01 Aug 2012

August 2012 - World Prayer Assembly (Trinity Annual Conference)

World Prayer Assembly (WPA) 2012, Indonesia

The World Prayer Assembly (WPA) is an international prayer assembly held at Sentul International Convention Centre in Bogor, Indonesia on the 14th-18th May 2012. There were 2500 international participants from 86 countries and more than 6000 Indonesian participants making a total of more than 9000 participants. There were about 200 participants from Malaysia. There were about 20 delegates from the Methodist Church in Malaysia. From TRAC there were about 15 attending including our TRAC President, Dr Ong Hwai Teik, the GC Prayer Co-ordinator, Dr. Chan Geok Oon and 3 other pastors. In addition, there were 2 PMSM pastors and 2 delegates from the Sarawak Iban Annual Conference. Korea had hosted the first International Prayer Assembly in 1984, the only other time such an event took place.

The purpose of the WPA is for Christians around the world to come together and pray and seek God’s plan for bringing transformation to the nations. It is meant to be an encounter with the Lord and each other. The theme of the WPA is “A New Wave is Coming” taken from Habakkuk 2:14. Habakkuk declared that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”. The participants were reminded that the Lord was among us, as He has promised to be, when His people gather. We were told to let Him be God among us, guiding, anointing and empowering each session. A common observation is that the Lord is converging the different global missiological, market place and prayer streams in a powerful and synergistic way to fulfil “the whole Gospel by the whole Church to the whole world”.  

Alor Star Wesley was represented by 6 of us. However, I was down with Dengue Fever complicated by hepatitis, two weeks before the event and was quite unwell for more than 10 days. I had headaches daily and felt tired. Some of my brothers and sisters cautioned me against going as they felt I should rest and not overstrain. The day before the WPA started, I led worship at the MW Sunday cum Mother’s Day service and felt God healing me even as I led and worshiped the Lord. Praise God He gave me the peace to go and the assurance that He would sustain me throughout the convention. God is so very, very good. I went in faith and He did far more than I could ever ask or imagine! Not only did He sustain me but He gave me the most awesome experience of my life. Yes, indeed our God is the Lord and His presence and glory was so tangible throughout the convention. I worshiped, cried and prayed as I had never done before.

We prayed out loud in unison and we prayed in small groups of 2, 3 or 4 with brothers and sisters who sat near us. We had many good plenary and track sessions (workshops) taken by godly men and women but it was the presence of God and the conviction that He had heard and will answer our united prayer that stood ouclearly. Dick Eastman, International President of Every Home for Christ (EHC) reminded us that worship (harp) and prayer (bowl) must go together. During the time of King David he sent the choir ahead of the soldiers when they went to battle. Yes, we must learn to establish the tabernacle of David in our lives and in the lives of our church and our nation! God inhabits the praises of His people and when we worship and pray God works and transforms our lives, our homes, our communities, our cities and our nation! In fact, EHC statistics show that there was a 758% increase in churches planted over the past 5 years (2007-2011) i.e. a total of 84,237 churches as compared to 9,820 in the previous 5 years (1997-2001) after intercessory worship or Harp and Bowl emphasis was implemented.

This was indeed a “hands on” prayer assembly in which praying is a staple in every session. During the conference there were many opportunities to pray for Indonesia and for the rest of the world in intercession. It was also an opportunity to respond in “prophetic prayers” to what had been heard and deemed as revealed by the Lord as we waited on Him. It was particularly touching to hear of what the brethren from Egypt had heard was coming for them in terms of challenging pain but which will manifest the “face of the Lord” clearly.

As we worshiped and cried out to the Lord in one voice, we believe that the wave of revival which has started in Indonesia is spreading to the rest of the world. Internet evangelism through Global Media Outreach (GMO) has 140 websites sharing the gospel and they monitor the number who read the gospel, the number who prayed to receive Christ (usually 12-15%) and the number who have left their contact information for follow up (10-15% of the second category). At the end of the WPA statistics showed that there was a tremendous increase of those who came to know the Lord during the five days of united prayer during the WPA. All glory to God! Another thing that was deeply touching was to witness some 500 children between ages 4 to 14 praying for adult participants on a one-to-one basis. In return the adults blessed them, reciprocating with their prayers. The Lord impressed upon our hearts that He loves children and young people, and loves to hear them pray. I was amazed to hear that God has raised up many children and youth to be intercessors all over Indonesia. 

A 15 year old Indonesian girl from Surabaya shared about her prayer group which started with 10 children and now has grown to 20 children. As they prayed along with many other prayer groups in Surabaya, God has brought transformation to their city. Statistics showed that the crime rate has dropped and many brothels have been closed down even as God’s people prayed. Indeed all 3 generations (children, youth and adults) must work together and pray to achieve all that God wants to do in the coming days.

“Prophetic prayers” to what had been heard and deemed as revealed by the Lord.
On the 17th May the Global Prayer Momentum (Prayer Rally) with the theme “It’s time to Pray” was held at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. It was an awesome rally with about 100,000 present in the huge stadium. It is estimated that of this number 20,000 were youths. Our Indonesian hosts graciously allowed all international participants to sit in the VIP section at the west gate of the stadium. Dr. David Yonggi Cho reminded us that our God is a great God who answers prayer and it truly is the time to pray! Various intercession segments were led by prayer and church leaders from different continents. Christians in 350 cities throughout Indonesia also joined in to pray simultaneously as they watched the event live on television, along with Christians in 78 other countries.

We Malaysians have to rise up and pray for our homes, our communities, our cities and our nation. As we celebrate Malaysia Day on 16th Sept 2012 (50 years after the birth of Malaysia) many Christians believe it is the year of jubilee, the year of setting the captives free. Malaysia is at the crossroads as our General election draws near and we cannot afford to be complacent and not pray. We have to pray that God will have mercy upon us so that leaders with integrity and righteousness will be elected into office. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “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 heal their land.” Yes, it is only as we repent, humble ourselves, unite, worship and pray will we see transformation in our nation. God loves Malaysia! 

Do we care enough to pray, day and night, for God’s favour, healing and transformation of our nation? Our God is a loving and mighty God, the LORD of heaven and earth. Nothing is impossible with our God when we worship and pray. May Malaysia be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea! Amen.

[Dr. Doreen Khoo from Wesley Methodist Church, Alor Setar, TRAC.]