November 1998
Nelson Mandela is president of the new, free and dem¬
ocratic South Africa. He also is a man of courage who
knows deeply the cost of remaining faithful to a con¬
viction. For decades he suffered imprisonment, cruelty and
hard labor at the hands of the former racist regime. During
those years he discovered a wonderful truth: The poverty of
suffering "was often an incubator of true friendship."
On the 15th of this month, we join with believers around
the world in praying for those of our brothers and sisters who
are suffering great loss for this personal conviction: They know
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and they will not deny
Him. In a Last Frontier nation, a church leader is being held
right now for giving the Bible to the people of his town. His
condition is unknown. As I write you, a missionary friend is
overseas placing himself in harm's way, exposing his family to
enemy attack, to aid the persecuted church.
God's Word enjoins us to not only pray for those in prison,
but to pray as if we were in prison with them, and for those
who are being mistreated, as if we ourselves were suffering.
How difficult this is. May He give us grace to do so. And as we
pray for these, may the poverty of their suffering also be an
incubator of true friendship — true deep friendship with the Son
of God. What a friend we do have in Jesus.
May His Kingdom come,
Randy Sprinkle, Director
International Prayer Strategy Office
1 SPAIN (southwestern Europe). Baptist representa¬
tives Dwight and Mara Williams write about the drama and
mime workshop in Gijon: "In a nutshell, it's been great!" Eight
teenagers did mime evangelism on the boardwalk, where thou¬
sands stroll every day. They were very excited about performing,
and large crowds gathered to watch. After the presentations,
members of the church, including some new believers, actively
passed out tracts and shared their faith one-on-one or in small
groups. Dwight and Mara add: "Mime has been a good people-
drawer and attention-getter. Now we must keep the fire going."
Pray that the church members will continue to use what they
learned in the workshop and will follow-up with those with
whom they shared the gospel.
2 CHINA (eastern and central Asia). A teacher partici¬
pating in a summer English program was asked by a student,
"Teacher, do you mind if I ask you about Christianity?" The
teacher was thrilled to know that in only a brief time, God had
opened doors of opportunity for meaningful witness. Please pray
that Christian teachers will have many occasions to respond to
those who do not yet know about the love of Jesus Christ.
FULBE/FUTA JALON OF GUINEA. New members of the
Fulbe/ Futa Jalon Team are beginning to learn Pulaar. Pray for
missionaries Wyman and Michelle Dobbs and journeyman
Brandy Keith as they study. Ask God to provide contacts through
their language study that will build friendships and lead to
opportunities to share Christ.
3 AUSTRIA (central Europe). Baptist representatives
Donnie and Dimple Bond write that God is answering prayer:
"On May 23, a group from our church participated in a prayerwalk
in the vicinity of the new church location. A very distasteful, large,
yellow sign with 'Sex Shop' in red letters was displayed near the
entrance of our new church. During the prayerwalk, different
groups stopped and prayed before this building. Within three
weeks the shop was closed, and in early July the sign had been
removed. We praise God for His faithfulness in answering prayer."
4 BRAZIL (eastern South America). Missionary Edward
Farris asks you to pray that God will give wisdom, leadership
and health as he seeks to start five "preaching points" (new works)
in the Sudeste area of Brasilia during the coming months.
UZBEKS. There is no better person to share with an Uzbek
the gospel of Jesus Christ than another Uzbek! A family in the capi¬
tal city of Uzbekistan have sensed that God is calling them to a
strong Islamic city elsewhere. They need contacts there and would
like to meet an Uzbek believer from that city. They also need a
means of maintaining their presence there. Please ask God to help
them find a creative way to minister and to guide them to the con¬
tacts that will result in His Church being established in that city.
5 FRANCE (western Europe). Baptist representatives
Steve and Barbara Springer ask you to continue praying for
the monthly English-language services which are being held at
the church in Tours. Pray that those who have been attending will
continue to come and that many new people will feel drawn by
the Holy Spirit to participate and learn about Jesus.
ARGENTINA (southern South America). A volun¬
teer team from Oklahoma joined missionary Randy Whittall and
the Rosario church-planting team and proved to be a big help in
each of the 16 new works in and around that city. More than 130
decisions for Christ were recorded during the week! Pray that
God will help the churches disciple these believers and continue
the ministries they saw demonstrated by the volunteer team.
6 THE SUNDANESE OF INDONESIA. The Sundanese,
the largest unreached people group in the world, live on the
western one-third of the island of Java. This group is strongly tied
to Islam and yet are still heavily influenced by their animistic
