February 2007
Middle America and the Caribbean (MAC).
Along the borders, situated literally at the door¬
step of the United States, are more than 30 coun¬
tries including Mexico, Central America, Panama,
countries along the northern coast of South Ame¬
rica and multiple islands of the Caribbean. The
MAC region represents 190 million people with 175 mil¬
lion of those living in darkness. So near to us - yet so far
from God. Of the region's 530 people groups with each
group sharing the same language and culture, at least 259
groups are fewer than 2 percent evangelized. And they
live in every country in the region! Some live in mega
cities' high-rise buildings or inner city shacks while others
live in multi-family housing communities, barrios and
rural villages. Tens of thousands live in simple interior
dwellings. The region's multiple cultures represent five
major languages and many hundreds of indigenous lan¬
guages. Religious beliefs have captured the hearts of peo¬
ple in this region and they have given their devotion to
cultural Catholicism, Santeria, Islam, Hinduism, voodoo
and varied pagan and animistic practices. The people are
plagued with poverty, religious bondage and political
unrest, but their greatest dilemma centers on misunder¬
standings of Jesus Christ and trusting Him alone for their
salvation. Nearly 400 International Mission Board mis¬
sionaries and a host of local Baptist partners work togeth¬
er on all fronts to proclaim truth with confidence that
darkness, deceit, unbelief and fear will be pushed back
and Jesus will reign as Lord in these countries. To learn
more about the MAC region, visit macregion.org.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession (Psalm 2:8, NIV).
UNIVERSITY STUDENT WORK IN CANADA. There are
more than 240 university campuses in Canada. Five IMB
missionary families work in partnership with the North
American Mission Board to win university students in
Canada to Jesus. Their vision is to plant churches on or
near university campuses across the nation of Canada. Pray
for discernment as they develop strategies specifically for
evangelism, church planting and leadership development.
Pray that students who have been exposed to the Gospel
through campus ministries will yield their lives to Christ
and profess Him as their Savior. Pray for seniors who are
Christ followers as they graduate in the coming months to
invest their lives in planting new churches. Missionaries
Kelly and Jeannie Manire have a vision to plant 10 univer¬
sity community churches in Canada in 10 years. Pray that
God will raise up Canadian church planters who are pas¬
sionate about reaching the emerging generations and their
university communities for Christ.
RIGA, LATVIA (REE-gah). “Many people in Riga want to
learn to speak English in order to better themselves finan¬
cially and educationally. Pray for the Riga Urban Team as
we seek to share God's Word through a conversational Eng¬
lish Bible study. Although the group, which meets at 7 p.m.
on Tuesdays (Riga time), is small, there is a mother and
daughter attending who live in an area where a new church
start is needed. Pray for the relationships that are developing
in this group, and ask that we will be sensitive to any oppor¬
tunities that God brings through this Bible study."
3 MALAWI (eastern Africa). The Ngonde Team writes: "As
one of our missionaries was testing the new Tumbuka-
language literacy books, she wrote a Bible verse on paper
and gave it to her students. They worked through the verse;
and when they finished, they were both laughing and clap¬
ping hands. They asked her if they could take the papers
home. These were the first verses they had ever been able to
read, and it was very special to them. It was also very touch¬
ing for this missionary to witness their excitement. Pray that
many more Christians will discover that same joy when they
are taught to read and can read the Bible for themselves!"
2007 CRICKET WORLD CUP (West Indies). Many will call
this gathering the event of a lifetime! Twelve Caribbean
nations will host games of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
These islanders will extend a welcome to thousands of
guests from at least 14 countries from around the world in
addition to thousands of visitors from neighboring islands
who will be spectators at the games. Caribbean Baptist
churches, IMB missionaries and U.S. volunteers will partner
in an evangelistic project of sharing the Gospel and dis¬
tributing tracts and cups of cold water in the name of Jesus
Christ. Pray for Caribbean Baptist partners as they take the
initiative to witness to those attending the games. Pray that
cricket players and fans hear the Gospel and respond by
accepting Jesus as their Savior. For additional information,
go to cricketministry.com and rvs@macregion.org.
LADAKHI OF NORTHERN INDIA (lah-DAHK-ee).
Recently, while walking down the street with an interna¬
tional Christian worker, an artist, whom the worker had
spoken with on several occasions, turned to him and said,
