“Do you have a minute? Let us pray for peace.”
This was the message and plea of the newly-convened Pasa Lord Prayer Movement which urges Filipinos of every religious and political denomination to pray for peace and prosperity in the country.
The nationwide prayer campaign is set to be launched at noon on July 7, 2017 (7-7-17), but the movement’s convenors have asked the public to start daily prayers immediately and continuously until the group’s peace objectives are attained.
Lead convenor and founder Bing Pimentel said that “There’s urgency to do this now and engage the help of everybody, considering the numerous challenges the country is facing. Anyone who prays and desires to involve others in prayer, whether Christian or Muslim, is welcome to become part of this movement. We only need a minute’s prayer every day to make our silent voices be heard.”
“Pray where you are, with your community or one or more family members or even just by yourself. We are asking the Almighty to intervene so that we may have peace in our country,” Pimentel added.
Co-convenor Coylee Gamboa further explained that “The people we approached have all agreed to stand with us and forward the call to prayer to their friends. No one has refused. Even big companies are willing to urge their employees to pray. It makes sense for them to do so because businesses tend to flourish in times of peace.”
The Pasa Lord Prayer Movement enjoys the support and participation of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines through Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the Jesus Is Lord Movement through Bro. Eddie Villanueva, the El Shaddai through Bro. Mike Velarde, and the Imam Council of the Philippines through Imam Ebra Moxsir, a chaplain of the Philippine National Police.
Bishop Noel Pantoja, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, has likewise expressed his support for the movement, according to Niels Riconalla, president of movement partner Fellowship of Christians in Government.
The movement has prepared a prayer that can be recited by participants and multi-faith “prayer warriors.” The prayer can be seen or downloaded at http://facebook.com/pasalordmovement or PasaLordInfo on Viber.
The religious call for peace, with the theme “Pilipinas, Mahal Kita” enjoins everybody to wish and pray for “wisdom, integrity and honesty” from political leaders” and seeks protection from “lawlessness war, terrorism.”
Pasa Lord’s convenors were hoping that the call for prayer support would snowball into a significant national event on the 7th of July.