12-16 October 14
Overview
The Presidency of the Council of the European is currently held by the EU member country of Italy for the six month period – July to December 2014 – and therefore the European Union of Prayer (EUoP) meeting took place in Rome, the capital city of Italy. The EUoP is a group of European prayer leaders and intercessors which meets every six months in the capital city of the EU member country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU. We come together for a few days to learn about the history, culture, government and economy of the country. We particularly want to meet with representatives of local Christian churches and organisations, to understand the spiritual environment and challenges in the country, and to bless and pray for the nation as well as for each other as a family of intercessors from many nations. We also take time to walk and pray around key locations in the city.
The meeting was attended by 41 representatives of 15 European nations (*12 members of the EU): *Denmark, Faroe Islands, *France, *Germany, *Greece, *Hungary, *Ireland, Macedonia, *Netherlands, *Poland, *Slovakia, *Spain, *Sweden, Switzerland, *United Kingdom.
With no representatives from Italy in our group, our EUoP leadership team took on the task to find suitable accommodation, a meeting room, and Christian contacts in Rome. As a result of their diligent research, we were blessed to be able to stay in a former monastery (now a small hotel) close to the ancient sites of Rome, to be invited by leaders of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement to meet with them at their International Centre in Rome, and to be welcomed by a local pastor to meet and worship in his Baptist church, also centrally located in Rome.
The challenge of true unity in the power of the Spirit within the Christian church, especially in Rome, was a recurring theme throughout our meetings. Many times we were reminded that we find unity only when we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus who is one with the Father and who prayed that we would be one. (See John 17:20-23). So we often proclaimed together: “Jesus is Lord!”
Summary of Presentations, Encounters and Prayers
After introductions and personal sharing within the group on the first evening, we walked to the Baptist church the next morning, passing many historical sites and crossing the famous River Tiber. The Baptist pastor welcomed us to his church and we began our meeting with prayer and worship led by our sisters Marie from Ireland and Timmy from Slovakia.
Sharing, praying and repenting on behalf of our nations – (Ortwin, Germany)
We divided into 5 groups with 3 nations in each to share current concerns for the spiritual state of our nation and to have those from the other nations pray for us. Then we all came together to learn more about “identificational repentance” in a personalised way for our nation, and in the remaining time representatives from Greece, Sweden, UK and Hungary went forward to identify with and pray for forgiveness for their nation. The presence of God’s Spirit was very real as they prayed.
“Blow the Trumpets” mission of Werner and Regula Woiwoda (Abraham Ministries, Switzerland)
In Dublin we, as the EUoP group, commissioned Werner to take his “Blow the Trumpets” mission from Europe to the rest of the world. To awaken the Christians and church in the nations that they visit, two silver trumpets are blown (see Numbers 10:1-10) as an emergency wake-up call to:
1) return to our God, let Him into our hearts and churches, to be salt and light once again,
2) come back to His Word, the sword of the Spirit, and give it priority in a world that has lost its way,
3) understand our roots in Israel, the olive tree into which we are grafted and which sustains us.
Werner and Regula gave us a report with pictures of their visits to Asia/Pacific/Northwest America in the summer period:
Indonesia – met pastors with large churches within their businesses – even in a zoo!
Papua New Guinea – invited into parliament where 20-30% are Christian and they begin with prayer!
Perth, Australia – found a welcome with Aborigine people!
New Zealand – one pastor gave him just 15 minutes to speak but the trumpets were blown!
Tonga – the king is a Christian and the trumpet call was heard over radio and TV!
California – blew shofar at the “Golden Gate”. Met IDF soldier from Gaza war and were invited to Israel! Blew trumpets in state capital Sacramento and 11 hours later there was an earthquake in wine area!
Edmonton, Canada – also an opportunity to meet family friends and speak German!
Report from Paris concerning the EEC-Arab League Treaty of 1974 – (Rakul, Denmark and Rosemarie, Ireland)
After the Arab oil embargo which followed the Yom Kippur war against Israel in 1973, the 9 member states of the EEC at that time negotiated a treaty with the Arab League which was signed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on July 31, 1974. The treaty was an appeasement to the Arab oil states and motivated by a desire to reduce the influence of the USA in the Middle East. The treaty granted rights to Muslims at all levels of society to migrate to Europe and prescribed boycott action against Israel and political support for the establishment of a Palestinian State. It opened the door to the power of Islam in Europe and was a betrayal of the State of Israel. More than 30 delegates including representatives from 8 of the countries that signed the treaty met in Paris on the 40th anniversary on July 31 to ask forgiveness before God from representatives of the Jewish community and from Israel and to pray to break the spirit and power of Islam in Europe as a result of this treaty.
