Hello Church,
I am honored and thrilled to get to intercede for the unreached in East Asia (EA) with you today. Just like everything else this year, what a crazy year it has been for mission in and to EA. I remember just 8 months ago writing a letter letting the team planning to go to EA know that we were canceling the trip. These last eight months have brought heart break and sadness but also stretched faith and invigorated prayers. Almost all the missionaries that were serving in EA a year ago are now stateside without a timeline of when or if they can return, among which are C & T. We also as a church sit not knowing when we will be able to return to EA. These are heartbreaking realities that lead us to the challenging question “Are we relying on our human numbers, strategies, and strengths or are we trusting God to save his people?”.
It seems improbable that there will be revival among unreached people without the presence of missionaries. Yet it also seemed improbable that the Israelites would escape from Egypt (Exodus 1-13). It seemed improbable that Gideon’s army of 300 men could defeat the Midianites (Judges 7). It seemed improbable that Lazarus would come back to life having been buried for 4 days (John 11:1-44). It seemed improbable that Saul who held their coats as they stoned Stephen would write much of the New Testament (Acts 9). It seemed improbable that a sinner like me could receive God’s grace. Yet in all of the improbable God has been faithful.
In the face of the improbable, the presence of the Lord is most acknowledgeable. As we look and see circumstances in EA that make sharing the gospel extremely difficult, we look and see a chance to place our hope in the Lord who has been faithful before and will be faithful again. May we earnestly beg and plea for God to move. With our plans and strategies dismantled we get to rely completely on the power of our almighty God. Do not misunderstand what I am saying, by no means should we be complacent or lazy in our pursuit after the unreached. Rather it is quite the opposite. We must pray with more urgency, with more fervor, with more consistency, and with more expectation. May we bombard the Lord with prayer for the unreached in EA. In our absence from EA may we more completely trust and passionately plea for God’s presence in EA. Below are twelve prayer points for the twelve hours from sunup to sundown today as we pray and fast.
- Pray for the church in EA to be emboldened to share the gospel with unreached T-people.
- Pray that the church in EA be protected from the government and other persecution.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to appear through dreams, visions, and miracles to those in the unreached villages.
- Pray for Justin and Larry (two local believers who have felt called to be pastors to the unreached) to be discipled, trained, and sent out
- Pray for Mrs. Mushroom, a believer in Dragon Town, to be discipled
- Pray for Mrs. Mushroom to share the gospel to her neighbors, friends, and family
- Pray for a church in Dragon Town
- Pray for P (a missionary still in EA)
- Pray for God to remove the obstacles and bring new and returning missionaries to EA
- Pray that God would light a fire in our hearts for the unreached and teach us to better pray
- Pray for revival among the unreached.
- Pray through the verses of Psalm 146 below. If you have a chance read them aloud alone, with your friends, or with your family before you break fast.
1Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Until all Hear,
Johnson Long
EA Advocacy Leader
