Lift Up Our Nation in Prayer
Join our 40-Day Prayer and Fast and Merdeka Prayer Rally
JULY 21 marks the beginning of our annual 40-day Prayer and Fast for the nation, culminating at the Merdeka Prayer Rally that will be held throughout the nation, including Sabah and Sarawak.
Organised by NECF Malaysia and held in conjunction with Merdeka Day (independence day), the event is gathering momentum with more churches and individual Christians signing up to participate.
NECF staffmembers who have been travelling all over the country to launch the event have reported that Malaysian Christians are increasingly concerned for the welfare of the nation.
The prayer and fast will end on Aug 29, followed by combined-churches prayer gatherings on the same night and Aug 30 night in various towns and cities all over the country. Pastors are urged to mobilise their congregations to participate in the prayer and fast and the rallies as a corporate witness of Christian concern for the nation.
First Central Prayer Rally for Chinese Churches
FOR the first time, Chinese churches throughout the Klang Valley will gather at a central location to pray for the nation in conjunction with the annual NECF Malaysia Merdeka Prayer Rally. Previously, the churches met separately in their regions (for example, Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur) on the last week of August.
NECF has appointed a committee, comprising pastors and church leaders from the Chinese churches, to organise the rally to be held at FGA Kuala Lumpur on Aug 29 night. Some 1,000 Chinese-speaking Christians are expected to attend.
The rally will be conducted in Mandarin and to make it a memorable first event, NECF has invited a special speaker - U.S. seminary principal Rev Dr Ernest Chan. The committee has also planned a one-day prayer conference – from 9.30am to 10pm – for Chinese-speaking Christians to be held at FGA KL on Sept 1. The following day, a special meeting will be held from 9.30am to 12.30pm for pastors and full-time workers. Dr Chan will speak at both gatherings. For more information, contact Ngeh Hoong Eng at the NECF office or 012-3202324.
Unravelling the SuperPastor Myth
Christians tend to place their pastors on a spiritual pedestal. In response, pastors have to put up a front to meet their congregations’ expectations. Are these observations true? What about the perception that pastors unintentionally build walls around themselves to project an invincible image?
A nationwide survey will soon shed light on these questions and furthermore, give a deeper understanding into the dynamics of the pastor-congregation emotional relationship. Starting August, NECF Malaysia will mail out questionnaires to pastors in a two-part survey.
The 2003 Emotional Connection between Pastors and Congregations survey is initiated and facilitated by the NECF Research Commission in conjunction with the ongoing NECF Malaysia Pastors Prayer Shield campaign.
The first part of the survey targets pastors who will answer a list of 50 questions on how they feel about themselves and their ministry, and how they think their congregations perceive them and their contribution. The second part of the survey, to be conducted separately and at a latter date, will have the congregation’s response to a separate questionnaire.
From the response, NECF hopes to pinpoint the sources of wall-building between pastors and congregations. The information will help NECF to plan programmes to help pastors.
