The Global Day of Prayer movement which spread to every nation in the world over a period of 10 years, and the Unashamedly Ethical movement which is currently taking root in different nations, are part of a plan that God is directing, said businessman Graham Power, at an informal city leaders’ breakfast in Port Elizabeth yesterday.
He told the leaders who were discussing strategies to promote ethics in business and public affairs, that God gave him specific instructions for both initiatives during several memorable divine encounters that began after he committed himself, his family and his company, the Power Group, to serving the Lord.
Power said that until he surrendered his life to God in 1999 a the age of 43, he had been a “Sunday Christian”, going to church on some Sundays and doing whatever was necessary to get business and influence people for the rest of the time. That year at his instigation his company decided to have nothing to do with collusion and price fixing that were rife in the construction industry. In mid 2000, during an overseas holiday, God woke him at 2am and told him to challenge South African Christians to a day of repentance and prayer. Following detailed instructions from God he organised an unprecedented prayer event — the first Global Day of Prayer — at Newlands Rugby Stadium. Cape Town, which was attended by 45 000 people on March 21, 2001.
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Holy Spirit
The following year, at a men’s breakfast in Stellenbosch, he fell under the power of the Holy Spirit when the speaker, Craig Meisenheimer, laid hands on him. He had never had such an experience before. During an hour and a half on the floor he experienced acute “pins and needles” sensations and an “out of body” experience in which God showed him that the Global Day of Prayer would spread through Africa and the world and that Africa would become a light to the world within his own lifetime. The prayer event grew rapidly each year and by 2004 God revealed to him that by 10 years all 220 nations of the world would be involved — which is exactly what happened.
On October 6, 2006, he awoke at 4am and shook for three hours as God revealed to him that there would be three global waves: first a wave of prayer; then a wave of ethics, values and clean living; and then “the positive tsunami — a revival of transformation like the globe has never seen”. He could not see the detail of God’s plan but saw that there would be three things: a pledge form, an electronic database to link people, and an ombudsman. These three things are key elements of the Unashamedly Ethical (UE) movement that he founded in 2009. Currently 4 500 South African companies and more than 20 000 South Africans have signed the UE pledge and the movement has been adopted in other parts of Africa, North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
“It is all part of a puzzle. It is not man’s plan, but God’s vision and plan. All we need to do is follow His instructions. I believe there is a special purpose and calling on South Africa and I am proud to be an African,” said Power, who also addressed a gathering on ethics at Harvest Christian Church, Port Elizabeth last night.
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More information about UE is available on the website www.unashamedlyethical.com where organisations and individuals can also sign up to join the movement.
I was very impressed with Graham’s honesty and up-front attitude at a talk held at Harvest on Wednesday evening – he’s is truly a man on a Godly mission. I signed up on the unashamedlyethical website to make difference in the business world and my privae dealings with people – have you?