November 2017 Operation Christmas Child Prayer and Praises

November 13-20, 2017

Mid-South Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Praise God for the many successful Speaker Tour and promotional events which have taken place throughout the states of Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
2. Thanksgiving to God for the solidifying of a logistics network 327 strong, and for the equipping and training which collection network team leader volunteers have received.
3. Requesting the Lord to call a greater number of leader volunteers for the purpose of ministry multiplication and effectiveness.
4. Effective training for all our Drop-Off Team Leaders, that attendance will be high and that the cause will be well communicated.
5. Praying to God for the ultimate “win” of 850,000 “Gospel Opportunities” to be collected from the Mid-South Region this National Collection Week.

OCC NORTHEAST ARKANSAS Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Let us all praise God, believing in advance, that He will provide 11,550 Shoebox Gospel Opportunities from the 7 counties in Northeast Arkansas.
2. Pray that He will do abundantly more than we can ever imagine to touch needy children around the world this season and that hearts are already being prepared with people packing shoeboxes, customs agents in receiving counties, in the TGJ teachers being called up to be trained this season, and all the precious children that will receive these gifts.
3. Pray God will provide us a Drop-off Location in Clay County in 2018.
4. Pray God will rise up volunteer leaders as coordinators of our OCC NEA team in 2018 and new team members for OCC NEA.

Baltics, Balkins & Central Europe: International Prayer Requests each country faces:

• Wisdom to recruit, select, lead, and develop new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.
• Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

Country Highlight - Slovakia

There is a woman with two children who has been visiting a small group at church for almost two years. Her husband was never interested in joining us. Just before the shoebox distribution, they realized that they needed new boots for their daughter. When their daughter opened her shoebox gift, she found a beautiful pair of boots that were exactly the size she needed. The father was shocked. He assumed that his wife had told them about their need and that they had added them to the box. When he learned no one had added anything, he was touched to find out that God is omniscient and takes care of us in very specific ways.

WEEK 1: November 1-7: Germany & Austria

1. Praise God for five Connect conferences in the first half of the year where participants were able to hear and see more of the impact the project is making in children’s lives.
2. Praise God for more and more Processing Site Leaders to accept the change to Central Processing after many months of casting the vision for volunteers to see and understand the need for change.
3. Praise God for the great team of volunteers and staff of the Germany speaking world who are eager to reach as many children as possible with the love of God.
4. Pray for all planning and preparations for our first Central Processing Center where we hope to process between 80,000-100,000 shoeboxes.
5. Pray for all volunteers to be refreshed before another busy season.

WEEK 2: November 8-14: Poland

1. Praise God for the first 1,000 children reported to graduate from TGJ and for the TGJ teachers.
2. Praise God for new places with opened doors for the Gospel in our country.
3. Praise God for the celebration events in our country with testimonies of God in action and His love.
4. Pray for 240 Ministry partners to apply for Operation Christmas Child and TGJ during the new season.

WEEK 3: November 15-21: Romania

OCC Romania

1. Praise God for a newly started Senior Regional Leadership Team in Central Transylvania.
2. Praise God for thousands of children who completed TGJ and for their teachers.
3. Pray for the change of National Discipleship Coordinator and strength and wisdom for her to take responsibility over a very big project.
4. Pray for the further development of the newly started NGO for OCC.

WEEK 4: November 22-31: Slovakia

1. Praise God for all kids that completed TGJ.
2. Praise God for all Ministry Partners and TGJ teachers who were able to invite more kids than usual.
3. Pray for the new season in Slovakia. We need more children and teachers for TGJ.
4. Pray that God will call more volunteers from MPs to the new regional teams that we want to create.
5. Pray for unity in all our teams. Pray for finding suitable storage for the new season.