Together we recited the prayers and declarations made in Paris, to proclaim that the spirit of Islam in Europe because of this treaty has indeed been broken, and to stand for the people and land of Israel. Later we asked for God’s forgiveness on behalf of Europe for all wrong attitudes towards the USA, and we prayed a blessing on Israel and the Arab nations.
Prayer for Israel – (Miriam, Ireland and Werner, Switzerland)
Werner proclaimed that Satan and his demons want to destroy Israel so that God’s plans cannot be fulfilled. But Israel is alive and well – and we gave praise and thanks to God. He said that we must overcome any doubts we may have about the effectiveness of our prayers for Israel by claiming the reassurance that Jesus gave to the synagogue ruler when he was told that his daughter had died (Mark 5:36). “Fear not – only believe!” Miriam shared that Jesus said: “Whoever acknowledges me before men …” and this must include the full “ME”, complete with his Jewish identity. We were also reminded of God’s commitment to restore Israel as recorded by the prophets (with verses from Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, Zechariah 14, …) and we prayed that we would have compassion on those in the church who do not recognise the truth of scripture and for the blind spot of replacement theology to be removed.
We then all stood together holding the Israel flag. Werner laid papers on the flag with information on prayer and upcoming conferences in support of Israel (ECI [European Coalition for Israel] Prayer Initiative, Global Prayer Call 2015, 822 Gathering in Jerusalem, IFI [Intercessors for Israel] Prayer Points), thanking God for these initiatives and praying for the church to stand with Israel.
Presentations in the Centre of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS)
The next morning we were welcomed in the ICCRS centre by the director, Oreste Pesare, and by Julia Elena Torres with responsibilities for communities in the Charismatic Movement (from Argentina and knows Pope Francis well!), and we committed our meeting to the Lord in prayer.
Father Rainiero Cantalamessa (80 years old), who was appointed by the Pope as the link between the Church and the Charismatic Renewal Movement and as a preacher within the Vatican, then shared his testimony. In 1977 he attended a Charismatic Conference with 40,000 people in Kansas City and the words “Jesus is Lord” appeared above him as they were all worshipping on their knees. He saw a vision of himself on a horse drawn chariot – holding tightly onto the reins. Jesus was asking him to hand over the control (the reins) of his life. He had doubts and felt that this was all too emotional but he also found that the Bible became a living book to him, with words inspired by the Spirit even today.
Back in Italy he saw a vision of Jesus coming from the Jordan, preaching the Kingdom of God, and heard his call to leave his responsibilities at the University and to follow Jesus like the first disciples.
At a meeting between Pentecostals and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement he was convinced to preach, as the first apostles, the message that “what unites us is more important than what divides us”. The first apostles preached to a “pre-Christian” world. We preach to a “post-Christian” world. The year 2017 marks 50 years* of the Catholic Renewal Movement and 500 years of the Reformation. These were “internal” revolutions about doctrines – not evangelism. The world today does not relate to church doctrines like “justification by faith and not works”. They need to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ – the only Saviour of the world. Christianity must preach a united message: “If you confess with your lips, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart … you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9). The church is a community of faith but each member needs to have a personal encounter with Jesus and make a personal decision to follow him.
Today in a secularised world people live for the moment, but we must restore the desire for eternal life. We can enjoy life here and now – but there is more!
He recognised that the European Union of Prayer is also seeking unity in the church “… that the world may believe …” (See John 17:20-23 – once again!).
*Note: The Catholic Charismatic Renewal began in 1967 which is a very significant year for the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy as Jerusalem came back under the control of the Jews!
Oreste Pesare, the director of ICCRS, began his presentation by declaring that unity is taken as a reality in the work of the centre, unity is a way of life, we are all one. The new wine must be in the hearts of the people of Jesus. Unity is found at the cross of Jesus and that is where we need to meet! Jesus only has one bride!
