2018 January Prayer Powerlines

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! –2 Corinthians 5:17

1. DIASPORA MINISTRY. This month, join us in praying for the East Asian diaspora who have moved across geographic borders and now live and work around the globe. Their time overseas can be a great opportunity for them to hear the gospel and become followers of Christ. Pray for these East Asian students and business people as they not only travel abroad but also return home with the message of the gospel.
2. EAST ASIAN IMMIGRANTS. Our world today can be unwelcoming to strangers; fear, suspicion, misunderstanding and prejudice often divide groups of people. As East Asian immigrants come to the U.S., pray that churches will “welcome the stranger” and celebrate cultural diversity in the body of Christ.
3. FOLLOW UP. As the new year begins, many Christian workers will be following up with nonbelievers who attended Christmas outreaches in December. Pray for East Asians who have heard the message of Christ but not yet put their faith in Jesus. Pray for God’s Spirit to move in their hearts and for spiritually significant conversations with believers in the new year.
4. NEW WORKERS. The Candidate Department is trusting the Lord for 30 new candidates in 2018 and also praying that we will send 30 new workers to East Asia from previous Candidate and Orientation Courses held in 2016 and 2017. Pray with us for this 30/30 vision to be fulfilled by God’s grace and for his glory.
5. FINANCIAL NEEDS. Please pray for three OMF families who need a large amount of financial support in order to continue their ministries well. God is our Provider and has continued to meet the needs of OMF workers for over 150 years. Pray with us that he will lead people to partner with these families in ministry.
6. DIVERSE MINISTRIES. The OMF Cambodia team consists of people with a range of ministries: medical, urban poor, urban professional, university student, minority peoples etc. Ask God to use each person to connect with Cambodians in a way that leads them one step closer to Christ.
7. FIRST GENERATION. Church leaders in Cambodia are mostly first generation believers with little support or understanding of their faith from family or society. Pray for them to be steadfast shepherds of God’s flock as they balance many pressures.
8. COMING OF AGE. Today is Coming of Age Day in Japan, when Japanese men and women who have turned 20 in the past year celebrate their newfound adulthood, which comes with privileges like drinking, smoking and voting. Pray that Japanese young adults would not be distracted by their new freedoms, but instead would hear and respond to the message of freedom found in Christ.
9. MISSION CHINA. Mission China is a movement of unregistered Chinese churches to send out 20,000 missionaries by 2030. This is an audacious goal for a country that has only sent several hundred foreign missionaries so far (Christianity Today). Praise God for the boldness of Chinese churches. Ask the Lord to strengthen this movement and raise up Chinese missionaries for the task.
10. RISKY SITUATIONS. Missionary work always carries with it an element of risk. How our workers handle crises, threats and safety concerns are critical not only in our witness, but in the continuation of sharing the gospel with unreached people. Pray for wisdom for OMF’s leaders as they make tough decisions on behalf of our workers in sensitive situations.
11. MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. Medical professionals in Laos mirror the religious beliefs and practices of the general population. They are animistic with significant influence from Buddhism and modernity. Pray for more Christian medical professionals in Laos who reflect the character and love of God as they treat patients.
12. TALIENG PEOPLE. The Talieng people live in remote mountain areas of Laos and are an independent-thinking people who do not integrate easily with others. Pray that the Talieng would welcome a messenger of the gospel and when hearing the story of Jesus, be moved to give their lives to him.
13. SOCCER FIELDS. A foundation created by former South Korean national soccer coach Guus Hiddink plans to build a soccer field in Pyongyang next year. Guus’s vision is to see a total of 10 soccer fields built for deaf players in the DPRK (North Korea). Praise God for the opportunities this will open for the deaf community.
14. SERVE ASIA. Please pray for three Serve Asia (U.S.) participants who will be spending a month in Thailand for the Launch Course January 17–February 15. This new training is designed to help them prepare well for their 6–12 month placements in China, Thailand and Indonesia.
15. 2020 VISION. The OMF Japan team is praying for 200 new workers to join their team by 2020. Please pray with them for this provision.
16. LEADERSHIP CHANGES. Continue to lift up the OMF Japan team as they go through leadership transitions. Chris Pain will be transitioning from regional leader to Field Director, and a young Swiss missionary will take on a new role as regional leader next year. Pray for unity, flexibility and grace for this team as they adjust.