November Devotion: Lay Hold of What is Yours

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…” Ephesians 1:3

Our new identity in Christ is the focus of the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians. In these chapters, the Apostle Paul describes in exciting detail all of the amazing power, privileges and promises that are now ours as born-again believers in Jesus. In fact, God’s provision for His children is so thorough that Paul tells us that “God…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” That means that everything we will ever need, God has already provided in Christ and it already has our name on it! Bible commentator Dr. John MacArthur states it this way, “God’s superabundant blessings belong to his children, by faith in Christ, so that what he has is theirs—including his righteousness, resources, privilege, position, and power.”

This passage tells us that these resources and blessings that belong to us are located in “heavenly places” meaning the spiritual realm where the throne of God exists. We access and lay hold of these resources and blessings through prayer. Prayer brings God glory because it shows that we believe He is good, generous and the giver of all good gifts. Prayer also grows us in dependence on God for everything we need. We must remember that one of the great weaknesses of God’s people throughout the Bible was a sinful desire to be independent of God; but, prayer increases our dependence on our generous Heavenly Father. Repeatedly coming to God in prayer to lay hold of the resources and blessings we need also teaches us the joy of abiding in His presence. We were created to enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with God. Time spent in prayer grows our joy in abiding in His presence. Through prayer God gets the glory and we get the good resources and blessings we need day to day.

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Operation Christmas Child October 2017 Prayer & Praise

NEA Area Team Praises and Prayer Requests:

• We are partnering with Chick-fil-A for the first time in Jonesboro October 17th and 24th from 3-6pm 
• Our team is growing – we have had several people interested in year-round volunteering with OCC! PRAY for TEAM COORDINATORS! 
• Pray for us to have new church partners so that we may find a new drop-off for Clay Country next season (2018). 
• Pray for our NEA Goal of 11,500 Gospel Opportunities!!!! 
• Pray for our upcoming WHOLE NEA TEAM MEETING, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29TH..

Mid-South Praises and Prayer Requests: 

• Thankful to God for the productive and inspirational Speaker Tour Events which have already taken place throughout the states of Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 
• Praise the Lord for the establishment of a strong collection network for the 2017 collection season. 
• Thank God for the selection of new Area Coordinator Jennifer Barnett to lead the Northeast Arkansas Area Team. 
• For the upcoming Regional Speaker Tours in Kentucky and Tennessee between the 5th and 16th of October. 
• The Mid-South goal of 850,000 Gospel Opportunities. 
• For peace and a time of spiritual refreshing for our volunteers amidst the busyness of the season. 
• For leader volunteers to answer God's Call in developing areas.

South America
International Prayer Requests

General Prayer Requests each country faces:

·            Wisdom to recruit, select, lead, and develop new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.

·            Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

WEEK 1: October 1-7

Argentina

·            Pray for God to open a door with customs and government officials so that we can once again import containers into Argentina.

·            Pray for the children and families who will be reached this season through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child.

·            Praise God that even through difficult situations and setbacks, the ministry of Operation Christmas Child has continued, for His glory.

·           

WEEK 2: October 8-14

We praise God for the opportunity to meet with government officials regarding opening up customs.

Peru

·            Pray for the regional teams that are serving in the Native Communities, that they can complete The Greatest Journey with these children.

·            Pray for wisdom, grace, and strategy for the National Leadership Team as they look ahead at the work the Lord has placed in their hands.

·            Pray for the new volunteer coordinators in each different region that are joining the Operation Christmas Child family. Pray for strength, teamwork, and a lot of love.

·           

WEEK 3: October 15-21

Praise God because he has allowed us to recruit two new Regional Leadership Teams in Peru, one in Ica, and another in Arequipa.

Uruguay

·            Pray for the Lord to strengthen, guard, and train each volunteer who serves in this ministry.

·            Pray for the spiritual growth of the new children and families that are fruit of this season of ministry.

·            Pray that we can take this ministry to the areas of difficult access.

·            Praise God for each volunteer who serves in this ministry, for their love and gift of service to the Lord.

·            Praise God for his faithfulness and provision, and for the entrusted task.

