese gathered together in Egypt in a school hall, praying on the Global Day of Prayer. They were crying out for Sudan and that God will intervene and heal their nation.”
Separate report from Egypt:
“Thank God for what He is doing through Transformation
Africa in Africa and around the World. Last year our ministry ‘Conquer the
World’ together with ‘Faith ministry’ organized the African Day of Prayer on
2 May 2004. This year the Sudanese and Fricans joined in the land of Egypt
when over 4 000 people gathered to pray with you for God’s Glory in our time
and to be blessed in His Grace.”
"Fiji was the first nation to call the world to prayer on 15 May 2005. The President of the Republic of Fiji Islands opened the day by Praying for the world. The Prime Minister, who has been described as a passionate man of God, spoke of the country’s need for God and led the country in a prayer for Fiji."
We were blessed to be able to join the global community for the second year. By the grace of God, several churches were mobilised for the first time. We had feedback from Auch where a special Sunday prayer service was organized. In Toulon, about 50 people gathered. Our own meeting in St Etienne brought about 60 people together in for non stop incredible moments of prayer from 10 A.M. to 11P.M.
We saw reconciliation between people groups, nations and more. Other services were organized in two other assemblies of Saint-Etienne, in Paris and in Le Puy en Velay. Everywhere, people were encouraged and lifted up as we were able to pour out our hearts before God for nations of the world. We are thankful to our Lord. To Him all the glory. Hopefully, 2006 will see even greater meetings throughout France. (Nestor Pakasa. coordinator)
“Dear praying friends! In the morning of Sunday May 15, 2005, the Sovereign God thundered about 10 powerful blasts of thunder without lightning as it was responding to prayers of the nations. The prayer teams from different denominations started to arrive at the Ghana Trade Fair Centre, Pavilion from 13h00. The number increased and soon the sound of their cries could be heard in the "upper room". Most of the denominations started arriving from 14h30. The place was charged with the presence of the Holy Spirit and God was certainly in the midst of His people. The groups comprised of Pentecostals, Charismatic, Orthodox Churches, and other independent Churches. There were also other gatherings in the various regions of our country.”
- About 3,000 local Christians
gathered together for two hours on Sunday
afternoon, to join in with the worldwide effort of
prayer this day.
Godfrey Bertle led us in prayer and praise-worship, and
that galvanized the congregation to move out of the
stands and to gather on the pit-grass. It was a good
couple of hours of bringing people together and getting
them focused on local, national and international
needs. This country surely is in need; we have had six
million abortions since 1968, and have about one
trillion pounds, or $1.8 trillion, of consumer debt
across this nation.
And that’s just two of the many statistics that have recently been released by the Christian organization Maranatha Community here in England. They have done a lot of research on the needs of this nation. - There was a second stadium event in Northern Ireland, in Belfast, bringing together Christians from across that part of the country. Between these two events, there have been some smaller events organized in various cities up and down the land and in the U.K.
Thus, England and the U.K. have been taking part in the Global Day of Prayer along with the rest of the world.
It was a bald question from the video "The Quickening" that began the process.
"What would happen if 50% of God's people came together for a prayer meeting? . What if a strong representation of the body of Christ came together? What would happen? God would come! So the question is, "Why don't we do it?"
We had no reasonable answer. Conscious of the 22,000 million Africans who had invited the rest of the world to join them in a Global Day of Prayer on Sunday 15th May 2005, we felt we must ask Churches Together in Medway to consider it. The Executive Committee did, and unanimously agreed to go ahead and invite the churches of Medway to spend 10 days in prayer and fasting, culminating in 3 hours together on Pentecost Sunday.
39 churches in Medway were represented on the day - that's more than 50%!
The previous week, organized by the Medway Christian Youth Forum, saw many people gather to pray every evening between 7.00pm and 9.00pm at the Emmaus Church Centre in Chatham, climaxing in 7 hours of prayer the Saturday prior to the main gathering.
The on-going focus is to see God visit these towns in a fresh wave of His mercy and love, bringing about righteousness and Godliness in our community, as in so many other parts of the world today. The hope is to continue with the Global Day of Prayer until 2010.
