July 10, 2020 | St. John’s, Antigua | Carson Greene, President
The Prayer Ministries department joined with the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (IAD) and the Caribbean Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (CARU) in celebration of the 100 Days of Prayer during the weekend of July 3 and 4, 2020. The 100 Days of Prayer was an initiative of the world church that was designed to culminate with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Session. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting widespread concerns for health, along with the restrictions in travel, the General Conference Session was postponed to May 2021.
The Inter American Division decided to host a division-wide prayer wave involving all of its 24 unions. Each union was assigned one hour, with the Division closing the day from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Caribbean Union was given the time from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday, July 3. The prayer coordinators of the various fields within the Caribbean Union met and determined that they would organize a two-hour program to run from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with each field contributing to the program. Many testified that this program was a blessing to their souls. The program featured the local fields and the institutions of the Union. These institutions include the: University of the Southern Caribbean (Trinidad), Davis Memorial Hospital (Guyana), Community Hospital (Trinidad) as well as Caribbean Health Foods (University of the Southern Caribbean). At the end of the program, the field presidents led out in a ten-minute prayer session with each president praying for one minute.
Sabbath July 4 was a day of prayer and fasting in the territory of the South Leeward Conference. Each congregation had its individual prayer emphasis during its morning service. Then, from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. the Prayer Ministries department coordinated a live online program involving all administrators, some directors, every island council and some pastors and elders.
The first one hour and 20 minutes were hosted by the team that presents the weekly mid-week prayer ministry program on Wednesday evenings. In addition to the several prayer features, there were musical renditions, a Children Ministries puppet show (highlighting the method of prayer) and a dramatical presentation (featuring the need for proper hygiene and prayer in managing the COVID-19 pandemic). Viewers were able to submit prayer requests via the YouTube chat board and via WhatsApp.
From 12:20 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the exception of the period 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., departmental directors and island council leaders out in 20-minute slots with different areas of prayer emphases. From 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the weekly Let’s Talk program hosted by President Greene was featured. For that week, the topic was “Prayer, Anointing and Healing.” Pastor Ashton O’Niel, Prayer Ministries coordinator for the Caribbean Union was the special guest.
At the end of it all, there was in excess of 2.9K viewers on the YouTube channel and many have expresses that the entire weekend’s program was a tremendous blessing to them.