·           

WEEK 4: October 22-31

Praise God for each child and family that received the gospel through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child this season.

Paraguay

·            Pray for the commitment of the churches and for unity among them each time we gather.

·            Praise God for the season that we had with outreach events, because God provided the resources needed to take the shoebox gifts to secondary delivery sites (hard-to-reach locations). Also, praise him for forming strong prayer teams.

·            Praise God for the schools that were reached in the department of Paraguarí. These schools also completed The Greatest Journey.

·            Praise God for the Vision Casting presentation to the ministry of Association of Evangelical Pastors of Paraguay. It was received well and the pastors and leaders committed to share the vision and missions of Operation Christmas Child to their churches.

Getting Real with David in Prayer

The Holy Spirit has included over two-hundred separate prayers in the Bible.  These prayers are from many different people in many different situations of life and death.  It’s not surprising that the prolific psalmist David has the most prayers recorded in the Scriptures at more than seventy-five. As we read through David’s many prayers, one pattern we notice is that he had no problem getting real with God!  David believed that God knew him thoroughly and that God discerned all of his thoughts and that greatly affected the way he prayed.

David’s prayers are very real and raw as he spills out his heart before the Lord.  Listen to how David describes pouring out his soul to God, “With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell my trouble before Him.” Psalm 142:1-2.  We can feel everything inside of David come rushing out in wave upon wave of emotion, grief, questions, and pleading before the throne of God.  There doesn’t seem to be much filtering or hesitation here but instead the freedom to be transparent with the Lord.  Let’s also notice that even though David is real and raw in his prayers, he never crosses over into flippancy or blasphemy.  Though he asks lots of questions of God he never questions God’s character, and we shouldn’t either.

As we are growing as disciples of Jesus and we are learning more and more about prayer from the Word and Spirit, at times there can be the tendency to slip into “paralysis by analysis” in our daily prayer lives.  We want to make sure we say everything right and in the right order and prayer becomes much more a stiff, religious duty than the delight and freedom of a relationship.  Really good friends can spill their hearts out to one another without worrying about a filter.  This is exactly how our Heavenly Father is inviting and exhorting us to communicate with Him, real and raw.  Remember, He knows us thoroughly and He has called us His friends!

Country Highlight

Paraguay

There was a 12 year old girl who had little resources and didn’t have a father. She lived with her grandparents and her working mother. She told us that she was studying to become a manicurist but that she couldn’t buy the accessories and the nail polish she needed. When she opened her box, she was so excited that she even shed tears because the box had everything she needed. We saw the power of God!

August Operation Christmas Child Prayer Requests

Southern Africa: International Prayer Requests / General Prayer Requests each country faces:

• Wisdom to recruit, select, lead, and develop new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.  
• Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

NEA Prayer Requests:

1. Pray God leads us to the perfect Central Drop-Off location this month! 
2. Pray for all the teachers, students, parents and school employees that are starting back to school this month. 
3. Pray for our area team by name, as we all have everyday battles. Our Northeast Arkansas Area Team is has 20 team members: Regional Manager: Vicki Pepper, Prayer Mobilization: Jennifer Barnett, Linda Smith, Leiandrea Higgins, Genia Rutherford, and Lisa Jowers. Church Relations: Amber Andrews, Michelle Dement and Shearlene Durham. Community Relations: Hilary Morgan, Judy Cole, Tiffany Lindner and Tysha Wilkinson. Drop-off/Logistics: Carol Queen, Carolyn Scott, Cynthia Sullivan, Hannah Estes, Rebekah Overman, Shellie Gibson and Kevin Barnett. 
4. Pray for Project Leaders kicking off shoebox collections for this season! 
5. Pray for our NEA goal of 11,550 Shoebox Gospel Opportunities!

