Prayer has been part of our DNA from the beginning

SAC’s first ever event, before we were properly established, was that prayer consultation. Two years later, after getting registered, we held a 24 hour prayer and fasting event. We continued to hold them for the next six years, twice a year at Pentecost and Hallowe’en. In June 1992 over 80 attended and the ‘Prayer Concerns’ diary produced afterwards listed people from all over the UK, with overseas visitors from Pakistan, India and Bali.

In 1997 and 1998 we held prayer celebrations in five cities and organized a Festival of Prayer for South Asians, working with a range of mission organizations and churches.

Prayer has been in SAC’s DNA from the beginning.

When Raju and Catherine Abraham returned to live in North India, their first priority was to encourage people to pray. PREM (‘love’ in Hindi) was the acronym that summarised their priorities then – and still today. Prayer was number one.

When they began to see God working in remarkable ways, from around 2000, they realised it was based on faithful prayer by those who had served there before, over several decades.

The PFSA connection

So it was appropriate that right back in the beginning, while we were still trying to work out what God might be calling us to do, we were already closely associated with the Prayer Fellowship for South Asia (PFSA). This had begun in the 1950s, when different prayer groups for mission came together as a fellowship of those committed to pray for the peoples of South Asia. It circulated a bi-monthly prayer bulletin to its members and met for an annual prayer conference. At the first conference I attended, it was difficult to find a space to pray in the joint prayer sessions – people were so eager to pray. Because many knew each other and had contacts in South Asia they could share personal and confidential requests for South Asian churches and for outreach to people of all backgrounds. It was a remarkable atmosphere and very inspiring.

In 1991 the PFSA leaders asked SAC to be involved even more closely and several of us served in the steering group. Ram Gidoomal became President of the Fellowship and we co-operated closely, for example in the 1998 Festival of Prayer.

5:17 Prayer
By 2016 the annual residential conference was no longer viable and it was decided that PFSA and SAC could best encourage prayer by combining forces under the badge of ‘5:17’, taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

5:17 has continued the prayer ministry with bi-monthly bulletins and prayer days 2-3 times a year. With lockdown we switched to Zoom, which has worked well. However, now we feel it is time to invite people to meet again to pray, and not just a small number but a wider invitation.

We are partnering with South Asian Forum and others to hold a:
Prayer day for South Asia and South Asians in the Diaspora
Saturday 18th June, 10.30am-2pm
followed by lunch
Venue in Central London TBC

Book the date and we will send further details. Click here to register

Contact us if you would like to receive the bi-monthly prayer bulletin and other prayer updates.