The Journeyman Project: Blog » prayer

Keeping Disaster’s Victims in Prayer

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:03:52 +0000

Disaster's Victims continue to be great, especially as tornado season comes around for the Midwest United States. Please keep the hurting in your prayers, both for their physical needs and for the opportunity the church has to share the gospel during this time of great openness. Below is a list of events and people's to pray for. I'll try to update and expand it every month or so.

Haiti's poverty will probably cause it to be hurting long after Japan. Read more...

Japan remains in great turmoil as the nuclear reactor remains a problem and aftershocks continue to cause the people to reimagine the terror that has past. Read more...

Texas wildfires are burning homes and endangering the lives of people across our massive state. Pray for safety and for those who have lost all they own. Read more...

Every day the citizens of Israel hear the rocket sirens and hide from the terror of incoming dangers like suicide bombers. Pray that the Gaza strip will one day establish a true cease-fire that will allow these citizens to live in a larger degree of security.

The Middle East remains in turmoil with political upheaval, reaction against the American pastor's burning of the Koran, and various other controversies. Pray for courage that believers can continue to proclaim the gospel under the threat of death.

For those of you who are not aware, I am working with Victim Relief Ministries to respond to and comfort people who are enduring these hard times. We minister to crime victims in the city of Dallas every day, and work abroad whenever we can, acting as the Good Samaritan did. To learn more about Victim Relief, go to www.victimrelief.org

To consider training this weekend as a Victim Chaplain, register at www.victimchaplain.org

Update on Sudan–Keep Praying

admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:14:25 +0000

After a peaceful week of voting, the standards have been met and it appears that Sudan will split into two countries—the southern half will have the right to govern itself. This means increased freedom for our Christian brothers and sisters, who are under strict Muslim law created by the north at the present time. It also means a more equal distribution of wealth.

Unfortunately a peaceful vote does not guarantee a peaceful future for the two countries. While things will look up for the south section of Sudan, the north is not happy about the outcome of the vote, and may likely threaten violence in the future. A key border city between the two countries—rich in oil resources—has yet to vote on which country it will choose to be a part of. Mass migration of people from north to south or south to north will place a strain on the infrastructure and resources that provide food, shelter, jobs, and stability. A stable government must form in the south to lead the country through this transition, and substantial changes will likely occur in the north as well—which is already threatening rebellion against its current leaders due to their frustration with the governments inefficiencies.

If you want a full picture of the situation in this country, I suggest two articles to read:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110107/cm_csm/354830_1

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2042218,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Thoughts from my World Missions class…

admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:53:20 +0000

The Missional God:
There is a strong case to be made for the viewpoint that God's work in history...through Noah, Abraham, Israel, and the prophets has always been to make people a light to all people for his redeeming purpose. From that perspective, Israel failed in their understanding of that task and recognition of the Messiah, and the task was therefore given to the Gentile nations in the church. If this is an accurate viewpoint, then it begs the question...what will God do when the church gets complacent about being a messenger to the unreached??? Will our complacency usher in the "end times"?

The "true" task of missions:We have commonly defined missions in the past as the task of reaching people in other nations with the message of Christ and establishing churches. Currently there is a movement toward a "missional" church, which sees the people around it as their mission field. While these emphases rightly frame the local and universal need for evangelism, the true missional task that we are given in the New Testament appears to be the exclusive work of taking the gospel to groups of people who have never heard it before. As Paul proclaimed, the task of missions is fullfilled in the act of making disciples among a people where there are no disciples. By this definition, are we doing missions effectively? Where is the call to reach the unreached in our churches today???

The Reality of Persecution and the Purpose of Prayer:
How many people pray for the work of reaching the unreached today? For the peace of nations, the protection of believers, and the establishment of underground churches? How many prayers go out for the salvation of the Islamic peoples? How many are aware that over 200,000 Christians die for their faith each year?

These are all thoughts which compel me to see changes in my own life...I hope they challenge you as well.