MUSLIMS: PRAYING BEYOND THE WALL 27Sep - 3Oct 2009

MUSLIMS: PRAYING BEYOND THE WALL
27 Sep - 3 Oct 2009

“I solemnly charge you: proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching.” 2Timothy 4:1-2

SUNDAY, 27Sep:
Approximately 350,000 Muslims currently live in Argentina, where Buenos Aires is home to the largest mosque in South America. These immigrant Muslims include Sunnis, Sufis, Shiites and Turkish mystics, each practicing their particular version of Islam.

In recent years they have established cultural centers, mosques and Islamic schools. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to sow the seeds of the gospel among Argentine Muslims. Ask the Holy Spirit to prepare their hearts to receive the gospel seed with joy. Pray that their lives would be transformed as God’s Word becomes firmly rooted in their hearts, bearing abundant eternal fruit. Pray that they will become vibrant witnesses sharing with others the change God has wrought in their lives.


MONDAY, 28Sep:

The Eastern Pashtun of Afghanistan number more than 15 million and stretch from central Afghanistan to the Indus River in Pakistan. Their conservative society is more than 99 percent Muslim and was the breeding ground of the fundamentalist Taliban.
There are less than 500 Pashtun believers in Christ and no visible Pashtun church. The vast majority of Pashtun have had no opportunity to hear or read the Good News.

Pray for the Gospel to be available to these people. Ask God to call out workers to
serve among them. Pray for Pashtun believers to become brightly shining lights leading their countrymen to Jesus, the Light of the world.

TUESDAY, 29Sep:
A group of West African musicians from the Susu people group had the opportunity to hear the gospel from workers who were in their city for a conference. Five men believed and were baptized. Others in the group were interested and open. This group of new believers and seekers are experiencing persecution, including being forced to leave the rooms they had been renting. This is the off-season, so they do not have much opportunity to earn money. Pray for their faith to remain firm as they look to God to meet all their needs. Ask Him to provide for them in ways that will encourage and strengthen their faith--ways that demonstrate that they are in His loving, all-powerful hands. Pray that they will continue to share the hope that they have found with others.

WEDNESDAY, 30 Sep:
The Afar triangle of eastern Ethiopia, southern Eritrea and Djibouti boasts some of
the earth’s hottest, lowest and driest places. It is home to 1.5 million Afar Muslims. They are herders moving with the seasons in search of water and grass for their herds. In recent years, a nightly radio program in their heart language broadcasts God’s story of creation through redemption. Pray for every Afar to be able to hear these stories. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable them to understand God and His ways. Pray for the Afar to turn from half truths to Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life. Pray for God’s kingdom to flourish in desert lands of the Afar triangle.

THURSDAY, 1 Oct:
130 million Bengali Muslims, living primarily in Bangladesh but with 20 million in the Indian state of West Bengal, typically live in mud brick homes in villages of 100 to 1000 people.

Praise the Lord, in recent years a growing number of Bengali Muslims in Bangladesh have heard and responded to the gospel! Ask God to send these Bangladeshi Muslim-background believers to the villages, towns and cities of West Bengal to share the gospel with their Indian brothers and sisters who have had little opportunity to hear. Pray that rapidly reproducing New Testament churches will be planted among Bengali Muslims wherever they live.


FRIDAY, 2 Oct:
Pray for these Central Asians to respond in faith to the gospel message:




+ a Kyrgyz woman who translates for volunteer teams and has heard the truth many times. She admits that Jesus was sinless and perfect, but still claims Islam.




+ a Turkish hotel owner in Cappadocia who has received a copy of Scripture, but doesn’t really understand the gospel.



+ a hardworking Uighur woman in her forties who is suffering physically, but whose greatest need is spiritual. Pray for physical and spiritual healing.

SATURDAY, 3Oct:
Praise the Lord for the many national partners who are “catching the vision” and beginning to share more consistently with the people of Pepper Port, Indonesia. Ask the Father to empower their words and to lead them to people who are open to hearing the Good News and ready to follow.

---
International Mission Board
3806
Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230

Dear Teenager, You are NOT Immortal

Dear Teenager,

You are NOT immortal.

I am tempted to submit a long entry, begging you to live life in such a way that you may not lose it, pleading with you to stop living recklessly, imploring you to seek first the kingdom of God because TODAY is the day of salvation because for you, my friend, there may be no tomorrow...

