From May 3 to 7 delegates from 27 African nations and five countries beyond this continent came to Stellenbosch for the third Africa International Prayer Connect (IPC) summit under the theme “His Name Shall Be Great Among the Nations”.
A significant feature of IPC is close collaboration between prayer networks globally. The corporate aim and vision is to ultimately get one billion intercessors across the globe joining in day and night prayer.
Dr Jason Hubbard director of International Prayer Connect, reminded all the participants via a beautifully printed programme of a challenge from Dick Eastman, who recently went home to be with the Lord: “The degree to which prayer is mobilised is the degree to which the world will be evangelised!”
Highlighting how Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but also thereafter Noah and Enoch, had Intimacy with our Father, participants were invited to practice this.
The IPC wishes to establish altars of 24/7 worship-based prayer in cities throughout Africa and to see canopies of united, strategic and sustainable prayer and worship forged.
The network envisages mobilising millions throughout Africa to pray on five Global Days of Prayer each year towards the fulfilment of the Great Commission (Psalm 110:3), viz. one each for Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, next to the annual Global Day of Prayer at Pentecost. (The first global prayer day was started in Cape Town in 2005 by our late brother Graham Power.)
Through a visit to the Andrew Murray Centre in Wellington and a talk by Daniel Brink, managing director of Jericho Walls International, participants heard how God used the two Andrew Murrays of previous centuries, father and son, as conduits of the prayer movement. That changed the world in many ways here from the Eastern and Western Cape in the 19th Century and into the 20th Century.
Estell Brink, his wife reminded us via one of her devotional messages during the conference, that prayer and action go hand in hand. “The call is not only to intercede, but to build according to the pattern and purpose of God. Each one has a part to play, a section of the wall entrusted to them.”
In this regard the conference was challenged to engage in effective prayer. Why do some prayers seem to shape history, while others feel unfocused or weary? How do we persevere in prayer when answers are delayed, opposition is strong, or the world feels overwhelming? Readers of this report are similarly herewith invited to “rediscover prayer as God intended it: rooted in Scripture, sustained by faith, and aligned with His purposes for the nations”. To this end Dr Hubbard has put a podcast series at our disposal, accessible via 7 Keys to Effective Prayer
To counter the diabolical agenda of the arch enemy to divide and rule, intercessors are encouraged to
use the prime divine tool of Word-based united prayer to spark revival among believers. Walking in faith by followers of Jesus, practising intimacy with the triune Godhead and prayer walking as a lifestyle are mooted.
Participants repeatedly prayed in smaller groups, trusting God to strengthen their focus on praying through crises in Africa and the World as we face challenges at many levels — disasters, famines, wars, persecution and children who are suffering.
During the sessions on the various reasons for these crises a few common issues and challenges were identified. The disunity of pastors, all too often displayed as rivalry and competition – even in prayer – was recognised as a scourge that is blocking the advance of the Kingdom. The building of own kingdoms seems to be the norm.
After reports from the three regional meetings of East, North and Southern Africa, the delegates accepted a challenge to continue praying for visible expressions of the unity of the Body of Christ.
The need to thwart the Islamic advance on our continent was addressed. This advance was successfully resisted in South Africa to some extent after a pubic call was made from Nigeria in 1987 to Islamise the continent by 2000. But subsequently that religion has used more shrewd means, e.g. using halaal certification to expand subtly.)
A delegate from Egypt shared a special testimony about how the second African Prayer Summit in Cairo in 2024 kick-started a move to let Egyptians feel that they are part of Africa. In contrast, delegates united in prayers of repentance and reconciliation after a brother from East Africa mentioned how they experienced discrimination when South Africans treated them condescendingly, as if this country was located on a different continent. This triggered a special addition to the programme when two First Nation descendants apologised simultaneously in a repentant, remorseful way. They highlighted the xenophobic attitudes and practices towards fellow believers, as well as to many people from other African countries.
A visible challenge towards a tri-generational commitment came to the conference via a prayer leader
from Botswana who attended with her two daughters. Various speakers from other countries amplified
the message toward a clarion call: to raise up the next generation, children and youth, in prayer and
missions, (Malachi 4, Matthew 19:14).
At the talk of a Malaysian prayer leader who is passionate about every child hearing God’s voice and knowing their identity in Christ, there was possibly no dry eye when a 7-year-old boy, who is deaf in his left ear, rendered a Holy Spirit-inspired song.
Mkhululi Letsatsi national director of United in Crisis South Africa, encouraged the participants with videos of how the Gospel reached many unchurched people. In one instance, recipients of material aid even invited the agency to use an unused building to plant a church.
Using the paradigm of the Good Samaritan of Luke 15, we were exhorted to note that the Bible radiates a pattern: God uses crises to display His power. (Thus our country benefited when a Communist-
inspired attack via terrorists in a Cape Town church in July 1993 triggered united prayer which ushered in
the miracle elections of April 1994. May that become the case again at this time: that the united repentant
remorseful prayer because of the disunity in the Church, also at citywide level, becomes a trigger for
united prayer and compassionate, loving action.0
As the conference was taking place the petrol price rose steeply in response to a worldwide economic crisis triggered by the war in the Middle East. We know, however, that God is still in control. The last major global challenge –the Covid pandemic of 2020 — triggered a groundswell of prayer, in South Africa and beyond. How will the Father respond amidst the latest global crises?
The conference ended with a powerful prayer service that included communion on Table Mountain.
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