375,000 Gather in DC for Fasting, Prayer and Revival at Esther Solemn Assembly
An estimated 375,000 people—mostly women—converged in Washington, D.C., last weekend to be a part of A Million Women: Day of Atonement Solemn Assembly.
“This is probably the largest Yom Kippur ever gathering in history,” said Jonathan Cahn, author of the recent New York Times bestseller “The Dragon’s Prophecy.”
“Brothers and sisters, Mordecais and Esthers, all over the world—in Africa, Asia, Europe, India—are with us today as one.”
Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year, is observed with strict fasting and ceremonial repentance. The solemn assembly was livestreamed and will be available for replay at amillionwomen.org after production work is finalized.
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One woman who lives in Jerusalem and hosted a watch party of the livestreaming of the event said that the manifest presence of God was very strong there.
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“I was repenting and declaring that the covenant between our nations would not be broken,” she said. “Others were out on our balcony, releasing repentance into the atmosphere—with the words of repentance coming out of Jerusalem to America.”
Facing the Capitol building, the sea of intercessors stretched for approximately one mile on the lawn of the National Mall, starting at Seventh Street and ending a few blocks short of the Washington Monument.
Leading up to the historic gathering, spontaneous prayer erupted on planes, in hotel lobbies and in restaurants when travelers spotted one another wearing Christian-themed T-shirts or hats. One woman who traveled from Texas to Washington on Friday evening, the night before the day-long event, said half of her flight was filled with women determined to answer the Esther call to unite in prayer.
It was clear that the Esthers had come prayed up and ready for intercession. At 5 a.m., four hours before the assembly at the Mall, bold declarations of faith and loud petitions to God rang out from behind hotel room doors, where small groups of women were praying together determinedly.
Just as Esther of the Bible interceded on behalf of her people, these Esther-types had come to intercede on behalf of their families, communities, countries and world. Most Mordecais came in unison with their families, and curious bystanders joined spontaneously. One man jogging in place at a stoplight said he had a 24-mile run to do first but would come back afterward to join in.
Earlier in the week, on Oct. 7, the Mall area was on high alert and entrances to many government buildings were blockaded due to terrorist threats on the day that marked one-year since “the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.” Highly manned security could also be seen in front of buildings where somber remembrance events were being held in museums and other locations.
Although liberal media outlets posted inflammatory articles in advance of the gathering, and Israel flags were flown proudly during the Oct. 12 prayer gathering at the Mall, no protests or backlash could be seen on the surrounding streets or in the crowd at the Mall.
Repentance on behalf of the U.S. and other nations, agreement with God in the pulling down of strongholds, declaration of support and unity with Israel, prayer for children and other marginalized groups under attack, and undergirding of Christian leaders were some of the prayer themes.
For the most part, leaders who prayed or spoke from the high platform backdropped by the Capitol Building were limited to three-minute segments and were not named. A young woman who works in ministry to survivors of human trafficking said it was heartbreaking to see such an enormous number of women raise their hands to signify that they had been sexually victimized.
“I love how they [the leaders] took the time to pray and war in the spirit for the victims of trafficking and sexual abuse, and at the same time, speak about the issue of pornography and how it connects to human trafficking and sexual abuse,” she said.
The 20-something added, “It was a marking moment for me to be physically present and be one of the million women standing to witness this breakthrough for America in Washington, D.C. I am not the same after this historic event.”
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Renee DeLoriea has been a writer for various media outlets for 25 years, is a book publishing consultant and the author of “Portal in Pensacola: The Real Thing Hits Brownsville.“
