Growing the Prayer Network
There's much to be thankful for when the NECF Malaysia Prayer Commission members and partners gather for its annual thanksgiving tea on Nov. 30.
The group will be reflecting on God's mighty working in the ministry of prayer in Malaysia over the past 10 years when a group of people gathered in 1999 to help mobilise prayer for the NECF Malaysia Emmanuel Celebration evangelistic event. It was a massive meeting held at the Bukit Jalil open-air stadium and for three nights, close to 300,000 people thronged the stadium to hear the gospel.
From this event, the seed of national mobilisation for concerted, continuous intercession for the nation was planted into the hearts of the prayer group who felt they had to pray beyond an event.
Thus, the vision for the Malaysia Prayer Network was birthed.
The group took their vision to NECF and immediately, the NECF Prayer Commission absorbed the group and took off with a clear vision and mission. Always looking ahead and seeking ways to get churches to 'think about the nation and pray for the nation', the commission worked on many initiatives, some of which have become permanent features on churches' annual calendar.
Among the initiatives are:
- Pastors' Prayer Shield - mobilising churches and Christians to pray for their pastors and leaders;
- Light Up Your Nation - a 40-day prayer and fast and charity season in conjunction with Merdeka Day (Independence Day);
- Yearly national prayer conferences for the four major language groups;
- Global Day of Prayer - sending prayer teams to different towns to mobilise 10-day prayer for the world;
- Regional prayer consultations to network churches and strengthen prayer for their regions; and
- 'Love Kelantan' and 'Love Terengganu' prayer initiatives which evolved to 'Love Malaysia on Our Knees' which focuses prayer on individual states on a monthly basis.
During the last decade, several people have been actively involved in these initiatives. Though they seem to be in the forefront, leading the charge to inspire churches to be more prayerful for the nation, often times they laboured behind the scene in much prayer and tears.
Among these people is Rev. Ann Low who took up the call to be the Executive Secretary of the NECF Prayer Commission in 2000. Come January 2009, she will be moving on to new and more exciting responsibilities with the newly-formed *Malaysia National Prayer Network (MNPN).
The NECF Council thank Ann for her valuable contributions to the NECF's prayer ministry and wish her the very best in her next phase of ministry. We also thank the members of the Prayer Commission for their sacrifice and support in strengthening the prayer movement for the nation.
As we anticipate a challenging year for 2009, and to ensure continuity for the prayer ministry, NECF Secretary General Sam Ang will fill the role of Executive Secretary for the Prayer Commission until a suitable person is called by the Lord.
* To know more about MNPN, look up its website www.prayer.net.my
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