He then shared his personal story. He had always considered himself “a good Catholic boy” but had his doubts was also often in trouble. One night he found himself under arrest in the police station and cried out: “Lord if you exist, I want to know you!” The police officer came to his cell and said that he had 30 years of experience in dealing with offenders but he couldn’t explain what was happening in this case. He just said: “Get out of here!” Alone in the street after midnight he put his life into God’s hands. Three or four days later he knew that he needed to confess and went to the priest. As he confessed he was overcome with tears – he wept for three or four hours, healing came into his heart, followed by such a joy that he felt like a new person. Then he and the priest were praising God together and he decided to live for God and serve Him. He now felt that he had a reason to live and would never be alone. He discovered later that his father had been praying for him in a charismatic prayer group and his brother and sister also came to the Lord. He now knew that the power of Pentecost was not only for Pentecostals!
He was still proud to be a Catholic and wanted to stay in the Church. He became secretary to a Bishop and although he saw many problems and weaknesses due to the sin of mankind, he knew that no sin had the power to stop God’s love for us, because we are his creation. And that we should “love one another as I [Jesus] have loved you”. (John 15:12). He belongs to the “Magnificat Community” with its key proclamation: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour …” (Luke 1:46-47).
During a question time he did explain that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement was now organised in different groups focussing on prayer, schooling/evangelism, social mission, and communities/relationships. After an outpouring of the Holy Spirit the evil one always tries to divide us and we must be ready to lay down our lives for each other. We must learn to be united in diversity. Unity is not uniformity. We must work for spiritual unity and not institutional unity. Today persecution comes to Christians regardless of church or denomination. Europe and the world needs Jesus and needs to see unity among Christians.
In a question about the relationship with the Jews, Julia Torres explained their view is that we are Christians and Jews who believe in Messiah are still Jews and our older brothers. It is hard for Jews to believe in Jesus when his church is so divided! As the ICCRS they are involved in the “Towards Jerusalem Council 2” (TJC2) movement. She has a good relationship with Messianic leader Benjamin Berger from Jerusalem who had recently visited Rome.
We then watched a video of the recent Convocation of Catholic Charismatic Renewal with 50,000 participants in Rome on 1-2 June 2014 with Pope Francis who confirmed that the priorities of the Church are to flee from infighting, seek holiness in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, worship God, preach the gospel and to know that unity comes from the Spirit.
We closed the session with prayers for spiritual unity between the churches in Italy and in all our countries in Europe.
The European Union – a new season – (Ian, UK/France)
Jesus said in answering his disciples about the future (the end of the age): “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:4). We take authority as a group to pray for Europe and the European Union but we must take time to inform ourselves about the new leaders and new structure of the European Union which will all be in place by November of this year, so that we can pray in the spirit but also with our minds and with understanding. (1 Corinthians 14:15).
The new European Parliament has 751 members and details of the representatives from your country and their involvements in delegations and committees can be found on the website: www.europarl.europa.eu .
The new EU Commission of 28 Commissioners, one from each of the EU member states, is led by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg and has a new structure. There is now a “managing team” of the President and seven Vice-Presidents, including the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini from Italy and six section leaders to coordinate the work in specific areas, one of which, Frans Timmermans from the Netherlands, acts as deputy to the President. Details of the EU Commissioners and their portfolios can be found on the website: www.ec.europa.eu .
We prayed for this new EU Commission, especially for the managing team, that they would be open to receive guidance from God to act with righteousness and justice according to God’s divine purposes for Europe. Federica Mogherini from Italy was particularly on the hearts of many intercessors, especially for her relationship with Israel and her management of the Ukraine crisis.
The European Council made up of the Heads of State of each of the 28 member nations will have a new President: Donald Tusk, the former Prime Minister of Poland. Our representative from Poland, Bogdan, is part of the prayer team that supports Donald Tusk and has met with him often and knows him personally. Bogdan shared with us that Donald Tusk is a man of humility and wisdom, and is open to advice. He appreciates prayer knowing that he receives support by God’s grace. He is a man who has been prepared for such a time as this and has been a respected leader in Polish politics for many years. We prayed that he would be able to guide the heads of states with wisdom and that they would listen to his advice. We then laid hands on Bogdan and blessed him. We thanked God for the special relationship that he has developed with Donald Tusk and prayed that he would be able to continue to bless and support him in his new important role as European Council President.
