Over 130 participants from 11 South-East Asian countries and four countries outside the region attended the Third South-East Asia Prayer Leaders Consultation (SEAPC) in Kuala Lumpur in October.
Hosted by the NECF Malaysia Prayer Commission, the consultation saw all 11 countries represented for the first time. Many who had attended the previous two consultations agreed that this consultation was the best so far in that the participants were united in mind and purpose. “At the first consultation, we were meeting for the first time, getting to know one another and trying to figure out why we were meeting to begin with. The second one, we were more familiar with one another, but still it took a few days to really get deep into intercession for one another and for the region, “said Lena Wan, secretary of the South-East Asia Prayer Council.
“This consultation took off from the very beginning. Prophecies flowed freely from the first night. The spirit and anointing of the worship team helped greatly in bringing us to a place of deep intimacy with God.
“People were crying out to God for the transformation of our nations and region. This is the whole purpose of the consultation: that we will be united in prayer for the transformation of South-East Asia,” she added
Phan Huu Thinh, a participant from North Vietnam shared the vision he saw when participants took a prayer walk from the hotel to Suria KLCC. “When we reached KLCC, I stood in front of the building and I had a vision of Jesus crying. The passage in Luke where Jesus wept over Jerusalem came to my mind. I realised that every church needs to love its nation like Jesus loved Jerusalem and was so burdened for it that He cried. We must feel like this for the lost,” he shared.
Phan added that the consultation had inspired him go back and share with the churches the great need to unite in prayer and to do more ‘24/7’ prayer.
Another participant, Bruce A. Hutchinson said that through the consultation, God had revealed His plans and purposes for the different countries. “God has also brought knowledge and understanding of what Satan is doing in the nations and showed us how we can pray so that churches can be freed from the chains that have been binding them. Then, His power and love can be released to the churches to flood the nations,” said the Strategic Prayer Facilitator from the Cambodia Prayer Council.
The consultation had “raised our faith level”, he added. “Just this morning, one Vietnamese participant told me, ‘Today, I am assured that God is doing something’.”
The SEAPC is held every year to link and strengthen prayer networks and ministries in the 11 countries, helping especially the networks in access-restricted nations. The 11 nations are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste (East Timor), and Vietnam.
The idea of the SEAPC was birthed at the International Prayer Leaders Consultation in South Africa in 2002, which was attended by 300 prayer leaders from all over the world. Through that gathering, delegates from South-East Asia, many saw the need to unite in prayer in a more cohesive manner, and the first and second SEAPC was held in Cambodia in 2003 and 2004.
Through each of the meetings, participants have felt the burden and needs of the Body of Christ in South-East Asia in fulfilling the Great Commission.
Breakthroughs are needed in the areas of governmental restrictions against the spread of the gospel, outreach to unreached people groups, poverty, persecution, diseases, terrorism, trafficking of drugs, women and children, and natural disasters, all of which are happening in South-East Asia.
Participants marching in with their countries’ flags at the opening of the consultation.
|
