31 Days of Prayer for Operation Christmas Child - Day 3

Today, pray for the hiring process of approximately 1,000 associate staff who will serve in the Processing Centers.  Millions of lives will be touched by shoebox gifts collected this year!  Each precious Gospel Opportunity is carefully inspected and prepared for overseas shipments at our processing centers.  Our processing centers are in Boone, Charlotte, Baltimore/Washington, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Minneapolis, and Southern California.  

31 Days of Prayer for Operation Christmas Child - Day 2

Today pray for the success of Operation Christmas Child volunteers in their efforts to develop church, community, prayer, and media partnerships.  If you would like to volunteer for a time slot to be scheduled to pray with people as they drop off their shoeboxes during National Collection Week for an hour or two, I am working on a schedule so please let me know asap.  As millions of souls of children and their families are at stake, we know and have seen firsthand how the enemy tries to impede the plans for shoeboxes to reach their final destination.  From now until the end of National Collection Week, we ask that you join in and mobilize prayer along with all of our other prayer network partners, team members, and leaders and strategically cover our volunteers, drop-off locations, and logistics network.  Ask your church to pray for OCC.  

To volunteer with Operation Christmas Child click on the link at the top of my blog or the link below...  www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/volunteer-with-occ

31 Days of Prayer for Operation Christmas Child - Day 1

Today will you be an Operation Christmas Child Prayer Warrior? Pray for God to work in the hearts of the millions of children who will be receiving shoebox gifts this season, and for the millions who will continue in The Greatest Journey discipleship program.  Jesus told his followers to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19).  We praise God for how he is working through TGJ to make disciples in over 100 countries!  Millions of children have already made decisions to follow Christ, have their own New Testaments to read in their own language, and know how to share the Gospel with their friends and family.  TGJ is in 66 languages so far, and Samaritan's Purse has trained over 250,000 volunteers to teach these precious lessons.  We hope to enroll 3.5 million children in the 12 lesson The Greatest Journey Discipleship program in  2016!!!!  TWO children EVERY MINUTE around the WORLD are ACCEPT JESUS as their SAVIOR through The Greatest Journey!  Pray and Praise Jesus today!!! 

30 Days of Prayer and Fasting Continues for FWB Missionaries

Today is day 13 of prayer and fasting for Free Will Baptist Missionaries and everyday the email updates have been very touching, but I wanted to share yesterday's prayer...

THEME III: PRAYING FOR GOD TO CALL MORE LABORERS

DAY 12: Responding to the Call 

When God has a task to do, He reaches down, taps one of His people on the shoulder, and asks, “How about you?” Throughout the ages, men and women of God have responded affirmatively to His calling.
Some people find themselves just a few miles from their birthplace, planting new churches; others are directed thousands of miles away, across the ocean, into areas that are often extremely resistant, sometimes violently so, to the spread of the gospel.
The common denominator in these directives is not the geographical or cultural context, but the Light being taken to those living in darkness.
A pastor visited us in Africa. After several days with the missionaries, he made this observation: “It takes a preacher to understand a preacher, and a teacher to understand a teacher, but I don’t know who can understand a missionary.”
I think maybe he was seeing something intriguingly unique about those who leave all, to give all. Our Free Will Baptist missionaries, both home and international, responded in the affirmative when God tapped them on the shoulder. They were willing to leave all, to give all. Each one needs your prayers on a daily basis.
Do you have a set of missionary prayer cards? Cards are a good way to look at a face as you pray for a missionary. You can also go online and see the different missionaries serving in North America (www.fwbnam.com) and around the world (www.fwbgo.com). Why don’t you set aside time to pray for our Free Will Baptist missionaries wherever they are serving?
Pray for commitment to fulfill His will as He leads. Pray those who have committed to missions work, both home and abroad, will continue faithfully shining the light of Christ.

Dominica and the Dominican Republic & OCC Prayer

This week will you pray with us for Dominica and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea?

Dominica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea. Its population is just over 72,000. It is a hurricane-prone, rugged, mountainous island. It has 3 languages. 16% of the population is Evangelical Christians, while 91% claims Christianity as their religion. Most are only nominally (by name only) Christian, but only a small number actively follow Christ. Pray these socially deprived people, especially the Carbi Indians, that live on an isolated reservation will find their true identity and fulfillment in Christ. They are among the last indigenous peoples in the Caribbean. Specifically, pray for Dominica as the team builds a strategy for their second year.

The Dominican Republic shares the eastern two-thirds an island with Haiti. It has 18 different people groups and only 9% are Evangelical Christians. A challenge has been retention of those converted and getting them active in a local church. Pray for retention and pray for Biblical ethics--in this society corruption, violent crime, and promiscuity are alarmingly widespread. Praise God that the number of Dominican missionaries are growing! Pray for the Dominican Republic teams as they rise to the challenge of reaching rural areas. Pray for them as they will be stretched physically, emotionally and financially as the work to reach places previously unreached with Operation Christmas Child.

