A Million Women – a historic global prayer and fasting movement that began in Washington DC on Yom Kippur, October 12 2024 with an Esther call for America to turn back to God – is coming to South Africa in September.
The A Million Women sacred assembly event at Beulah Park, Johannesburg on Saturday September 19 (on the eve of Yom Kippur) will be linked via livestreaming to gatherings throughout the country and to major prayer hubs across Africa, said Christian marketplace leader Engelize de Lange, who is co-leading the 2026 campaign in SA with Dr Pearl Kupe.
The heart of A Million Women is to mobilise God’s people – especially women but also supportive men (Mordecais) – to respond to moments of national and global crisis through repentance, unity, fasting, prayer, and consecration, rooted in the biblical mandate of Joel 2 and the prophetic call of Esther 4.
Organisers’ expectations for the SA event include convening a moment for national atonement, a shift in the heavens over SA, dislodging of ancient principalities, healing of racial and historical wounds, causing a continental ripple effect, and for SA to step fully into her prophetic role as “the mother, the womb, and the continental gate of Africa”.
Engelize said that when she was first approached to promote the Washington event in SA in 2024, she did not see the point of partnering with what appeared to be a once-off American event spearheaded by US prayer leader Lou Engle. But she later noted that about 14 African nations supported the US event, which drew about 350 000 people to the National Mall, Washington DC and around 10 million people via livestream. And something shifted for Engelize when she attended an unrelated fasting, repentance, prayer and worship event called “The Return” at Loftus Stadium, Pretoria that was held on the same day as the US event. At the Loftus event she said: “I realised I was commissioned there by the Lord. But for what, I didn’t realise at the time.”
When Candice Smithyman of A Million Women, USA, contacted her later and briefed her about the movement, she knew that God was calling her to be part of it. Candice told her how some of their prayers had been speedily answered through changes effected by newly-elected President Donald Trump. She also spoke about how they were going global, urging women to take a stand, similar to the biblical Esther, to fast and intercede for their nations. Candice told her they were building up to an A Million Women event in Jerusalem in 2030.
Engelize flew to Brazil last October to experience an A Million Women solemn assembly in São Paulo. The event ended with handing the baton to Africa – to Engelize and to Pastor Hannah Johnson of Nigeria. In addition to the SA event on September 19, Nigeria will be hosting an A Million Women gathering on April 3 and another one later in the year. There will also be an event in Brazil on April 25.
Engelize said that the 2026 A Million Women events are being held in nations to the south of Jerusalem in prophetic alignment with Scriptures such as Isaiah 60:4-6, which speak of a day when people will come to Jerusalem from southern lands with gifts and praises to God.
She said that when she started to look for a suitable venue for the September 19 event she found that major sports stadiums she considered were already booked. The Currie Cup final is taking place on the day of the SA A Million Women event.
She then decided to consider the Beulah Park International venue in Germiston and things started to fall in place. For one, David Macdonald, a US-based pastor of SA origin, had a vision that the SA event must be held on farmland. It turned out that while Beulah Park is in an industrial area overlooking Johannesburg, it is still registered as farmland.
Engelize said that the A Million Women South Africa website will be launched soon. More information about A Million Women Africa can be found on Instagram. Also see https://amillionwomen.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/amillionwomen
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