It was one of those rare weekends where a female preacher stood behind the pulpit.
An ordained minister since 1983, Mary-Alice Isleib is the founder of Mary-Alice Ministries. Author of the best-selling book Effective Fervent Prayer, Isleib has taught the Word of God in more than 45 countries. She is also a child advocacy speaker and the Executive Director of Christian Outreach International, a worldwide organization that specializes in short term mission projects.
On the Mary-Alice Ministries website, she shares, “The last time I was with City Harvest was in 1998. Since that time the church has exploded to over 28,000 members. It is a blessing to see a mega-church so actively involved in reaching out to the community, the marketplace, and the nations.”
On Saturday, 6 June 2009, using a Jewish prayer shawl, Isleib gave the congregation a vision of God placing a double portion of His anointing upon the church, likened to that of Elisha putting on Elijah’s mantle. She stressed the importance of effective, fervent prayer as it yields tremendous power.
The following day, Isleib expounded on how the strong prayer life of the individual believer can give power to corporate prayer. She exhorted the people of God to pray for social justice, that there might be hope to the hopeless.
  |
| PHOTOS: Michael Chan and Lee Boon Bee |
“I felt that God is reminding the church to go to the highways and the byways once again; to reach out to the needy and the rejected, to give the world out there a hope that there is still someone out there who cares for them,” said current School of Theology student, Victor Chan, 20.
Lin Weiye, 33, was reminded of St. Francis of Assisi’s famous words, “Preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words.” He said, “Her message helped us to see the heart of God.”
