Pray for the City in Unity

"Relief for Sichuan – Hong Kong Christians in Prayer and Action" organized its last meeting at 3pm on 10 August 2008 at the Tsim Sha Tsui Baptist Church. Although the "100-day Prayer Campaign for Sichuan Earthquake Relief" was coming to an end, the hearts of believers never grew weak in their prayer. Over 200 people attended the meeting that day. The meeting began with an opening prayer led by Rev. Wilson Tak-cheong Chan. Next, the Amen Ladies Worship Team led the congregation in a time of worship. A representative from LIAC International shared about their relief work at Sichuan. It has dispatched six teams with a total of 200 people to the area. Some prayer points are listed below:

1. Pray for the reconstruction work at Sichuan

This includes churches, clinics, rehabilitation centers, schools and the rebuilding of the hearts and souls of the people.

2. Pray for the government officials to possess inner strength and wisdom

Some officials shared about their fear of entering into these areas, because they were often scolded by others for the poor performance in their handling of the relief work. Reconstruction work might take several years. The officials and the people needed inner strength to live through the difficult days.

3. Pray for the pastors and ministers in the area.

Not only do they need to continually assist the survivors in their daily living, but they also have to welcome Christians from various regions around the world who were visiting the area. This has often led to fatigue and sickness.

4. Pray for the hearts of the brothers and sisters in Hong Kong:

The relief period has passed and the rebuilding work might take up to five years. It is important to pray that the hearts of the brothers and sisters would be kindled to continually pray for Sichuan.

A member of the medical and psychological counseling team in Sichuan shared his experience and led a prayer. This included praying for a clothing distribution campaign whose aim was to distribute warm clothing to the victims by the end of September. This required a budget of $400,000.

Mrs. Fan Chan from Jireh Fund was the speaker and delivered a message. She pointed out that intercessors might not always know how to pray for certain events; however, we could always cry out and seek directions from the Lord. She stated several examples which one of them was the crisis caused by the barrier lakes. She alluded the situation to a sword hanging above our heads, which might potentially cause severe consequences if handled wrongly. We thanked the Lord for giving Psalms 46:9, "he makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire." Not only has the word of the Lord helped to enrich our prayers, it has also enabled us to seek directions in prayer.

This was followed by a time of prayer for Sichuan. A pastor led the first prayer and asked the Lord to cease any aftershocks. He said mankind should confess their sins of failing to have dominion over the earth and for their ignorance toward God. Rev. Wilson Tak-cheong Chan prayed for the Lord to be sovereign over the reconstruction work. He explained that God is the Lord of creation, and is able to turn confusion into order. He prayed that the Lord would enable the work to be completed on schedule, and to effectively utilize the available resources. Next, Rev. Tony Lo prayed for the individuals with limb amputations to have a smooth transition back to the community. The prayer included asking the Lord to raise up helpful neighbors, in conjunction with government policies that could help meet their needs. He also asked the Lord to heal the hearts of those who have undergone amputations. Lastly, Mrs. Audrey Lo prayed for the Lord to kindle prayerful hearts to continually pray for Sichuan. She said many people have been drawn to the Olympic games lately. We needed to ask the Lord to keep our hearts in focus as we continually pray for Sichuan and to show our care and concern for Sichuan. May the Lord also raise up more people to pray for Sichuan.

After a sister led the congregation in a hymn response, the remaining time was mostly spent on prayer. Mrs. Fan Chan prayed for the process of adjustment for those orphans residing in the affected areas, with two other prayers led by a pastor. First, Rev. Fuk-man Cheung prayed for the Lord to heal the emotionally wounded who have lost family members. Second, he prayed for the Lord to enable Chinese people to become a people group that reveres the Lord. Rev. Tony Lo also prayed that the grace for the Chinese people would come in greater portion than before. Finally, the meeting came to a close when a benediction was given to the congregation.

The "100-day Prayer Campaign for Sichuan" officially ended on August 25. We would like to thank every prayer warrior for their participation. May the Lord kindle the hearts of the intercessors to continually pray for Sichuan.