In April, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, came to
Toronto, Canada. He came to strengthen the Buddhist community, but
his visit had an effect on another spiritual community in the city.
It rallied the Christian church.
Christians in Toronto believe that God is up to something in their
city.
When the news broke that the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism¹s spiritual
leader, was planning to visit Toronto, Mission GTA kicked into gear.
Mission GTA is a network of Christian pastors and leaders
representing a variety of denominations and cultures. They saw this
event as serious cause for concern.
"The prime mission of the Dalai Lama¹s visit," recalled Rev. Richard
Long of Together Ministries, "was an 11-day Tibetan Buddhist
initiation ritual."
"This is something," he added, "many Christians feared would have a
negative impact on the spiritual climate of Toronto, as well as the
rest of Canada."
What emerged was an unprecedented 12-day, 24-hour round-the-clock
cross-denominational prayer and worship initiative called The House
of the King.
Alone, or in groups, Christians prayed as they walked the streets,
rode the public transit and visited some of Toronto¹s historic
landmarks.
As the prayer initiative gathered momentum, national as well as
international prayer groups came on board. With the help of modern
technology, literally tens of thousands of Christians around the
world rallied together to pray for Toronto.
Harry Boghossian, pastor of The Church of the Living God, and
spokesperson for The House of the King, was encouraged by the extent
of the prayer support.
He said, "Women Aglow, with 1.3 million, have been mobilized to pray
for Toronto at this time. We¹ve had intercessors in Africa that
number to the tune of about 30,000. We have prisoners in Argentina
that have come to the Lord and the entire population of the prison is
targeting Toronto."
Never in the history of Toronto had there been so much prayer for the
city. Nor had there ever been the opportunity to welcome the presence
of God through 12 days of 24-hour worship.
First Nations [American Indians], Chinese, Korean, and African-
Canadian were some of the many people groups that responded.
Pastor Bill Dyck and his congregation, the Toronto Alliance Church,
saw the visit of the Dalai Lama and his Buddhist followers as a
unique opportunity to extend Christian love and good will. He
said, "If there are Buddhist spiritual seekers who come to this city
wanting to engage spiritually with people, we want to be there."
They transformed their storefront church into a hospitality center,
so Asian as well as Western-Buddhist pedestrians were welcomed to a
Tibetan Tea Room and Art Gallery.If that wasn¹t enough to keep the city hopping, Todd Bentley¹s
radical Fresh Fire Ministry showed up with over 300 Canadian and
foreign participants-eager to reach the city with practical
demonstrations of God¹s love. Remarkably, Fresh Fire ministry
coordinators had-unknowingly-scheduled their campaign to coincide
with the exact dates of The House of the King prayer thrust!
On the fourth day of the event, Peter Byers, the Toronto Ablaze
campaign coordinator stated: "Not only have people been accepting
as their Savior, but a lot of people have been getting healed:
backs, necks, hearing. And a blind eye was opened today!"
The campaign reported extraordinary results. Approximately 600 people
made first time decisions to follow Christ. At least 40 miraculous
healings were reported to have taken place right on the streets of
Toronto.
Colin Mills, a resident of the city, eagerly testified about what God
had done for him. He said, "Todd Bentley called out someone who had a
kidney condition, a failing kidney. The fire of the Holy Spirit went
through the right side of my body. This morning when I woke up, I
have not physically felt like this before. I mean like totally
healthy!"
Clearly, as Christians came together to pray, worship and work
together with a common focus, the church in Toronto entered a new
level of empowerment.
Pastor Alvin Nicholson is the Chair of Mission GTA and Agape
Ministries. He suggested, "To the degree [that] our unity is intact,
that is the degree that our authority as a church is in place to do
things within the city, province and the nation."
Many felt, in the end, what initially was cause for great concern may
have been a 'divine set-up.'
According to Rev. Long, "It was an excuse, it was a catalyst - the
Dalai Lama¹s visit -for the church to rise up, to begin to pray for
the city they live in, in a way they never had before."
He added, "There were incredible moments where the worship teams
really felt the delight of the Father. At the end of it - really no
one wanted it to stop. There is a divine destiny for this nation.
We¹re going to see revival on a level we¹ve never seen it before."
Many Christians in Toronto believe that The House of the King prayer
and worship initiative was not only a small sampling of Heaven on
earth, but may be a foretaste of the great move of God that many
believe is about to come.
source:
http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/CWN/061804toronto.asp==================================================================================
[at] atas
Contoh yang buruk dari segi toleransi beragama =_="
The Siddha Wanderer