Chapter 19

The King’s Park

Peace Gathering

The weekend of September 20, 21, 1997, finally arrived and the team made their way to the King’s Park Rugby Stadium with great excitement.

I looked around me in awe. Hundreds of farmers and their workers were arriving at the grounds. They came from every corner of KwaZulu-Natal and a tremendous spirit of optimism filled the grounds as they set up caravans and tents. “Lord”, I rejoiced “You have been so good to us. This gathering is bringing hope to people who were in a hopeless state. Workers and employers are uniting in their quest for peace.”

It was raining heavily as the people started pouring in the gates for the Saturday evening meeting. Youth groups arrived en masse. Churches of all denominations were there. 15,000 people braved the cold, wet weather, determined to hear from God.

I could sense the Presence of the Lord moving strongly among the enthusiastic crowd as Ian led the singing in English and Zulu. As we worshipped together, we were aware of the Lord drawing us together in spirit.

“Outside of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace”, I told them “there will be no peace in our land. We’ve come to say, Lord, we are prepared to repent so that we can save our province and our Nation.”

“Somebody famous once said that it was not the violence of the few that scared him as much as the silence of the many. We have a responsibility to God and our country to do something. How dare we sit in front of our televisions and criticise the government and the laws of the land, while we are doing nothing ourselves.”

The people sat in silence as I spoke.

“It is time for Christians to get moving. Revival is going to come, but it’s going to come, through ordinary people like you and me. It’s time to stop complaining and get involved.

‘If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.’ That’s God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14.”

The next day we were back. The weather had improved and, again, thousands of people took their seats. This time there were at least 20,000 people in the stadium.