February 2016
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. -1 Peter 1:3

  1. PRAY FOR VIETNAM. Praise God for the prayer movement underway this month on behalf of Vietnam’s unreached population—73 million people living apart from Christ. Lift up the church in Vietnam; it is small but growing rapidly. Communist and animist beliefs hold many in bondage. Contact prayer@omf.org to receive text alerts or other prayer materials for Vietnam.
  1. URBAN BILLION. China’s urban population is set to reach 1 billion by the year 2030. A new OMF mobilization effort, The Urban Billion, has recently launched. Please pray it will result in more prayer and many new workers for the cities of China.
  1. GLOBAL MINISTRY GROUP CURRICULUM. Pray for the completion of the Global Ministry Group curriculum, used by missions-minded small groups to help believers take practical steps toward involvement in the Great Commission. The 20 curriculum modules are in layout phase. Pray for quick completion and distribution of the materials, and that God would use the study to mobilize Christians in mission.
  1. URBANA FOLLOW-UP. Pray for the hundreds of students that OMF representatives spoke and prayed with at the Urbana Student Missions Conference in December. Pray that students would listen to the Spirit’s leading and obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings toward missions. Ask God specifically for the right applicants for Serve Asia opportunities.
  1. NEW ROLES. Longtime missionaries to Japan Mike and Rowena McGinty are settling into new roles in the field. They are now responsible for first-term missionaries, as well as assisting young missionary families. Pray for this new ministry to be a blessing to the workers and families involved and that it would result in greater retention of long-term missionaries in Japan.
  1. INFECTIOUS FAITH. God has been moving in the life of “Okami” and her friends and family in Japan. Several have come to Christ and become involved in church recently. Pray these new Christians would grow in their faith as they study with fellow believers. May their faith be contagious and spread to other family and friends.
  1. NUCLEAR TEST. North Korea recently made headlines by claiming to test a hydrogen bomb. The test drew concerned responses from the U.S., South Korea and others. Pray for North Korea’s leaders to stop taking inflammatory actions and to govern wisely and justly.
  1. CHINESE NEW YEAR. Today, February 8, is the first day of the Chinese New Year. In Chinese culture, the holiday represents a time for a fresh start. Pray that many Chinese would become new creations in Christ in 2016.
  1. COUNSELING WORK. An OMF missionary working as a counselor in Cambodia asks for prayer for “Mr. M,” who is in need of spiritual and emotional healing and transformation. Pray for him to find satisfaction in Jesus and that relationships with his family could be restored. Also lift up the counselors working with Mr. M, asking that they would have wisdom and discernment as they treat him.
  1. TRANSLATION NEEDS. In Laos, there are at least 13 languages for which there is a definite need for Bible translation teams and a possible total of 66 languages. Pray for discernment in prioritizing, and for men and women to invest their lives in translating God’s word into these languages.
  1. COLLEGE DECISIONS/RESEARCH. Lift up OMF third-culture kids (TCKs) who are nearing the end of their high school years and starting to consider their college choices in the U.S. or other countries in the West. Pray for guidance and peace as they research, visit and ponder where the Lord might have them attend.
  1. NEW WORKERS. A new ministry couple recently arrived in East Asia. Praise that they would be able to find job that will provide a platform for their work, as well as a space for learning the language and culture. Pray also for a smooth transition for this family and their young children as they settle into a new place and culture.
  1. 20 NEW BELIEVERS. A Vietnamese Christian reported that 20 Nung people recently decided to follow Jesus. The Nung have traditionally been a hard-hearted group toward the gospel. Praise God for this transformation and pray for it to spread to other Nung.
  1. UNITY IN CHRST. Pray for continued unity in Christ among local Christians and among foreign Christian workers (from many countries) in Mongolia. The love and unity displayed among Christians can be a powerful force for the advance of the gospel in a place like Mongolia, where few know Christ.
  1. JAPANESE IN U.S. According to JCFN, the number of Japanese students coming to the United States has decreased over the past decade and they are staying for shorter lengths of time (3 months to a year), but the ones who do come are more open to the gospel. Pray for God to transform the hearts of Japanese students who visit the U.S. for a semester or two of study.