York: To celebrate the culmination of ten days of city wide prayer and the Global Day of Prayer, a Fire Festival took place on Pentecost Sunday in York Minster. The many churches of York were invited under the umbrella of 'One Voice'. Soon after 7.30 pm people started to gather in York Minster, entering through the South Door next to the statue of Constantine who became Roman Emperor in York. At 8 pm we started with a song lead by David Casswell Vicar of Clifton Parish and co-chair of One Voice. Then Graham Hutchinson of The Elim Pentecostal Church and the other co-chair of One Voice lead the next 30 minutes as we prayed for our city. Prayer took place individually and in different groups as Christians who didn't know each other joined together in prayer to God.
In the next section, John Davies, Vicar of Huntington Parish, lead 30 minutes of prayer for our nation. Included in this section was a time for quiet prayer as well as 'Acts 4' praying where we all raised our voices together.
The final section was lead by Stephen Redman of the Ark Church and we prayed for breakthroughs into countries ‘closed to the gospel’, we prayed for world leaders and the success of the ‘make poverty history’ initiative. A final push of prayer was made for Iraq, Israel and Palestine - three geographical areas that dominated Bible times and who also dominate the news today.
Over 450 people came to pray from many different churches in the city. During the gathering two young people found Jesus as Saviour for the first time. Who said prayer meetings weren’t seeker friendly? We gathered together on the steps of the Minster whilst burning torches were lit. Then we marched to the fountain in the centre of the city, lit the remaining torches and processed out of the four gates of the city. At each gate a crowd gathered around three torch bearers as we prayed at these strategic places on the walls of York.
As we walked through the city we distributed full colour postcards explaining what the Fire Festival was about - they were well received by the public. The feedback has been tremendous! We rejoice about young people who found Jesus and that the average age of the praying congregation was young people. Seeing Christians from a great number of churches altogether praying in one place is a huge step forward.
It was also said that seeing two Anglican Vicars, a Pentecostal and an independent minister all working together as brothers, was an inspiration. Someone said to Stephen Redman “you ministers actually looked like you all got on well together”. His reply was “that is because we do!”
For an event organised at relatively short notice with no publicity other than word of mouth, this was a huge success - and now we start to plan for next year!
Haiti
"A historic event occurred in Cape Haitian on this day, a day to
be remembered. A day that marks the beginning of the
transformation of this city. Christians numbering between 2 000
and 3 000 assembled in the heart of Cape Haitian for a three
hour meeting of prayer, repentance and worship of the One True
God. On the city part referred to as 18th street park in front
of the Mayors offices and the Catholic Cathedral these
Christians met to lift their voices to heaven and intercede for
their city and nation. City officials, policemen, pastors,
businessmen, merchants and so many others came to make a
difference.
The Mayor led the people in prayer on their knees, a prayer for
the city and country. Powerful messages were delivered, and many
prayers were lifted up.
The event started with a lively dance and a spectacular flag parade. As the flag bearers entered the stadium each bearing a flag of a different nation of the world, the crowd erupted into applause and were also moved to tears as Hong Kong was reminded that they were joining the 200 million believers from around the world in prayer. With the blowing of the shofars and the proclamation of Psalm 24, the event continued with the worship team and 1000-member choir leading the crowds in joyful worship.
The prayers for the world were first lifted up
to the Lord as government officials and pastors prayed for the different
nations. They prayed for world peace, protection from natural disasters, and
unity in families of people around the world. At this time, the crowds also
prayed for China, the motherland of Hong Kong.
The crowd in the stadium was asked to all
stand and face north, the direction of China, and to lift their hands to
pray a blessing upon China.
The event closed with a blessing and the exuberant song of praise 'Stand up for Jesus'.
The parts that touched me most in the event were the flag parade and when all the pastors went on stage and held hands to show their commitment to unity. The flag parade reminded me that we, the small city of Hong Kong, were part of the united prayer movement of the world and just as we prayed for every nation that was represented with a flag, those countries were praying for us. Then, it was so moving to see pastoral staff come together in unity to declare that they belong, not to a certain church or denomination, but that they belong to and serve the Church of Hong Kong". - Christine Ma
"We prayed in the Evangelical Church of Iraq, Duhok."
"National Prayer Network conducted GDOP meetings in 60 places mobilizing more than 500,000 people with indigenous funds in India."