Our Host Country – Italy – (Stephen, UK/Italy and Ortwin, Germany)
Stephen, who with his wife Mary serves pastors in evangelical churches in Italy, began by saying that he was very much lifted in his spirit by the session in the ICCRS. This was significant because he spoke with some heartfelt concern for the evangelical churches.
Italy became a unified kingdom only in 1861, but it is still a country where people associate very strongly with their region and there is a very real north/south divide. The capital Rome and its government are generally distrusted and referred to as “il ladro” (the thief). However Italians tend to follow a strong leader which explains why Mussolini and Berlusconi succeeded in winning national support. Evangelical Christians make up less than 2% of the population and many are foreign immigrants. Many congregations are charismatic but there is also much division between the churches. Pastors are expected to do all the work and administer the rules. Most congregations formally vote to keep their pastor after two years making life uncertain. Many pastors look after more than one church and also have a full-time job. For this reason they welcome support from outside the country, especially from preachers and teachers. There is only one evangelical Bible college in Rome and ist teaching is rather liberal. There has been a March for Jesus in Genoa – led mainly by South Americans – and the situation is improving albeit very slowly. The people in the churches are hungry for spiritual input.
Ortwin then shared some statistical information about Italy.
Population: 61 million. Largest cities: Rome 2.8m and Milan 1.3m.
Religion: 89% Catholic, 2% Muslim, 2% Orthodox, 1% Protestant.
Economy: 72% Services, 25% Production, 10.7% Unemployment, Debt 130% of GDP (Germany 70%).
Italy’s largest trading partner is Germany at 15%. Italy is generally known as the “sick man of Europe” and is now grouped with the southern European countries of Greece, France, Spain and Portugal in promoting public
investment to stimulate the economy thus increasing the debt ratio. Italy is also rather instable politically and has had more than 70 governments since 1946. The current Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has only been in office since February 2014. The country is also known for political scandals and corruption with a large black economy and many illegal immigrants. Its geographic location on the Mediterranean makes it a gateway to Europe for asylum seekers from North Africa and the Middle East, particularly through the island of Lampedusa.
Italy is a country that needs our prayer!!! We need to pray for the restoration of God’s redemptive purpose for Italy. We need to have compassion and the heart of God for Italy and our brothers and sisters and fellow Europeans in Italy, for the evangelical churches, for the government and national economy, and for Pope Francis, the current changes in the Catholic Church and for the Charismatic Renewal Movement in a country where a majority of the people identify with the Catholic Church!
We concluded by proclaiming Luke 4:18-19 over Italy: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me …… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Catholic Bishops Synod on Family – (Jill, UK/France and Maria, Sweden/Belgium – Catholic Family Federation)
As we were meeting, Catholic Bishops were in the Vatican to discuss family issues. Pope Francis is promoting “pastoral care” in the church – pastors must live with the “smell” of the sheep. The Church must be prepared to adapt on some issues, as deviant behaviour against the traditional faith and doctrine can lead to blessing and revelation of truth in the long term. It’s called “graduality”. Jesus did not take sides on controversial issues but pointed to the truth of God.
The Church needs to get more involved and be a witness in society. Some of the topics on the agenda were:
– Divorcees, remarried couples, partnerships outside of marriage and single parents, particularly in regard to administration of the sacraments.
– Acceptance of homosexuality – without compromise on marriage between man and woman – and the potential contribution of homosexuals to the community with their special gifts and talents.
Traditionalists were expected to stand firm such that there would be no decisive outcome (now confirmed by an interim report). Discussions will now continue for a full year.
Maria is from Sweden and now works for a lobby group (NGO) in the European Parliament in Brussels that seeks to unite Christians in the parliament to protect and promote family values – “forced together by opposition!” In 2007 she received a revelation from God to work for the family in Europe – under the Catholic Church – recognising the identity of man as created by God as “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and promoting the family as the basic unit of society. The issue of “gender mainstreaming” in the context of the family and the consequential effects on society are not so easy to challenge as the issue of abortion, for example, which can simply be presented as “the killing of unborn children”. A survey of young people world-wide revealed that they are all looking to be in a real family and for security in their close personal relationships.
