>> today on "christian world news" a world at prayer, millions of christians in hundreds of countries trying out for personal and corporate revival. lifting up the name of the lord throughout the earth. and longing to see transformation in their cities. join us now for our special report on the global day of prayer. the world's christians coming together to seek god's face and global revival. hello everyone, i am george thomas. well this weekend, hundreds of

millions of christians will gather to pray for their nations. since its beginning more than 10 years ago, the global day of prayer has changed not only the world, but the church as well. my colleague wendy griffith starts us off. >> lord! >> for reporter: the global day of prayer has been inviting the world's christians to pray together and the church has responded. >> give my people who are called by my name to humble and serve. >> to seek my faith and turn from their wicked ways, then i will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. >> praying in open air stadiums, city halls and cathedrals and seeking out the high places on every continent. >> here we are standing today

looking out over africa from the highest point. >> crying out to god in repentance and seeking reconciliation. >> asking forgiveness in the way in which charismatics and pentecostals. >> we forgive you. [applause]. >> i come in repenitence and pray you forgive us. >> organizers predict hundreds of christians in more than 200 nations will gather to pray on pentecost sunday. for 90 days, christians will go to work in their communities helping the poor and building up neglected communities. to bring comfort to the broken hearted and transform their communities. wendy griffith, cbn news. >> grand powers, the founder of

the global day of prayer, he joins us by skype from jacksonville, florida. great to have you on the broadcast. graham, you started this in hometown of south africa in 2001. today it has gone global. you expect hundreds of millions to be praying, how did this grow so fast so quickly? >> it was god's plan, none of us can claim any credit. starting in 2001 with 1 stadium, 45,000 people in cape town at the tip of africa. it would roll up through southern africa and spread out around the globe. it has been an awesome roll out to see how god has taken this single stadium and rolled it out, last year 220 nations participated. we understand 400 million people participated in some

format. it has been an amazing roll out. >> those are truly incredible numbers, staggering numbers, hundreds of thousands of people gathering together for one single purpose to pray. when you started this back in 2001, graham, what was the vision? what did you hope to see in the process, now several years later? >> god clearly showed it would be a day of repenitence and prayer, gathering people in my city and progressively it would run to the nation, africa and around the globe. it is amazing to see. if you ask the single thing that has stood out has been the word "unity."we have seen denominations of leaders that have said nothing over the years has brought them together the way the global day of prayer has. that has been special. to know people are praying a common prayer for the key

issues on pentecost sunday each year has been really special. >> to that very point, when you talk about races, cultures, time zones, countries coming together, how important is unity in this whole thing? >> the 2 scriptures that standout is 2 chronicles 17 and e ephesians 4. today unity is a key, key part in what is happening in the global part. 2 chronicals 14, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, this is a promise from god, he will heal from heaven. i believe that is the key thing we are seeing roll out across the globe. >> those 2 values, humility and

repenitence are at the core of the gdop. why are those 2 elements, humility and repenitence so important? >> without humility, prayer can be quite hallow. i think if a person has a chip on their shoulder, it is all about self rather than us, that is key. when we consider the whole issue of repenitence, it is about the individual sins, corporate sins, things that happen in our cities and nations, which we need to come and repent. >> i have has a chance to cover many gdop events in other parts of the world. it is not just about praying and asking for repenitence, transforming communities around the world. talk about that real quickly? >> i think it is action.

not just prayer, the 10190 theme. we talk about the 90 days of blessing, encourage people to take prayers, pastors, business leaders, go into the cities and what are the key needs? it is living out those key concerns. going out there and making a difference in the communities. >> what does transformation to our viewers, perhaps who don't understand, what does that look like from a practical standpoint? please tell us? >> when we consider measuring the issues in our city at a particular point and take 3-5 years later and measure again, what are the key significant shifts? i can give you an example, in my city in cape town, we had 22 bombs explode in 18 months. we had the first day of prayer

in 2001, from that day until now, 2 and a half years later, not a single bomb exploded in our city. to me that is a practical example how prayer has helped to see significant shift coming into our nation. there are many, many testimonies and stories we have from around the globe of people that have seen significant shifts. >> this week, 220 countries are praying for those significant shifts to take place within communities. the man that started it all, many, many years ago with the help of god is graham powell of the global day of prayer. thank you for joining us on the broadcast. >> thank you. we look forward to praying with all our friends around the globe. bless you. speaking of transformation, it happened in this kentucky time. learn more about the manchester

revival and amazing changes that take place when god's people pray. stay with us, back in a moment.

>> with 63 churches and a small county, march through town for us was bigger than the parting of the red sea. you can talk to the 3500 people there today and everybody tears up. it is an awesome thing that are happened. from that, all of a sudden, the church had a voice in our community. >> that is pastor doug abner talking about his town's amazing transformation. just a few years ago it was torn apart by drugs and corruption. several people marched in the streets of may of 2004 telling

drug dealers to get saved or get busted. when they prayed abner says god's presence showed up in a beautiful way. george odus jr., our next guest has documented transformation revivals, spending 18 months in manchester and joins us on this historic weekend. george, great to have you on the show. specifically in manchester tgod really showed up nor this small kentucky town, correct? >> boy, he really did. i heard about the story from a far, heard about it over several years, when we got out there we were stunned at the comprehensiveness of what god had done in this mountain community. the fact that it was within the borders of the united states made it special. >> george, it wasn't about the

transformation in manchester, in fact the transformation, we saw that, correct? >> yeah, god moves not even in a city, but clay county, kentucky. it spread significantly bond beyond adjacent counties. the story is carried from folks from kentucky all across the united states is part of the hope for america tour, sowing seeds in all kinds of places. hope is springing out of the hills of southeastern kentucky. >> you have documented transformation revivals around the world. interestingly, manchester is the only city in america that