WEEK 1 - AUGUST 1-7:
Angola
● Praise God for helping the team fulfill their strategic plan for 2017.
● Pray for the National Leadership Team and volunteer Regional Leadership Team members- that they will continue to serve with integrity and will remain committed to God and OCC.

Lesotho
● Praise God the distributions are going well and that many children are hearing the Gospel through OCC.
● Pray for the upcoming strategic planning meetings in June. Pray for the Lord’s wisdom and direction for OCC.

WEEK 2: AUGUST 8-14:
Malawi
● Praise God for the smooth logistics process as the gift boxes arrived and the Gospel is being proclaimed to the children at Outreach Events.
● Pray for effective outreach events and that more children will enroll in TGJ. Pray the TGJ teachers will be committed and the children will complete all the lessons this season.

Zimbabwe
● Praise God the containers have cleared customs and are now on their way to the distribution locations.
● Pray for team building and growth for the leadership teams, Ministry Partners, and TGJ teachers. Pray everyone involved with OCC will fully understand their role in order to make a greater Kingdom impact.

WEEK 3: AUGUST 15-21:
Botswana
● Praise God for an amazing time together at Global Connect and for the safe return of the team members.
● Pray for the National Leadership Team as they prepare for the national Connect conference and launch TGJ 2.0 with the other teams.

Zambia
● Praise God the National Leadership Team members received their visas to attend Global Connect.
● Pray for the upcoming vision trip as the team will be hosting visitors from the UK.

WEEK 4: AUGUST 22-31
South Africa
● Praise God for the gathering of many nations, tribes, and tongues at Global Connect. Praise Him the team was equipped, refreshed, and encouraged.
● Pray for the teams as they are in the midst of distributing shoeboxes. Pray many children will come to know Jesus and attend TGJ.

Swaziland
● Praise God for unity among the teams.
● Pray for this year's strategic planning meetings and the results would glorify God by expanding his kingdom in Swaziland.

July 2017 Operation Christmas Child Prayer Requests

Mid-South Prayer Focus July Praises:

• Praise God for the successful relocation of the Mid-South Regional Office from Nashville to Murfreesboro, TN
• Regional Director Todd Edwards is thankful to God for the uneventful move of his family from Ohio to Tennessee
• Thank God for the efficacious support provided by staff to volunteers and volunteers to ministry partners

Mid-South Prayer Requests:

• Hasty Martin as she prepares to step down from her role as Regional Manager for Kentucky
• New Regional Manager for Kentucky
• Upcoming Project Leader Workshops in our region
• Health for our volunteers, for healing, wisdom for doctors treating them and for family members
• Our Mid-South goal of 850,000 shoebox gifts
• New Drop off locations

NEA Prayer Requests:

• New Central Drop off Leader
• New Area Coordinator
• Pray for each other on our area team as we all have such busy summers
• NEA Shoebox Goal for 2017 – 11,550 Gospel Opportunities!!!

East Asia - International Prayer Requests General Prayer Requests each country faces:

• Wisdom to recruit, select, lead, and develop new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.
• Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

Week one of July please pray for Indonesia and Malaysia.  
Indonesia's Requests:

• Praise God for the successful appeal for tax exemption for all 16 sea containers filled with over 125,000shoebox gifts.
• Pray the seed sown into the hearts of the children who heard the Gospel at the outreach events will produce much fruit.
• Pray the oppression Christians are facing in more sensitive areas will not affect the ministry of Operation Christmas Child in the future.

Malaysia's Requests:

• Praise God for His faithfulness in providing free storage and logistic support for the ministry partners in east Malaysia.
• Pray God will send more ministry partners who will be good stewards of the shoebox gifts, capable of effectively sharing the Gospel, and faithful in discipling a new generation.
• Pray for the family of the Church Mobilization Coordinator who recently passed away. Pray for comfort and peace for his wife, their children, and their extended family. 

