31 days fasting and prayers

This is a time when the church embark on a 31 days fast from the last Wednesday in May to the last Friday in June every year. The first 3 days of the fast is a dry fast with no solid food and the last 5 days also is a dry fast with no food but water.

Services are held daily during this period and seasoned servants of God are on hand to expose us to the word of God and to lead us in prayers. Every day’s service is packed with heaven and all the Fridays during this period is a vigil. The last 5 days which is also dry fast is tagged “POWER FOR CHANGE”. Night vigils are held on all the 5 days from Monday to Friday from 10:00pm to 2:00am. Also, 4 special groups are selected by lot during this week; they are also distinguished by what we call mantles. 4 different colours of specially designed Tshirts are distributed to everybody depending on which group they fall into. These groups are also saddled with the responsibility of taking care of the church each month. Starting from August, each group takes a month ensuring everywhere is kept clean. Decency and orderliness is maintained in the church premises.

During this fasting period, other programs are also held. The first Sunday is the thanksgiving Sunday for the month of June. 2nd Sunday is a guest Sunday, 3rd Sunday is usually Father’s Day as the case may be depending on the calendar. This could also be the church white hymnal Sunday or if the calendar is shifted, the hymnal white Sunday could be the Sunday after. (White Sunday is a day chosen to celebrate hymns and the whole church is decorated in white. The people come dressed in white and everything looks white on that Sunday.). The Friday vigil before the white Sunday is the “POWER IN PRAISE NIGHT: a night of all high praises to God as that will be the last weekend before the ending of the fast in a weeks’ time. This fasting period is usually very special because it is a time when some go the extra mile of not breaking at all for the whole period and some others go a longer extra mile doing more than the stipulated 31 days. For some of the members, eating food in the month of June is a forgotten issue. Usually, the next Sunday after the fast is the first Sunday in July and it is our mid-year thanksgiving Sunday.

God has been too faithful to us, He has never failed us at all and He does not have a record of ever failing. On the last Friday of the vigil when the mantles are giving out a holy communion is also served. This has helped in deepening our covenant with God such that there has never been any casualty especially as those on a long dry fast break their fast systematically.