  1. KIM JONG-IL’S BIRTHDAY. Deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s birthday is today. It is still a major national holiday in NK and includes much praise and veneration of Kim Jong-Il. Pray that the eyes of the North Korean people would be opened to see that there is only one worthy of their worship and devotion—King Jesus.
  1. VILLAGE PRIORITIES. During a village meeting in an impoverished community in the Philippines, the people decided that having a place to meet together for Bible study was an immediate need. Praise God that they see spiritual food and fellowship as priority, despite lacking other basic necessities. Pray that a hunger for God would continue spreading throughout the village.
  1. NEW WORKERS FOR PHILIPPINES. A church-planting team on the island of Samar recently received two new OMF workers from Germany, Tobi and Ena Krick, who are nurses. They will first go through language study. Pray for strong language comprehension and for their transition into church-planting ministry.
  1. UNREACHED COMMUNITIES IN PHILIPPINES. There are 21,000 communities in the Philippines without gospel-preaching churches. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send 93 new workers in the next seven years. Pray that most will focus on evangelism and church planting in these communities.
  1. MUKO-MUKO PEOPLE. The Muko-Muko people of Indonesia are predominantly Muslim. The 50,000 Muko-Muko people live in Benkulu Province in Sumatra, Indonesia. Very few believers exist among them. They are one of the most isolated people groups on the island. Pray that the Muko-Muko people would gain access to the gospel message and come to faith in Christ.
  1. URBAN POOR OPPORTUNITY. Families in Indonesia’s overcrowded slums suffer from threat of disease, expulsion, flood and fire. Many children do not finish school and become youth at risk. Pray that God would provide Serve Asia workers who can serve Indonesia’s urban poor for one year. Skills in medicine, early education, community development and income-generating initiatives are needed.
  1. FRIENDSHIPS OPEN DOORS. Friendships between Muslims and Christians in Southeast Asia open doors for gospel sharing, even if direct evangelism proves difficult. For instance, Christian weddings and funerals are excellent chances for Muslim friends to hear of Jesus’ sacrifice for them. Pray that God cultivates friendships between Christians and Muslims where creative evangelism can take place.
  1. PRINCIPAL FOR BIBLE COLLEGE. Pray for God’s provision of a permanent principal for Singapore Bible College (SBC), a strategic equipping school for potential ministry leaders across Asia. SBC has been functioning with an interim principal for the past 1.5 years. Pray that God leads a qualified candidate to apply.
  1. BALANCED WORKLOAD. The OMF (U.S.) finance team has to balance workload and, for some, partnership development. Pray for proper balance and work distribution, and that God would sustain their unity and joy in busy times.
  1. GOD PROVIDES. Praise the Lord for sustaining the OMF (U.S.) finance team at the end of 2015 as they worked hard during year-end and audit preparation. May each team on the U.S. homeside continually depend on the Lord in prayer and trust in his all-sufficient provision.
  1. SUMMER ENGLISH GOSPEL CAMP. Lift up the planning of a Summer English Gospel Camp missions trip to Hengchun, Taiwan. The camps will help Hengchun Bible Church reach out to the communities served by the schools and will be hosted in late June and early July. Pray for the formation of the team, resources and planning, that all would come together for God’s glory in Taiwan.
  1. SERVE THE TAIWANESE. Serve Asia offers a one-year opportunity to teach children and youth at a language school in Taiwan as well as share Christ through a coffee shop on a local university campus. Chinese language and culture-learning is involved. Pray for applicants who have a servant’s heart and are bold in initiating conversations.
  1. COMPLEX RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. Thailand’s religious culture is a complex web of spirit appeasement, occult practices and Buddhism, which is closely interwoven with social culture. Thai Christians especially struggle to engage their communities amidst an abundance of Buddhist-based traditions and celebrations. Pray that Christians in Thailand could express their faith without losing their cultural identity.
  1. NEW BAPTISMS. Praise God for the baptism of three church members and three new believers from a small house church in a mountain village of Thailand during a Christmas outreach in December. Sunday evening worship services have recently begun also. Pray for the newly-baptized believers as they are further discipled in faith.

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