July 8-14th pray for Myanmar: 
Myanmar's Requests:

• Praise God for the opportunity for the entire volunteer National Leadership Team to participate in the Global Connect Conference in Orlando, FL.
• Pray for the new areas where God is going to allow the formation of new volunteer regional leadership teams. 

July 15-21st pray for the Philippines:
Philippines's Prayer Requests:

• Praise God for the 8,000 ministry partners who participated in outré ach events this season.
• Pray every position on the volunteer leadership team will be filled; pray more teams will be formed to reach the far-flung areas of the Philippines.

  

  Philippines OCC Shoebox Recipient

July 22-31 Pray for Thailand:
Thailand's Requests:

• Praise God for the new direction of Operation Christmas Child Thailand and its transition to Operation Christmas Child’s International Headquarters’ East Asia leadership team.
• Pray for the development of new volunteer teams who will be mobilizing prayer and reaching out to ministry partners who will be faithful in sharing the Gospel with the children. 

  

  OCC Thailand

  

  OCC Thailand

Pray with Operation Christmas Child - March 2017 week 4

What a privilege we have to be able to call out to the Almighty God in prayer, to speak to Him and He hear us and answer us! We can call out to Him and He listens...we should not take this lightly. We should not underestimate the power of prayer.  James 5:16-18 declares, "…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." God most definitely listens to prayers, answers prayers, and moves in response to prayers. With that in mind, do we pray as often and sincerely as we should? Do we pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)?  Jesus taught, "…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you". (Matthew 17:20). The Bible urges us, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18). Will you join me in praying for the Operation Christmas Child ministry with bold faith, believing God is going to move mountains with this ministry?  The specific request for the last week of March are listed below. Thank you for being a prayer warrior for this ministry!

NEA REQUESTS: 

1. Pray as we seek the Lord’s direction for the next Area Coordinator for our team. 
2. Pray for a new Collection Center Coordinator (central drop off leader) and Collection Center (Central Drop-Off Location). Pray for God to reveal who and where this needs to be in NEA.
3. Pray for Vicki Pepper (our Mid-South Regional Manager) as she helps NEA and travels to fills in the voids where teams are missing leadership. 
4. Pray for our 2017 Shoebox Gospel Opportunity Goal for the 7 counties of NEA that will be announced soon!!! 

Mid-South Requests: 

1. The Lord to raise up key leaders for multiple developing teams. 
2. A smooth upcoming re-commitment process for year-round Connect Volunteers. 
3. Provision for volunteers who will be attending the Global Connect Conference in April. International Prayer Requests that each country faces: 
4. Wisdom to recruit, select and lead new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members. 
5. Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

Middle East and North Africa:

1. Pray for the upcoming training events and the new season. \
2. ray for wisdom as new teams are growing in their knowledge and the love of OCC ministry.
3. Pray God will open doors to enter into unreached areas. 
4. Pray for the political stability in the country. 

Middle East and North Africa:

1. Pray that the Ministry of Religious Affairs will approve the importation of the containers. 
2. Pray for adequate storage of the shoeboxes and ministry materials for this season. 
3. Pray for wisdom and a successful season for the team.

Russia, Europe and Central Asia:

1. Pray for the importation process as it is becoming more complicated every season. 
2. Pray the team finds a way to import the boxes, in spite of the new restrictions, so that children will be able to receive the gifts.

South Asia:

1. Pray for security for the volunteer team following a very tumultuous year, which Christians were targeted by terrorist groups. Pray for God’s protection over all believers in the country. 
2.  Pray for favor and a smooth process as the team seeks to obtain the 2017 tax exemption from the Muslim majority government. 
3. Pray God will provide the right person to serve as National Coordinator.

Pray with Operation Christmas Child, March 15-21, 2017

NEA REQUESTS:

• Pray as we seek the Lord’s direction for the next Area Coordinator for our team. 
• Pray for a new Collection Center Coordinator 0(central drop off leader) and Collection Center (Central Drop-Off Location). Pray for God to reveal who and where this need to be in NEA very soon. 
• Pray for Vicki Pepper (our Mid-South Regional Manager) as she helps NEA and travels to fills in the voids where teams are missing leadership all over the mid-south.
• Pray for our 2017 Shoebox Gospel Opportunity Goal for the 7 counties of NEA that will be released soon!!!