17. REHABILITATION. The government of Myanmar is requesting assistance in the area of rehabilitation, as there are no speech therapists, occupational therapists or mental health workers in the country. OMF has opportunities available for long-term workers in these fields. Ask God to raise up believers to serve the people of Myanmar in these ways and to strengthen the church’s witness as they do so.
18. MORE ACCESSIBLE. Minority people living in mountainous areas of Vietnam are coming to cities to work on building sites, and others are opening homestays for visitors in their villages. Pray that this new accessibility will allow believers a greater opportunity to share the gospel with minority peoples who are typically hard to reach.
19. TAI DAM. The Tai Dam are a minority people group who originated in China but consider Vietnam to be their homeland. They now live throughout the Mekong region. Only 0.14 percent know Christ, but in recent years many have been exposed to the gospel story. Pray that the gospel takes root and spreads throughout this people group.
20. CHURCH PARTNERSHIPS. Recently, an OMF worker sent out a desperate request for funds to help nomadic reindeer herders in Mongolia vaccinate all 2,000 of their reindeer to save them from dying of parasites. The worker’s home church supplied the needed funds. Praise God for churches that are responsive to the needs of East Asia’s peoples. Pray for even more churches to partner with OMF’s work in East Asia.
21. PRISON DISCIPLESHIP. A discipleship program is taking place among men at a high security prison in Mongolia. Pray that the study of God’s word would bring these men true freedom in Christ.
22. SKYLANDS PEOPLES. There are many physical and spiritual challenges to sharing the gospel in the Skylands region (areas of China, Mongolia and Bhutan that are heavily influenced by Tibetan Buddhism). Ask God to reveal himself to the Skylands peoples through scripture, print, audio, video and other digital means, as well as through dreams and visions.
23. MANOBO TRIBES. The Manobo Bible Church Association of the Philippines aims to help new Manobo Christian leaders learn how to contextualize the gospel for their own tribes. The association now consists of 61 churches and has 15 outreaches underway. Pray for these Manobo believers to grow in spiritual maturity and to have a heart for reaching more Manobo tribes with the gospel.
24. DEARLY LOVED. Eighty-six percent of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists do not know a Christian and have no one in their circle of relationships who can share the love of Christ with them. Pray for these groups of people to know they are dearly loved by God.
25. NO LONGER BUDDHIST. A Taiwanese believer recently shared her past experience with Buddhism in her Bible study: “When I prayed to Buddha, there was no answer. I offered gifts to my god and often left the temple with fear.” Her testimony is drawing other women to the study. Pray that each woman comes with an open heart to receive from God.
26. WORKERS FROM TAIWAN. OMF’s field teams are made up of a diverse group of people from a variety of countries. However, many OMF fields still have no missionaries sent from Taiwan. Pray for the Holy Spirit to stir the hearts of Christians and churches in Taiwan, that they would be willing to step out in faith to do cross-cultural missions.
27. CHURCH GROWTH. The number of churches in Thailand has more than doubled in the past 20 years (eSTAR Foundation). The Thai church is becoming an active participant in the Great Commission and opportunities for partnership are abundant. Pray for local Thai believers to understand God’s will for them in taking the message of Christ to the unreached.
28. HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT. A certain area of Thailand is seeing an unprecedented multiplication of small house churches. Praise God for his work among these believers. Pray that we can support this movement well while also learning from these churches.
29. SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB. As they look at the upcoming year, the OMF (U.S.) Communications Team is excited about creating engaging content that will help connect a wider audience to the work God is doing in East Asia. Pray for creativity and wisdom as they utilize OMF’s social media and web platforms to mobilize more prayer and workers in 2018.
30. PRAYER APP. The U.S. Prayer Mobilization Team has just launched a new app called “OMF Prayer.” The app has an easy-to-use interface that allows users to pray daily for East Asia’s countries and people groups, explore prayer series and learn more about OMF. Pray that God uses this resource in powerful ways to mobilize prayer for East Asia.
31. IMPROVING PROCESSES. Pray for the OMF (U.S.) Finance Team as they work with a new auditing firm and continue to improve the IT customer service department. Pray for patience and discernment as they develop processes to support the U.S. team better.

To download the pdf version of our Prayer Powerlines newsletter CLICK HERE.