A global wave of prayer, still a few months away, is capturing the imagination of many churches from across the world. They are making plans to join in a focused time of prayer with Christian communities around the world from Pentecost (25 May) to Ascension (4 June 2017) praying for more people to come to know Jesus.
More than 100,000 Christians from around the world took part in 2016 after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York invited churches to pray in fresh and focused ways during the days between Pentecost and Ascension – a time when the church traditionally focuses on prayer. They encouraged everyone to join in a wave of prayer called Thy Kingdom Come – asking for the Holy Spirit to help them be witnesses to Jesus Christ and to pray for others to discover that living faith. There were many stories of people responding and having their lives turned around.
This year the wave of prayer is starting to build again as preparations begin for Thy Kingdom Come 2017. Along with many churches in the UK, provinces of the Anglican Communion have committed to join in.
In Hong Kong preparations are underway to launch the wave of prayer on Ascension Day in all the cathedrals in Hong Kong Island and in Western and Eastern Kowloon.
The Most Revd Dr Paul Kwong, the Primate of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (HKSKH) and Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council asked the Mission Commission to make plans.
"Being the youngest province of the Anglican Communion, we were more than willing to participate in this meaningful spiritual revival movement." The Revd Bartholomew Ma, chair of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (HKSKH) Mission Commission
Bartholomew Ma said, "The congregations will then focus praying for the evangelisation of the world, in particular, for the people of Hong Kong and Macau where Christian population is still under 10% and for the enormous population of 1.3 billion Mainland Chinese, most of whom haven't even heard about Jesus Christ and the Life changing Gospel!"
He said they also hope to recruit 500–1000 spiritual warriors. He said, "They will be a virtual praying community whose members are willing to spend at least ten minutes everyday to pray for the mission/missionary needs of the church. Ten Bible passages with relevant themes for meditation and reflection will be sent through internet and cell phone Apps. In addition, ten or more focused prayer request items concerning outreach and evangelism of the Anglican Church will also be announced by the same method."