GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER

More than 11,000 gathered to pray at The Saddledome in 2005. — photo by Peter McManus

Christians of all denominations will unite in prayer on June 4, 2006.  Saddledome confirmed for Global Day of Prayer

Calgary, AB – It is now official. The Calgary Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) organizing committee has signed contracts securing the Pengrowth Saddledome for the site of GDOP 2006 on June 4th. Christians will celebrate their faith beginning with vibrant worship through music, dance and visual arts at 2:30pm. Between 3:00 and 5:00pm local church and lay leaders will lead the assembly through focused prayers of repentance to ask God’s blessing on families, churches, cities, nation and the world.

Calgary participants will join millions of Christians gathered at hundreds of sites around the world. In 2005, 220 million in 226 countries were linked in prayer with 11,000+ at the Saddledome. This was the largest international gathering of Christians in history. Organizers in cities around the world are anticipating even larger numbers for GDOP 2006.

The event, and activities leading up to and following the GDOP, will involve Calgary Christians from Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Charismatic Renewal, and Mainline churches cutting across ethnic, cultural and socio-economic lines.

The Calgary site will be part of a prayer network spanning 24 time zones beginning at the International Date Line in the Pacific and circling the world to end in Canada and the USA. Global sites will be linked through satellite and internet video feeds. Plans are also being discussed for a live broadcast of the Calgary event.

The June 4th gathering will be a Global celebration of Pentecost Sunday and the power of united prayer.

All of this will be preceded by 10 days of prayer and fasting beginning on May 25, (visit www.24-7calgary.com for details).

GDOP 2006 will be followed by 90 Days of Blessing, an outreach to communities in Northeast Calgary.

Calgary has played a major role in this movement by introducing the GDOP gatherings to Canada. It is significant that the prayer movement began in developing nations before touching down in North America in Calgary, Dallas, and other cities.

Canadian cities organizing GDOP gatherings this year include Toronto, Edmonton, Prince George, Vancouver, Canmore, and other cities.

The leadership role played by the Calgary GDOP team was emphasized in February when Graham Power, the South African lay leader recognized as the founder of the Global Day of Prayer movement, spoke to Calgary ministry leaders and held private meetings with local organizers. Joining Power was John Robb, World Vision USA Director of Prayer Ministries, and Robert Bakke, the North American GDOP Director, based in Minneapolis.

In 2001 God gave Graham Power a vision to bring fellow Cape Town Christians together to pray. The rugby stadium was filled to capacity with 45,000 people of all denominations and ethnic groups united in prayer. In 2002 the grassroots movement began to spread until in 2003 approximately 23 million Christians from across 28 African countries united in prayer.

In 2004 all 56 African countries (including the islands) prayed for God’s blessing on Africa. This grass-roots phenomenon expanded in 2005 to include the world.

Global Christians pray to ask God to bless the nations...so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord (Hab.2:14). For more info visit www.gdopcalgary.com.