"As we ended in Jamaica and lit the torch that will be taken to every parish in Jamaica over the next 100 days, a rainbow appeared behind the platform where everyone could see. I don't know what to expect from God specifically but these are days of great awakening and revival and as Christians we must, more than ever, humble ourselves before God and make things right with those we have wronged.
We must be in unity with each other. We must truly endeavour to love Him and spend as much time as we can alone with Him in prayer, praise and adoration."
Due to sensitivity, reports cannot be published.
"On the 15th of May we organized a gathering with representatives of all Christian denominations in Lebanon, Catholics orthodox, evangelicals, Armenians and Syrian orthodox joined together to lift up Lebanon with one voice before the Lord. There was a time of worship together, repentance, humbling ourselves and reconciliation between denominations which we believe had an effect in heaven. Lebanon is known to be the land of divisions, and on the 15th of May we experienced unity between Christians that is prophetic for the times to come. “Whatever we lose on earth will be lost in heaven". It was a glorious time that we believe brought a smile on the Father's heart.
Publicity:
The Christian radio station gave good coverage from 6 May
continuously. These included prayer messages and people praying
by telephone day and night. Government run TV and radio gave
good support on publicity. Some Christian leaders covered the
prayer event on their regular radio programmes. Districts were
mobilized also by one of the prayer leaders. We have indication
that 7 out of 10 districts participated.
Plans:
In Maseru all-night prayer for the youth took place on 14 May at
the convention centre. The same venue was used for the main
prayer event on 15 May. There was a youth march on 15 May,
marching with songs and praises between 12h00 and 14h00 when the
event started. Communities in world vision projects in various
locations have been mobilised to join in prayer, the prisoners
were encouraged to participate. Harvest Christian radio station
and Sotho Television provided live coverage during the event.
Praise items:
The grace of God was experienced throughout the preparations.
Participation in joint prayer sessions was remarkable. People
donated with so much joy and excitement to rent the convention
centre. Christian organizations like Life ministry, World
vision, Bible society and others, provided support where needed.
We give praise and honour to our Heavenly Father in the name of
Jesus!”
“Here in the West African nation of Liberia, the Liberian Council of Churches only found out a few days ago about the Global Day of Prayer, but the local church here had already planned a week-long prayer event.
Liberia is a country that is just emerging from over 14 years of devastating civil war, and the UN is now the main peacekeeping force here.
But today, the local church here is united with Christians all over the world, praying for peace upon the continent of Africa. But, specifically, the Christians here prayed for peace and unity upon the country, the church and the people of Liberia.”
Macau SAR, China
"Wow!
Only one word to express Macau's GDOP : A-W-E-S-O-M-E !
Macau will never be the same again! With the strong presence of God we had
made history for Macau
This is the first time ever that so many pastors and different churches, missionaries, believers from different nations and races gathered together and prayed in unification. They were all friendly, happy and glad to see and met each other at the venue, a very loving sight.
The Baptist School Hall that have around 700 seats was extended to 900 seat with some standing at the back. The strong presence of the Holy Spirit started the evening, and during our praise & worship, which was sang bilingual at the same time, rocked the whole building! Wow!! Some sang, some shouted, some prayed out loud with declaration and tongues. Oh my God! it was magnificent!
When each of the pastors came out and prayed for personal, family, church, city, nation, they were all so blessed that you could actually felt the works of God on them. The climate raised when we all prayed the "World Prayer" together in one voice, one heart and one spirit, which I can imagine how the other nations around the globe must had felt - very, very touching ! Many cried with happiness and the love of God poured down onto them. The glory of God filled the whole venue and the fire of the Holy Spirit kept flaming up!
At the finale when we sang "The Song Of Unity", we had invited all the pastors, missionaries, youth leaders to stand up and presented each of them with the GDOP wrist bands which Mr. Graham Power had given me. The 100 pieces of course were not enough to satisfy the large crowd, but still that was a good sign of unity! This kind of scene you would never see in a hundred years in Macau! Praise the Lord!"
"For the first time we took part in this Global day of Prayer in Antananarivo.
We started rather small this year but every church representative was there!
A Great Church leader in Antananarivo shared
the Word of God and the people of God prayed together on 15 May.
That was wonderful; we saw the presence of God. And we realised the communion
all around the World."
