May 1999
Attend and colleague stopped by my office the other day to
share a revelation that God had given him. He works in the
computer field and, by prayer, the world's fields. Each day he
prays for a different national leader, knowing that most of
them say to missionaries, "Go away, and stay away." God showed
him that he should begin to pray that these leaders of the world's
nations would instead say to missionaries, "Come, come and help
us." We talked about how this could be, in light of the fact that
most of these leaders are lost and have no natural reason to cooper¬
ate with God. Must they first be saved in order to do this?
The answer is found in the example of King Cyrus. Even though
he was a pagan king of whom God said, "thou hast not known
me," he still was referred to by God as "his anointed" and the one
who would "accomplish all that I please."
As we pray on the 21st of this month for North Korea and her
people, let's remember to pray in light of this wonderful truth that
God sets on thrones those whom He chooses to accomplish His
purposes whether they do so willingly or not. And let's pray that
the leaders of all nations will indeed say to the servants of God,
"Come, come over and help us."
Praying with you,
Randy Sprinkle, Director
International Prayer Strategy Office
1 DOMINICA (eastern Caribbean Sea). Please pray
for the new Experiencing God study group that missionary
Melody Graham is leading. Six women from three churches are
participating.
SPAIN (southwestern Europe). Baptist represent¬
atives Chris and Angela Forbes, who serve on the Aragon Team,
ask you to continue praying for the team of summer students who
will be coming in June and July to do "ethnographic interviews"
among the Aragonese people. They will travel high in the Pyrenees
mountains as they do profiles of the towns of Barbastro, Monzon
and Graus, as well as some nearby villages.
2AWADHI OF INDIA. Please pray that literacy work will
begin among the Awadhi of northern India and that audio¬
cassettes of the gospel will become available in their language.
PARAGUAY (central South America).
Missionaries Hebert and Karen Palomino request prayer for their
involvement in home Bible study groups. Hebert writes: "Pray for
the Bible study that's going on every Thursday night. At least five
of the participants have expressed a desire to be baptized. Rejoice
also that one of our group members has grown as a Christian and
is now planning to start another Bible study group."
3 SUDAN (north central Africa). Pray for the nomad¬
ic Rashaida people of Sudan. Ask that those whom the Lord
is calling will take up the challenge of reaching the Rashaida with
the love of Christ.
CAMBODIA (southeast Asia). Ask the Lord to
give wisdom and understanding to Baptist workers as they begin
a humanitarian aid project to provide food to starving families in
Cambodia. Pray that God will use this project to feed people
physically and spiritually, resulting in much spiritual fruit.
4 TIANJIN, CHINA. Please pray for an industrial area of
the city. Many factory workers have never heard the gospel.
Pray that a strong Christian witness will be established there.
UNITED KINGDOM (northwest Europe). Baptist
representatives Steve and Barbara James work among unreached
peoples groups living in the British Isles. They have been dis¬
tributing Scriptures and other Christian literature to Albanians.
They give thanks for the response of people who receive the liter¬
ature. Pray that God will provide copies of the Jesus film and
more literature for distribution.
5 SWAZI OF SWAZILAND AND SOUTH AFRICA.
Please pray as International Service Corps worker Rod Fultz
leads a group of pastors each Thursday night in a study of the Theo¬
logical Education by Extension (TEE) book, "Christian Family
Living." Their wives are also participating. Rod writes: "Many of
the marriages are weak, but are showing signs of growth!"
UZBEKS OF CENTRAL ASIA. Please continue pray¬
ing for the team that is ministering in a village. As they meet to¬
gether for prayer, God has graciously provided dear direction.
They believe that He has raised up one Uzbek woman as the key
to begin "storying" (chronological Bible telling) among the vil¬
lagers. Please pray that she will be receptive to this. Also pray for
protection and good health for the team.
6 SRI LANKA (island southeast of India). God is
working in the lives of several young pastors who are involved
in planting churches. Missionaries David and Paula Eddins hope to
send some of them to another country this summer, where they
would receive training in the "storying" (chronological Bible telling)
method of evangelism, as well as in the use of agricultural and pub¬
lic health projects as a means of outreach. Please pray for the selec¬
tion of the right ones to send, for travel documents to be obtained,
and for other needs to be met that will make this training a reality.
8QUECHUA OF BOLIVIA. Southern Baptists have pro¬
vided a water filter for the people of Totora, a mountainous
area hit hard by an earthquake in May 1998. This purification sys¬
tem, which can provide up to 40,000 liters of clean water a day, is
sitting in a warehouse in Cochabamba. Pray for missionary Mark
