How
Prayer
Looks
in the
World
of
OMS
COLOMBIA
We pray every
Tuesday from 5:00 to
9:00 a.m. The first hour is
spent exalting and praising
God. Then we intercede for our
local, state, and national churches.
We pray for mission work in our
country and around the world.
We invest time specifically praying for local, state, and national authorities. We pray for our local hospitals,
nursing homes, prisons, and schools.
Finally, we share a Bible passage to be read and studied individually.
Everybody is welcome to be part of this program. Colombia is also known
for its all-night prayer vigils.
—Pastor Anibal Restrepo,
Jericó Church in Antioquia, Colombia
AFRICA
Prayer in Africa is very loud and can
last for hours. Some churches meet
every Saturday and pray from 8:00
p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Because Africans
are relational people, prayer is natural in the African church. When the prayer
leader says, “Let’s pray,” everyone present lifts his or her voice. We know
when a prayer session starts but not when it will finish.
You can’t separate singing from prayer. The prayer leader may begin
with a song to get everyone into a prayer mood, but once engaged with
God, we may spontaneously sing and pray as the Holy Spirit leads.
During prayer time, we lift our hands, kneel down, or sometimes lie on
the floor. We walk and pray at the same time. The leader may ask the people to pray one after another.
—Theo Burakeye, Africa Regional Supervisor
with Every Community for Christ
IRELAND
From the prayers of St. Patrick to the Book of Common Prayer, Ireland
has been soaked in prayer for centuries. With the decline of the church,
prayer has changed. It has been stripped back to its organic, raw form.
Prayer in Dublin cultivates
a relationship with God. It is
personal, it is conversational,
and it is real.
Amy, 21, says, “More and
more, I’m realizing how much
I need prayer in my life. Not
necessarily the sit-down-andpray-solidly-for-an-hour type
of prayer, but the constant
flow of conversation with God
in my everyday life.”
—Anne Baenziger,
OMS Missionary in Ireland
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