“I wish to make a preliminary report that in Blantyre, Malawi, Christians assembled for prayer at PRC Worship Centre against a background of no committee meetings and attacks of the enemy who wanted the event to be called off this year.
Though the people were few there was a broken and contrite spirit. This fewness in numbers made the people to mourn and weep for Malawi and the plight of Africa. We prayed up to 17h00. We had to stop because our time was up in the hired venue. We are thinking of formalizing Transformation Africa here that we should be meeting regularly - at least once a month.”
"Most of the churches participated in the 10 days of prayer and on the 15th of May, about a 1000 people gathered together to seek God's face.
We also organized our first ever boiler room in partnership with Youth for Christ which brought together about 100 young people for two days. It was exciting to see the young people excited about praying for their generation. Many of the young people are now so excited and are planning to organize it in their local churches. To God be all the glory."
"We had an interdenominational prayer meeting. We prayed for nearly 3 hours on May 15/05 plus our own church (about 75 people) prayed during the week before. The week following the event we had a full 24 hours/7 days covered. Those who participated really felt the Lord was with us and working through us. There was sure great excitement as we thought of joining the other millions of believers around the world in prayer and believing God to transform and change our world. God bless you all."
Opuwo:
“Last Sunday we had the Global Day of Prayer here in Opuwo. Pieter and two other pastors (Nazarene & Mission Work) organised everything and with the HELP of the Holy Spirit we had a most successful day. All the Christians met in their church buildings at 09h00 and then started marching to the stadium where about 600 people attended the 5½ hour meeting. Pastors of nearly all the local churches led the different prayer topics.”
Windhoek:
“We thank the Lord for the wonderful Day of Prayer that we had
on Sunday 15 May 2005. The stadium was packed with more or less
600 people who were united in prayer for 3 hours. The program
was lead by 9 church leaders from different denominations and we
had various praise and worship items. Programs, gift packs, a
Bible Study Book, prayer guidelines as well as other literature
was handed out to everyone who attended. We are busy working on
a follow up day of Prayer.
Nepal
Nepalgunj-Bankey, Mid Western Nepal
During these days of prayer many things happened at our Church and in the lives of many people who joined this event. A woman of around 60 years old joined our prayer rally - she was sick for long time. At the meeting she was healed completely, her name is Gyanu Sherestha.
Many Christian families who were under the bondages of satanic powers have been set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. Five new families have come to Christ and they attend our fellowship regularly . We thank God for doing such a miracle through these prayer days.
On the morning of 16 May, we had a very good closing of the Global Prayer Day, because from 17 May we have Gospel outreach to Simla in India. Now 12 people are working in Simla in North West India where a large number of Nepalese people live. Please pray for them, they will be coming back on 5 June.
I would like to inform you that at Piple Village (170km southwest of Kathmandu) of Nepal, 350 believers were involved in praying on 15 May .
Praise the Lord. May God bless you.
"My youth group participated in the global day of prayer and it was awesome. Some of us prayed for 13 hours non stop and the presence of God was really strong ... we haven't had this for a while because our church has been through a lot of trouble ... and people are lethargic and weary about their faith now.
Praise God though because as a result of our prayer our pastor was woken up by God who told him to change his message which he did ... as a result a visiting man gave his heart to God ... His wife had been praying for his salvation for 25 years!"
"The Global Day of Prayer May 15 2005 was observed in several cities and university campuses around Nigeria. In Lagos 10-days and nights of prayer were observed in several churches in the city.
At a meeting held at the Gymnasium hall of the National Stadium, Surulere attendance was about 500. About 16 Ministries and Churches including the orthodox participated actively.
Children and youth led sessions of prayer in the meeting.
Kaduna: On the 15th May 2005, the
Global Day of prayer was observed in collaboration with Kaduna Missions
Convention (KMC), a fellowship of Mission minded Churches and groups. The
venue was the Chapel of GoodNews ABUTH Kaduna. The meeting was attended by
about 25 different churches and mission agencies. The prayer session lasted
for 3 hours.
Gombe: Despite the change of venue, which was earlier scheduled for
Fantami Stadium, there was a turn out of people from various denominations
numbering over 700.
Ilorin The meeting held on May 25 at the UMCA church. Attendance was 72.
