The World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia in May was the most significant international pray gathering I have ever been part of. It was truly tri-generational (Abrahams, Isaacs and Jacobs), multi-ethnic and global. Between 9,000 and 10,000 participants from 86 nations attended the Assembly.
Each morning and evening, we had plenary sessions, and each afternoon, there were two two-hour Track sessions on various aspects of the global prayer and ministry spheres, including politics, business, media, health, poverty, etc.
On 17th May, we joined with 100,000 Indonesians at their national stadium for five hours of prayer, praise and worship. This was satellited to 386 locations across Indonesia, involving a conservative estimate of 3.7 million people, and was broadcast through God TV around the world. Much of this was spectacular!
We were based at the Sentul City International Convention & Prayer Centre with an auditorium for 15,000 people. Next door, there is a 12-storey tower, the top storey of which is designated for prayer. Twenty-four-hour prayer took place whilst we were there and continues throughout the year. Every time I looked in there, hundreds were praying. This is one of the many hundreds throughout Indonesia.
Sentul City is a city in transformation, having been already declared corruption-free through the prayers of God’s children.
Everything was twice as large as anticipated and planned for. The Indonesians were overwhelmed logistically, yet managed to provide for everyone – an amazing accomplishment. Even so, over 2,000 applicants had to be refused!
There was tangible evidence of the Presence of God in the gatherings with accompanying signs. The impact is already being experienced around the world with testimonies coming in of the way God has blessed and is blessing the participants.
Five-hundred children formed the Children’s Prayer Track, and nearly 20,000 children participated in the stadium event. A 15-year-old girl told her story of how the prayers of the children over a three-year period had brought about the change of her neighbourhood with brothels closing and the area being cleaned up. Children led the praying one evening, and at our final session, they came with a rose for the adults and to pray with them as well.
Over 2,000 were under the age of 35. Each lunchtime was spent with senior leaders (including me) – they questioned us about our lives and influences. And one evening they also led the whole Assembly in praying for issues on their hearts. They pleaded with us older ones to “run with us” – don’t pass the baton and then abandon us”. They asked me publically to lead in repentance prayer and then be involved with other leaders in washing the feet of some of the young people. You can imagine how moving this was.
Large delegations came from S. Korea and from China. The Koreans, who hosted the first International Prayer Assembly in Seoul in 1984, jointly hosted this one with the Indonesians. There was a wonderful blend of honour, respect and appreciation. For most of the Chinese, this was the first international gathering they had ever been at. Those from China that I prayed with (maybe 100 in all) were deeply touched by God’s Spirit. The same was happening through the other leaders, too.
A wave of prayer is undoubtedly building. China is establishing 6,000 houses of prayer – they call them “Walls of Prayer”. One ministry alone has seen a 726% increase in the numbers of people coming to Christ in the past 7 years compared to the previous 7 years – ever since they started to emphasise prayer with their “prayer walls” (I am talking about 51 million people). Together with towers of prayer (in Indonesia) and 24/7 houses of prayer around the world, there is an exponential acceleration of the kingdom of God taking place in those nations pursuing this vision.
There is an amazing spiritual harvest being reaped in many parts of the world. Through the Internet alone, over 75,000 people per day are praying to receive Christ. Last year, 150 million people read the Gospel on the web, and over 19 million prayed to receive Christ. That is only one part of the story – the real picture is bigger still!
One well-known leader described this as the most pivotal week of his entire ministry. There were some fantastic worship times, led by international musicians, and plenty of praying in different ways. We had an excellent media team producing videos to stimulate prayer and recording everything that took place. We praise God for the many blessings flowing from this Assembly all over the world. Most of the plenary sessions and the whole of the stadium prayer rally are already available and can be viewed on the website www.wpa2012.org.
It was an awesome time, the fruit of which will be echoing around the world in the coming years.
1. It was such a blessing for the Chinese to have the biggest group of more than 600 participants among the internationals to attend this historical event of the WPA. And there are four generations walking together including many elderly, lots of adults, a group of young people and a number of children. This was made possible also because of the generous sponsorship contributed by John Robb’s 88-year-old dear father especially to the Chinese delegates.
2. Each and every one of those registered from the Mainland was able to go through the immigration without any hindrance in crossing different borders.
3. Participants from China were especially impressed by the unity that can be achieved by gathering 9,000 participants together from 86 nations around the world and the millions of those who also took part on May 17 in 378 cities of Indonesia and around the world through satellite TV and Internet, worshipping and praying passionately to the Lord in the same place, which was still not yet possible in mainland China. It was so blessed to see even different denominations, including the evangelicals, charismatics and the Catholics, standing together in unity for a bigger purpose for the kingdom of God.
