April 1999
Each spring, for over a decade now, we as Southern Baptist
intercessors have given a day in prayer and fasting for one of
the unreached peoples of The Last Frontier. Next month, on
May 21-22, we will focus our intense intercessions on the peo¬
ple of North Korea. I know that you are well aware of the general
situation in that communist nation. You may not be aware,
though, that over the past three years famine and famine-related
illnesses have taken the lives of up to 2 million North Koreans. I
want to ask you to do three things:
1. Please call us here at the International Mission Board (1-800-
866-3621) to order your free Day of Prayer video and prayer guide.
2. Please begin to make plans at your church to show the
video and pray for the North Koreans.
3. Please pray for us here at the Prayer Office and the board as
we work to make these free prayer videos available for the first
time to Southern Baptist churches here in the United States that
worship in Spanish, French and Korean.
Thank you for helping us, through your prayers, that North
Koreans might come to know the saving love of God in Christ, our
Savior.
Randy Sprinkle, Director
International Prayer Strategy Office
1 ITALY (southern Europe). Baptist representative
Dudley Graves asks you to pray for the annual evangelistic
rally of the Baptist Association of Lazio, held this month in Viterbo.
BRAZIL (eastern South America). Missionaries Guy
and Elena Key are beginning a church in Rio de Janeiro. Elena
writes: "Pray as the Lord brings families who are facing problems
with health, finances, relationships, drugs and alcohol. The root of
the problems is spiritual and is magnified when one is possessed
with an evil spirit. Because of the widespread influence of spiritism
among these middle- and upper- middle-class people, we are
encountering this problem. Pray for wisdom, insight and spiritual
strength to handle this."
2RIFFI BERBERS OF MOROCCO. For 4,000 years, the
Riffi have lived in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco. Life
is very hard. Jobs are scarce. A large number migrate to Europe for
work to support their families back home. Each summer, they return
home. Baptist representatives are seeking to reach the Riffi in Europe,
hoping they will share the good news with family and friends in
their country, which is closed to the gospel. They write: "Pray that
He would lead us to Riffis who will respond and be willing to help
meet the desperate linguistic need for developing evangelistic mate¬
rial in the Riffi language." Ask God to bring more Christian Riffi or
Arabs who are willing to work among the Riffi in Europe.
3 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (island southeast of
Cuba). Pray for missionaries Stan and Lynn Stepleton who be¬
gan new classes at the North Association Institute for training others
to work with the hearing impaired. Pray that those coming will learn
and have a vision to use their new skills in helping to strengthen
local churches and start new work among the deaf.
PHILIPPINES (southeast Asia). International Service
Corps workers Mark and Barbara Stevens, serving as church-planter
apprentices, have begun three new Bible studies in Rizal, where
there is no evangelical church. Pray that the lost will hunger for
something new in their lives in this new year. Pray that their eyes
will be opened to see their need for Christ and that they will receive
new life in Him.
4 MYANMAR (southeast Asia). Less than 2 percent of an
unreached group in Myanmar are Christians. Pray that barriers
including strongholds of centuries of unbelief and fear of spirits will
be broken. Pray that an indigenous church-planting movement will
arise from those who have come to Christ in recent months and years.
SWAZI OF SWAZILAND AND SOUTH AFRICA.
Pray for a Bible study that has begun among young men in
Thembelishle, a suburb of Mbabane. So far, six have made profes¬
sions of faith! Pray that God will plant a church through this out¬
reach. Also, please continue praying that Fonteyn Baptist Church in
Mbabane will find land on which to build a church.
5 ALGERIA (North Africa). Pray for unemployed Chris¬
tians. The official unemployment figures in this country is 29
percent of the work force. Large numbers of educated and trained
unemployed men and women indicates that the actual number may
be significantly larger. Pray that the Lord will open up jobs for His
own in Algeria and that they will use the jobs as a place to shine for
Jesus in the darkness.
INDONESIA (southeast Asia). Civil unrest continues
throughout Indonesia. Almost daily, clashes break out. Religious
clashes continue between Christians and Muslims. Please ask for
God's help for the people, over 50 percent of whom now five in pov¬
erty. Pray for personnel to have wisdom and energy as people come
to them with great needs that cannot be humanly met. Ask that these
seekers of help would find our God, who can meet their every need.
e THAILAND (southeast Asia). As a medical clinic's
team ministered in Mien Yao villages in October, they encoun¬
tered an elderly woman who had been a believer for eight years but
had no discipleship or Christian fellowship. They also met an official
interested in studying the Bible. One team member writes: "We saw