Bukuru: The prayer was organized at strategic places in Jos. All the
Churches in Bukuru were organized in collaboration with the Bible Society of
Nigeria Attendance was over 500 people.
Several universities took part in the Day of Prayer."
Pakistan
"We from Karachi greet you all in the name of Jesus! Over 6 000 Christians gathered on May 15 and it was amazing because God turned up and many were blessed, filled with the Holy Spirit and healed because of His mighty presence.
Indeed the Lord our God has done something new that, even if people were told, they would not believe. I keep pinching myself to make sure it's not a dream.
It has never happened that leaders from all over Karachi & from different denominations come together in one place to pray to bless our nation & the world because of division and strife that is so deeply imbedded in the hearts and minds of the Christian leaders. But God was at work as He started breaking down the walls of division and started building the walls of unity. Praise the Lord. It is a new and a marvellous thing."
One person said, "Truly the presence of the Lord was so awesome that I could not stand."
We shall continue to meet twice a month to pray, fast, fellowship and to build the walls of unity.
Rawalpindi:
"We arranged 4 prayer meetings. The first meeting was held on
6th May in a local church and about 100 plus people attended.
The main meeting was held on 15th May at Saint Paul's Church, Rawalpindi. About 200 plus people from different denominations
attended this meeting.
We did a special prayer for people who wanted to be baptized by
the Holy Spirit, as it was Pentecost day. We prayed and 5 people
were baptized with the Holy Spirit, several got blessed with a
fresh outporing of the Holy Spirit. Then, guided by the Holy
Spirit, we went into the seating rows and blessed the people.
The Lord spoke to several people through prophetic prayer and
prophecies."
"We were so blessed to have confirmation that 17 churches in the Davao City region of Philippines joined us in prayer on Sunday. These churches are committed to the vision of transformation in this country and will be further encouraged when the door is opened for our next outreach/missions trip organized for later this year!"
“Let me tell you that our time on 15 May was very AWESOME and GREAT. We really saw how the Holy Ghost works when the people of God are together in worshiping and praying to arise the name above all names: JESUS. Hallelujah! I am very excited; I will send more details later.”
Qatar
Due to sensitivity reports cannot be published
"Cornel Boingeanu is a Pastor with the GDOP in Romania. He said, “Churches of different denominations expressed their desire to mark this moment with a special time of prayer. Today, believers from all the Evangelical churches gathered together in the morning, in the evening, as well as in-between services, to pray to God, together with our brothers from all over the world.”
The Romanian involvement with the Global Day of Prayer, though intense, did not match the full stadiums of Africa for size. But Africans have been doing this for several years. Like many fellow Europeans, Romanians hope that next year's event will involve many more of their country's churches."
"According to our information on May 15 about 3.5 thousand Russian churches (about 120 thousand people each) participated in the prayer. The united prayer services were carried out in the following cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kursk, Maloyaroslavets, Kislovodsk. About 100 hundred churches participated in 24-hour prayer from in May 6-15."
“This Pentecost has been exceptional because it was the first time that different denominations could come together on such an important day to call upon the Lord so that He will fulfil His promises. AEE did not find it difficult to mobilize the churches because a network we have put in place, called the ‘Watchmen’, is fully operational in Kigali and also in the formative phase in 14 towns of Rwanda. The chairpersons of interdenominational committees came together to receive the vision of the Global Day of Prayer and we ended up discussing the practical details about its implementation. The idea of praying was pertinent for our country because the Gacaca process is resurrecting pain, anger and fear. The only challenge was to enlarge our scope of coverage as wounded people or nations tend to be egocentric. All of us agreed that each town would form a 10-day prayer chain that consisted of different denominations in their provinces.
The finances became a huge hindrance to organizing stadium prayer rallies in different provinces. As to Kigali itself, different denominations formed their own prayer chains but our team focussed on 20 intercessors groups who shared the prayer items and intensely interceded. The churches gave 10 people, men and women of prayer, who faithfully spent 10 days and nights of fasting and prayer at the AEE Prayer house from May 6th to 15th 2005.
How grateful we are to God seeing the age span of these warriors. Some young and some old, widows and orphans were amongst the people blessing the world out there. Maybe you will not understand this but Rwanda should be very resentful of the world for the international community left us at our hour of need, during the genocide.
