We are 5! - 8 Dec 2004
iam5: Saturday 12th February,
When I was five-years-old I threw my pet cat, 'Snoopy', out of a high first-floor window - he wasn't allowed upstairs, and I'd heard my mum coming up the stairs - it just seemed to be the quickest solution to an obvious problem. (He survived, by the way.) I also got in trouble for sneaking my toy cars to school - this was 'not allowed', but I'd slipped them down my socks and smuggled them to school. I can't remember how I got found out, but I did. (Why does that always happen?)
Five-years-old. Can you remember anything that you did at that age? (Thinking about it now, I'm wondering if the 'Snoopy' story was in fact my sister and not me?! Oh well...) Can you remember your fifth birthday? Well, believe it or not, 24-7prayer is five-years-old in February 2005, and we're planning a celebration party that might just be unforgettable!
Inspired in part by the Moravian Church's 100-year prayer meeting, another 'prayer meeting' began in a scruffy little prayer room in Chichester, on the South coast of England, way back in September 1999. Over the months that followed, a few other groups and churches had a go at it too, setting up 'creative spaces' for people to pray day-and-night - most of those praying were young people, but this soon widened out to include all ages and backgrounds. What started out as a crazy/extreme idea rapidly (and surprisngly) spread like a virus - the 'accident' rapidly started to look like something God had been dreaming and scheming all along.The non-stop week-by-week chain 'officially' began in February 2000 at a launch party in an unimpressive back-street nightclub in Guildford, and from there it has spread to every continent of the globe (except the snowy ones at the far North and the far South - anyone got an igloo they want to kit out as a 24-7prayer room?!). The current estimate is that 24-7prayer rooms have appeared in 56 nations, with probably many more that we don't know about. Every week, even right now as you read this short article, people around the world - rich and poor, free and persecuted, female and male, from many races and cultures, tribes and nations - are praying, non-stop, night-and-day. Isn't that amazing.
So, 24-7prayer is almost five-years-old, and we'd really like to celebrate that fact - we'd like to celebrate 260 weeks of unbroken night-and-day prayer... we want to thank God for his grace and kindness and faithfulness - for 'drawing near' to people like you and I, as we've attempted to 'draw near' to him in prayer rooms all over the world... we want to share our stories, our joys and our pain, our stumbling and wrestling, the answers to prayer we've experienced and the unanswers we're still puzzling over, we want to gather it all in one big party-bag and offer it back to God! With worship and prayer, with laughter and probably a few tears, we want to gather together and celebrate the story-so-far. Wanna come?Here's the details so far:
WHEN - Saturday, 12th February 2005, 1pm until 10pm (with a break in the afternoon)
WHERE - St Mary's, Marylebone, London
WHAT - aaah, well, that's not all sorted out just yet, but it will include all of this and more...; worship and prayer, story-telling from around the world, small-groups, pass-the-parcel and other games, a market-place and cafe, a prayer-room, some 'wise words' from a few friends of 24-7prayer, some silly competitions (tee hee!), news and updates on what to expect in the coming months, and lots of opportunities to make new friends!
Keep your eye on www.24-7prayer.com/iam5 for weekly updates and join our mailing list ([email protected]) to find out how you can get involved on the day...
Tickets are available right now from the 24-7prayer website. They'll go quite quickly, so get clicking! See you there.
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