Well, 1,600 Christians did, though most of them came in late. Some took two hours to reach the place. As the saying goes, "Better late than never."

The yearly rally organised by the NECF Malaysia Prayer Commission was the culmination of the nationwide 40-day Prayer and Fast participated by some 60,000 Christians based on the number of prayer booklets sold.

The rally started with the screening of the video Transformation II, followed by a wonderful time of worship led by the tireless Sungei Way Methodist Church singers and dancers (some as young as six), who maintained their rhythm on stage for the next four hours. What a wonderful message that brought: Prayer rallies are for families, young and old together.

NECF Chairman Rev. Datuk Dr Prince Guneratnam and speaker Rich Marshall brought messages of the need for holiness. A youth group presented a song they wrote followed by prayer for the youths in our nation. Three pastors then prayed in Mandarin, Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia for the work among the three races before the congregation broke up into small groups to pray over for the nation.

One of the highlights of the night was the announcement of the ‘lunch money’ collected for the charity campaign. NECF Secretary-General Rev. Wong Kim Kong announced that the collection at that time stood at approximately RM260,000. The money collected would be channelled to four funds: local Christian and non-Christian charitable organisations, the Afghan Refugee Fund and Palestine Refugee Fund

Just before midnight, pastors were called to the front and each one lighted a candle in the darkened hall to symbolise the light of Jesus shining in the dark. At the stroke of midnight, master of ceremony Pr Khor Hoe Chai led the congregation in the midnight shout.

The crowd dispersed at about 12.30am, back into the crowded streets of Kuala Lumpur jam-packed with multitudes of people and vehicles for the long ride home. On seeing the crawling traffic, some participants re-parked their cars and hung out at nearby eateries until the roads were clearer.

Looking at the busy streets that night, one can’t help feeling that God is also busy working out His plans for Malaysia.

Combined churches Merdeka prayer rallies were also held in all 14 states throughout Malaysia the same night.

Klang churches, for the first time, held a prayer rally, which was attended by over 200 people. After midnight, some pastors and leaders went for a prayer drive around the town.

Kajang churches, also for the first time, held three separate prayer rallies (English, BM and Chinese) attended by a total of over 700 people. The Tamil brethren here had met earlier on Aug 24.

Although the prayer rally in Johor Bahru was conducted in two languages (English and Mandarin), it was attended by over 1,200 people from all the four major languages. Earlier during the 40-day fasting period, the churches had held six regional prayer meetings at different locations.

In Ipoh, over 700 people gathered at Canning Garden Methodist Church. It was the first time the prayer rally was held in all four languages simultaneously.

The number attending the prayer rally in Kuala Krai, Kelantan may be small – about 60 people from two churches – but it was a significant moment as it was the first time the town in the PAS-controlled state held a Merdeka prayer rally.

The prayer rally for the Chinese-speaking churches in Kuantan was also a significant event, being the first ever organised by the Chinese churches. About 250 people from 11 churches and two Christian organisations attended. At the same time, about 200 people from seven English-speaking churches attended a separate rally.

In Alor Star, the prayer rally was attended by over 200 people from four major churches, including the Roman Catholic Church.

The prayer rally in Penang was organised under the Christian Federation of Malaysia banner. Held at the Geodesic Dome in Komtar on Merdeka Day, it was attended by 2,000 people from the three component groups – NECF Malaysia, Roman Catholic Church of Malaysia and Council of Churches of Malaysia.

In Seremban, about 400 people from several English and Chinese churches attended the prayer rally.

Over in East Malaysia, the prayer rally in Kota Kinabalu was the culmination of a three-day prayer conference with guest speaker Joe Ozawa. Over 1,200 people attended the rally which kicked off in prayer by Sabah Council of Churches chairman designate Bishop John Lee from the Roman Catholic Church. About 900 people signed pledges to regularly pray for their city and state for the next three years.

Meanwhile in Kuching, the Association of Churches of Sarawak organised a combined prayer concert where more than 200 people attended.

Prayer rallies were also held before Aug 30 to accommodate the churches’ schedule. On Aug 28, the Chinese-speaking churches held two separate prayer rallies at Christian Life Centre, Petaling Jaya, and Confucian Private School, Kuala Lumpur.

In Taiping on Aug 29, about 200 people from over six churches attended their first prayer rally. The same night, about 100 people from six churches in Melaka broke fast together at Gateway Christian Fellowship.

Churches also organised community projects in conjunction with Merdeka Day. In Kuala Lumpur, churches from the Cheras district organised a ‘Love Cheras’ Community Day at a local shopping centre on Aug 24. Among the day’s programme was an exhibition of charitable projects in Cheras, health talks and medical tests, blood donation campaign, children’s activities, and police talks.

Churches in the Ampang district of Kuala Lumpur held a charity walk on Merdeka Day to collect money for nine charitable homes.

In Manjung, over 1,000 Christians from 21 churches in the district took part in a combined-churches Merdeka Day parade that ended with a prayer celebration on Aug 28. It was a historic occasion for Christians here as this was the first time they were granted the permit to hold a parade.

Seven churches in Alor Star collected money to buy hampers and rice for 80 needy families from various races. The goods were presented at a ceremony on Aug 31 and this was reported in the northern edition of a local newspaper.