On May 15, our team spread in 10 different denominations close
to the stadium and shared a word of encouragement and hope but
also urged the congregation to pray that God will fulfil His
promises for Rwanda and the whole world.
At 15h00 about 5 000 people flocked in the Kigali stadium to cry
to God. We were thankful to see so many pastors before their
flock. People representing 12 provinces stood up for their
native provinces, and the congregation lifted up prayers asking
God for a total transformation of the nation.
From the book of Psalm 65: 1-5, the charismatic preacher,
Apostle Joshua Masasu, reminded the people that our God listens
and answers prayers. He also pointed at times when God sent
angels or people to rescue his people but prophetically
announced that this time God will come himself to bring
salvation, restoration, healing and new hope to His people
(Isaiah 35). The message was so powerful that tears were shed,
this time not of grieving and mourning but of hope.
The flock wholeheartedly interceded for this lost world, for
African nations in difficulty such as Congo, Burundi, Zimbabwe
and Sudan but also for countries and governments that have not
yet come to know and honour the Lord Jesus as King and Saviour.
It is not surprising that when people were asked to come to the
Lord (in Rwanda you cannot hold a rally without an altar call to
repentance) 50 people gave their hearts to the Lord for the
first time.
We thank God for He listens to prayer!!”
"To God be the glory who was, Who is and Who is to come. What happened in our country on May 15, 2005 is in the history of our beloved nation Sierra Leone. The participation was not as expected but the excitement of coming together was great.
The program was held in the twelve districts headquarters and the reports are very encouraging in most areas.We believe a total of about 7,000 people came together all over our nation.As you said it is not the numbers but the prayers to a God who answers prayers. We were able to get most of the denominations together in the city and it was great."
Due to sensitivity, reports cannot be published.
Like in 2004, all 56 countries in Africa participated in the Day of Prayer. Even in countries where Christians are still persecuted and fear for their lives, they gathered in secret to pray for their country, the rest of Africa and the world. More than 22 million Christians all over the continent united in prayer. In the TV broadcast a link was created between Cape Town and Egypt – symbolizing the fact that the whole continent was united.
In South Africa a total of 391 towns participated on 380 different venues in the 2005 Global Day of Prayer event. We received reports from all over the country as organisers testified how Christians of all denominations, cultures and language united in prayer.
On the Newslands stadium in Cape Town, a total of 35,000 people attended"
Spain
"The Global Day of Prayer in Spain was a
simple, yet profound experience. Our church is regularly doing
24h prayer for Spain and the nations, and this was a powerful
addition to that. We are small and new but we serve a mighty
God. We began praying Saturday night at midnight and went
straight through and beyond our Sunday service at noon.
The
timing was a challenge since the day fell on the eve of the
pastor's (me) departure to the US for 9 weeks. In other words it
coincided with an intense time of preparation, planning, and
goodbyes. Next year we will be able to plan more in advance and
pray and serve with fewer distractions. It is a great honour to
pray with you. John Chesney."
**************************
"We were in Southern Spain - and enjoyed our church in the
morning - where Hany led the prayers! The church was
PACKED for
the first time (about 100 people) - VERY BIG for Spain.
It was very, very anointed and the Lord was present. There
were about 9
nationalities in the room. A few Africans - from Nigeria, Kenya,
South Africa, Egypt, Britons, Americans, Scots, French, Spanish
… and the worship was sweet!"
"4 000 Sudanese gathered together in Egypt in a school praying on the Global Day of Prayer, crying out for Sudan and Africa that God will intervene and heal their nation.
Swaziland
“I am Pastor Samuel Dlamini in Swaziland, Mankayane and the events of 6-15 May was my turning point. I took the initiative to promote the Global Day of Prayer on my radio programs on two local radio stations and made announcements to many pastors. I belong to IMAG organization and serve as a chairman of Evangelism. I made sure that the Pastors were aware of the Global Day of Prayer. It was a great success!
My area (Mankayane) was exceptional. We put up a tent for prayer from 6-15 May and the night of 14 May was a “whole night for the whole world” prayer rally. My congregation is no longer the same. We had 7 churches together for prayer.
