In this issue: Glimpses of the Global Church
- HAITI: Time to Send Out Missionaries
- SOUTHEAST ASIA: Calling Hispanics to Change the World
- IRAN: Actor Transformed by the Gospel
- NEPAL: Miriam Refuses to Stop Praying
- SYRIA: “We Are Going Through a Terrible Moment”
Dear Readers,
My all-time favorite prayer for the nations is from Psalm 24: “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” You may also recognize it from Handel’s Messiah. I was delighted to find that the same prayer is being sung by Pakistanis. Enjoy this upbeat version in Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi Zabor 24:7-10.
Don’t forget that this week you have the chance to join millions who are praying this Global Day of Prayer, Pentecost Sunday, May 24. As you consider how to pray, may I again commend to you the resource World in Prayer? I noticed that they often give praises for “good news” as well as lift up the “bad news” before God. The May 8 edition of World News This Week in Prayer is a great example.
Also this week, Christian Solidarity Worldwide has asked for prayer for China. Watch this two-minute video and access more resources.
William Carey famously said, “To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.” Wouldn’t he love to see the maps we have now? Here are some I bet he would have used (all from Flowing Data):
- Map of Most Common Race (US counties)
- Disaster Risk Indices Estimate Impact on People
- Self Printing a Wall-Sized World Map
A recent Lausanne Global Analysis challenges our ideas about data:
“What is happening in mission statistics is wonderful for prayer and for mobilization. By and large, what is missing are actionable data. To obtain data that informs on-the-ground ministry, another step is needed,” says the report, adding that for national churches and mission organizations to use data in developing and implementing their strategies, the information needs to be reliable, recent, detailed, and reportable.
“The way to do this is to change from gathering statistics for missionaries to gathering data for a nation: national church statistics. An outsider perspective has to be changed to an insider perspective. That is the major challenge facing missionary statistics today.”
I hope you’ll read the whole article. Meanwhile, some insider perspectives; today’s newsbriefs highlight stories of laborers for the kingdom whom God is raising up from all over: a Haitian missionary, Hispanic mobilizer, Iranian evangelist, Nepali intercessor, and an Assyrian advocate. Thanks for standing with them in prayer.
Blessings,
Pat