4. The 24-7 Prayer Tower was one of the greatest highlights for so many of the participants from HK and China. The Chinese enjoyed so much in staying inside the Prayer Room in worshipping and praying with the Indonesian saints and with the nations in the strong presence of the Lord. One big group even had a very special encounter with the Lord while they prayed overnight there together.
5. A lady pastor from the North Eastern part of China was told to be suddenly “dead” one morning while their group was on the bus to the SICC due to a sudden heart attack. She was found to be breathless and pulseless for 2 hours and was said to be brought to heaven for some time and saw some visions there. She was then “resurrected” after being prayed for by the whole group of participants on that bus. She was discharged from the hospital after a few days of treatment and was able to attend the May 17th Stadium gathering together.
6. Many had physical illness, including respiratory problems and food poisoning in the very hot and humid weather, but God protected us and gave us speedy recovery even when we slept only a few hours a day!
7. Many were highly stirred up by the Holy Spirit, and a new strong hunger for His revival and transformation in their own locality into actions of mission and the marketplace through united prayers was created among the Chinese. Several hundred leaders had also publicly expressed their willingness in their commitment of building Walls of Prayer in their area. Many Chinese also mentioned about the encouragement of knowing that the 24-7 prayer movement is rapidly spreading all over the world, and they want to further commit themselves to multiply Walls of Prayer inside different provinces of China.
8. The young people were very blessed especially by being embraced and prayed for by their previous generations. They were very much encouraged as they came into a new understanding of the significance of inter-generational reconnection. This also motivates them to seriously pray for actions in taking the steps of how to love the children.
9. A rainbow appeared both on the first day in Sentul City before the opening of the WPA as well as on the day on their arrival of return to HK. It was amazing that the majority of the Chinese saw this on the first day, and the delegates from HK not only witnessed this when they returned but also found it to be wonderfully reported in the HK newspaper on May 20th! (http://news.sina.com.hk/news/3/1/1/2667829/1.html) It was such an obvious sign of God’s delight on us as well as this historical even of the WPA.
10. Breakthrough has begun in the NE Asia Region as more than a thousand delegates gathered on that day of regional prayer networking when representatives from Korea (N and S), China, Japan, Mongolia, HK, Taiwan, and Macao reconciled with each other with tears and repentance. Not only pastors and ministry leaders but also youth and market place leaders are beginning to network with each other for the future development of this region.
The Lord is using the prayers of children to shape a new nation in Myanmar (Burma)!
“Here are some pictures taken on May 1, 2012. The multiple denominational children intercession conference was held in Yangon. We were more than 3600 participants (mostly children, their teachers, leaders and pastors) from more than 100 churches and more than 20 orphanages.
We were blessed to receive the visitation of the Holy Spirit while praying.
Thank you so much for your prayer support.
Blessings!
From a local pastor who with his wife helps lead the growing prayer movement
Please see this disturbing message from Juba on the situation in the Nuba Mountains. Right now many people, including children, are facing a life/death situation. Norman Johnson who leads a prayer network for Sudan writes: “May we be moved by the love of Christ to compassion for these people. Please lift them to the Father’s throne of grace and for an outcome for the situation in the Sudan. Pray for the fulfilling of God’s destiny with the nations of Sudan/South Sudan.” He has included this letter from a ministry leader inside Sudan who describes the current conflict and suffering of the people:
Dear Norman,
I have seen what happens when the world turns its back and looks the other way. For 20 years, I have worked in Sudan, helping its people struggle through the horrors of starvation and murderous attacks. During Sudan’s civil war, the people in the south were being butchered. Shocking, it took the deaths of more than 2 million before the world finally called it genocide.
When President George W. Bush came to office, he didn’t look the other way. Instead, he engaged all parties and forced them to sit down to negotiate what we hoped would be an end to the violence. Those discussions resulted in the agreement that led to the independence of South Sudan.
I was in President Omar al-Bashir’s office on the day the International Criminal Court indicted him for war crimes. I pleaded with Mr. Bashir to continue the peace process, explaining that although he could not change what he had done in the past, he could set a new course for his people by working for a lasting peace. Two years later, on July 9, 2011, I was in Juba sitting behind Mr. Bashir as he gave a speech during the Republic of South Sudan’s independence ceremonies. He spoke of peace, but within days, he began to attack his own people in South Kordofan and the upper Blue Nile.
Last week, I traveled to South Kordofan where 800,000 people slowly are being annihilated, victims of ethnic cleansing. According to Mr. Bashir, their only crime is that they are black and they won’t bow to his radical Islamic government. For the past nine months, the world has largely looked the other way with this humanitarian crisis.
