Nelson Mandela Bay Christians are expected to flock to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday October 22 for a historic day of prayer for the metro.
This major, interdenominational, public prayer event which will touch on key issues such as education (including 2011 matric exams); repentance for sins such as crime, idolatry and division; the redemptive purpose of the metro; and thanksgiving for rain; was initiated by a group of Christians who shared a vision that the metro was ripe for change and that God was calling for a mass prayer meeting in the stadium.
The prayer day steering committee includes members of the SA Police Service, and Christians from various areas of the metro. Churches in the city got behind the vision and the initiative was given a boost when the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality agreed to partner the event, and in a milestone occasion today the steering committee and the NMB Stadium management company, Access Management, concluded an agreement that secured the stadium for Saturday’s big prayer day.
The gates of the 48 000-seat stadium will open at 13:00 on Saturday and the prayer day will run from 14:00 to 17:00. Everybody entering the stadium is required to wear a wristband. Wristbands will be on sale outside the stadium between 13:00 and 14:00 on Saturday and are also available at a number of outlets throughout the city (See www.gatewaynews.co.za for a list of outlets). The wristbands cost R5 for adults and R2 for children.
Special prayer day busses will be available in certain areas to ferry prayers to the stadium and home again. The busses will depart from high schools in Uitenhage, the townships, the Northern Areas and Walmer Township at 12:00. The bus schedule will be posted on www.gatewaynews.co.za.
Prayer day participants may not bring any drink or food into the stadium but refreshments will be on sale throughout the event.
Free public parking will be available at the following schools in the area:
- Morewag,
- Dr Viljoen,
- Lawson Brown and
- Cillie.
NMB Metro Prayer Day Steering Committee member Pastor Tyrone Strydom (left) hands over a cheque to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium venue manager, Mr Archie Charalambous, securing the venue for the big prayer event on Saturday, October 22.
