CRC Sets Aside Prayer Time for World Concerns

The Christian Reformed Church in North America is joining Calvin College on Thursday for special times of prayer to draw attention to the ongoing outbreak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa.

They will also pray for other places and situations around the world that are causing concern:

• Civil war in Ukraine
• Immigration issues in the U.S.
• Persecuted church in China; protests in Hong Kong
• Unrest and wars throughout the Middle East  

Although things are still in the planning stage at Calvin, officials there hope to have some organized prayer time in the morning from 7:30 to 8 a.m. then at the end of the day at around 4:30 p.m., says Don DeGraaf, Calvin’s director of off-campus programs.

“Last week as we were lamenting everything that is going wrong in the world right now and wondering how we could respond; we decided that we should have a day of prayer for the world focusing on world events that are close to where our students are studying this semester,” said DeGraaf.

Calvin has 14 students in Ghana, 16 in Hungary, 10 in Honduras, 18 in Peru, and 14 in China — all countries included in one way or another with Thursday’s prayer list.

Meanwhile, the CRC office in Grand Rapids is hoping to set up a prayer station in the atrium and at a suitable spot in its Burlington, Ontario, office. Plans call for prayer at 8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m.

The CRC office in Burlington will also hold three sessions, starting at 8 a.m. with two prayer stations — one focusing on prayer requests focusing on the Middle East and Europe conflicts.

At noon, there will be prayer focusing on the Ebola outbreak, and at 3:45 p.m. there will be praise and thanksgiving for the Lord’s work.

Regarding Ebola, prayers will focus on those afflicted by the deadly virus, people who are struggling without adequate food and other supplies in the midst of it, and especially “our partners who are there and doing the work,” says Dr. Steve Timmermans, executive director of the CRCNA.
Both World Renew and Christian Reformed World Missions support partners who are at work in West Africa during this crisis that has cost the lives of some 13,000 people and threatens thousands of others.

“We want to raise the awareness of this and are asking people in North America to respond with generosity to help our brothers and sisters in West Africa,” said Timmermans.

With additional support, the CRCNA could substantially increase its response in the coming days and weeks. 

Even as these prayer activities are being mobilized, CRWM is in the process of raising $25,000 to help the Timothy Leadership Program (TLT) continue to train local pastors and church leaders on how to best respond to those facing Ebola.

“The Ebola deadly virus that is spreading and killing people in West Africa has no known cure yet,” says Rev. Istifanus Bahago, a CRWM leadership consultant in Sierra Leone, where more than 600 people have died from the virus.

But, he says, they are fortunate to be working with TLT, which has compiled a manual titled “Overcoming the Ebola Epidemic” that church leaders can teach their members in Sunday school classes.

World Renew has been busy  as well. On September 24, 452 cartons containing 3,765 kilograms of supplies to fight Ebola arrived in Liberia.

These supplies were funded by World Renew and shipped and organized by MAP International. The Christian Health Association of Liberia is using the supplies in their fight against Ebola.

The shipment included thousands of pairs of latex gloves, over a thousand surgical face masks, thermometers, intravenous solution, oral rehydration packets, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, vitamin pills, and other basic medicines.