OCC General Requests:

1. As we countdown to National Collection Week, we are praying and asking God to provide 10,200 Gospel Opportunities from NEA, 737,500 shoeboxes from the Mid-South Region (TN, AR, & KY), 8.6 million from the U.S., and 11 million worldwide.
2. As millions of souls of children and their families are at stake, we know and have seen firsthand how the enemy tries to impede the plans for shoeboxes to reach their final destination. From now until the end of National Collection Week, we ask that you join in and mobilize prayer for all our volunteers, drop-off locations, and logistics network. 

You can impact whole villages and communities by praying for children in over 150 countries and regions across the globe who are waiting to receive a shoebox gift.

"Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14

Barbados, Belize, and OCC Prayer, Will you be the one?

This week will you join us in praying for Barbados and Belize? They are in the Caribbean Sea. Barbados has 10 different people groups and 20% are unreached. 34% of the population is Evangelical Christian! Belize is a Caribbean coastal enclave bordering Guatemala and Mexico. It has the world’s second-largest coral barrier reef. It has 14 different people groups and 7% are unreached. 19% are Evangelical Christians. HIV/AIDS is a serious threat to Belize with its 2.4% (and rising) infection rate, it is the highest in Central America. Pray for Barbados and Belize this week.

Specific requests are:
Barbados:

1. Pray for favor from the government for a successful exoneration for next year’s distribution season.

Belize:
1. Pray for God’s covering and blessing on those involved with the project.
2. Pray that leaders around the world will lead with integrity, humility, justice, and mercy.

General International Prayer Requests:

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

2. Provision of resources to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

OCC Mid-South Regional Prayer Request:
1. Pray for OCC events that are happening around our region.
2. Pray for good health and protection for all OCC volunteers and staff.
3. Continue to pray for all Collection and Relay Center Coordinators as they prepare for National Collection Week.
4. Pray for the Mid-South Goal of 737,500 Gospel Opportunities.
5. Please pray for the refugee crisis that is happening and for Samaritan’s Purse as we respond.

NEA OCC Requests:
1. Our 10,200 Gospel Opportunity Goal for this season!
2. For patience and wisdom during this collection season so that others may see Christ through our actions as we serve as year-around volunteers.
3. For us to be rooted and strengthened as we roll into collection season!

Did you know, in today’s world…
· 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation?
· 1.8 billion are undernourished?
· 1.5 billion have no access to medical care?
· 1.4 billion live on less than $1.85 a day?

From a spiritual perspective, did you know…
· 2.6 billion people do not have religious freedom?
· Of the 6,468 languages spoken in the world today, 4,024 do not have a complete Bible translation?
· 22 countries absolutely forbid preaching the gospel?

Billions upon billions of people have little to no access to the saving gospel of Christ. Billions of men and women live in spiritual darkness without hope of light. Billions of boys and girls have never heard “Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

Pray against the oppression and suppression of the gospel around the world. Ask God to help us see the lost with His eyes and feel an immense burden to share Truth with them.

Pray I will be the Light to this dark world as we pack and ship Gospel Opportunities around the world! Will you also be the one?

Al Denson sings:

"Oh sometimes it's hard to know, Who is right and what is wrong, And where are you supposed to stand, When the battle lines are drawn? There's a voice that is calling out,
For someone who's not afraid, To be a beacon in the night. To a world that's lost it's way.
There are still some battles, That I must fight from day to day, Yet the Lord provides the power, For me to stand and say, I will be the one, To answer to His call, I will stand,
When those around me fall, I will be the one, To take His light into a darkened world.
I will be the one!"

Will you be the one to answer to His call? 

Will you pray and be love on the move for Him today? 

Will you encourage someone to pack a shoebox today?

What does God desire from us?

These are not my own thoughts or words but they great not only for Free Will Baptist International Missions to consider but also for us in our daily lives...

"DAY 1: WHAT DOES GOD DESIRE FROM US? We sense we are on task at IM. Trust is up and we have great hope for the future. However, we also sense God has much more in store for Free Will Baptists than we are seeing at this time. We do not want to miss His greatest blessings by satisfying ourselves with His blessings. If we are going to know God’s best for us we must come before Him as His people and ask with specificity what He desires of us. If we are to know precisely what He wants us to know, several things must happen: We must humble ourselves before Him. We must ask Him to give us clear direction. We must discern what He desires of us. We must be committed to obeying His commands. We must obey. We must give Him the glory. With these thoughts in mind I would like to ask you to commit to 30 Days of Prayer and Fasting for the future of International Missions. I do not think for one second that Free Will Baptists or International Missions are dying. We have a task to do, and it remains before us until His return. Pray we will clearly know what God desires from us during this 30 days." I hope and pray I will always listen and obey the direction God has for the path of my life. I pray that I will clearly know what God desires of me and what His direction is for International Missions. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11