Pictures and Write-up by David Larsen
More than a million people converged on a farm outside Bloemfontein in South Africa on April 22, 2017 for a National Day of Prayer. The gathering was called in response to a video that went viral on social media where a farmer called on evangelist, Angus Buchan, to call the nation to prayer. In the message he said: If you call it, we will come. Buchan answered the call and the meeting was organized in just 6 weeks.
Using a verse from the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says – If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land – Buchan called the people of South Africa to repent of their sin and call on God for mercy. The people answered the call.
1.7 million people signed up to attend the national day of prayer marketed as IT’S TIME. Held on former South African Springbok Rugby player, Ollie Le Roux’s farm 4 km North of Bloemfontein, roads to the venue from all directions were at a standstill by 6 am for the meeting that was due to start at 12 noon. Nobody knows exactly how many actually arrived on April 22, 2017, but estimates are that it was certainly over a million and perhaps upwards of 1.5 million. The crowd continued to swell throughout the morning and the meeting started just before 2 pm to allow time for people to arrive.
Significantly Buchan led the crowd in a prayer of repentance for racism and negativity about South Africa and prayed for release for those gripped by fear. Together South Africans of all colours prayed for an end to violence, rape, murder, adultery and other evils and for a God-fearing government to rise in the nation.
This gallery is in chronological order.