Christian Leaders in Community Transformation

TRANSFORMATION AFRICA

Newsletter Oct / 2004

AFRICA TO LEAD THE WAY FOR GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER 2005

On Pentecost Sunday, 15 May 2005, millions of Christians all over the world will unite in prayer with Africa leading the way.

Graham Power, Chairperson of Transformation Africa, says: "We have great expectations for next year. The plan is to start praying in different time zones as the sun rises over the international dateline to the east of New Zealand until the sun sets to the west of the Americas". It is estimated that some 200 million Christians will be praying on 15 May 2005 and that this amount will grow year by year to about 500 million in 2010. At a recent meeting of the International Prayer Council (IPC) South Africa was asked to take charge in organizing the Global Day of Prayer 2005.

The Global Day of Prayer will be preceded by ten days of prayer, following the example set by the first followers who "joined together constantly" in prayer (Acts 1:14). During the ten days between the ascension of Jesus and the descent of His Spirit on Pentecost, believers will be organizing ways to pray together day and night beginning on Friday 6 May, through to the end of Pentecost Sunday 15 May 2005 with the Day of Prayer.

"We do not know what God’s plan is for 2005 and beyond, but I know we will be astonished at the rate at which people in different countries will start praying together. We will see a major impact worldwide," says Graham.

IMPORTANT ISSUES DISCUSSED AT SUMMIT

The weekend of 27 – 29 August saw yet another remarkable weekend for the Transformation Africa process. Representatives came from more than 100 towns and cities all over South Africa to participate in the summit. The purpose of the summit was to celebrate, reflect and plan the way forward.

At the summit the vision, mission, charter and commitments of Transformation Africa were discussed and refined in work groups, and a strategy for the way forward was compiled. It was agreed that these strategies should be in place until the year 2010.

AFRICAN PRAYER SUMMIT PLANNED FOR 2005

The African Prayer Summit will take place from 6 – 11 February 2005 in Johannesburg, South Africa. About 180 leaders representing the 56 nations of Africa will attend the summit.

Issues such as ongoing prayer and the Day of Prayer will be discussed.

PSALM 50:1 & 14 - 15

1 The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

14 - 15 Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

AFRICA TO LEAD THE WAY FOR GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER 2005

On Pentecost Sunday, 15 May 2005, millions of Christians all over the world will unite in prayer with Africa leading the way.

Graham Power, Chairperson of Transformation Africa, says: "We have great expectations for next year. The plan is to start praying in different time zones as the sun rises over the international dateline to the east of New Zealand until the sun sets to the west of the Americas". It is estimated that some 200 million Christians will be praying on 15 May 2005 and that this amount will grow year by year to about 500 million in 2010. At a recent meeting of the International Prayer Council (IPC) South Africa was asked to take charge in organizing the Global Day of Prayer 2005.

The Global Day of Prayer will be preceded by ten days of prayer, following the example set by the first followers who "joined together constantly" in prayer (Acts 1:14). During the ten days between the ascension of Jesus and the descent of His Spirit on Pentecost, believers will be organizing ways to pray together day and night beginning on Friday 6 May, through to the end of Pentecost Sunday 15 May 2005 with the Day of Prayer.

"We do not know what God’s plan is for 2005 and beyond, but I know we will be astonished at the rate at which people in different countries will start praying together. We will see a major impact worldwide," says Graham.

International Website: www.globaldayofprayer.com

Forgiveness, the key to reconciliation
With the third day of track discussions underway, the concept of forgiveness was highlighted. Once again, the esteemed Ed Silvoso delivered a powerful sermon on the concepts of spiritual warfare, anger resolution and forgiveness. Reconciliation and unity were the themes of the day. Silvoso stated that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference, and that we all need to fight the good fight and take up the armour of spiritual warfare in order for our nation to be reconciled.

He also felt the need for us all to repent from anger. The dynamic Argentine speaker had the track audience standing to an astounding session of forgiveness, where he prayed for the audience to forgive all past perpetrators and to start anew. A prayer was said to bless Latin America, Argentina and Silvoso's forthcoming conference in October.

Track leader Graeme Power introduced a panel that included, amongst others, Dr Elijah Maswanganyi, Dr Eva Seobi and Pastor Alan Platt. The audience directed a few questions to the panel, before the track group took off to lunch.

Melanie Fourie

Transformation starts within the heart The second day of events on the Community Transformation track kicked off with a prayer and thirty minutes of intense group discussions. The discussions pertained to yesterday's theme of repentance and how communities could combat the seven social evils facing the country.

Argentinian Ed Silvoso, the dynamic founder and president of Harvest Evangelism had the track audience in awe from the moment he stepped onto the podium.The author of many bestselling books, placed much emphasis on changing the spiritual climate. Silvoso, who exemplifies an annointed servant of God, delivered a high powered sermon on spiritual transformation. He feels that transformation starts first and foremost within the heart of every man and woman and that only then can we bring about change to our communities.The speaker, exuding power in Christ, spoke about the three dimensional nature of redemption, which included personal, relational and merchantile redemption.

The second half of the track session had a young woman, named Sarah, testify to contracting the HIV/AIDS virus from her husband and then being completely cured thereof a few years later, due to intense faith in Christ and prayer. She has a strong belief, due to her miraculous recovery, that God can heal HIV/AIDS sufferers. The esteemed Dr. Michael Cassidy, was also one of the keynote speakers.

Melanie Fourie

South African Transformation Underway
The Community Transformation track, which is the second largest track at SACLA 2, was initiated today with a heartwarming salutation by Graham Power. Power, a prominent businessman, is also the CEO of the Power Group of Companies and the Convenor of the Transformation Day.
The track meeting proceeded with a movie clip of the inception of Transformation Day, which included footage of successive Transformation Day celebrations. The heaving conference room echoed with reverent songs of worship and prayers of thanksgiving. Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, the founder of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, made his appearance after a short lunch break, where he spoke of repentance as the first step to constructive change within the country. He feels repentance to be an imperative step to bring about change, and that only if we bring about change within ourselves will we be able to combat the social evils facing our country. The respected former American also spoke of our spiritual leaders and the crucial role they play in upholding the peoples’ perceptions with regard to immorality, including sexual immorality, which is a gargantuan cause of the Aids pandemic facing the country. Many delegates were humbly brought to their knees in repentance at the gathering.

Melanie Fourie