LMCO Day 2: Muslims of Russia

When most people think of Russia, they may conjure up images of Romanov royalty, a parade of dictators like Stalin and Lenin or Brezhnev, or maybe cultural icons such as Mikhail Baryshnikov or Dostoyevsky. They don’t think of Muslims.

But Islam is part of the fabric of old Russia—it made it there 66 years before Christianity did. As a result, Muslim groups are indigenous to the North Caucasus region, an area between the Black and Caspian Seas situated on northern slopes of the mountain range that generally separates Europe from Asia. These people groups include 45 to 50 subsets of people and even more languages, making them very difficult to reach.

God says, ‘If you can’t go to them, I’ll bring them to you. 

However many of them are moving into Moscow, Russia’s capital, which now has more Muslims than any other European city. Its newly reopened Grand Mosque can hold 10,000 worshippers.

“God says, ‘If you can’t go to them, I’ll bring them to you,'” said Elizabeth*, a Christian worker among Muslims in Moscow. “There’s no better time to be in the former Soviet Union. God is moving Muslims right under our noses.”

• PRAY for God to continue to draw Muslims in Russia to faith in Christ.
• PRAY for Christians to develop friendships with Muslims so that they can have the opportunity to share the gospel with them.

*Name changed

Week of Prayer: Day 8

Layla Murphy

Layla Murphy didn’t set out to be a teacher in Southeast Asia. But spiritual hunger for God’s word among the people to whom God called her has shaped her ministry and fine-tuned her focus.  Read more & watch video

• PRAY God will continue to bring students who want to grow in their knowledge and love of Christ and that they will also be willing to share their faith with their countrymen.
• PRAY for immigrant factory workers, who have come to earn money to send back to families in their homeland, that while they’re “strangers in a strange land” they would gain spiritual freedom by becoming followers of Jesus.

Week of Prayer: Day 7

Bethany Amber

When Bethany Amber’s parents felt God’s call as missionaries to South Africa, their high school daughter wasn’t just along for the ride. See how she touches the lives of South African children in her own unique way.  Read more & watch video

• PRAY for Bethany as she finishes her high school education. Her switch from South African schools to the American educational system requires her to squeeze two years’ work into a year and a half to prepare for college in the United States.
• PRAY for her South African friends from the school she’s left, that their relationships would continue and she can continue to be Christ’s light in their lives.

Week of Prayer: Day 6

Cregg Family

Darkness often reigns in megacity life. One missionary family in South Asia, however, has cause for hope for individuals in the city of 22 million where they live. Read more & watch video

• PRAY for women in the red-light areas of the city, that Christians can impact their lives and help them find a way out.
• PRAY for Christians within the business community of this megacity of 22 million as they actively share the gospel in their places of work.

Week of Prayer: Day 5

Dove Family

As Zack and Jennifer Dove work to encourage church plants in their part of Norway, their boys are adept at opening doors to relationships. Prayer, though, is the real key.  Read more & watch video

• PRAY for the new church plant in Sandefjord, as believers there reach out to the community and draw seekers into something fresh.
• PRAY for the house church in nearby Tønsberg as believers there boldly share their faith and for a multiplying movement to take hold.
• PRAY for an awakening and revival among existing believers: that they would see fruit through sharing their faith and seeing people follow Jesus.

Week of Prayer: Day 4

Haun Family

Death often comes to the rural hospital where Dr. Heidi Haun practices. But she and husband William have planted their lives in Ghana not just to bring physical healing, but to testify to Christ’s love and salvation, all the more pressing when life hangs in the balance. Read more & watch video

• PRAY for wisdom and strength for the national medical staff and administration of the Baptist Medical Centre as they serve an overwhelming number of patients every day.
• PRAY Heidi and William will manage time wisely to avoid exhaustion and burnout as they work their time-consuming jobs in surgery and media.

Week of Prayer: Day 3

David & Hanna's Story

David and Hanna Harris* grew up in Baptist churches, but these days they visit Jewish synagogues, study Hebrew, and take part in Passover meals. As IMB Journeymen they moved from their small town in Kentucky to a megacity in South America to share gospel truth with Jews living there. Part of the process is learning the language and culture of those they’ve come to reach.  Watch video

The center celebrates Jewish holidays such as Purim and Passover, but always uses the opportunities to bridge to New Testament gospel truths.

Since the first Jews immigrated to this city in the nineteenth century, there has been a thriving community, now numbering more than 200,000. The Harrises, both 25, work at a Messianic Center in the heart of the Jewish community. The center celebrates Jewish holidays such as Purim and Passover, but always uses the opportunities to bridge to New Testament gospel truths. David and Hanna hope that “the veil will be removed from their eyes, and that the truth of the Messiah be made abundantly clear to them.”

• PRAY Jewish leaders will come to know Jesus. If the leaders come to know Jesus, it would radically change the community.
• PRAY for the equipping of Messianic Jews, those who have embraced Jesus, so they will learn how to share the truth of the Messiah with their people.

*Names changed

Week of Prayer: Day 2

The Copland Family

Nick and Shannan Copland use modern tools to meet people and forge relationships in the ancient Italian city of Verona.