Mid-South Requests:

• The Lord to raise up key leaders for multiple developing teams. 
• A smooth upcoming re-commitment process for year-round Connect Volunteers. 
• Provision for volunteers who will be attending the Global Connect Conference in April.

International Prayer Requests that each country faces:

• Wisdom to recruit, select and lead new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members. 
• Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

We are continuing to pray for the Middle East, Africa, Russia, Europe, Central Asia and South Asia this week. Specifically, the following are prayer requests from each country:

Middle East and North Africa

1. Pray God will appoint a Prayer Mobilization Coordinator for the volunteer regional leadership team in the north. 
2. Pray the team will be able to obtain tax exemption for this season. 
3. Pray God will give OCC a way to import into the country after last year’s attack from the secret police.

Russia, Europe and Central Asia

1. Pray for the recruitment and selection of a new volunteer National Leadership Team Prayer Mobilization Coordinator. 
2. Pray for The Greatest Journey discipleship program trainings. 
3. Pray for the new house churches that will start after the distributions and The Greatest Journey discipleship program classes this season.

South Asia

1. Pray for God’s immense favor in selecting quality, spiritually oriented Ministry Partners for the 2017-2018 season. Pray for the vision casting meetings the volunteer team will be holding for potential Ministry Partners next month. 
2. Pray for the training sessions. Pray that the vision of OCC will be conveyed clearly and understood by the Ministry Partners and The Greatest Journey discipleship program teachers.

Pray with Operation Christmas Child March 8-14th

March 2017 Week 2 Pray with OCC March 8-14th we are praying for the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, Europe, Central Asia (RECA), and South Asia.

• Praise God for the 38 countries that have received shoeboxes and volunteer teams who are now working diligently through Outreach Events to share the Good News with over 5.7 million children.  
• Pray for the children who are just beginning to hear more about Jesus through The Greatest Journey after receiving their shoebox.  
• Pray for the over 2 million shoeboxes still en route on ships to children in 20 countries.  
• Pray for tax exemption of shoeboxes in 15 countries.  
• Praise for customs clearance of sea containers filled with shoebox Gospel Opportunities in 18 countries.

NEA Requests: 

• Pray as we seek the Lord’s direction for the next Area Coordinator for our team. 
• Pray for a new Collection Center Coordinator (central drop off leader) - hopefully within First Free Will Baptist Church in Jonesboro so we can keep the same Collection Center (Central Drop-Off Location).

Mid-South Requests: 

• The Lord to raise up key leaders for multiple developing teams. 
• A smooth upcoming re-commitment process for year-round Connect Volunteers. 
• Provision for volunteers who will be attending the Global Connect Conference in April. 

International Prayer Requests that each country faces:

• Wisdom to recruit, select and lead new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members. 
• Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

Middle East and North Africa:

1. Pray for the tax exemption process that, in the coming months, children in our country would have an opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel. 
2. Pray for the Ministry Partners who were trained and are excited to receive gift boxes for the first time. 
3. Pray for the children and the partners who will be ministering to them this season. 

Russia, Europe and Central Asia

1. Pray the Ministry Partners will be able to reach children with the OCC gifts and Good News in remote areas.  
2. Pray God will give grace to believers in the eyes of the government officials so that the latter will not create problems for the volunteer National Leadership Teams and Ministry Partners. 

South Asia

1. Pray for the provision of good partners in areas that are greatly affected by insurgent groups. Pray for wisdom, guidance, and protection as the teams seek these new Ministry Partners. 
2. Pray for God’s mercy and favor as the team searches for the right candidate to support the ministry in an area inhabited by an unreached people group.