Adventist Women Are Driving Force for Prayer Initiative across Australia

By: Lorraine Atchia, Adventist Record, and Adventist Review

A National Prayer Summit to reflect and focus on the importance of prayer was recently livestreamed on the Australian Union Conference (AUC) and the Adventist Women Australia (AWA) Facebook pages, and shared in other outlets. The initiative was driven by Adventist women’s ministries in Australia and followed by hundreds on various pages, organizers said.

The women’s ministries team selected the beginning of March 2021 to create an all-inclusive program full of praise, prayer, and food for thought to celebrate the International Day of Prayer (March 5) and International Women’s Day of Prayer (March 6).

The main speaker, Greg Pratt, helped those watching to reflect on the importance of praying without ceasing, as Paul instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. “God wants to be part of every aspect in your lives,” Pratt reminded viewers. “Pray to God throughout the day, and don’t wait until there is a crisis.”

Viewers listened to personal messages from regional conference presidents Terry Johnson (Greater Sydney), Steve Goods (Western Australia), and Darren Slade (Northern Australia). These Adventist Church leaders shared personal testimonies about how the power of prayer has transformed their lives and continues to do so.

Viewers also had the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of specialists about prayer.

AUC women’s ministries liaison and event organizer Sylvia Mendez explained that “although women’s ministries is about empowering women to lead and giving them the tools they need to nurture and grow, it is also about empowering and discipling the whole church.” In that sense, Mendez said, “we wanted to create an inclusive event which would do just that.”

When describing how the power of prayer has changed her life, Mendez reminded viewers how we talk about experiencing peace under challenging circumstances. “[It is a] peace where it doesn’t even make sense because there is so much chaos around [us],” she said. “I can testify to that power where I have peace even when everything is out of control, and that is because of the power of prayer,” she added.

“It is a journey, but prayer can be a constant in the good and bad seasons. And in the seasons where I am struggling to talk to God, having people step in and pray for me has been essential,” Mendez said.

The National Prayer Summit ended with a Zoom video-conference prayer meeting, which viewers were invited to attend so they could end the night praying for others and themselves.

The summit was the first of three all-inclusive events that the women’s ministries team in Australia is working on for 2021, organizers said.

The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.