Pray Haringey - The Blessings
This little vignette is a wonderful practical example of a spiritual beachhead in the inner city borough of Haringey in London. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things for God.
The year was 1954 and Billy Graham ministered in Haringey, then a suburb of London. He planned a six-day crusade but ended with a six-month crusade. He sowed a seed of revival. When he was leaving, someone asked him when he would return and he replied that when the pastors of Haringey unite.
It took forty-two years before any sustainable unity of pastors in Haringey came to pass. In 1996, several pastors united to pray and take responsibility for the Borough. They met every Wednesday morning to pray and supplicate for the people and the government of the Borough.
Since the inauguration of Pray Haringey, remarkable changes have been noticed. Crime rate reduced in Wood Green, a part of the Borough that was known for burglary and robbery. Education has improved, especially, with increases in GCSE results moving from an average of 11% gaining five GCSEs grade A to C, to 27%.
Housing issues started getting solutions when Pray Haringey had a service regarding the matter and donated to the cause in the Borough. One of the highlights of the blessings of the Lord is the unity among pastors in the Borough. Hitherto, there was no contact, but now the Catholic priest knows the Pentecostal pastor by first name and enjoys fellowship on a regular basis. Pastors and ministers have swapped pulpits. More recently, the police and the Council have partnered with Pray Haringey to do things of a permanent nature. This led to the birth of the Haringey Peace Alliance which successfully had a peace week.
There have been many obstacles that Pray Haringey has had to overcome, especially in the areas of racial divides, denominational segregations, religious differences, cultural diversities and multilingual differences.
Suggested further reading:
The Glory of God: Maximising Your Potentials, by Segun Johnson