"Worldwide Cancer Prayer Day"—Churches around the World Join in Prayer on June 5th

Jeremy Reynalds : Jun 5, 2009
ASSIST News Service

"I believe that God will answer this prayer, and though the glory for the cure for cancer may be given to a researcher in some university, I know that it will be God who will give the enlightenment to that researcher."

Churches and ministries in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines and South Korea, and other places around the world, will observe Worldwide Cancer Prayer Day by hosting special services Friday.

According to a news release, the event will be observed June 5 for the 11th time. A broadcast of the services being held worldwide will begin at midnight Pacific Daylight Time on www.CancerPrayerDay.com and last for 24 hours.

Participating ministers include Daniel Nunez, Sara Nossa Terra church, Brasilia, Brazil; Aurelio Arrache, Amistad Familiar church, Mexicali, Mexico; Tommy Mascarinas, Agape Christian Fellowship, Iligan City, Phillippines; and Nelson Kim, Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, South Korea.

Richard Shakarian, president of Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, will oversee a service at the organization's headquarters in Irvine, Calif.

Daniel Kennedy, the organizer and co-founder of Worldwide Cancer Prayer Day, said in the news release, "The ministers will pray for healing for people who have cancer, prevention for people who do not have cancer, comfort for people who have lost someone to cancer and wisdom for cancer researchers, physicians and nurses."

Daniel Kennedy is also the CEO of Oasis of Hope Hospital, a leader in integrative medical treatment of cancer, which combines orthodox and alternative therapies. After his father, David, survived a 1995 bout of renal cancer, Daniel decided he needed to do more to help cancer patients.

"At that time, the hospital could attend to only 600 patients per month, but through prayer we could touch millions of people," he said in the release.

According to the news release, oncologist Dr. Francisco Contreras and the president of Oasis of Hope, funded the first Day of Prayer in 1998, which was broadcast internationally. Dr. Robert A. Schuller, son of evangelist Robert H. Schuller, was also one of the co-founders.

Dr. Contreras specifically prays for a cure for cancer, especially every June 5. About 7 million people die from cancer each year, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.

"I believe that God will answer this prayer, and though the glory for the cure for cancer may be given to a researcher in some university, I know that it will be God who will give the enlightenment to that researcher," he said in the release.

Over the years, participants in Worldwide Cancer Prayer Day have represented some 160 countries. Kennedy said he receives prayer requests all year from as far away as Kuwait, South Africa and China via the event's Web site.

According to the release, the petitions are compiled into a book, which has about 25,000 names in it. Kennedy has carried the book to the prayer spiral at the Crystal Cathedral, the prayer tower at Oral Roberts University, the prayer mountain in Seoul, Korea and the Western Wall in Jerusalem in observation of Worldwide Cancer Prayer Day.

To ask for prayer, visit www.CancerPrayerDay.com.