Week of Prayer
December 1-8th is Southern Baptists International Missions Week of Prayer, emphasizing the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®.
Day 1 | The Great Pursuit in Senegal
Heavenly Father,
We thank You for the commitment of Moses and his wife, Beth, who serve You in Senegal. Thank You for giving Moses the bravery to do island ministry—even though he can’t swim. His faithfulness has resulted in 15 new believers on an island they’ve engaged because Moses braved the waters to bring them the gospel and train the Christians there.
Following You is a costly decision for Senegalese believers. We pray for those who will inevitably face persecution. We ask You to work in the lives of their families. As they see their loved ones stand strong through social rejection and being disowned by their unbelieving families, we pray that Your truth will penetrate hearts.
We thank You for the churches in the U.S. that partner with mainland Senegalese churches to reach and disciple those on the islands. As Moses and his ministry partners begin to disciple these new believers, we pray the gospel will advance through their faithful witness for You.
Read full Week of Prayer stories at lottiemoon.com.
Day 2 | The Great Pursuit in Central Asia
You are moving in Central Asia through missionaries like Gary and Ann Warrior. They speak of Your name being known by more and more people previously unreached with the gospel. Young men have asked Gary to teach them about Your Word and explain the truths they read. Draw them closer to You through these conversations, often held over welcomed meals shared between friends.
Thank You for moving in the lives of those who desire to start a church in their rural mountain village. New believers are waiting for baptism and leadership is desperately needed in these mountains. Lord, move in the lives of those who seek to follow faithfully, despite the persecution they face from neighbors. Continue the good work You’ve started by calling out local leaders for a church. Make a way for believers to follow in baptism and have opportunities for growth and service.
Sustain Gary and Ann and keep their “hands to the plow,” as they’ve asked us to pray.
Day 3 | The Great Pursuit Among the Deaf
We thank You that the Deaf in Slovenia have a gospel presence among them. We praise You that Scripture is being translated into their heart language—Slovenian Sign Language. Continue to work through IMB missionaries and their partners who serve among the more than 74 million Deaf around the world.
We know that without Your grace and mercy, Ray and Rachel would never have come to know You. We praise You that they learned the truth of the gospel through the hands and faces of believers who could communicate the gospel through sign language. Send more workers willing to learn global sign languages!
We pray for Ray, Rachel and their friends Dasia and Gabor who are helping to lead and grow the new fellowship in Slovenia. We praise You for the two young Deaf women who recently heard the gospel, believed and are now being discipled.
Continue Your work among the Deaf.
Day 4 | The Great Pursuit in Brazil
We praise You for the testimony of IMB missionary Danilo Miranda. Thank You for the investment IMB missionary Mark Johnson made in his life when he was just a teenager. Because Mark discipled him, Danilo is now discipling the nations with his wife, Catherine.
We thank You for the work Danilo is doing to mobilize and prepare global missionary partners being sent from Brazil. You are calling many Brazilian Baptists to the lost around the world, and we praise You for their partnership in carrying out the Great Commission.
We pray that youth will hear the gospel, as Danilo did, and choose to commit their lives to following You. Continue to raise disciples and missionaries from Brazil.
We praise You for the impact that global missionary partners have on IMB teams.
Lead international sending organizations and churches as they prepare their missionaries to go.
Please go before these potential missionaries, and prepare IMB teams to be ready to receive them.
Day 5 | The Great Pursuit on Southeast Asian Islands
Thank You for Your work through David and Regan York. They describe the blessings and challenges of their work in an island region that epitomizes hard-to-reach people groups. Travel among the thousands of islands is difficult, as is the trek through jungles, over mountains and across coastlines. One group of islands is home to more than 125 people groups who remain unengaged and unreached with the gospel.
But You, Lord, are at work among these people. You have opened the doors for long-term presence of missionaries that has led to healthy churches and fellowships, a Baptist hospital and even a seminary. You are multiplying the spread of the good news through ministry partners who are growing in their faith and leading efforts into hard-to- reach places.
As believers grow bold to share the gospel, You are leading the Yorks and other missionaries to step into support and training roles. May Your name be glorified one day on every island.
Day 6 | The Great Pursuit in Northern Africa
Turn our hearts toward the peoples of northern Africa. Though they are often characterized in the media by violence and hatred, You deeply love them and long for the gospel to reach them.
Thank You for calling bold missionaries, like Jay and Ella Janill, to live and serve among them. They see Your loving hand at work, though civil unrest continues to disrupt their lives and displace them at times.
We thank You for Timothy and Abel, two young men who have chosen to follow You and are sharing the truth of Your Word with others, despite persecution. For each one like Timothy and Abel who hears and believes, the Janills pass hundreds of others on the cobblestone streets of their neighborhood who do not know truth and have not had access to the gospel.
Believers in one city long to worship and fellowship together. We pray along with Jay and Ella that they will find a way to safely gather.
Day 7 | The Great Pursuit in South Asia
Thank You, Lord, for directing missionaryJohn Pratt off the beaten path in South Asia. It took four weeks of trekking through trees, villages and the marsh to find the unengaged, unreached people group he was tasked to find and research. You prepared the way. When John finally found them, there was an old fisherman waiting to hear about Your power over all things.
We praise You for the Project 3000 initiative that brings unengaged, unreached people groups one step closer to You. Thank You for placing John and his South Asian partners in the exact spot to share Your Word with those who have never heard. We lift praises for this fisherman who not only believed, but also wanted to share with everyone that the Bible is true. South Asia remains the greatest concentration of lostness in the world, but You have not forgotten the people there.
Thank You, Lord, for missionary explorers who are called to a bold and radical work that only You can orchestrate and fulfill.
Read full Week of Prayer stories at lottiemoon.com.
Day 8 | The Great Pursuit in Europe
We are thankful You’ve called missionaries to be a steadfast presence among the lost. Today, we pray for the ministry of Ginny Wheeler who serves with her husband, Cade, among the dispersed and displaced in Europe. Ginny
is using her skills to encourage and mentor believers in healthcare professions to use their healthcare background for Your kingdom. These skills can directly impact lives as they care for people holistically.
We praise You for these relationships, and ask You to strengthen their desire to use healthcare strategies for Your glory. We pray for the trainings and clinics where Ginny teaches believers to minister in a way that considers the soul, body and mind.
God, please bring boldness and wisdom to Ginny and her partners as they embrace this task that opens access to the gospel in some of the hardest places in the world.
We lift these missionaries to You.
In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.
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