EAST Day of Prayer

 

EAST organized a school-wide day of prayer on 13 April 2022. Prayer is an integral part of EAST community and such corporate prayer time is organized twice a year. The day of prayer in April is conducted within the EAST community while a similar event in October is done in conjunction with Cru Singapore as part of the Cru worldwide day of prayer.

After a time of chapel worship led by the students, the April day of prayer continued with an exhortation by Dr Lau Ying Kheng on Matthew 6. She challenged us to allow our hearts to melt before God while engaged in prayer walking and watching around the EAST neighbourhood resulting in a transformed heart.

“Pray to be seen by God
Our reward is to be seen and heard and answered
Pray to be heard by God not by men
Prayer language of the heart
Pray with the heart, say what you mean, mean what you say
Pray to be transformed not to be informed
When we pray, our heart melts.”

After the exhortation, everyone filed into one of the six rooms for prayer sessions. Each room has two mentoring groups (MGs) of faculty and students. One room has all the administrative and ministry staff.

Mr Roy Tan, an EAST Resident Faculty, prepared two articles for confession and thanksgiving. Time was given for all to reflect on either of the articles (see below). A Psalm and a song were provided to help participants in a time of confession and thanksgiving.

Six countries prayer pointers were prepared by the students who came from those countries and each room was facilitated by one of the students (Anj, Brandon, Choong Voon, Enkh, Jaesong and Soon Young). They introduced their countries and shared prayer items to inform and inflame the heart to plea for God’s sovereign work in key areas. The countries included India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea. Additionally, two needy countries were also included for intercessory prayer: Ukraine and Myanmar. The former is fighting a war due to an invasion with its attending death and destruction. The latter is governed by the military and the country is in much turmoil resulting in civilians suffering greatly.

Everyone returned back to the chapel for a briefing before heading off for a prayer walk around the neighbourhood of EAST. Brandon, the Student Council President, prepared the informative and beautifully designed prayer cards. Each MG went to walk, pray, and reflect on what God is prompting them in their hearts.

Here are some reflections from the participants:

• “I felt that Singapore is a place of refuge for many foreigners, migrants and students, as an Antioch of Asia.” – Japheth
• “I felt that Singapore is amazing and God blesses Singapore in many ways. My prayer is that God continue to bless and protect all living in Singapore and many who live here will receive salvation as well.” – Ta Eh
• “Praying with my heart for the people as I walked and looked around. Seeing foreigners whom God has brought to our shore to have the spiritual opportunity to hear the Good news.” – Esther
• “As I see the Peranakan houses, it’s a heritage that is preciously preserved and passed down. I am reminded of the spiritual heritage that we have the responsibility to pass down.” – Aitee
• “I had never been on a prayer walk before, so this experience of praying while being immersed in the sights and sounds of our surrounding was inspirational.” – Daniel