"Rise up for the City" Prayer Conference
The "Rise up for the City" Prayer Conference of the "Do This" Million-Hour All Nations Prayer Movement was held at 7:30pm on April 3 at the Hong Kong Coliseum. As we reflected on the first million-hour prayer in 1998, Hong Kong was facing hardships in its economy and social living. God showed His care for Hong Kong when He taught us to use His word to bless and pray for the city over the past few years. Although Hong Kong faced one storm after another, it was like a ship sailing through big waves but still remained calm. God became an anchor for our city, enabling it to become strong and safe.
The meeting began with a prelude. A 100-person team from a local secondary school formed a choir and orchestra. The chairperson of the Hong Kong Campus Crusade for Christ led an opening prayer. The choir then led the audience for a time of worship and sang several hymns.
We were very honored to invite six guests to come and share their message on prayer. Rev. Daniel Ng, Dr. Rosanna Yick-ming Wong and Mr. Stephen Sui-lung Lam shared the importance of praying for the city from different perspectives. Rev. Ng encouraged the believers to "walk the extra mile", which he referred to as praying for those in authority and those who would help shape the future of Hong Kong. Dr. Wong said this city was our home. In order to rise up for the city, our hearts of love for Hong Kong, our attitude of mutual trust and optimism, and unceasing prayers needed to be stirred up. Mr. Stephen Shui-lun Lam shared from the exodus story about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Although Mr. Lam did not know about the direction Hong Kong was heading, he believed that God was sovereign over history for He would prepare a great future for Hong Kong.
Dr. Philemon Choi, Rev. Philip Teng and Dr. Angela Tam shared the importance of praying from the Bible. Dr. Choi said genuine prayer ought to be accompanied by actions, as he illustrated by drawing upon examples from the Bible. After Jesus' resurrection, 120 people were praying and awaiting Jesus on the second floor of a building and they were all sent out, who later brought changes to the Roman Empire. He challenged the 10,000 brothers and sisters to return to their family and workplace and bear fruit of light – kindness, righteousness and faithfulness. Rev. Philip Teng shared from John 20:19-21 and said we are to accept the sending after God has given us peace. Dr. Angela Tam shared the reasons behind the use of God's word in prayer. Rev. Daniel Ng and Rev. Philip Teng led prayers for the audience.
The theme for the third million-hour prayer was "Rebuilding the City". Later on Hong Kong was hit by SARS and its economy suffered. We thank God for prayers made concerning the need to rebuild the city. This included two sets "Pray to God with One Heart" Prayer Handbook, "Proclaiming the Name of the Lord" Prayer Handbook, and "Every Morning at Eight O'clock, Bless Hong Kong for Five Minutes" prayer ad on the local newspaper. In the section on "Review and Thanksgiving", the conference also testified to the grace of God in the past year through a short video. During past November, God moved Mrs. Chan to place a prayer ad again on the local newspaper and prayed to thwart the outbreak of SARS. It was not expected that Hong Kong would be affected by the avian flu, although nearby Southeast Asian countries were already developing epidemics. Mrs. Chan was moved to pray that all viruses would "pass over" Hong Kong. In the end the threat posed by the avian flu and SARS really passed over us. We gave thanks to God for looking after Hong Kong and teaching us about prayer through His word.
During the vision sharing part, Mrs. Chan shared seven directions for prayer based in the Bible, including "pray for peace upon this city", "deliver us from evil", "do not enter into temptation", "strong in spirit", "pass over us", "according to its kind" and "heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away". In order to encourage brothers and sisters to pray in such directions, each participant was given both the "Keepers Watching Over the City" - Prayer Handbook for the City and "Pray for Peace to be upon our City" - Prayer Handbook for the City.
Hong Kong is not the only city where prayer campaigns are being held. Some fervent brothers and sisters also brought the prayer handbooks to the brothers and sisters living overseas. The prayer campaign was also launched in different places, and representatives from overseas countries were invited to attend the conference. These guests came from the following countries, including China, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Thailand, United States and Ukraine. They used their national language to bless Hong Kong.
Next, Mrs. Chan and Mr. Richard Hon, chairpersons of the Central Decision Committee of the "Do This" Million-Hour All Nations Prayer Movement, urged brothers and sisters to respond by participating in the new prayer campaign and the offering. Mrs. Chan also shared a testimony of a body of Christ who donated HK$800,000 to support the two-day event at the Hong Kong Coliseum. She did this to encourage more brothers and sisters to give cheerfully.
The meeting drew to a close when a benediction was given by a board member of the Hong Kong Campus Crusade for Christ. The choir performed a postlude and the meeting ended.