The situation is desperate. I personally saw children starving to death last week while in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. All they had to eat were insects, leaves from thorn bushes, roots and tree bark. It is only going to get worse.”
Please pray for an end to the conflict that restarted after some years of peace and the partition of Sudan into two nations. May healing and reconciliation come to these two nations that have so many reasons to cooperate for the betterment of both.
I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18
A worker in North Africa writes:
“A couple of weeks ago, the group in my city met to pray. I forgot I was supposed to prepare something for the group, so we decided to sit and ask the Lord what he wanted us to pray for. We heard, ‘prayers of hope’, ‘delighting and resting in God’ - and I had a picture of a wheat field ripe for harvest, and there was a heavy wind blowing off the heads of grain, but some were clinging on. We again asked the Lord how we should use this to pray, and very clearly two out of three of us heard prayer for the local church. So we used these words and images to pray powerfully for the local church. Perhaps you all can, too!”
“Soon after this prayer time, I met with a local believer. Right now, she is the only one we are meeting with in our city regularly who is really thirsty for the Truth. We pray regularly for more like her and that she would have a local body…this was included in our prayers that day. Well, when I met with her, she told me that recently she had had a dream (she often has spiritually significant dreams). She was in the desert with no one around, and off in the distance, she saw a palm tree. She walked the long distance to the tree, and she was very tired; then she noticed a small hole in the sand under the tree. She started to dig and clear away the sand around this hole to see what was under the ground and came to a glass ceiling under the Sertraline sands, and she was so happy. We prayed together this would be. It still hasn’t come to be, but we continue to pray. We ask for the Holy Spirit to keep moving in our land. And we ask for the remembrance of this special dream to keep hope and faith alive!”
Praying for North Africa:
• As God to build His church in North Africa!
• Pray for those who are isolated believers to be encouraged, to meet with God on their own and to grow in their faith. Pray that God would bring isolated believers together.
• Pray for house churches to be planted and to grow in number and maturity.
• Pray that believers would over come fear and be willing to meet together. Pray that secret believers will have courage to declare their faith and be able to meet with others.
• Pray for national leaders for the house churches. Pray for these leaders to grow in knowledge and understanding, that they would have a passion for the Word. Pray that they would develop intimate quiet times with the Lord and that they would hear His voice and know His leading and wisdom.
• Pray for good discipling to take place. For older believers to mentor younger believers with wisdom and love. For workers to disciple and mentor nationals with humility and servant hearts. For more Bible training to be made available. For good teaching materials to be made available in the local dialects.
• Pray for an increased boldness and heart for evangelism so that North Africans will take more and more responsibility for reaching their own nations.
Pakistani military operations in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan have steered clear of North Waziristan, allowing the area to become a haven for militants. Tribal and local intelligence sources say some 15,000 militants shelter in this semiautonomous tribal belt.
PRAY for these 5 persons to be brought to justice and for the dissolving of their networks and operations:
1. Sirajuddin Haqqani
He is head of the Haqqani network and believed to be the main bridge between Al Qaeda, Afghan Taliban, and militant outfits in North Waziristan. Known among jihadis as “Khalifa” and the “soul of Jihad,” Mr. Haqqani has ties to Al Qaeda's Ayman al Zawahiri.
He is the son of commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former Taliban minister for tribal affairs. Siraj’s four brothers – Nasiruddin, Badruddin, Khalil, and Ibrahim – are the group's military shura (council). Nasiruddin is believed to have conducted fundraising in Saudi Arab and other Gulf states between 2006 and 2009. Badruddin handles politics, settling disputes between militant outfits. Siraj's youngest brother, Mohammed, was killed in February this year by a US drone strike. The Haqqani network mainly operates along the border with Afghanistan's Khost province.
2. Hafiz Gul Bahadur
Mr. Bahadur is believed to be based between Miramshah and the Afghan border. He hit the headlines when his militia fought against Pakistan’s security forces in 2006-08 and again when he struck peace deals in 2009.
It is reported that each of the nine members of his Shura, or council, commands up to 1,000 local tribesmen, apportioning control of various areas across North Waziristan. Bahadur is honored as a descendant of legendary tribal warrior Fakir of Ippi, who fought against the British rule in the subcontinent. This lineage affords the cleric immense influence, both religiously and politically.
He severed formal ties with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), but still reportedly provides shelter to its militants.
3. Moulvi Noor Saeed Wazir
Another 3,000 TTP militants operate under the leadership of this local commander known for his ruthlessness. His stronghold is his home region, the Razmak Valley, which links North and South Waziristan. He is reported to be illiterate, and until a few years ago ran a grocery shop.
