Youth Week of Prayer 2009

Youth Week of Prayer – A Special Time at Carter Knowle

The Youth team under the leadership of Nikki Holmes decided not to do the ‘usual’ this year, and as part of Carter Knowle’s wider outreach programme of events over this next two years, invited Pastor David Zaid from California to be the special speaker for YWOP.

The theme for the week was Regroup, Refuel, Refocus.

Things started with an ‘all-nite’ Prayer Meeting held on Saturday March 14th as part of the preparations for YWOP.

One of the key ambitions of YWOP was to consolidate the youth at Carter Knowle and to re-establish links with those youth with whom links had been disconnected.

All we knew of Pastor Zaid was that he had been recommended by another Pastor, and we had seen a YouTube clip of him. We also knew our God.

Well, Pastor Zaid is more than delivered!

Pastor Zaid ministers at the Westminster Good Samaritan Seventh Day Adventist Church in California USA and has a vibrant youth team there, which he shared with us here at Carter Knowle.

Pastor Zaid had the ability to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ seem so simple, yet exciting and as if it just happened yesterday. He used humour, real-life situations, and insights into his own life and background to make a point, and boy did we see results!

On the night of the all-nite prayer, a list of names was put on the wall of youth we wanted to re-connect with. By the Wednesday night 15 of that list have come out to the meetings, and most of that 15 were coming consistently.

We were blessed with young people making decisions for Jesus Christ to come into their lives and do something different.

Pastor Zaid focussed on the lives of young men like Joseph and challenged the Church to be radical for Jesus Christ.

His description of dysfunctionality in Bible families, yet that not being allowed to hold patriarchs back from doing their all for the Lord was stunning.

Pastor Zaid’s telling of the story of Balaam, what happened next as a precursor to asking us all what we will do with our second chance, should we be given one stirred the hearts on many to make decisions for the Lord.

One of the comments made by a young person who started coming back was this was the first time things had been made so clear and simple for her.

One of the most powerful services held occurred on the Friday evening at our Anointing Service. The men were anointed first and then circled the walls of the sanctuary. The women were then anointed; they then too circled the sanctuary. Those then who had specific illnesses or situations needing anointing came to the centre of the Church and the Pastors and Elders move around and anointed them. Our Theme Song for the week was ‘The Splendour of a King – How Great is Our God’ after that Service the Church sang the Theme Song to close. It had been sung well throughout the week, but NEVER the way it was sung following the anointing service.

A large part of the weeks success were the fellowship lunches held on the two Sabbaths. This allowed time for those who had re-connected to the Church to spend time chatting, and those who had just made contact with us to see us in a social setting.

On the final Sabbath, after we had expressed our heartfelt thanks to Pastor Zaid for his ministry, we formed a human chain around the Church and encircled Pastor Zaid, and our well-loved Bible Worker Pastor Lloyd Lambert who it had just been announced had been called into the Gospel Ministry, and our own Minister, Pastor Andrew Rashford-Hewitt. It was fitting end to the YWOP as our Pastor prayed a special prayer for Pastor Zaid, and we acknowledged the new call on Pastor Lambert’s life.

Carter Knowle has embarked on a two-year evangelistic programme we have called ‘Invest to Save’ which is simply about giving our very best to the Master. The YWOP in this format was the first of our large programmes as part of that project. God blessed the Youth Department and the Church tremendously through YWOP. It is our aim and determination not to let this YWOP be just another ‘high time’ but to build on the challenges Pastor Zaid left us with and do all for God’s glory.

David Bussue

Communications Team

Photos – Lungani Sibanda