We hosted a “Revive This Nation” student preach at our church three weeks ago. Pastor Omotayo is a PHd student working to get his Phd in Christian counseling. I would encourage every church to host a “Revive This Nation” preacher in March of 2020. It’s a great opportunity to encourage student preachers. The seminary matches up student preachers to smaller churches who cannot afford the expense of hosting a revival preacher. The seminary pays the travel expenses, and the host church is responsible for the lodging and food.
That’s just a plug for the program. The reason for this post is part confession and part announcement. During one of his sermons, Pastor Omotayo said, “If you feel stuck, do something.” I’ve been feeling stuck and stationary for the past few months. I decided to do something simple.
During our time together, Pastor Omotayo told me of the work going on in his home country of Nigeria, and how he intended to go back when he finished his degree. I told him I’d pray for him, but I wanted to pray for more than just Pastor Omotayo. I wanted to pray for our International missionaries.
I started a Twitter feed called @PrayerforImb. I wanted to post a specific request each day. I quickly learned that you can get prayer requests from the IMB five days a week via email. I thought about abandoning the Twitter feed, not wanting to double up on the IMB’s efforts, but there can never be too much prayer, and not everyone is signed up for the IMB’s daily email, nor do they send an email on Saturday or Sunday.
I continued the Twitter feed and after three weeks, I have met several missionaries, and received some specific prayer requests. The twitter feed has borne fruit, and this morning, I expanded to Facebook. I’ve learned three things from this experience:
- The first day the Twitter feed was on line, the IMB contacted me about security concerns. They were very encouraging and appreciative, but laid out some ground rules they’d like for me to follow. The safety and security of our missionaries is a constant concern and it takes teams of people to keep our people safe. They need our prayers for their safety. The IMB has been very professional, thankful, and encouraging as I’ve posted prayer requests for the last three weeks. They are a first class organization, and Southern Baptists should be proud of those who represent us to the ends of the earth.
- If you feel stuck, do something. Seek the Lord, and ask what you should do, but do something. I recommend finding a group or a cause for focused prayer.
- Our missionaries and their people groups need your prayers. They are under prayed for, but they are the best among us.
Will you join me in praying for these missionary requests? Go follow the feed at Twitter: @PrayerforImb or the Facebook group here, or head over to IMB.org and sign up for the email updates.
I’ve also learned that many missionary families send out monthly updates via email. If you know of any international missionaries who send out monthly updates, I’d like their information so I can receive their updates. You can sen me their information at JonesTonyL@yahoo.com
Our son was two and a half years old when my wife and I were appointed as IMB missionaries to the Philippines. During our twelve years with the Board, we saw a multitude of prayers answered. God showed exceptional grace on our birthdays when Baptists were praying especially for us. When my son was about five, we were reading the birthdays on what happened to be Adam’s birthday. When we finished, he said, “You forgot my name”. He considered himself as much a missionary as his mom and dad. Since then, I have prayed on a regular basis for those unnamed Missionary Kids who are a vital part of what God is doing in other countries. As he grew, our son spoke the language and understood the culture as well or better than any oficially appointed missionary. He opened dooors to both kids and adults that would have been locked to me. MKs are too often the “forgotten” part of the missionary family. You may not know their names but God will honor your prayers for their unique ministry. Please make praying for “Missionary Kids” a priority.
We get the birthdays in our email and I never thought about the kids not being included on the list. They are missionaries just as much as their parents. I was pleased to see the Lifeway VBS Missions videos focusing on the kids and the work they do. Yes, will make this a priority. 🙂
Today, as your IMB M in Ukraine, I was able to partner with national medical professionals to do a clinic in a village where they hope to plant a church. We saw around 70 people. I learned that the church started a rehab center in the same village about 6 months ago and their desire is to become self-sufficient.
It is a joy to partner with nationals with a vision for the nations.
And it is a joy to serve SB who are praying! Thanks for encouraging more prayer for us!
Joe, thanks so much for the update. I listed this medical clinic as a prayer request yesterday. Glad to know it went well. Is there a way we can keep up with your work in the Ukraine?
Yes. Check out my profile page at my website (my name as listed above (dot) org
Send me an email (listed there). If you want immediate requests, I have a secret FB group. Indicate preferences in email.
Forgive my ignorance, but what website? IMB.org?
God bless you, Tony! This is a great idea. I share with my students this statement by the late Dr. Ralph Winter. Dr. Winter taught in the School of World Mission at Fuller Seminary, and then he founded the U.S. Center for World Missions. He wrote: “Foreign missions does not need more money or more missionaries or even more prayers. Foreign missions needs more mission-minded pastors. For if we have more mission-minded pastors, we’ll have all the money, missionaries, and prayers we need.”