God really moved in our presence. We have never confessed our sins like that time. People were healed and delivered. I wish I could get the current books on prayer since the ones we used was borrowed and for 2004. We ask your help. We are now hungry for prayer, prayer and prayer.”
Despite heavy rain in Taipei, more than 30 000 people came to the Presidential Square on May 15th, to pray for the land of Taiwan.
Rev Liu Chun-Mao said: “This is the first time in the global church history of 2 000 years. As Christians in Taiwan, we are not stopped by rain We desire to pray with Christian all over the world. We expect God to do great work in the whole world today.”
Over 100 churches participated in the prayer rally with flags and palm branches. Christians lined up to form a cross in the Presidential Square. To pray there was a knock-out experience as this place has long been a gathering place for political demonstrations. With joyful songs and prayers, the Christian community this time brought peace to the boulevard, with the interest of all Taiwanese people in mind.
"It was a great day indeed. Over 300 people from 16 different churches gathered together for three hours and what a great time we all had. There was music and sharing of scripture and of course, prayer. Everyone was really uplifted and many expressed a desire to do this much more often, not just once a year. It was led entirely by nationals and they did a super job moving the program forward at a quick pace. Truthfully it did not seem like one hour much less three. . . !"
Tanzania
Cities: Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Tanga, Mbeya, Dodoma, Moshi Tabora Sikonge,and Morogoro.
Attendance: Estimated 25,000 people gathered in all the centres.
Morogoro:
We thank God for Global day of prayer. Here in Morogoro, Tanzania we had a wonderful day in the presence of God. We were denied a stadium because it is soccer season in our country and the soccer match was already fixed. We opted then to create three prayer centres in our town as following.
1.Anglican church,
2.TAG Bethel Revival Temple church,
3.TAG Sabasaba Church.
In each church more than 10 different congregations of our town attended. The prayer started at 14h00 to 18h00. The focus of our praying were our country, Africa and the World.
This was the first time ever for Global Day of prayer to be held in our town. The attendance was very good. In total more than 1 200 people attended from different Christian churches.
May God richly bless you for such powerful and glorious vision.
"We would like to inform you that we joined the whole world in prayer on 15 May 2005. It was not an easy thing but the Lord helped us to contact almost every local assembly with a letter informing them about the prayer day and also to invite them to pray in unity with the rest of the brethren worldwide. Even the prisoners observed that prayer program and we are grateful to GOD FOR THAT DAY."
Due to sensitivity, reports can not be published
Soroti
:
"Mobilization
was done
through
Soroti
Elders
And
Pastors
Association
(SOPEF),
the
umbrella
body
through
which
the all
the
churches
and
Christian
NGOs in
Soroti
are
monitored.
15
Churches
participated
in the
organization
by
contributing
funds
and all
the
other
necessary
accessories
e.g. the
Public
Address
Systems,
furniture,
labor,
transport
and fuel
costs.
Prayers
for the
day
included
prayers
for the
land of
Teso
region
with
Soroti
town as
its
centre,
prayers
for the
nation
of
Uganda,
prayers
for the
continent
of
Africa
and
global
prayers.
A
different
leader
from a
different
denomination
led a
different
prayer
item.
The
prayers
for the
African
continent
and for
the
world
were
very
touching
as the
leaders
led them
and the
congregations
repeated
after
them. It
was
marvelous
to be of
one mind
and to
pray in
one
accord
in this
town of
diversity.
Without anybody coercing them, many traders in Soroti town closed their
shops
and came
and
prayed
with the
rest of
the
people.
Close to
5000
people
attended
the
function;
they
were
able to
stay the
whole
day. It
was also
a day of
prayer
and
fasting.
In spite of the fact that it was a rainy season; the day was bright and
dry.
Today,
even as
I write
this,
the day
of
prayer
is still
talked
about in
Soroti
town."
In
Uganda,
all 56
the
districts
got
involved
in the
days
preceding
and on
the
Global Day of Prayer.
"The key
mobilizers
were:
Intercessors
for
Uganda,
World
Trumpet
mission
and
World
Vision
Uganda.
World
Vision
used the
national
wide
network
to
mobilize
all the
churches
in our
Area
Development
programmes
and
staff to
pray.
