GDOP 2009

    For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
LORD as the waters cover the sea.  Habakkuk 2:14 (NIV)

 

A huge thank you to all those that participated in this years Global Day of Prayer this Pentecost Sunday. 

Hundreds of millions of Christians from 220 nationsof the world united in prayer and to glorify the name of the Lord!  Praise God!

In the UK, we had an amazing 99 registered events which took place!  There were 15 events in N Ireland, 1 in Jersey,3 in Wales, 2 in Scotland, 37 events in Greater London and 41 events in rest of England.     

GDOP 2009 Events in Northern Ireland - Feedback

BALLYNAHINCH

The Global Day of prayer was part of a whole weekend and an united church event we run once a term called MORE.  There were various elements to the weekend.  Firstly we had a 24 hour prayer room over the weekend which brought some of the local churches together to pray for the town, our land and the world.  The room was set up by church members young and old.  The theme of the room was 'Jesus hope of the nations'.
 
We also were prompted onto the streets in practical prayer.  On Friday night a team met individuals as they came out of the pubs and served them hot drinks whilst taking opportunities to share God's love with them and even pray with them.  This Team is called MorEdge and actually happens every Friday night in our town through the More Initiative.  Last friday one guy said he knew that he was loved as the team were always present and talked of how th town had changed with less fightings on the streets due to the presence of the more team.
 
Secondly the youth from the various churches gathered together on the Saturday afternnoon.  They gave out chocolate with verses of hope on them and invited people to join us at our Global Day of Prayer Service.
 
Our service on the Sunday night brought the whole weekend to a great finish.  Church members from the two Presbyterian churches, Methodist and Baptist church joined together in prayer and praise.  We repented individually and as a church for unnecessary business and lack of rest in God and his purposes.  For us the service on the sunday night was significant because of the growing unity amongst the local churches.  We hope this will widen again in years to come as the Holy Spirit works amongst us.
 
Report by Clare Woodward                        

BANGOR

On a beautiful sunny afternoon between 300 and 400 people of Bangor covering the whole generational span, gathered at the historic Bangor Abbey site on Sunday 31 May at 3pm to offer praise and prayer to God for ourselves, our community and nations.

Prayers for the nations of the world were offered verbally and through song and creative dance.  Particular prayer was offered for the ten most persecuted nations and their individual flags raised in acknowledgment in prayer.

Individual prayers were made for the Town Council, Emergency Services, the vulnerable and youth of our community and business leaders were remembered in this time of recession.  A very moving time of repentance to God took place with the reading of the scripture and prayer, with the request that God would again send his Holy Spirit afresh into our towns and nation, bringing his transformation to individual lives and across the strata of society.

Joyful worship and prayers led by clergy and others across the denominations reminded us of the past, when the early Celtic Christians in the 6th Century at the Abbey site conducted worship on a 24/7 basis for over 150 years continuously.  As we in the present continue to worship God on this site we look to the future when "the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters, cover the sea".

The service was followed by a celebratory procession of witness along Abbey/Main Street to the seafront.  The procession, again across the generation span, was led by a float with worship band, followed by the flags of the nations of the world and masses of coloured balloons, which the young people gave to children along with other gifts including "Word for Today" to bless the community.  This gesture and procession was very positively received by the public and business people.

A short service of worship and prayer by a local minister on God's Blessing on our town concluded the event at the seafront. 

Report by Beverley Bryans

BELFAST

This year as we met together there was a totally different feel to the event. Rather than do the big thing; organised and structured we decided to gather together a bunch of people in an upper room in Belfast and wait on the Holy Spirit reminiscent of the first Pentecost. Just like the apostles we had no idea what would happen and what did take place left us all in awe of our God. From the first chord played, the whole room entered into heartfelt praise and there was a heightened level of expectancy as we worshipped in those first few moments. We were reminded at the outset that we were joining with the rest of the world on this day to cry out for a fresh move of God's Spirit in the earth and we joined with the 220 nations in saying the Global Prayer.

As we prayed we were drawn to the town of Coleraine, which had recently seen a sectarian act of violence, which resulted in the death of a man. Much prayer was offered on behalf of this town; for God to remove idols, raise up warriors, heal and restore and to bring Coleraine into its God given destiny. From praying for this town, we cried out for God to turn the tide on this sort of behaviour in our nation, believing that God will pour out fresh hope and fresh faith upon us as we seek to live for the future and not from the past. The event was marked by a significant sense of unity and a desire to see the Church become all that God has called it to be in this nation - to finish the story that began with St Patrick. Everyone involved was encouraged that perhaps we had experienced something of the freedom, unity and empowerment that the apostles experienced on that first Pentecost. 