Isrie Strobel. 21 years old. Died 27Se09. www.caringbridge.org/visit/isriestrobel

Do you know where you'll spend eternity?

MUSLIMS: PRAYING BEYOND THE WALL

*20-26 September 2009*

". . . we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." Galatians 2:16b

SUNDAY, 20Sep:
Muslims believe that their entry into paradise is based on the number of good deeds they perform in this life. Those who have properly fasted during Ramadan believe they have earned a lot of credit.

Pray for these men and women to hear the gospel. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak through His Word to convict them--opening their spiritual eyes to see the reality of their sin, that their righteousness can come only through Jesus Christ's forgiveness of their sin, and that unless they claim Him as Lord they will be judged and found guilty. Pray for them to understand these truths and courageously turn from their self-righteousness to faith in Jesus, the Messiah.

MONDAY, 21Sep:
Today Muslims will celebrate the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

Unusually large numbers will gather at the mosque for morning prayers, spilling over into the streets and public squares of many towns and cities. After prayers, Muslim families will don their best clothes and visit the homes of their elders--children visiting parents and grandparents, nephews and nieces visiting uncles and aunts. The purpose of the visit is to ask forgiveness for wrongs committed in the past year and
to renew family and community ties. After visiting family, neighbors and friends will visit each other, again asking for forgiveness.

Today, pray for Muslim families to realize that true forgiveness can only be found in Christ and that only through His love and power in their lives can they truly forgive others.

TUESDAY, 22Sep:
The Bhatiara of Uttar Pradesh, India, are a Muslim people numbering approximately 260,000. The Bhatiara were traditionally innkeepers who provided shelter and safety for travelers, since the roads were not safe at night. Although some still work in this capacity, Bhatiara elders estimate that today 20-30 percent of able-bodied Bhatiaras are without permanent jobs, and are looking for meaning in life.

Ask God to send witnesses to share God's redemptive story with the Bhatiara. Pray for their eyes to be opened to see God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ, the Savior who alone can give them true meaning and purpose in life.

http://www.go2southasia.org/

WEDNESDAY, 23Sep:
Two years ago, a Persian woman in Iran wanted to study the Bible to know more about Jesus. She felt that there was more to Him than what she had learned from Islam. On the internet she found a Farsi Bible in PDF format and began to print and read Scripture one page at a time. Eventually she printed it all using three packs of paper and ending up with a Bible that was nearly a foot tall! In God's providence, an Iranian church-planting couple met her about that time and witnessed to her. She believed, joined a house church and was thrilled to receive a normal-sized Bible. Now she can carry her whole Bible to church! Give thanks for this woman and others like her who have searched for the Truth and found it in Christ as they have read His Word.

Pray for God's Word to be available to every Iranian seeker. Pray for God's Word to accomplish His purposes in Iran!

http://centralasia.imb.org/

THURSDAY, 24Sep:
Give thanks for churches in France who are becoming burdened for the salvation of North African immigrants living in their midst! Team Paris is providing training for
French churches in Greater Paris, through which they are teaching French believers how to share their faith with their Muslim neighbors.

Pray that many French Christians will participate in these training sessions and use what they have learned to lovingly, respectfully and boldly share the Gospel with Muslims living in their communities. Pray for French Christians to become a mighty host of winsome witnesses sharing the gospel with a sense of urgency throughout Paris.

FRIDAY, 25Sep:
Last month Senufo Supyire team members were warned by their neighbors not to go outside inthe middle of the night because a spirit was said to be roaming about. Then team members noticed that white marks were being painted on the outside walls of people's houses and compounds. When they asked about it, they were told that word was spreading that if these marks are not on your walls and a certain animal comes into your house, someone will die. Later the team saw that many people had begun to wear cowry shell bracelets. When they asked why, they were told that it was rumored that if you aren't wearing these bracelets when a big storm comes on a certain day, then you would be injured.

The Senufo Supyire people live in fear of a world theydo not understand and cannot control. Much of their time and energy is spent trying to control the uncontrollable. Please pray for the Senufo Supyire people to know the perfect love of Christ that casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). Pray that they will understand that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for the forgiveness of sins and that His blood can be their protection. Pray for Senufo Supyire Christians to demonstrate lives of confidence and hope, and that their freedom from fear will lead many to ask them about the source of their hope. Pray that they will effectively
share their faith with their Muslim neighbors.