All
staff of
world
Vision
were
involved
in
prayer
from the
6-15th...
up to 1
600
churches
participated
in the
same
way. The
figures
are
still
coming
in, it
is
estimated
that
between
200,000
-
300,000
Ugandans
participated
in
groups (Stadia,
local
churches
and
houses).
Those
who
prayed
in pairs
or
alone,
we don't
have the
figures
as yet.
The days
were
marked
with
fasting
and
prayers.
Some
churches
held a
40-day
fast,
others
30 etc.,
and to
date
prayers
are
still
going on
in some
places.
It came
out very
clearly
that
what is
going to
unite
the
churches
in
Uganda
is
prayer.
People
from
different
denominations
came
together
to pray
for
their
nation
and
nations
without
the kind
of
complaints
and
fights
that we
normally
have
when
Christian
leaders
come
together.
We have
not for
a very
long
time
seen
this
kind of
unity in
Uganda.
The
interest
was
overwhelmingly."
On February 3, 2005 President Yushenko listed his agenda for Ukraine, in which he took a clear and unprecedented stand against corruption. Sunday Adelaja, pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, Europe's largest church in Kyiv, wrote an encouraging report about recent developments in Ukraine.
"For the first time in the history of Ukraine, the President invited the entire country to join him for a second public Inauguration and Oath of Office on Independence Square. Following the Inauguration on Sunday, January 23, he started his first working day with public prayer and blessing. He invited the heads of all Ukrainian Christian denominations to join him. "This is a totally new thing for our nation," says Adelaja. "Remember, Ukraine is a former communist society." Yushenko then chose Yulia Timoshenko, a woman, as Prime Minister. "She is not simply the most popular politician in Parliament," says Adelaja, "she is a born-again, Spirit-filled believer."
The most interesting event took place when the Prime Minister took her Oath of Office on February 3, 2005 as President Yushenko listed his agenda for the country. What shocked the whole country was the fact that he took a clear and unprecedented stand against corruption. He said:
a) My government will NOT STEAL! I know it is a fantasy in Ukraine to hear this, but I assure you that this government will not steal anything from the public. I take full responsibility for my government's actions.
b) My government will never give or receive bribes! I demand this standard from every member of this government and I say right now, that if anyone is caught giving or taking a bribe, he will suffer the full penalty of the law. I also would like to say that if you catch any member of this government in bribery or theft, it is your responsibility, as citizens, to please report the situation to me, that I might take immediate action.
c) To the Parliament, I want you to know that we will never use money to shift lobby votes! That practice has ended, as of today! I demand that the principle of openness, transparency and uprightness filter throughout every department and cabinet. No decision should be taken in secret. Everything must be done openly and in public view.
Then the Prime Minister came to the stand, and made one simple point: "Our government has come to the conclusion that Ukraine can never rise on her feet until she bows down her knees before the Almighty God." Adelaja: "This takes us back to the Monday morning when the President started his work. After the prayer and blessing, he took his wife and children a few steps closer to the altar, and they bowed down on their knees, bringing the nation before the Lord. This is an unprecedented act in this part of the world and all the media and priests could do was stand in awe, and shock at what was happening."
The biggest surprise to the Parliament was when the Prime Minister presented her 6-point program to the people. Everyone expected figures and calculations, but instead received a biblical concept of national transformation:
a) Faith (in God, nation and individual citizens)
b) Justice (to build an upright society)
c) Harmony (between citizens and leaders)
d) Security (of individual people, national interests and properties)
e) Life (abundant life in every sphere through social programs)
f) World Relations (that Ukraine would integrate itself as a European nation cultivating good relations with other countries including Russia and the European Union)
Uruguay
"We are writing to let you know that from here, at Maldonado
state, Punta del Este City, Uruguay - South America, we were
united and in agreement with this movement in this awesome time
praying and crying out to HIM."
Due to sensitivity reports cannot be published
Due to sensitivity, reports cannot be published
Zambia
Hundreds of Christians gathered together in united prayer on Pentecost
Sunday throughout the nation. An estimated 15 provincial locations reported
the event which lasted for several hours in some cases as the burden for
prayer was carried along from the cities to the towns and in the churches
and homes.
In Lusaka, Christians from many different backgrounds, including believers
of the Asian community, came together at the University Chapel Great East
Road Campus to pray for the needs of the continent and the pressing needs of
our own country.