qualifies as a true city. >> a lot of people use the wort "transformation" a low deaf nation of what that means. in other words we set the bar 6 inches off the ground, take a bunny hop and celebrate our accomplishments. when we read scriptural definitions of what transforming revival is, we need to elevate our expectations, god will invade every arena of human life and endeavor, even touching the land itself, in manchester county, clay county, we have seen ecological change as well as social, spiritual, economic, and political. >> when you talk about social economic spiritual changes, our viewers may find thr interesting, manchester was known the painkiller capitol,

now it is known as the city of hope. as you document other cities around the world, the hope for cities that are blighted, facing all kinds of challenges, i am sure this gives you hope to see that the power of god can change, not just individual's life but an entire city. >> over the last 15 years we have been traveling all around the world and documenting some of god's finest handiwork and people have asked me what has impacted me the most. it has been my faith. what i have seen has so elevated my faith, today i can go into virtually any situation or circumstance no matter how desperate and invision it differently. >> what is interesting, you have talked about the spiritual, and social changes, interestingly enough, you have documented the transformation

that the physical land endures. you have seen a physical change, for example, kentucky, manchester i believe was recently voted as the best water in kentucky, the elk, black bear populations down have returned is it result of the transformation of the city? >> there is so much if we had time to talk about in this ecological transformation in eastern kentucky. many, many faucets. it is absolutely an outflow of what happened in the heart's of the stewards of the land. there is a direct correlation between the land and people in biblical times and our times. when the stewards of the lands get their hearts in alignment with the purposes and ways of god, then the land will follow suit. we have seen it time and time again.

where in the middle of documenting a dramatic case in northeastern brazil right now. algadal where it hadn't rained in 25 years. the community was in death throws. when they turned to god, cry out, the heavens opened up and what followed was what the mayor calls the flood of blessings. turned this little community into a regional economic power house. this is what god can do. >> sorry to interrupt you, george, we are running out of time. a man who has really documented the changes that have been taking place, george odus jr., a privilege to have you on the broadcast. thank you for joining us. >> you bet. okay folks, when "christian world news" praying for the persecuted. how can we strengthen

christians living under enormous pressure and what can we learn from their challenges? that story right after this.

>> we have had serious persecution. we have had 227 people killed this year. we are under attack, our people kidnapped, they are tortured. our people flee, huge numbers have fled. but we really happy. despite all this. it is the happiest and largest church i have ever had. >> that is cannon andrew white known as the vicker of baghdad. pastor of st. george's anglican

church. thanks to charisma, our new service for sending that click. everyone thank you for joining us, special edition of "christian world news" called the global day of prayer. now we turn to the persecuted church. joining us from oklahoma, todd ned lton, of the group voice of the martyrs. we just heard this clip from the anglican cannon white says his people are happy. in your experience with persecuted christians, is that unusual? >> no. that is actually the norm. our founder, pastor richard wormbrand talked about finding joyful christians in prison and underground church. when he came to the west, he was startled by the lack of joy in the church in the west. >> how can we find believers whether it is middle east,

north korea, parts of africa, what can we learn from those that suffer from their faith? >> one of the things i think we learn is how to value our faith. many of us here in the united states have never had to pay a price for following jesus christ. so we value it as something we have never had to pay anything for. when you go into a restricted or hostile nation where people are put in prison or beaten or lay down their lives to follow jesus christ, they play such a high value on it. i think that is one of the things we can learn from them, this is amazing life changing faith that we possess. it is worth everything and we need to treat it with the value that it deserves. >> todd, as you know this is the weekend where millions are gathering to pray as one body. how crucial are fellow believers in different parts of the world? how crucial are the prayers and

support these persecuted christians would need at such a time as this? >> as i have traveled my 13 years, working voice of the martyrs, i ask, i am going back to america, how can we help you? what can we do for you? first answer is pray for us. that is what they want. they want us to lift them in prayer. we are linked together as the family of god and need to hold each other up. prayer is the first request of our persecuted brothers and sisters. >> what are some of the greatest needs? advocacy, political response, economic response? what are their greatest needs? >> one of the interesting things is how they ask us to pray. i think about myself, if i was being persecuted. my first request would be pray that the persecution stops.

that is not what they say. pray that we'll be faithful in christ. pray that they can hold strong to their faith even as they face challenges like persecution. >> you work for a great group, voice of the martyrs, you live and breathe the persecuted church. let the entire world know about our fellow brothers and sisters suffering for their faith. what can viewers do specifically that brings them the concrete results they see in terms of ministering to those suffering for their faith? >> first thing is to pray. as we pray, then there comes the second step, to educate yourself. voice of the martyrs provides materials our website is

persecution.com. we send out a letter. pray effectively so you know who you are praying for and what you are praying for. i think the 3rd step is whatever god asks you to do, as you are praying and educating yourself, the lord is going to open doors for response. maybe write a letter to christians in prison. maybe it is get on an airplane with a suitcase of bibles. as you pray and educate yourself the lord is going to lay something on your heart to do, yes lord, i'll do what you ask me to do to support my brothers and sisters being persecute. >> one quote is the seed bed of the church. you have documented it here and so have we at cw, "christian world news" around the world. seeing the fruits and the growth that come ws the

persecution, todd ned lton, voice of the martyrs thanks for being on the broadcast. be sure to visit our website cwnews.org. we'll be back right after this.

>> finally on the broadcast this week, we want to leave you with a global event that happened when christians in dozens of nations took part in the resurrection dance on easter sunday. enjoy the celebration. see you next time and god bless. [singing] [music playing]