News
Power of Prayer
5/14/2005
The Sacramento Bee Sacramento Bee, The (CA)
May 14, 2005
Power of prayer
A dynamic Ugandan minister will lead the celebration of a world event at Arco
Author: Jennifer Garza
Bee Staff Writer
Edition: METRO FINAL
Section: SCENE
Page: E1
Index Terms:
BIOGRAPHY
Article Text:
On a Sunday evening, the pastor from Uganda tells congregants at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church that they need to pray more. It is pathetic, he says, that only a few people join prayer groups, even at churches with thousands of members. Why, he asks, do you ignore prayer?
If the question makes anyone in the audience uncomfortable, the Rev. Jackson Senyonga quickly puts them at ease. "Of course, I'm not talking about you," he says, smiling. "I'm talking about your neighbor." The 900 people in the sanctuary laugh and applaud.
For more than two hours, Senyonga chastises and challenges the crowd. And like other churchgoers across the country, they embrace him for it.
"He has us pegged and he's funny about it," says Senior Pastor Henry Wells. "I can say the same thing and people would react differently. ... He gets people excited about prayer."
Senyonga's soft-spoken but powerful message has impressed local church leaders so much that they've arranged for him to speak to as many people as possible.
On Sunday evening, thousands of Sacramento-area Christians from dozens of churches will pack into Arco Arena to listen to Senyonga preach about the power of prayer and how it can change the community.
The event is part of Global Day of Prayer, and Senyonga will be the keynote speaker (pastors of other churches also will speak). Global Day of Prayer, which is free and sponsored by several local churches, may be the largest interchurch gathering in Sacramento since the Billy Graham Crusade came to town in 1995, says Wells.
"Except this one was planned in about a week and a half," says Wells. "Or seemed that way."
Global Day of Prayer started in Africa in 2000. It is based on Scripture that calls on Christians to pray together, asking God to transform their lives.
On the Global Day of Prayer, which takes place on Pentecost Sunday, praying starts as the sun rises in New Zealand (approximately 12:20 a.m. in Sacramento) and lasts until the sun sets in the western United States. More than 240 countries around the world will participate, says the Global Day of Prayer Web site.
The Arco Arena event - which actually has been planned for about three weeks - will focus on transforming the Sacramento area through prayer.
"I feel this is something God is leading us to do," says Rick Stedman, pastor of Adventure Christian Church in Roseville, which is the main church organizing the event. He says every church leader he has spoken to has been enthusiastic about the gathering.
"I think there is a real need in this community ... and we are on the verge of a great transformation. Can you imagine what could happen if we unite?"
Senyonga, who also will speak at 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. Sunday at Warehouse Christian Ministries in Roseville, believes this transformation can only happen through community prayer. "It would affect families, churches, schools ... every walk of life," he says, on the phone from Phoenix before speaking to a church group. "I've seen it happen."
Senyonga, 38, grew up in Uganda during the regime of Idi Amin and says he was raised in an environment where witchcraft was practiced. When he was 10 years old, a friend invited Senyonga to church. For the first time in his life, he felt at home. Senyonga returned to the church a week later. This time, he decided to give his life to Christ.
At 15, he decided to become a minister and began his religious training. Several years later, he opened Christian Life Center, which started with seven people. By the end of the first year, there were 7,000 registered members. Now, approximately 40,000 people attend the church and it is one of the largest churches in Africa, according to Ugandan media.
In recent years, Uganda has undergone what Senyonga calls a Christian renaissance. Christianity is now the majority religion, and its adherents make up approximately 75 percent of the population, according to the 2004 International Religious Freedom Report issued by the U.S. Department of State.
Senyonga's ministry - one of the best known - is focused on prayer. The pastor credits six levels of prayer for changing his country. They are: prayer in the home, the church, community, in the city, in the nation and for other nations.
Senyonga is living with his wife, Eve, and their three children in a house in Roseville during their stay in the United States. In the past two months, he has preached all over the country, including several local churches. About every two weeks, he preaches to his church in Uganda via speakerphone. But right now, he's focused on Sacramento.
"There is a hunger and a thirst for God here that I saw in Uganda," says Senyonga, who is to return home next month. "I see it in the faces of the people and what they say."
When he speaks, Senyonga sounds concerned, not critical. His mild-mannered approach is effective. The African pastor is drawing large crowds - primarily through word of mouth - most of them white, middle-class churchgoers. "He's not high-octane, he's not a hotshot. He's a humble man with a very powerful message," says Stedman. "What he says about prayer has really touched people's heart."
Nancy Brown, who attends Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, listened to Senyonga preach on a recent Sunday morning. She returned that evening to hear him again. "A lot of what he says hits home. ... Our plates are too full. He's right; we have to make more time for God in our lives."
Senyonga begins every day in prayer. No matter how busy he is or what city he is in, the Ugandan pastor spends two hours in the morning talking to God. Sometimes, he'll find another hour in the evening. "Just me and my God," he says. "The best time of the day."
But it is not enough.
"I need to be talking to the Lord more," he says, then adds: "We all do."
GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER
WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Arco Arena
COST: Free; parking is $8
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The Bee's Jennifer Garza can be reached at (916) 321-1133 or at jgarza@sacbee.com.
Caption:
Sacramento Bee / Anne Chadwick Williams
The Rev. Jackson Senyonga addresses an estimated 900 people earlier this month at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church. The 38-year-old pastor, a native Ugandan who founded a popular church there, will be the keynote speaker at the Global Day of Prayer gathering Sunday evening in Arco Arena.
Sacramento Bee / Anne Chadwick Williams
The Rev. Jackson Senyonga speaks May 1 at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church.
Memo:
RELIGION & ETHICS
Copyright 2005 The Sacramento Bee
Record Number: SAC_0404991087
