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BACKGROUND
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After listening to John Guernsey sharing about the transformation process taking place in Cali Colombia with the SOMA Executives who were on retreat in Richmond, Virginia' in October 1998, a well known Church Leader from Cape Town, Rev Trevor Pearce was absolutely gripped by the story. So too were the others � they all knew that God the Holy Spirit was planting something in their hearts that would burst forth in some exciting way. He returned home excited about what they had heard and with treasure - a copy of an audio tape and a booklet produced by George Otis Jnr. which tells of the work of transformation taking place in Cali, Columbia, and the hope contained in these principles which they believe could be contextualized in other parts of the world.
Trevor returned to Cape Town with its drugs, crime and violence with a quiet sense of excitement and anticipation. He shared copies of this tape with Pastor Eddie Edson and a few other pastors. Soon these various copies were being copied again, fast and furiously, and shared with many other �hope hungry� people in their city. They recognised that the principles of prayer, unity, leadership etc. were biblical principles for universal application. Soon �Community Transformation � Cape Town� was born. The initial prayer meetings and gathering of leaders culminated in their first citywide prayer meeting in June 1999. He was back in Washington for a SOMA Executive meeting, which was strategically positioned alongside a conference on Community Transformation at which George Otis also launched the video �Transformations�. They arranged a telephone link up with that first prayer meeting at which 1200 people had gathered to pray throughout the night. Now, there was no turning back.
The video resulted in an exponential spreading of the vision. He couldn't keep pace with one video so he ordered 20 more � then 50 and was swallowed up by people desperate to have copies. Bennie Mostert, (then NUPSA now Jericho Walls) - a prayer network for Africa, took over and to date over 20 000 copies have been distributed in Africa. Wherever the video was shown, God ignited fires in the hearts of His people. Wherever the video was shown, God brought together some of the most unlikely people. Relationships were being forged across denominational, racial and cultural divides as never before.
City wide prayer meetings were held at approximately 3 monthly intervals and the numbers grew to 2500, then 5000 at an open air venue at the heart of our city, 6000 in a small athletics stadium etc. Prayer was at the heart of what God was doing. When Rashied Staggie, the most notorious gangster in Cape Town turned to Jesus, the impetus increased magnificently. People saw a difference at a very high level (or were it at a very low level?) People could now believe God for a breakthrough and they prayed with greater faith. Small breakthroughs led to bigger breakthroughs. After a bombing campaign of 22 bombs in Cape Town, the perpetrators were caught the very next day after a major prayer meeting focused on this group asking God for a breakthrough. Headlines in the papers the next day: �Breakthrough�.
Graham Power, a successful businessman and relatively new convert, also saw one of the videos. In June 2000 God gave a vision to Graham that Africa will become the �Hope to the world� and this vision had 5 stages:
The first stage was to get the Churches in Cape Town (Southern point of SA) united in a Day of Prayer when 45 000 Christians got together on the Newlands Rugby stadium. Hundreds of testimonies can be shared of lives, communities and a city that was transformed. This started a process that changed the lives of the people and the city of Cape Town forever.
Following the day of prayer held at the Newlands Rugby stadium in Cape Town, 8 other areas across South Africa hosted similar events in 2002. (Stage 2 � South Africa) In addition the event was broadcasted live on DSTV and SABC TV and was shown in dozens of rural Towns - Community Centres, Churches, Correctional Facilities, Retirement Homes, Town Halls, and private dwellings, not to mention the fact that it was seen in African countries as far north as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya.
These events so captured the hearts and minds of people all over the continent that it was decided to put together a strategy that will take the process of Transformation forward. On 29 May 2002 history was made when + 80 people from different regions, cultures and denominations came together in Cape Town to discuss the Transformation process in Southern Africa and Africa for 2003 and years to come.
A Summit was held from 22 � 25 September 2002. 220 Church- and Community leaders, Businessmen and delegates from 9 different African countries were gathered. The representatives decided on a mission and vision for Transformation Africa. The vision is �Africa for Christ� with the mission being �Transforming Africa through Unity and Prayer as we mobilize the Body of Christ and all spheres of society, Community by Community, Nation by Nation with the full Gospel of Jesus Christ�
The challenge facing the regions then was to unite all the churches in the different regions to work together towards transforming South Africa and Africa. People need to take hands over a broader spectrum, not only with regards to black and white, but also over the boundaries of different church denominations.
The same year (2002) saw the International Prayer Counsel (IPC) gathered in Cape Town South Africa. At this International consultation a proposal was made to network a Global day of Prayer on Pentecost Sunday, 15 May 2005. This co inside with the vision of Transformation Africa and simultaneously in other parts of the world the same vision emerged independently from South Africa and the IPC.
