A Million Women—A Conversation with Lou Engle

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people…”

These biblical words, from Joel 2:15-16, are used by Pastor Lou Engle to describe an upcoming gathering of people of faith, of A Million Women, of one million Esthers, who are called to gather on the Mall in Washington, D.C., on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement.

This week, Yael Eckstein sits down with Lou Engle to discuss this monumental event, in which the Jewish people’s Christian friends will come together in prayer and fasting—to pray for Israel in her time of need, to pray for America, and to pray for our world.

Join us for this inspiring conversation, in which Lou and Yael discuss carrying on legacies of faith and how we have all been called, like Esther was, “for such a time as this.”

Learn more about A Million Women—An Esther Call to the Mall.

For more information on today’s episode visit mybiblicalroots.org.

Episode Notes:

The eighth preacher in a long line of God’s servants, Lou Engle tells how his ancestor, Jacob Engle, survived a perilous journey by sea as a child, and was called to share his faith with the world. This lifework of faith and fellowship has been carried on “through the generations.”

But as Lou tells podcast host Yael Eckstein, “These kinds of movements aren’t born overnight. Nations are changed through prayer and fasting.” And it was this realization, and a calling from God, that led Lou Engle to himself call A Million Women—one million Esthers who bravely stand with the Jewish people, in prayer and fasting—to the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Just as in the Bible, Esther and Mordecai fasted with thousands of Jews for three days and God rescued the nation, Lou says that today, “We need God”

Lou then shares with Yael the story of how he began gathering the masses to prayer. This year’s gathering is especially meaningful. ThisOctober 12, on the Sabbath and on the Day of Atonement, a million Esthers and Mordecais are coming together to stand against anti-Semitism and to stand with the Jewish people.

As Lou says of Israel’s Christian friends, “We owe everythingto the Jewish people. We’re the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” And as he shares in this conversation with Yael Eckstein, “We’re in a divine global moment for America and Israel.”