The following was written for us by Willa Kane, a Trustee of the American Anglican Council and an intercessor at our Bishops Leadership Summit:
Like everyone else, I’ve had more time to “be still” before the LORD the last few days, praying for ways to make a meaningful difference from a distance. I’m excited to share with you a way He has answered that prayer for me, something I hope you’ll choose to take part in yourselves and share with others.
A friend texted me at 4:45 Thursday morning with the desire to get friends and family, wherever they might be during this worldwide health crisis, to pray at 8 pm each evening. I shared the idea with a couple of other friends and over the course of 24 hours, a website was created along with a facebook group. It’s called 8@8.
The idea is this: to gather a global community of people to pray for 8 minutes at 8 pm in their time zone, literally wrapping the globe in prayer over the course of 24 hours. Our prayer is that 8@8 gathers individuals, families and friends to pray together—within their homes, online with someone else, or by phone. Each day we provide a passage from scripture, a meditation and a praise song or hymn that can be used to guide and enhance the prayer experience.
I have a heart for sharing the gospel and strengthening the worldwide Church in my role as a trustee for the American Anglican Council, preceded by 6 years as a trustee for the Anglican Relief and Development Fund. The friends I called to help with this project have Anglican connections, too. Sally Breedlove is an author, spiritual director and co-founder of Journeymates and is wife of Steve Breedlove, an ACNA bishop who is also an AAC trustee. Madison Perry is an ACNA deacon and is Executive Director of the North Carolina Study Center, a thriving Christian Center for Life and Thought at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Our hope is that the Lord will add praying people to all twenty-four of the 8 pm hours around the world. We long to see people everywhere turn to God, our only refuge. During this time of crisis, may God through His grace and mercy use this endeavor to bring the body of Christ together at 8pm for 8 minutes everyday.
We hope you’ll join us and invite others to do the same by following the instructions at 8at8pm.org.
