Last week we took a look at how the Venezuelan marches make our efforts here at home seem rather meek (HERE), but then the folks of Bloemfontein decided to bow their heads in a big, big way.

According to GoodThingsGuy this weekend saw an estimated 1,7 MILLION South Africans attend a prayer gathering by pastor Angus Buchan, whose name you might remember from the book and film Faith Like Potatoes.

Details and images below via the same site:

The day of prayer is intended for all South Africans of all genders, races and denominations who are concerned about the malice, hatred, violence, murder and corruption in the country,” says Buchan.

“We are tired of people taking the law into their own hands.  We are going to call upon The Lord to bring justice‚ peace and hope to our beloved South Africa‚” Buchan said in a statement on his website.

The seed for the gathering was planted when a WhatsApp video did the rounds with a desperate outcry for Buchan or any other spiritual leader in South Africa to intervene and arrange such an event. When Buchan replied by posting a video on social media, he received 1,8 million responses within hours.

More details here from IOL, who say the number in attendance was closer to the one million mark:

The venue, a farm owned by former Springbok rugby player Ollie le Roux, had people waiting patiently for the evangelist to arrive.

He touched down in his private jet just a stone’s throw from the area where the event was held.

Although Buchan was supposed to have delivered his sermon at midday, he couldn’t start as scheduled but had to wait for people who were still flocking to the event. The evangelist addressed the gathering after two hours…

The difference in crowd size appears to be due to the fact that 1,7 million people indicated that they would be attending via the event’s ticketing website, although it isn’t clear if everyone rocked up.

Good thing it wasn’t in Cape Town – 500 000 say yes, 1,2 million say ‘I’m interested’, about 50 000 turn up.

[source:goodthingsguy]