Wk 50
September 15, 2006 To The Ends of The Earth…
Verse for the week:
Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. Rom 15:20-22
Quote for the week:
"We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results." - R. A. Torrey
People Group of the week:
The Yemini Arabs (Prayer points listed at the bottom of this email.)
*Links to website don't necessarily imply endorsement.
Apostolic Missions Committee Member to pray for this week:
Phil Stettner, Secretary/Treasurer (Bluffton North, IN)
Apostolic Elder to pray for this week:
Richard Plattner (Fairbury, IL) and YOUR OWN!
Apostolic Christian Missionares to pray for this week:
Gary and Peggy Ifft (Bloomington, IL) - after some time in the U.S., the Iffts are heading back to Yetebon, Ethiopia. Pray for safe travel and that when they get back, they would not be too overwhelmed with work! Gary is administrator of a Christian hospital there and Peggy is instrumental in keeping everything up and running.
Jan and Val Gutwein (Francesville, IN) - Jan recently left the U.S. for Les Cayes, Haiti. Please pray for guidance, direction, and encouragement for Jan, Val, and the children as they anticipate the transition of the family to Haiti.
Other News:
One of the purposes of this email list is to remind people to pray for the 10/40 Window, an area of the world that lies across Africa and Asia from 10 degrees latitude north of the equator to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator. An astonishing 97% of the persons who inhabit the least evangelized countries live in the 10/40 Window. Overall, throughout the world, the statistics are staggering:
865 million unreached Muslims or Islamic followers in 3330 cultural sub-groupings
550 million unreached Hindus in 1660 cultural sub-groups
150 million unreached Chinese in 830 groups
275 million unreached Buddhists in 900 groups
2550 unreached tribal groups (which are mainly animistic) with a total population of 140 million
Forming a smaller -- though important -- unreached group are the 17 million Jews scattered across 134 countries
Good news: Missions researcher David Barrett says the country with the most rapid Christian expansion ever is China where there are 10,000 new Christian converts every day.
The Verse of the Week is challenging because Paul says "for the cause" of reaching those "that have not heard", he was hindered from going to Rome. In other words, it cost him. How much does reaching the unreached cost me? Am I willing to let my life be "hindered" for the sake of those who have never heard and who have NO ACCESS to the Gospel? Praise Jesus that He is pursuing the billions who have never heard, and that He is doing it through us! May we all do our part in God's glorious plan to reach EVERY tribe, tongue, nation, and people group. Praise Jesus!!
Your Prayer Partner,
Joe G.
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Prayer Points for the Yemini Arabs
-Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to reach out and share the love of Christ with them.
-Pray that God will raise up faithful intercessors who will stand in the gap for the Yemeni Arabs. -Ask God to give the Yemeni Arab believers opportunities to share the love of Christ with their own people.
-Pray that their traditional Muslim culture will soften, creating open doors for the Gospel to be preached among them.
-Ask the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of the Arabs towards Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel.
-Pray that God will reveal Himself to these Muslims through dreams and visions.
-Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Yemeni Arabs.
"The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray." - Samuel Chadwick
