Summit Ends, Pledging more Prayer

Rev. Joel Boot, executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, got down on his knees in the front of the sanctuary of All Nations Church in Lake View Terrace, Calif. on Wednesday to pray that the denomination will continue to make prayer a priority.

In speaking, he was bringing to a close the CRC’s 2013 Prayer Summit. The three-day gathering at the Korean Christian Reformed church north of Los Angeles included lively sessions of prayer and worship, presentations, workshops, and various gatherings—all focused on the theme "Your Kingdom Come."

"Let's make it our prayer that this will be our legacy, that we are members of a denomination that has been brought to its knees and that we will spend the rest of our lives on our knees," said Boot.

This was the second year for the CRC's Prayer Summit, which was held last April at the same church.

Attracting people from across North America, each day had a focus that led up to Wednesday's final sessions, which highlighted and provided practical ways in which the church and church members can bring about God’s kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven." Speakers also touched on challenges that often make it hard for this to happen.

Waging Peace

David Crump, a professor of New Testament studies at Calvin College, on Wednesday challenged participants to consider the sheer difficulty of truly following Christ's teachings, making it hard to bring forth the kingdom.

Christ calls his followers to exhibit such qualities as humility, self-control, service to others and kindness.

He also calls his followers to work to bring his kingdom, and all of its dimensions, into this world, through such activities as peace-making.

While he did not demean the significance and value of prayer, he did say that prayer needs to have an active, transformational quality to it— a quality called forth by God. Prayer must be more than just words and approaches.

"It can be easier to wave our hands around in prayer than it is to suffer and serve our hurting neighbor," he said.

Crump gave examples – not to brag, but as illustrations — of his own Christian activism.

Born out of sense a God’s grace and of what he sees as God’s imperative for him, Crump believes it is important to speak out against US foreign policy and how it is waging wars and oppressing others.

For instance, he spent time in jail last year after being arrested for protesting a NATO meeting in Chicago.

He and others were there to draw attention to the wars that NATO is waging with the support, leadership and even on behalf of the US.

As he sat behind bars, he told others why he was there – because he is a Christian. No one believed him and maybe that is because being a Christian today, he said, is more about partisan politics than on following the teachings of Christ.

"Why is the church so silent on ways in which the US is making war on different countries? As Christians, we need to stand up and say ‘no’ to the power of the state.

"This is exactly what the early church did. It stood up and said ‘no,’ that it would not serve the empire, it would not serve in the military,  and it would not conform to the social expectations that were around it.”

A praying church, he said, is a church deeply involved in bringing about God’s kingdom of lasting peace to all people.

Unity Amidst Diversity

Along with the issue of violence, one of the challenges of bringing about God’s kingdom has to deal with unity amidst diversity.

And this can mean learning to live in love with people different than us.

"In Christianity, we can transcend volatile human conflict," said Michelle Lee-Barnwell, associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Biola University in La Miranda, Calif.

"God asks us to do something that is so difficult that only God can help us do it. We are asked to give up our egos to help others.

“It is the very difficulty of working to bring about unity, despite our differences, that makes this such a high call. What does it mean to be one and the same when we are so different in so many ways?"

The Power of Forgiveness

Perhaps one of the most persuasive ways to exhibit the power of God and to reflect God’s kingdom here on earth is through forgiveness, said Ruth Veltkamp, a  CRC missionary in West Africa who has worked for 44 years primarily among Muslims.

Veltkamp cited a handful of examples in which terrorists have violently attacked and in some cases murdered people with whom she does ministry.

Although it has not been easy, her fellow mission workers have been able with God's help to forgive those who have attacked them and killed their loved ones.

“They have had to trust God to show them how to forgive,” she said.

She also talked about how one of her coworkers, who had nearly been killed by terrorists, ended up on a plane next to the terrorist mastermind who ordered his attack.

Her coworker prayed, anxiously asking God for direction, and ended up speaking to the terrorist mastermind and ultimately bringing him out of his religion and helping him to become a Christ follower.

“The power of forgiveness is so great that if you forgive anyone of sin, they are forgiven and can pass this on to others… So often, forgiveness can have a tremendous effect on somebody else.”

Veltkamp said she has also been under attack – once by sorcerers who had conjured up demons to attach themselves to her and to destroy her work among “Jesus Followers.”

But in this instance, as well as in so many others, forgiveness was key.

When she prayed for the sorcerers, letting them know that they had no real power over her and that all power belongs to God, she broke the hold they had on her.

“Forgiveness broke the cord of evil that the sorcerers had attached to me ...This cord became an umbilical cord, channeling life to those who were cursing me (and others),” she said.

Forgiveness has a great and profound power, she said. It exerts a power and influence that is unusual in today’s world where revenge is often  seen as the best option.

“God is offering us eternal forgiveness that we can take into our heart and into our lives,” she said. “Through forgiveness, the Holy Spirit pushes darkness out of our lives. It helps to bring in God's kingdom.”

Reaching the Destination

Rev. Beth Fellinger, lead pastor of Destination Church in St. Thomas, Ontario, told the story about the founding and the growth of her church and of the ways in which prayer has played into all of it.

She mentioned several miraculous healings, miraculous coincidences that were in all likelihood not coincidences, and how God has interacted with her church and helped it reach out to the people who live in and around the area of Destination.

For instance, her church was nearly $20,000 short of its budget a year or so ago. They had no idea how they were going to make up the shortfall.

She mentioned the difficulty during a church service and later one of the members came into her office, telling her that he had gone through his house to get all the change that he had. He handed over 28 cents, all that he had.

She could’ve put that money in an envelope and forgotten about it. But she mentioned it on the church’s Facebook page, and soon small amounts of money were coming into her church from all over the country. With that money, and other funds, they were able to make their budget.

“There is nothing that God can’t do, if we put it all in God’s hands, ” Fellinger said.

“Praying to God, we can hardly imagine what will happen. Our prayer will reap a harvest. God is on the move and his kingdom will be coming.”

To see all news and video from the 2013 Prayer Summit, visit www.crcna.org/PrayerSummit.