Prayer Walking in the Market
23/03/2011 9:00 am <>
The first month we commenced prayer walking in the wet-market, we went for a scheduled prayer walk in the evening. As we stepped into the market, to our surprise, it was full of people. It was smoky and was ten times noisier than the morning market. Soon we found out there was a 210m long parade to celebrate the birthday of one of the local gods.
There were hundreds of people including men and women, grey-haired old men and primary school aged kids marching along the streets. They all had different roles in the parade. Some were playing drums, gongs, cymbals; some were carrying the god in a sedan chair; some were dressed and acting like a general to guard the god; some were setting up firecrackers. They seemed to be representing the evil one by saying “This place belongs to me!”
Since the parade was blocking traffic, we had to stop and wait for it before crossing the road. Standing among the paraders, the worshippers, the onlookers and surrounded by the rumbling, traditional, ritualistic music and the dynamite smell produced by fireworks, we felt as lonely as Elijah as he reached Horeb and grumbled to God (1 Kings 9:10,14). As we continued to finish the prayer walk, we felt extremely heavy inside our hearts and prayed asking God to send more workers to come and share the gospel to the market people.
Usually there are one or two temples in a wet-market area. However, there are more than eight temples in the market where we prayer walk. Each time we go through the market, God gives us a growing burden to share the gospel with the people working there.
When we planned to reach out, we acknowledged we knew very little about the people. So we prayer walked at different times a couple of days during the week, in order to find out what their daily routine and lives are like. We sought to understand what occupied their down-time, and to discover their ways of communication with their family, their friends and their customers. Along with praying, we would chat with those we met to find out the best time to visit them, to share Bible stories and the things they are interested in. We also tried to remember their names and location. We saw that using their names meant that we were no longer just customers or acquaintances but were becoming friends. If they are not ready to hear a Bible story, we ask God to keep opening doors to develop our relationships further. We also map out the people and their stalls so we can use the map as a helpful visual aid to pray for our market friends. We believe the ongoing prayer walk will gradually strengthen our relationships, and to give us opportunity to share Chronological Bible Stories with them.
Through prayer walking, God has shown us the need to share His stories with the market people. He continues to guide us in reaching out to them as we walk and pray through the market. We are confident that in God’s time, He will move more people to come and join us. We long for the day when the market is noisy with people proclaiming that this place belongs to Jesus, the only true God. Next time when you go to the wet-market, remember to pray and ask God what you can do for Him in the market.
By Angela Chen & edited by Miriam Snelling
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