Buckle Up!

 I was sitting in a meeting in Toronto last fall when someone wondered if there was a plan to mobilize the church to pray during the upcoming Ontario provincial election.  I was equal parts excited and terrified because I knew what could happen if we were able to do it and I knew the scope of the task if we took it on.  Within a few days, I'd been invited to give leadership to what at this point is the largest ministry project I've ever led.

Ontario and the GTA, in particular, is unlike anywhere else in Canada.  1/4 of the entire population of our nation lives within 160km of downtown Toronto.  More people live within an hour of my suite in Toronto than live in BC and Alberta combined.  The opportunity to impact a nation while we impact a province is greater there than anywhere else in the country. With that in mind, we began to develop a strategy that took advantage of what we had learned in other provinces and added some pieces to increase the impact.  Here's what we've built:

A 40 Day prayer campaign starting April 29 through to June 8 with daily video prayers, prayed by people who represent a cross-section of Ontario's demographics.  Some are recognizable. Some you've never heard of.  They all matter!  Each day a proud Ontarian who loves Jesus will pray a prayer that will provide our theme/focus for the day.

Our partnership with Transformation Canada has provided us with access to the Adopt Your City prayer walking app.  Part of our strategy includes encouraging participants to prayer walk their streets praying the daily prayer theme.  The app has a GPS component to it that allows us to see what streets are being prayed for and gives us the ability to encourage others to walk streets that are yet to be walked!  We want to cover as much of Ontario as possible with little red lines showing that someone has prayer walked there.

Finally, we are recruiting Hub Churches across Ontario to help communicate the PrayOn vision.  These churches will also act as venues for a local/regional prayer gathering on Sunday night, June 3.  We envision at least 124 gatherings (one in each Electoral District) coming together on that night to pray with one heart, mind and purpose that God would give us leaders for Ontario through whom He can work to accomplish His plans and purposes.

This will be epic!  Not because it's our idea but because of what can happen when THE CHURCH comes together with unity, focus and purpose.  GOD CAN'T RESIST UNITY AMONG HIS PEOPLE!  He get's SO EXCITED that He does amazing and remarkable things!

This campaign isn't about electing Christians.  This campaign is about asking God to give us HIS CHOICE of leaders for Ontario.  Multiple good things happen that position a province to prosper, to care for its weakest and most vulnerable, to practice good financial stewardship, and create an environment that is conducive to growth, safety and security for everyone when God's choices are elected to office. 

Our experience tells us that in addition to those things happening, we also see an increase in the number of men and women who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ elected to office. Our observation is that these people aren't likely to be 'issue candidates' as much as they are proven servant leaders with a heart to do what is best to benefit an entire province rather than simply satisfying a particular interest group. These are the kind of people that make the organizations, cities, provinces and nations they serve better because of their ethos and their desire to serve.  Ontario and Canada both need an influx of this kind of leader.

Regardless of where you live in this great nation, let me encourage you to pray with us for Ontario in the PrayON campaign.  

Buckle up!  This is going to be quite a ride!