Perhaps it was the last Sunday in January 2008 that I attended the evening church service at Manurewa AOG, when the Pastor announced that the Lord had placed a burden upon his heart that afternoon. The burden he explained was the concern that the Lord had for the recent incidents in Manurewa where a young man was shot in a local Manurewa store by a youth and another youth caught tagging on a local fence was stabbed by a middle aged local adult for doing so. In a small suburb like Manurewa, such events cause nationwide disturbance. The pastor proceeded to read a passage from the Bible as follows;
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land". (King James Bible)
and then asked members to come up to the front and read the verse in segments and then pray as the Lord led them with specific reference to the Manurewa community. It was a powerful time of prayer for Manurewa.
I came away wondering about what healing would then begin to happen in Manurewa. I wondered if the many families in the community needed God. I didn't have to wait long. Many churches in Manurewa have gotton together and with the support of Mayor Len Brown and Deputy Mayor Sua Sio - an all night prayer vigil shall take place at Manurewa Central school this Friday 22nd February 2008.
Lets see how events unravel in Manurew after the next few months if we keep praying. The prayer of a righteous person availeth much - I believe that.