Through websites they’ve established, Nick and Shannan, IMB workers, find common ground on social media for “meet-ups” with people who share interests—outdoor life and Italian cuisine being two. Relationships are natural keys in sharing spiritual truth, especially in a postmodern city like Verona—beautiful and wealthy but spiritually impoverished. Friendships formed during mountain hikes or evening meals often lead to sharing about Christ.  Read more & Watch video

Their “meet-ups” have become popular, resulting in Nick and Shannan being tagged locally as the couple who bring people together.

Friendships formed during mountain hikes or evening meals often lead to sharing about Christ.

• PRAY for Nick and Shannan as they continue to build relationships and share their lives in this northern Italian city.
• PRAY the Coplands would understand where best to focus their energy and efforts as they balance several ministry initiatives.

Why the "Lottie Moon" Christmas Offering???

Watch and learn about the woman and her impact on Southern Baptist missions until today.

#whywego

#whywegive

Week of Prayer: Day 7

Training the Next Generation in the Philippines

When someone shouted, “Your uncle is coming,” everyone in the Philippine village knew it was the secret code that really meant “run and hide.” Neighbors disappeared into small concrete homes until IMB missionaries Dave and Ivette Daggett had come and gone.

A few, including curious children and teenagers, stuck around to hear what the foreigners had to say.

The Daggetts led Bible studies, and some youth came against their parents’ wishes.

Now, 11 years later, a church meets here, led by some of the same children and youth who met with the Daggetts years ago. They have even seen God use them to help start several Deaf churches.

“It’s the younger ones who have stepped up in leadership,” Dave said. “They share the gospel and are going with us to evangelize in other areas.”

Through weekly training sessions and Bible studies, Dave and Ivette continue discipling youth in the Philippines to go out and train others to lead. They give them opportunities to lead and to share their faith through events such as medical and dental clinics, anti-smoking and dental hygiene seminars, and True Love Waits seminars.

“The more fruit we see, the more joy we have,” Dave said. “We don’t want to slow down or hold back.”

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PRAYER POINTS

» Pray young leaders will grow in their faith and disciple more youth who are ready to become leaders.

» Pray for the Daggetts as they have accepted the Voluntary Retirement Incentive (VRI) and are retiring from the IMB.

Click HERE to read more & watch videos.

Week of Prayer: Day 6

Called as a Church Family in Mexico

“Wherever you go, we go.”

First Baptist Church in Oxford, Mississippi, made this commitment to Jeff and Liesa Holeman long before they began serving as IMB missionaries in 2008.

Investing in young lives has come full circle. The Holemans now mentor dozens of students and young adults from across the United States each year, many who return to the missions field for extended terms of service. 

“That’s who first invested in me — my church,” Liesa says. “We want other churches to do the same. … God called the church to do this. And we as missionaries have a responsibility to help our churches touch, feel and understand our stories … to help them understand the importance of going to the nations.”

In the three years since the Holemans began serving as cluster strategy leaders in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Oxford church has adopted the Tlacolula Valley Zapotec.

“We have a huge support group behind us … they don’t let go of us,” Jeff says. “That’s a two-way street. We value our relationship with one another. Just because we’re out of sight, we’re not out of mind. We know this because of the way they love us.”

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PRAYER POINTS

» Pray for the Holemans as they reach people groups in Mexico, some who have no access to the gospel.

» Pray for more churches to send missionaries to the nations, and thank God for the Holemans’ partnership with the Oxford church.

Click HERE to read more & watch videos

Week of Prayer: Day 5

Church Takes Gospel to Unreached in Southeast Asia

Old Town Baptist Church had no idea their prayers to take the gospel to an unreached people group would lead them from North Carolina to remote Southeast Asia villages.

The church already participated in international missions by going on missions trips and supporting missionaries by giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

But knowing billions without hope in Christ is intolerable, they wanted to do more.

“We have an ongoing commitment to supporting the missions offering,” said Mark Harrison, Old Town missions pastor. “We also have a deep commitment to come alongside our IMB partners and work with them on the ground.”

As the church prayed, God led them to the “T” people. Most are Buddhist and have never heard about Jesus.

Missionaries helped Harrison learn about the T people and Southeast Asian culture. Since then, Harrison and Old Town members have made multiple trips a year to help take the gospel to the T people.

“The T people have been very isolated for a long time and it’s difficult to get where they are,” said Harrison. “But they have welcomed us and are in the process, many of them, of beginning to understand what it means to follow Jesus.”

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PRAYER POINTS

» Pray for the T people who are coming to faith in Jesus to stand firm in the face of opposition and persecution.

» Pray for more churches to partner with missionaries in reaching people groups who have yet to hear the gospel.

Click HERE to read more and see videos

Week of Prayer: Day 4

Syria's Hope

It’s hard to imagine anything but a continued descending darkness closing in on Syrian and Iraqi refugees, victims of a rebellion being fought against the Syrian regime and brutality caused by ISIS and other Islamic extremists.

While images and reports of beheadings, cruelty, and pure evil continue to shadow refugees — numbering in the millions — from any light of hope, there is hope in the good news of Jesus Christ.

