June 2003
Гт
still stunned by the contrast,
s I write you, I am on vacation spending the week
working with the homeless. There have been a lot
of tears. Some have been with, others have been for,
but the most bitter have been because of. This third type
identify more deeply with Jesus' tears. “When He ap¬
proached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,
saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the
things which make for peace! (Luke 19:41-42, NASB)
The moms and dads and children that we are serv¬
ing are in distressing turmoil. Most have never known
peace. They do know what the world has to offer and it
can be summed up in one word — nothing. In their time
of deepest need the world is not there for them, only the
church is. Or it should be.
Two churches have entered this experience. One is
immersed. The other peeked in and then pulled back.
One sees opportunities. The other saw obstacles. One
sees people. The other saw problems. One is seizing the
moment. The other has rejected it. Both are causing Jesus
to weep. For one, tears of joy. For the other, tears of grief.
Which kind of tears would Jesus weep for your
church? Pray it is (or will be) the first. These are desper¬
ate days.
Randy Sprinkle, Director
International Prayer Strategy Office
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,
you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an
example that you should do as I have done for you.
John 13:14-15, NIV
HOKKIEN OF TAIWAN (HAWK-yin). Mike
and Carolyn Miller, new team members on the Hokkien
Harvest Team, ask prayer for unbelievers in their commu¬
nity in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The Millers live in a very densely
populated city, with more than 1,000 people in their apart¬
ment complex alone. They ask: "Please pray for the follow¬
ing families. They have begun a ministry in an unevange-
ized community through the home of the T family. Also,
Mr. and Mrs. A and Ms. I, who own a stationery store, are
attending a newly begun Bible study. We know it is the
Lord's desire for all to come to know Him. Pray that these
families will have a hunger to know our Lord and Savior."
2 MALTA (western Europe). Malta is a very
small island (nine miles by 17 miles), but it serves as a
crossroads for an amazing mixture of nationalities from all
parts of the world. Recently, two outreaches geared mainly
at the student age have given Team Malta a chance to bear
witness to people from all parts of the world, including
countries where these students would not be able to hear
openly. Lift up these events — one weekly and one monthly
— and petition for protection and openness for these stu¬
dents as they hear and respond to the gospel.
3 JAP AN (eastern Asia). As Japanese girls grow
up, they are constantly bombarded with a cultural ob¬
session with fashion, beauty and materialism. Some girls
spend every extra minute working to make money and
support their high-fashion lifestyle. Other girls get caught
in a much more sinister web of prostitution, carefully hid¬
den, for the sake of money. Christian women who are the
sole believers in their family also face pressure to marry
unbelievers or not to commit to Christ and damage their
chances to marry later on. Please pray for God to preserve
Christian women in Japan and supply them with godly,
believing husbands so they can raise generations of
Japanese devoted to His kingdom.
4GUARAYO OF BOLIVIA (gwa-RAY-yoh).
The Guarayos are a very musical people. During the
period of the Spanish Missions, they were taught to make
handcrafted violins, along with beautiful classical music.
This heritage is still evident in the villages, where music
can often be heard from the streets. Yet, the Guarayo believers
do not have praise music in their own language. They sing
praises to God in their second language, Spanish. Pray that
God will stir the hearts of His worshipers to desire to create
praise music in the language closest to their hearts, Guarayu.
PAKISTAN (southern Asia west of India).
S is a young girl from the Himalayan mountains who
was given in marriage at age 13. She has left home and
family to join the husband she had never seen until after
the wedding ceremony. Not only did she leave her family
and friends, she also left the potential to hear the Word of
God, as she went to a village full of darkness with no incar-
national witness. Ask that S would be reminded of the
friends who shared small portions of their faith in Christ
with her. Please ask that God would penetrate the darkness
in the village through dreams and visions to S and her new
family. Intercede that they would seek and find the One
full of grace and mercy rather than the far-away Allah who
weighs and balances works.