Report by Kathryn Warren

CARRICKFERGUS

Greetings and Blessings from Carrickfergus! We met again on the Castle Green overlooked by the Castle walls that reminds us of the town's past historic influence on the province. Our event this year was hosted by Carrickfergus Borough Church Forum which was constituted last October as a networking body for the churches of the Borough to promote unity and to explore more active ways of engaging into the local community. This year saw clergy both catholic and protestant from different churches in Whitehead, Greenisland and Carrickfergus take a leading role in the event which encouraged a wider representation among the 120 - 150 people attending.   There were also a large number of people observing the proceedings as they passed by for their summer's afternoon walk along the seafront promenade and marina.
 
Our praise was led by Dave and Alex Crowe and the young worship team from Gateway Church, who did a professional job at short notice in leading us effectively in praise and adoration, with a great sense of unity of heart and purpose. We are also grateful to ARDsoundandLighting.com who provided excellent PA technical support.

In our thanksgiving, a candle was lit celebrating God's presence among us and in unity with all other GDOP events in Ireland.  There was a great sense of unity of heart as the clergy led us in our liturgical prayers of Repentance and Intercession for the community, country and church. We gave out small lapel ‘Cross and Dove's' as mementos of the occasion and as we lifted these up during our prayers for renewal there was a very real sense of God's delight in our unity and a real expectation of the Holy Spirit's presence and activity among us in the coming year.
 
Whitehead Presbyterian Youth Fellowship led us in their excellent drama production of ‘Everything' which can be viewed on You-tube, and our Brazilian sister Lucy Vieira and the young Cregagh team glorified God and challenged our hearts through their professional dance and drama piece called ‘Transformation'.  Lucy also led us in our prayers for the nations of the world.  With other youth waving praise flags and supporting us in stewarding this event there was a sense that this was their day and that seeds of hope were being planted in the hearts of our rising generation.
 
Report by Roy Crowe

COLERAINE

 

 

ENNISKILLEN/ FERMANAGH       

We met at Lough Navar viewpoint at 7am on Pentecost Sunday. It was such beautiful morning - with God's wonderful creation in all its glory. People representing different churches around Fermanagh gathered and we had a wonderful time of praise and worship and intercession.

We prayed for Christians around the world and especially Israel. We repented and cried out to God for revival in our area - first of all that the Holy Spirit would revive us and the hearts of God's people, for household salvation, and for a turning to God of all unbelievers.

We thanked God for His mercy, grace, and faithfulness and pray that God will move mightily in the west. All honour and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ who is Lord of all!

Report by Rosaleen Beare

HOLYWOOD

 

 

LARNE

Larne Cross Community Inter Church group met as in recent years in the Town Leisure Centre. A fairly good number of people came together to mark the Global Day of Prayer despite one of the best days weather for this area in recent years.

A very full programme was held lasting about 2 hours and including items from most of the different denominations in Larne. It was great to see the harmony and unity of spirit which I am sure will please our Lord.

The 10 Days of Prayer prior to Pentecost Sunday received by e-mail was forwarded to all the Churches and also a large number of people involved in Christian work and I understand most recipients joined with us in a time of prayer each day.

Report by Robert Alexander

LISBURN

Several hundred people gathered in perfect sunshine in Lisburn's beautiful Castle Gardens overlooking the City of Lisburn and the Lagan Valley. An inter-church picnic was followed by the Global Day of Prayer event led by leaders from the local churches and with a local worship band leading the praise.

It was such a blessing to meet to have fellowship together and to pray together with people of every age group for our City, our Nation and our World. One of our young people read from Amos 5 and it is our prayer that in our world "justice would roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream".

One person commented how great a day it had been: "the weather was beautiful, how lovely it was to have been there and what a blessing it was to have the whole familty attend such a positive event". There was also a real sense of being part of a worldwide phenomenon with millions participating across the globe.

Report by George Hilary

LURGAN

 

PORTADOWN

A group of approximately 15 people met in the church hall and joined together in prayer for revival in our land. Represented were people from Portadown, Dungannon, Antrim, Craigavon, Richill and a couple originally from Lithuania. As we spent time in prayer for the world we felt God reminding us that revival can start in our homes then our families then our streets, towns, cities and nations.

