48 Hours on Our knees

One of Agape’s main goals is to cultivate and launch student movements. Our fellow staff around the world share the vision of having groups of disciples actively living out and sharing their faith on university campuses everywhere. Read on to learn what campus work looks like in Singapore.

David, a staff member in Singapore, works with students to bring them into communities of faith and to give them a vision for making a difference in the local church. “The role of the younger generation has been a main topic among church leaders for the past few years,” David explains, “I have seen the local church adjust programs, craft annual vision statements and expand youth ministry teams to take better care of our Next Generation.” Still, connecting with this group proved challenging.

As a campus worker, David knows where to find young people, the future leaders of his country: on campus. “The prayer initiative 48 Hours On Our Knees is designed to mobilise lay people and Christian leaders to pray for schools and campuses in our country. During May, as I was making plans for the next semester and new academic year, I thought about how our global organization (Campus Crusade for Christ International) began on a foundation of prayer.” What began as a 24-hour prayer chain has now grown into an international missions organization. David had faith to believe something like this could happen in his country. He also though about the wise words of a senior staff member from the East India area, Wai Lang, who credited prayer with sustaining the work despite many challenges, “Although the ministry is not perfect, and the staff have so many needs to meet, I believe that the ministry has been sustained all along by the monthly overnight prayers that staff, students and graduates will come together to pray for the movement.” Determined to follow in these footsteps, David set his heart on developing a hunger for God and His kingdom – to see God’s will fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven.

So how does it work? The team set up a schedule of sixteen 3-hour timeslots to invite fellow workers, partners and friends to pray. Whenever possible, a group adopted a timeslot and took responsibility for the content and staffing of that segment. It has been remarkable to see how groups from various churches and organisations have come together to support this effort. Participants also felt this sense of unity and strength when joining hands and hearts to pray for the educational institutions in the country.

This initiative was meant to give people a vision to pray for young people and for their schools. The hope is to see ongoing prayer groups and other initiatives growing out of this initiative. For our part, we will provide resources to help groups continue and make disciples of their own.

“It was so humbling and exciting that the gathering of people to pray just provided such a platform for people to meet God and engage with His heart for the harvest field.”