A personal reflection on global prayer
Prayercast's Editor-in-Chief, Suzanne Heegaard, had the honor of representing the ministry at the fourth Lausanne Congress on world missions in South Korea. Here, she reflects on the vital role of global prayer and collaboration in missions:
What a slice of heaven it was to gather with more than 5,000 delegates from 202 nations, all gathered around advancing God’s mission to reach the world. Here are some of the things I’ll remember most:
SO many people across the globe use Prayercast videos to pray for all the nations and I got the humbling and inspiring privilege to meet them and hear their stories. Even more people have never heard of Prayercast and were thrilled to have this free resource at their fingertips. I honestly felt like I watched in awe as God made the connections happen before my eyes.
We met a husband and wife from Mexico who mobilize Mexicans for missions, and they begin every morning by praying for a different country with trainees. They had never heard about Prayercast before but came up to our booth and watched the Mexico video. The wife fought back tears, saying, “These videos will totally revolutionize our prayer times.”
Global mission MUST be collaborative. We are stronger together across ministries and churches and denominations.
Church persecution, and there is a lot of it presently, is growing the Church! We heard from pastors and leaders from China, Iran, and India talk of the way persecution is growing in the Church, and we heard from others who have been in prison and who have escaped the horrific abuses of Boko Haram. We learned how the church is thriving under pressure.
I am humbled and grateful to get to be a tiny part of a huge global work that God is doing to save the millions He LOVES! This gathering of thousands of global believers gave me a tiny little glimpse of the glorious way we get to worship Jesus in heaven with our global family. My table group consisted of an Ethiopian woman who is a school principal, a Salvation Army captain from Australia, an Indian pastor, a Japanese pastor, and a young woman from Jakarta, Indonesia who connects mentors for Jesus in the workplace. My heart is so rich because of each one of their stories, friendships, and perspectives.
Prayer is paramount. In the very first hours of the Early Church, while they waited, afraid, they prayed. Then the Holy Spirit came upon them. We have the same Holy Spirit within us today and the same need to pray while we wait, watch, and activate others to pray. When we pray, God moves!!! Hundreds came through our Prayercast booth each afternoon and shared how prayer is saving people and how it’s impacting their own hearts — the stories deeply impacted me.
Being on mission to share the love of Jesus globally must start with me on my knees, in repentance and aware of my dependence on Jesus.
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