They came from Britain, the America's, Africa, Asia and from around Australia to attend the recent Commonwealth Christian Assembly in Perth held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). CHOGM national leaders, presidents and prime ministers, represent 1/3 of the world’s population.

The colourful opening night was attended by some 2000 delegates, including Church and Governmental leaders from many nations gathered for CHOGM. The sessions of the Assembly were vibrant, challenging and filled with worship and prayer as well as exciting stories of all that God is doing across the world. Powerful testimonies and wonderful fellowship as the different world cultures blended together in expressing their commitment to the things of God, were features of the Assembly. A feature of the first weekend's activities was the holding of Church Together attended by some 8,000 people from across the Church in Perth and the delegates to the Commonwealth Christian Assembly.

The Converge Week of 24/7 prayer ran from the Monday to the following Sunday of the CHOGM week. Brilliantly organized, the week was a smorgasbord of prayer, worship and powerful presentations by different cultural groups including our own Indigenous brothers and sisters. Over 1000 delegates took part in the week of prayer with many varying styles of prayer and worship from the vibrancy of the African delegates to the quite soaking and contemplative prayer enjoyed by others.

It was exciting to see the venue almost filled each day, sometimes with those attending having to settle for seats in the upper balcony in order to be part of this spiritually powerful event. The Premier of Western Australia, alerted as to what was happening by colleagues who attended the opening night, was briefed each day on what was happening in the prayer room and some delegates from CHOGM itself found time to attend and join in the prayers and presentations.

Not for many years has Australia seen so many people gather in the one place for such a prolonged period of corporate prayer, the impact of which was clearly seen in the CHOGM meetings themselves and on the streets of the city…

Not only was the city of Perth blessed but so to was the nation of Australia as we played host to this significant international event.