“When the Church went out and they were unified, the world was attracted to their message.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

What are the keys to revival? Several youth ministries believe the answer is found in John 17, and they gathered at Community Pentecostal Church in response.

“The event is called Answered Prayer,” explains Joey Molloy, executive director of Implementa—the host ministry. “This whole thing is all about answering the prayer of our great High Priest, which is to bring the Church together for unity that strives to be at the same level of unity as the Trinity.”

Implementa supports, trains, and coaches Canadian youth leaders. They organized Answered Prayer, in Ottawa on February 23 and in Brampton on February 24, to bolster Christian youth and their ministry leaders to worship and seek God together. Through these meetings, they hope to inspire and engage youth in seeking God’s vision to collaboratively reach their schools and peers with the Gospel.

Taking Jesus’ John 17 prayer, Molloy says, “The closer we get to Trinitarian unity, the closer our unity gets to resembling the Trinity, the more the world will take the Gospel seriously. When the Church went out and they were unified, the world was attracted to their message. That’s the heart of what we’re doing.”

“I believe there is a generation of young people who want to encounter God, know that He accepts them, and that He is real.”

Molloy recruited Daphne Richardson, a local worship leader with lots of experience facilitating worship across different cultures, and Jason Persaud, co-founder of The Culture Changers. Both Answered Prayer nights feature games and fun to energize youth, cross-cultural worship, and a message with a call to action.

“I believe there is a generation of young people who want to encounter God, know that He accepts them, and that He is real,” states Persaud. “Students want to be used by God and see their friends encounter Jesus and change their world, but they need to see the Church unified and working together to be inspired to work together to reach their schools.”

The event aims to show youth a taste of that unity and encourage them to connect with other Christians in their schools, forgetting about what church they go to or their cultural background, and just work together for the Gospel.

“The Gospel is much more than the words we say. Our lives are an expression and example of the Good News of Jesus,” Persaud says. “We have the power of the Holy Spirit with us to boldly share the Gospel and pray for miracles in people’s lives. I want students to leave knowing that their past failures and mistakes do not stop Jesus for wanting to have an encounter with them and, in turn, to share Jesus with their friends.”

Answered Prayer started over a year ago, when Molloy was complaining to God about how much Canadian youth networks were struggling. He felt God challenge him to do something about it. So Implementa hosted five Answered Prayer events last year.

“You would think that, with a growth trajectory, we’ll need to go to 10 this year, but as I prayed I realized that every network we went to last year (except one) they took what we did and played it out themselves.”

The groups ended up starting regular, collaborative worship and outreach nights, gathering as the Church in their geographical area.

“Last year was all about breaking down denominational barriers and just getting together,” Molloy states. “Out of that, a family of networks started. That makes me really happy.”