Only a loving God Who cares deeply for all who are fleeing violence can push back that darkness. Christian worker Peter Matheson* works tirelessly to bring refugees God’s shining hope. But his work comes at great cost to the many he serves and to him, personally, as he ministers in the midst of tremendous suffering.

“The hardest thing in this ministry is just sitting down and listening to their hurts,” Matheson says. “They come, they arrive with little children just with the clothes on their back, because back in Syria their homes are destroyed, their businesses are destroyed … women have been raped … real torture goes on among men and young men in Syria.”

Through the support of Southern Baptists, Matheson is able to work along the Syrian border, distributing boxes of food and other critical necessities.

As more Syrians flee the violence, Matheson hopes he can provide a way out of their current condition and give hope through Christ — a message they have never heard.

*Name changed

PRAYER POINTS

» Pray for open hearts among hurting Syrian refugees as Matheson tells them of God’s love.

» Pray for strength, boldness, and wisdom for Matheson to minister in the midst of overwhelming needs.

Click HERE to see more pictures & videos

Week of Prayer: Day 3

Trading karma for compassion in South Asia

Karma. Its meaning goes beyond “what comes around, goes around.” For Hindus, karma means undergoing a cycle of actions and consequences. To them, being saved from it would rob them of paying the price for their deeds and hoping for a better future through reincarnation.

That’s why the neighbors of a wounded man crying out in pain also cried out — not for help but in complaint that he was too loud and unaccepting of his fate, especially since he had lit himself on fire in a fit of drunkenness and dissatisfaction over his dirt-poor life.

It would be easy to call those neighbors crass, but many of them don’t recognize any other way to believe. And yet God desires and deserves the worship of all people.

Donald and Helen McKinney* have reached out to the downtrodden in South Asia. Helen has used Lottie Moon Christmas Offering funds to distribute food and school supplies to women and children.

Click HERE to see videos & prayer requests from the McKinney's.

Week of Prayer: Day 2

"Water of Life" for Central Asians

In the mountains and valleys of a Muslim Central Asian country, Christian aid worker Gary Warrior* and a team of Christian aid workers and national believers help meet people’s physical and spiritual needs.

In a desire to do their part to fulfill the Great Commission, the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists and the Mountain State Association sent Warrior, 51, and his family to exalt Christ through meeting human needs.

Click HERE for read more about the Warrior's story and to access videos & prayer requests.

Week of Prayer: Day 1

Family on Mission in Lesotho

When Jim and Teresa Flora think about their life and ministry in the mountains of Lesotho, two needs come to mind: the support of their children and support from Southern Baptists.

They rely on the prayers and encouragement of their three grown sons and their families in the United States, but daughters Gracie, Anna and Rebekah are a part of each day’s work in Africa. Whether they are preparing meals for volunteer teams, playing with children or telling Bible stories, the girls consider themselves fully committed to the task of sharing the gospel with unreached Basotho people. They know every believer has a part in God’s mission.

Click HERE to read more of the Flora's story & to access videos and prayer requests.

Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Day 8

Planting seeds for planting churches

Today, Lily Llambes helps others embrace the true God. But at 25, she grappled with where to place her faith when she was invited into Santeria, whose practices are similar to voodoo.

Instead, she became a Christian.  Read more...

Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Day 7

Scripture planting is key

When IMB missionaries Jon Gerwig* and Bradford Wotzke* moved to East Asia with their families in 2004 to share the Gospel with the Iron Peas,* the minority people group of more than 3 million had no known churches and only a handful of believers.

The Iron Pea people group speaks six dialects, and many Iron Peas — particularly women and children — do not speak even the country’s trade language.

“You’re just spinning your wheels if you’re not reaching the people in the language of their heart,” Jon says.  Read more...

Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Day 6

Music Makes Relationships

Good values weren’t enough for Linda Hamfors of Stockholm, Sweden. Linda, who grew up in an atheist family, believed Jesus was “a really amazing guy” and learned values from her parents like forgiveness, acceptance and love.

But good values couldn’t sustain the singer/songwriter through the tumultuous years when her parents began drinking more and pursuing materialistic gain.

“I was kind of a little bit left alone with my good values and I wasn’t feeling good,” Linda says.
Struggling with addiction herself, Linda searched for God. She found a church. She began singing in church, and the Gospel songs moved her to tears.  Read more...

Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Day 5

A New Wave of Church Planters

For Mitch Englehart,* it’s a beautiful sight that’s taking place in some very dirty water. The South Carolina native watches from the bank of a stagnant canal as six new believers are baptized outside a village in South Asia. Dhanwan is one of them.

“I want to follow Jesus!” the young man says, explaining that he became a Christian after a miraculous healing through the prayers of a local Baptist pastor. That pastor, Lalbahadur, is a fifth-generation Christian whose faith can be traced back to Mitch’s church-planting network. It’s January, and Dhanwan shivers as he strips down to his underwear and steps into the canal. 

To start the baptism chain, Lalbahadur first immerses Dhanwan, then each newly baptized believer baptizes the next. This is discipleship in action, Mitch says, and it’s what has brought him to South Asia.  Read more...