This was the first time that we have formally been involved in the GDOP movement and felt that God was delighting in the fact that His people were standing in unity to declare His Soverignty over the earth. We stood and asked God to give us the courage to go into our world and tell others how much God loves them

Report by George and Carol Elliott

NEWRY

A gathering for GDOP 2009 was held in Newry at St Patrick's Church of Ireland, more recently known as 'the Light on the Hill'. Organisers felt this place of particular spiritual and historical significance for prayer in unity as it is reputedly the site of the first protestant church built in Ireland after the reformation. It's position on the hillside also makes it visible from most places in Newry.  
 
On GDOP believers from both catholic and protestant backgrounds and from north and south of the border gathered together to pray and worship as one. Worship was led by the inter-denominational worship team 'New Dawn' based at St Patricks while members of local ministries, fellowships and churches led prayer and reflections.
 
Themes for the gathering reflected both the traditional and the new name of the venue. We invited the Lord ‘to come and finish the good work He had started in Ireland through his apostle St Patrick' and that He would send a fresh move of His Spirit within His 'Body of Believers' in Ireland enabling us to be pure and holy with the mind of Christ, completely soaked in prayer and His presence in order that we might be light, salt, and a fragrant blessing to our local communities. 
 
As well as prayer and worship, those gathered made several prophetic acts which included:
 - A 'procession of repentance' by everyone to the foot of the cross repenting for both personal and national sin
- Coming out from familiar groups in the church pews to gather together in the central isle to pray in small mixed groups for our communities and to commit as God's people to maintain and contribute positively to 'true community'.
- A young catholic girl and protestant boy sang 'You're the God of this City, People, Nation' and were joined by everyone in singing out this proclaimation.
-  A GDOP candle surrounded by salt was lit by a catholic man from the North of Ireland and protestant woman from the Republic of Ireland as they  welcomed the King of Glory to Ireland.  Small candles soaked in  fragrance and salt were distributed for everyone to take back to their own communities. 
- Before leaving, everyone faced outwards - north, south, east and west to pray for the continuity of the gospel of Jesus Christ to spread as a blessing throughout Ireland and all the world and that we, His church would be part of that blessing!

Report by Terri Rooney

NEWTOWNABBEY

The Global day of prayer event in Newtownabbey was hosted by the local clergy fellowship in St. Bernard's church and was greatly supported by people from across the denominations.

There was a wonderful sense of unity as the praise was lead by St. Bernard's folk group and Glengormley Presbyterian worship band and Prayers for the world were read by representatives of the different Churches

Many people were moved by the repentance section which focused on the divisions within our families, communities and Churches and the need to build bridges of healing. After a time of repenting of the divisions we were encouraged to be bridge builders. To one side had been placed a wall depicting the words often seen on gable walls, words that cause division, to the far side a symbol of the fire of God's Spirit on which were placed stones with words which bring healing and the gap between division/hurt and healing/hope was overcome by a bridge which the people formed by placing a lighted candle on a symbolic structure representing a bridge.

Aware of our need of a fresh outpouring of Gods Spirit, scriptures and reflections on Pentecost were read and the congregation were prayed over whilst banners symbolising  flames were carried over the heads of the people and children waved specially made flags designed and coloured as flames. This was followed by a wonderful power point presentation to the words of the CD "send you rain" and people spontaneously joined in song.

The prayers for the needs of the community:- Violet crime, Drug & Alcohol abuse, The financial crisis and the marginalised were very powerfully lead in word and visuals and gave us all a deeper understanding of the reality of these issues and their effects and helped to really focus our prayers.

Psalm 131 reminds us that when we come together in unity the Lord commands a blessing and I truly feel that we were richly blessed.

Report by Collette Higgins

NEWTOWNARDS

A glorious afternoon heralded the first Global Day of Prayer service to be held in Newtownards, County Down.  Organised by the women of Movilla Abbey Church and held outdoors in the town square, the event drew together over 300 Christians from a variety of churches within the town.

After the opening remarks and the reading of 2Chronicles 7:14-15, flags representing participating countries were carried across the square to the accompaniment of the Londonderry Air, played by a lone piper.  This was a touching moment, when all present were reminded that they were not alone in meeting for prayer, but that they were joining their voices with those of many tribes and nations.  One person described it as "a foretaste of heaven".

Prayers and readings were led by a variety of people from the town and the worship leader was acclaimed Canadian singer/ songwriter Lianna Klassen.

A highlight of the service was a performance by the Psalm Drummers, who were welcomed with great enthusiasm, and who drew extra passers- by to the event.

The Newtownards' Global Day of Prayer concluded, with a resounding, "Amen!  Come Lord Jesus!"  We continue to pray that He will come into our personal lives, into our community, into our country and into our world.

Report by Adrianne Campbell

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