All over the continent everyone was so inspired that 77 South African regions and 27 African countries (66 cities) committed themselves to participate in the process of Transforming Africa and taking part in a Day of Prayer for Africa on the 1st of May 2003. (Stage 3 � Southern Africa)
2004 was the realization of the fourth stage of the vision. The Day of Prayer for Africa was held on 2 May 2004. Our aim was to reach all 56 countries in Africa to participate. Part of the planning was to involve every town/community in Africa. We are happy to say that more than 273 cities/towns in South Africa and all 56 countries in Africa (more than 1 200 towns/cities) committed themselves to the process of transforming Africa and participated in a Day of Prayer for Africa, raising a canopy of Prayer across the continent involving more than 22 million people.
This was a day that changed the face of Africa forever.
The fifth Stage will see a Global Day of Prayer which will take place on 15 May 2005. The plan is to start praying as the sun comes up in the East (New Zealand) in different time slots until the Sun sets in the West (USA). This planning will involve leaders from all 6 continents and will include more than 240 countries around the Globe under the auspices of International Prayer Council (IPC).
There are many critical elements in transformation. One of the most important is leadership � without which not even the prayer ministry will grow. Transformation requires Godly leaders � visionary people, kingdom minded people who are willing to express the unity that Jesus prayed for (Ephesians 4). It requires servant leaders who are not in it for themselves but for Gods glory and a tangible transformation of people's context. Good leaders recognize that transformation is a process over time. Sufficient things have happened to indicate that God is in the centre of what we are doing. However a glance at our reality will indicate that there is a long road to travel and the best is yet to be.
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Global day of prayer
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After Jesus was raised from the dead, He met with His followers many times during a period of forty days. He did far more than prove that He was alive. He spoke again and again about the Kingdom of God: the advance of God's kingly love among all the peoples of earth. On the last day He was with them, He told them to stay in Jerusalem and to wait for �the promise of the Father.� Just after Jesus was received into heaven, His followers gathered together in Jerusalem to do exactly what Jesus had told them: to wait for the promise of the Father. But it was not a passive waiting. They waited by praying earnestly for ten days. They sought God zealously with their hearts aligned with �one mind� concerning the promise about the Spirit of God. They prayed persistently through the many other promises about the Kingdom of God that Jesus had spent so much time teaching them.
As we read their prayers, and as we listen to what poured out from their hearts in the days that followed Pentecost, we get a good idea about how they prayed. Their prayers and statements sprang from the written Word of God. They prayed in fervent, hope-filled passion for God to fulfill His promises regarding His kingdom on earth. Christ is again calling His church to unite in prayer. We are compelled to pray because the great troubles that shake our world have no human solution. Even more, we are called to pray because of the wonderful promises that God has purposed to accomplish by Christ's life and power among the peoples of earth. It is time now for God's people to gather again in persistent, united prayer. What better way to unite in prayer than to consecrate ourselves to seek God for ten days, as Jesus' first followers did, culminating on the day of Pentecost?
Following the example of the first followers who �joined together constantly� in prayer (Acts 1.14) during the ten days between the ascent of Jesus and the descent of His Spirit on Pentecost, believers will be organizing ways to pray together night and day beginning Friday, 6 May, (Ten Days of Prayer toward a Greater Pentecost) through the end of Pentecost Sunday, 15 May, 2005.
The following prayer guide provides a simple way for you and your church to pray in united hope and faith with Christians all over the world:
- Ten Days of Prayer toward a Greater Pentecost
The Glory of Christ and the Transformation of the Nations
6-15 May 2005
It is time now for God's people to gather again in persistent, united prayer. What better way to unite in prayer than to consecrate ourselves to seek God for ten days, as Jesus' first followers did, culminating on the day of Pentecost?
- Manual on how to mobilise 10 days of day-and-night prayer
6-15 May 2005
Building a canopy of prayer over all the continents
Saturating our Communities with Prayer
Establish day-and-night prayer furnaces for 10 days all over the world to pray for the healing of the nations and for the glory of the Lord to be revealed
Practical Guidelines to pray one hour
Ask the Lord for the names of five other Christians and ask them to join you in making the same commitment to pray at least one hour a day. Duplicate this pamphlet freely and give it to other Christians.
15 May 2005 (Pentecost Sunday)
Information and a manual on how to go about to organize the Day of Prayer and!!!!
From 16 May 2005 onwards ��.
Use the Global Day of Prayer web site as an on-going resource for ideas and stories of what others are coming up with.
In the context of the above values, the local church and alliances of local churches, dream, plan and pray so that on 16 May 2005, local Christians, like-minded churches and small groups will �
Use these topics as a template, or a beginning point to shape the prayers and requests that are fitting for your community.
The expressions of hope in this guide will help us pray in two ways. Each day we will first pray for Christ to bring a greater fullness of His life and glory to His church. Next we will lift the greatest needs of our cities and nations before God. He has promised to fill His church with the beauty and life of His Spirit. And He has also promised to bless the world � every city, people and country � with the transforming power of Christ's kingdom.
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