4. Qari Hussain
Widely considered the deadliest of all commanders, Mr. Hussain is reported to be second in the TTP’s hierarchy, after his cousin Hakim Ullah Mehsud. His expertise lies in producing teenage suicide bombers. He is believed to have trained the Jordanian militant Humam Khalil Muhammad Abu Mulal al Balawi, who blew himself up in Khost, killing seven CIA personnel last December.
5. Ilyas Kashmiri
The notorious Kashmiri leads a militia of around 3,000 men. He is operations chief of Harakat-ul Jihad Islami, a group the US government classifies as a terror organization with ties to Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Punjabi Taliban. He is accused of being behind the 2009 suicide attack on Pakistan’s spy agency in Peshawar. He's also accused of carrying out attacks against senior military officials and cross-border attacks against US forces.
Enough is enough! Isaiah said to “CRY ALOUD, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to My people their transgression…”
It is time to turn to the LORD and call for a holy fast! A fast that will remove the purveyors of wickedness and death and break the chains of injustice and free those oppressed that are held captive. (Isaiah 58:1-7).
We have allowed the dealers of death to dwell in our land long enough. It is time to call upon God and to rid our land of the plague of DRUGS, WEAPONS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SEX SLAVERY AND VIOLENCE.
It’s time for the Drug Trafficking Organizations to shut down.
I am calling upon you to join me for 27 days to a holy fast from today until July 4th for the capture of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman of the dreaded “Sinaloa Federation” and Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, (aka) “El Lazca, or “Z3” of the fierce “Los Zetas” Cartel, and to call upon God for the total dismantling of these two Transnational Criminal Organizations. The NAME of the LORD is above every name that can be named. His name is greater than Guzman or Lazcano. HIS NAME is greater than the Sinaloa Federation or the Zeta’s.
…the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds. We have been given weapons of divine power to destroy strongholds.
We will fast and pray for God to set those held in bondage of drugs and sex and human trafficking free and healed.
This fast will change the course of the USA and Mexico. It is time to rise up and call upon God to end the overshadowing darkness that is capturing our two nations.
Note: The outcome of Mexico’s presidential elections on July 1st will redefine our two nations’ relationship and future cooperation on the “war of drugs.”
Pray:
• For God to intervene in Mexico and raise up godly men and women in high places of government.
• For the capture of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (Sinaloa).
• For the capture of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (Zetas).
• For the dismantling of the Sinaloa Federation.
• For the dismantling of Los Zetas cartel.
• For an end to DRUG, HUMAN and WEAPONSTRAFFICKING between our two nations.
• For the God’s protection and His empowerment to law enforcement and military as they bring an end to this plague.
We are writing to you as a key prayer leader by way of invitation to this summit. "Transform World" (http://www.transform-world.net/new/) is a mobilization effort that emanated out of the AD 2000 prayer movement of the 90's and subsequent world inquiry. It has identified 7 key challenges now facing the church (see link for more information) (http://transform-world.net/newsletters/2012/TW2012C.pdf) and is now mobilizing focus on these challenges for the summit. The summit in Bali will catalyze a seven-year effort on meeting the challenges. One of the challenges is the "Celebration" challenge for building and connecting houses of prayer in every nation...a "911" call to the nations (based on Amos 9:11 and restoring houses of prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David). As you have a heart for this, we would urge your participation and help in sending delegates to this summit.
For the summit, we are looking for 70 key delegates from as many countries and key ministries as possible who will be willing to bring their experience and ideas to the table.
The "Transform World" global challenge to this "911" call will be a unique and vitally important opportunity to build relational strength, develop communication, connect, and strengthen houses of prayer and ministries focused on this vision across the nations for these increasingly tumultuous times. As Nehemiah once spoke, "The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall," (Neh. 4:19). In these critical times, it is vitally important to close the gaps on the wall to build and strengthen one another. This "Global Challenges" summit will be an important opportunity to close these gaps from nation to nation and emerge more connected and effectual for these challenging times.
We would greatly encourage your prayerful participation and forwarding to contacts you know of who have a heart for the "house of prayer-tabernacle of David" type ministry. We would urge early registration for those interested for planning purposes. We believe this summit will be a pivotal and vital time of connecting to build, connect, encourage and mobilize houses of prayer for the next 7 years.
