The national prayer tour organized by The Wesleyan Church of Canada this past summer began May 1 and concluded August 11. This tour included nearly 75 prayer events and covered approximately 20,000 km. (12,500 miles) from St. John’s, Newfoundland, through the Martime provinces, portions of the state of Maine, central and western Canada, and all the way to Victoria, British Columbia on the west coast.
Kingswood University students — Tom Mason and Luke Maiorino — drove the entire route and were very well received by each local church and community. Numerous reports were received recounting the ways our Wesleyan churches supported and loved on these students, expressing appreciation for the students’ heart for God, God’s people and the various communities they visited as well as their heart for prayer, worship and the mission of the church. Tom and Luke were “blown away” by the kindness, hospitality and support they received over the three-plus months of the tour.
Lay and clergy participants at every prayer event were encouraged to come humbly before God, offer sincere worship as they interceded on behalf of their local community, province, state and nation, and to ask God to speak to his people. All were encouraged to write down their prayers or what they were hearing from God. While the Kingswood students did not keep track of how many people attended the 75 prayer events, they did receive around 600 prayer cards.
At the prayer tour’s conclusion, national church leaders read each card, taking notice of the “common high-level themes” that people were praying about or hearing from God. Many cards communicated these prayer themes:
- concerns about indoctrination in our public school system;
- the necessity for greater outreach and compassion ministries to the homeless, indigenous communities and recent immigrants;
- the need for church planting in under-serviced regions such as Quebec, Western Canada, Newfoundland and the northern territories;
- support for Christian leaders and pastors to be bold in their proclamation of orthodoxy;
- for the next generation to be strong in their faith.
The executive committee of the Canadian National Board will consider “next steps,” but there is already a growing sense that many churches have continued or desire to regularly meet to pray for their communities, provinces, state and nation as well as praying for a Holy Spirit revival to spread through our churches and across the land. The call for God’s people to join in humble, faith-filled prayer is always the first step in seeing God move.
Dr. Stephen Elliott is the national superintendent of The Wesleyan Church of Canada.