People in general have good will, but politics is all about competition and survival. A good example is the recent Estrella Report which Maria worked on for many months to discover all the connections and devious methods behind the scenes between feminist lobby organisations and even suppression of information by the media agencies. Now young children less than 4 years old and parents are under the threat of sexual education that can only be described as paedophilia and incest.
The Estrella Report was defeated by 7 votes and Maria knew that “Joshua prayer warriors” were encircling the parliament building in Strasbourg. She came to our EUoP meeting to ask us for prayer covering because she knows it works – and she realises that such intercession is not her main calling.
We prayed for her and proclaimed 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore … stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain!” We then reminded each other that in spiritual warfare we must not give room for the devil’s schemes through unconfessed sin in our own lives!
Security in Europe – (Ian, UK/France)
One of the missions of this group is to inform you about issues for prayer so that you can take them back with you and to pray about them in your own prayer groups in your nation.
One such issue is the great concern in our governments about the security of our nations when young people from immigrant families, who were born in our country and are full citizens, go to fight wars in a nation of their original culture, and then return, radicalised by their experiences. How do we approach this problem when we originally welcomed these families into our nations? How do we pray for our leaders who are face with these issues and especially the current challenges from the Islamic State (ISIS) militia? The newest nations in the EU bring a valuable contribution to the understanding of these risks to our peace as they have experienced the domination of Russia.
Prayer walking in Rome on our last day
Rome was the centre of an empire that brought the peace and an infrastructure that enabled the good news of Jesus to come to Europe – “… when the set time had come, God sent his Son …” (Galatians 4:4). Rome has many sites to inspire us to prayer about Christian witness in Europe.
Group 1: Visited the Colosseum (70 AD). Here Christians were martyred, giving silent witness to their faith which eventually transformed Roman society. The group prayed for persecuted Christians today especially in the Middle East and against terrorism in Europe from Muslim immigrant communities. Nearby is the Arch of Titus (80 AD) with a menorah and trumpets in the stone work – spoils from the destruction of Jerusalem. They prayed for protection of Israel and against anti-Semitism today. Also nearby is the Arch of Constantine (315 AD) celebrating his victory in battle. They prayed for freedom to preach gospel without state interference and to stand for true Christian values.
Group 2: Visited St. Peter’s Basilica and Square in the Vatican. Tourists were waiting in a long line to enter the basilica. The group prayed on the square for Pope Francis and the Catholic Church and its influence in Italy and world-wide. They repented for all the wrong thoughts and actions of the Catholic and Protestant churches in the name of Jesus and prayed for spiritual unity between Christian believers from all churches and denominations and to be salt and light in the nations. The group knelt in a circle and sang “He is Lord”.
Group 3: Visited the site of the “Jewish Ghetto” (1550-1850) which was a walled quarter and locked at night under the control of the Papal State. Jews lived in Rome long before Christ and a church of Jews and Gentiles existed in Rome before 51 AD when the Jews were expelled. They were allowed to return in 56 AD and Paul then sent his letter to the Roman church with his teaching on the election of Israel. Now the Great Synagogue of Rome is located here. The group prayed for the Jewish community in Rome, protection and salvation of Jewish people and for the nation of Israel.
Group 4: Visited the government buildings of the Senate and Parliament. The group prayed for the Italian government and the politicians and those involved in the current Presidency of the EU Council and the “EU Trio” of Italy, Latvia and Luxembourg.
Worship Service in the Baptist church
On the final evening we met with the local believers in a service of praise to our Lord Jesus Christ – the Light of the World! The pastor was moderator and translator for the evening.
We were introduced and explained why we had come to Rome – especially that we wanted to bless the people of Italy and pray for them and their leaders – and we shared some personal experiences and impressions of our stay. We were able to pray in groups for the understanding and release of the God given destiny for Italy and one member of the church then prayed very powerfully for their relationship with the Catholic Church. We presented gifts from our nations for the work of the church with refugees from Afghanistan and spoke Aaron’s blessing over the congregation in Hebrew and all the languages of our group. We then had a time of sharing and blessing with one another, often with smiles and gestures of love and fellowship in place of words.
The next day we said farewell to each other, taking away with us what the Lord had laid on our hearts for our prayers for Italy back in our own nations.
Report by Phil and Margaret Daniell – (UK/Germany) – October 2014