We are at a very real gate and entering a very critical time for mobilization towards the "Transform World Global Challenge Summit." In these turbulent times, this meeting is highly strategic and will be vitally important in advancing God's Kingdom. God is allowing the intensity of the times we are in to converge us. We are facing times that require greater working together from ministry to ministry/city to city/region to region/nation to nation which "Transform World" is mobilizing to do. As such, it needs our prayers. As we enter this critical time of mobilization, we urge your prayers and focus…even fasting towards these key issues (we are keeping it simple to help us focus):
Participants:
• Pray that those called to participate are found, respond, and register
• Romans 11:29 "For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable"
• Revelation and desire on all participants (all seven challenges) of the need to connect and build in this hour to advance His Kingdom
• 1 Peter 1:5 "You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
Provision:
• Spiritual provision: Pray for revelation for Kingdom advance in all seven challenges and cultural spheres
• Eph 1:17 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. (also Col 1:9)
• Strategic provision: Pray for creative strategies for Kingdom advance in all seven challenges.
• Proverbs 20: 18 “Plans are established by counsel; by wise counsel wage war.” (also Pro 19:19-22; Jer 29:11)
Protection:
• Pray for protection for all those coming over their families, friends, jobs, ministries. (psalm 91)
Key focus scripture for preparation for the summit:
“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make a loud noise because of so many people. The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out pass through the gate, and go out by it; their king will pass before them, with the Lord at their head!” Micah 2:12-13
Report of the Transform World Global Challenges Pre-Summit
Jakarta, Indonesia – May 18-20, 2012
A group of fifty servant catalysts representing the Transform World (TW) global network gathered from May 18 to 20, 2012, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The meeting was convened to pray and plan the Transform World Global: Global Challenges Summit 2012, to be held in Bali, Indonesia, November 6-9, 2012, and to agree on three outcomes for each of the seven challenges by 2020.
The gathering served to prayerfully consider a seven-year mandate (Transform World Vision 2020) along with the following the November summit. The focus of the Bali summit will be an urgent call given to the global Church towards seven specific challenges of our times. Based on a sense of direction since the World Inquiry Report of 2004 and with Arnold Toynbee’s words as a reminder.
“Civilizations develop and flourish in response to the challenges they face with creative new ideas – When they are rigid, failing to respond to challenges, they decline” =
This historical gathering will bring together about 500 servant facilitators from around the globe. The meeting this week served to bring together facilitators of the seven Challenges, representative facilitators of the seven spheres of influence and the TW Steering Committee to consider the Conference mandate and make preparations for the summit. Transform World Connections Chair Rev. Djohan Handoyo, Spiritual leader Dr. Iman Santoso, and TW International Facilitator Dr. Luis Bush along with the TW Steering Committee Chair Rev. Dr. Daniel Kim provided leadership for the discussions.
The following outcomes resulted:
• The seven challenges of our times were discussed and agreed upon
• Leaders of each of the seven challenges and seven spheres of influence were introduced to each other. Meaningful times of prayer and dedication for each facilitator was rendered.
• Draft outcomes of each challenge and each sphere over the seven-year period until 2020 were discussed and documented.
• The financial budget of the event was discussed and a strategy to cover this was agreed upon.
The urgent challenges of the times which are to be focused upon in Bali are enumerated below:
1. Ideological Challenge: Issue surrounding Islamic fundamentalism, the turnaround within the Middle East along with other global issues
2. Relational Challenge: An intentional focus on Christian Marriage and the Family with a call to integrity, purity, and witness
3. Adoption Challenge: A focus on the care for the orphans with a view to serve and care for the needy orphans and widows world-wide
4. Physical Challenge: Reviewing poverty lines globally with a focus on availability of basic needs among the poorest communities in the world.
5. Human Rights Challenge: Reviewing status of main human rights issues including casteism
6. Christ’s Missional Challenge: Researching the least reached peoples view to engage meaningfully with them
7. Celebration Challenge: Praise to God through the Harp and Bowl worship with an emphasis on the Restoration of the Tabernacle of David
The seven spheres to be represented and towards which each challenge will speak towards include the Arts, the Business, and the Church, and the Media, Education, Governance, and Family spheres.
Each of the seven challenges will bring together about 60-70 servant catalysts who are experts in their field of ministry to work together over the next seven-year period. Representation from across the globe will serve to make the scope of each challenge discussion global in nature and wide-spread in impact.
• Pray for Rio Sibarani, Chair, and Conference Committee who will be coordinating all arrangements for this event.
• Pray for godly men and women to be raised up to work together as a team over the next seven years with great synergy, unity, and purpose.
• Pray that God’s choice and chosen servants will gather together in Bali to learn from each other, study God’s Word, and be mobilized with sharper focus and greater vision towards transformation globally.
For additional details, kindly contact:
For invite and registration: Ana Herlina This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For conference details: Pr. Rio Sibarani This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.