Prayer Summit 2017 Will Call People to Fall on Their Knees

Facing a world filled with political, social, and religious turmoil, prayer coordinators, pastors, ministry leaders, and others from across the Christian Reformed Church will gather in Los Angeles, Calif., next week to get on their knees to pray.

As part of the CRC's Prayer Summit 2017, they will call on God for the strength and grace to address many issues, especially the racial strife cutting across urban communities in North America.

Responding to speakers who will touch on other topics, they will also ask God to quell the upheaval in the Middle East, to bring peace and stability in Africa, to open the hearts and minds of young people to the transformational message of the gospel, and for inspiration and renewal in the Christian Reformed Church denomination at this summer’s Inspire 2017 event.

“More than ever, we have sent out a special call to people to come together and spend a great deal of time in prayer,” said Charles Kim, a coordinator of the Prayer Summit taking place from March 27-29 at the Ttokamsa Mission Church in L.A.

“You can certainly pray alone,” said Kim, “but something beautiful happens when you can pray together on certain topics, especially now as so many social and political things are happening.”

Registration will remain open until the Prayer Summit begins, and a new option to view much of the summit via live-streaming should be available by then, said Kim.

A range of CRC ministry leaders, including Steven Timmermans, executive director of the CRC, and Colin Watson, director of ministries and administration, will be speakers.

Also speaking will be Mark Gornik, founder of City Seminary in New York City, and Makoto Fujimura, director of The Brehm Center at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Ken Choe, senior pastor of Ttokamsa Mission Church, and Chan Young Choi, the first commissioned overseas missionary from the Korean Presbyterian Church, will speak as well.

Besides the speakers, the summit will offer traditional Korean dawn prayer, breakout sessions, and prayer labs.

In addition, Karen Wilk, a pastor and national team leader involved in mission work for the CRC, will lead a prayer walk from the church through the nearby Chinatown area and to Union Station, where trains come into and leave from L.A.

“The speakers will be informing us on what we need to know on certain topics, but they also will be broadening our minds on how to pray and what we should be praying for,” said Kim.

As he looks ahead to this year’s gathering, Kim said a quote from author C.S. Lewis comes to mind: “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”

Here is a look at ​speakers and presenters.