DRC - AFRICA

Feedback from DRC:

BUNIA

The Lord has been gracious to us, we rejoice!
This year 2008 GDOP has taken us yet another step further. From January, the organizing team started meeting to mobilize the entire body of Christ to united prayers. And below is what happened:

10 Days of Prayer

Bunia
The New charismatic movement in the Roman Catholic Church took it all! They prayed 24 hours a day for ten days from May 1 to May 10. Another church, Eglise la Louange, organized 6 days prayer watch for 24 hours. The University Shalom de Bunia, a Christian theological seminary, students and staff alike observed one hour morning prayers for ten days. Some families observed 30 minutes daily evening prayer throughout the 10 days prayer watch. The schedules for most churches was as follows:

Watsa, some 500 Km north of Bunia, 336 believers from one church denomination observed 10 days of prayer. At the Pentecost Sunday there were 46 who turned up.

Ariwara also participated in 10 days of prayer. They are encouraged to send their report directly to the global day of prayer website.

Kisangani, the headquarters of the Orientale Province of DRC, participated for the first time. Although they received impetus from Bunia, they have gone it alone for 10 days and the global day of prayer. The flame of the GDOP is thus expanding, for the sake of reaching remote areas of the country such as Isiro and Buta.

The Global Day of Prayer

The venue of the GDOP meeting this year was University Shalom de Bunia, a Christian university located in the city centre of Bunia, where was held the GDOP 2006.

This was the first time there were believers from all the locations in Bunia town and surrounding villages of Bunia such as Shari, Rwampara and as far as Katoto some 70 Km north of Bunia. They came in singing, with fliers of bible verses.

The particularity of the GDOP this year was that our program set an entire hour for intercessory prayers including the prayer for the World. It started with a personal sanctification and confession before the Lord. Then we got to praying for our families. How parents poured their heart for their children! Children also cried to God for their parents, and for the country! We prayed for our leaders in the church as well as in the political arena. Shameful divisions in the church of Christ came to the limelight. Sexual violence increasing within our streets was brought to the Lord, together with evils destroying our societies. Then we turned to the unreached within our communities and outside the country, asking God to revive our love for the lost and heal the church from the sin of prayerlessness. 

After sixty minutes of seeking the face of God, the preacher delivered a message from the Lord based on Jeremiah 29:11. The message challenged participants to boldly pray and expect great things from the Lord in answer to prayers of His people.

As the plans for 90 days of blessing were presented, we collected offerings for the displaced of war in our midst, directing the committee to identify the appropriate recipients. And songs of praises and glory to God closed the meeting.

What the Lord is telling us through GDOP initiative

1. For the first time in the history of the Church in Bunia, representatives from all the 15 locations of Bunia town attended the GDOP 2008 on Pentecost Sunday. The city was literally covered with prayers!
2. Churches have long ignored the importance of united prayers of the entire body of Christ. Leaders have focused on individual and competing strategies. Our denominational divide is hindering unity of the body of Christ. Now is the time to come together and break this shameful tradition.
3. Charismatic movements are the most enthusiastic group as far as the 10 days of prayer is concerned. Some churches who could not attend sent apologies, showing great respect to the initiative for global prayers.
4. Evils in our societies such as ethnic conflicts, unemployment, famine, diseases, poverty, power struggle, etc., draw people to seek help in prayer.
5. Shalom University of Bunia is playing a key role in drawing together church leaders who would hardly meet as brothers. Pray that this role will impact other Christian schools I the area. Leaders have therefore asked that we keep this school as the venue of subsequent GDOP meetings.
6. More and more villages upcountry are catching the vision for GDOP. This year, Kisangani, the Headquarters of the Province, has initiated its own meeting, some 700 km southwest of Bunia. Watsa, a small trading center north of Bunia, challenged us by bringing together 336 believers from various church denominations to pray for 10 days. How to extend our service where there are no Internet connection, no machine to print or photocopy programs, some roads are just not practicable. This sound the alarm that next year, many more will be relying upon Bunia for the materials.
7. Prayer is needed for senior denominational leaders to shake hands together in preparing GDOP. Government officials in Bunia town have yet to fully endorse the initiative and support it. Pray that next year they will be part of the solution!

May God take us yet another step the coming year!

Enosh Anguandia  enoshanguandia@yahoo.com

BAKAVU

The Global Day Off Prayer occurred very well to the East of the DRC and particularly to Bukavu.

All the Christians were mobilized. The prayer of May 11 was organized in each church for lack of average logistics to gather everyone in public places.
Some churches prepared this day per 10 days of prayer and others took 1 month of preparation.
God carried out many things:

• Some churches did not have an inheritance (temple) for worship God.  
• Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit the faithful ones were touched and were committed to contributing for either the purchase of the pieces or houses or  to build for the advance of the work of God.
• The delivrance of the several people who were bound by be demons of any kind.
• Cures
• Discharge of the Divine blessing in several families on the material and financial level: e g; work for the unemployed, promotion and rise for others…

  
We will be with you in the “Global Day Off Prayer 2009” and even the every year which will follow until God carried out his promise according to Joel 2, 27-32.

Claude MINANI KASI aci_org@hotmail.com