SATURDAY, 26Sep:
Pray for a former Islamic teacher in the Deccan of India. Until God intervened in his life in December 2008, this young man led his community in prayers and taught them how to practice their faith. Struggling to find the answers to questions raised by his study of the Quran, he began to read the Bible, and after a time he became a follower of Jesus Christ. When his wife found out about his faith, she told her parents. Her father stated that he should simply kill his son-in-law in order to preserve the family name in the community, since he had brought them much disrespect. The father-in-law pressured him to divorce his daughter and pay monthly support to her. The new believer was unwilling and promised to care for his wife and their child by himself, if she would simply stay with him. The family finally agreed. However, his wife refuses to be emotionally or physically intimate with him until he returns to Islam. This young believer is suffering. The estrangement from his wife and family is very painful, but he is unwilling to deny Christ.

Ask the Father to encourage, strengthen and comfort this young husband and father, giving him wisdom and grace. Pray for the wife and her family to be saved. Ask that God's love prevail--restoring this broken family and making them a brightly shining light in the midst of their community.

http://www.go2southasia.org/
---
International Mission Board
3806 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230

MUSLIMS: PRAYING BEYOND THE WALL 6-12 September 2009

MUSLIMS: PRAYING BEYOND THE WALL

“They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
Romans 10:2-3

SUNDAY, 6Sep:
A special outreach is being conducted by Muslim-background believers in the city of Mumbai, India, during the 30 days of Ramazan (Ramadan). Please pray for these faithful believers as they reach out to their countrymen with the truth that they, themselves, have learned from other Muslim-background believers--who learned it in much the same way from the hearts of other former Muslims. Praise God for His grace and tender wooing in past years, and plead with Him that many more Muslims will believe and begin to glorify the name of Isa (Jesus) this year.

This outreach does not involve a quick sharing of God’s truth, but rather a patient investment in the lives of seekers that will continue for several months after Ramazan is over.

http://www.go2southasia.org/

MONDAY, 7Sep:
In order to have a good harvest, Bambara farmers in West Africa prepare their fields by softening the soil, digging holes, adding fertilizer and finally, after much preliminary work, planting seeds. This fall several teams from partnering Southern Baptist churches will be joining the Bambara Team. Together they will share Bible stories and plant gospel seeds in at least 5 villages.

Please help prepare the spiritual soil in F, K, B, S and T villages through fervent intercession. Ask the Father to soften and prepare hardened hearts to listen. Ask God to dig holes in established belief systems and to fertilize the soil with events and circumstances that will create a fertile ground for these seeds. Pray that the mountains of spiritual blindness and complacency will be removed and that the Bambara men and women in these villages will hear and understand the Gospel. Pray for an abundant harvest of transformed lives gathered into New Testament churches.

http://www.gobambara.org/

TUESDAY, 8Sep:
The month of Ramadan can be very difficult for new Muslim-background believers. Their families will pressure them to renounce their Christian beliefs. If they refuse they may be banned from the special family celebrations that take place in the evenings when the day’s fast is broken. They may also be ostracized and/or mistreated. The life of these believers can be very lonely and stressful.

Ask the Holy Spirit to encourage and strengthen them, enabling them to focus on Christ, read His Word and stand firm in their faith. Pray that Muslim-background believers will discover other believers who will
encourage and bless them in these days.

WEDNESDAY, 9Sep:
Two Moko workers are continuing to work diligently on crafting Bible stories into the heart language of the Moko people of Southeast Asia. Some elderly and young Moko women are helping these workers with this lengthy and exacting process.

Pray that as they hear and work through these Bible stories for the first time these Moko women will understand God’s character, His love and His plan for their lives. Pray that they will meditate on God’s Word day and night and come to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Son of God. May their excitement for God’s story penetrate the darkness in their village and encourage all to put their faith in Jesus.

THURSDAY, 10Sep:
Please pray for a Bible training event in which Iranian believers will study the writings of Isaiah focusing on Jesus, the Messiah and God’s Son. Ask that the understanding that Jesus is the true Messiah will lodge deeply in the hearts of these church leaders and that they will effectively share this teaching with other believers inside Iran.

Pray that the teaching will strengthen their faith, since many who come from an Islamic background struggle to understand Jesus as God’s Son. Also pray that the participants will travel safely to and from the conference.

http://centralasia.imb.org/

FRIDAY, 11Sep:
The team working with upper-class Arabs in the Arabian Gulf is excited to report that in answer to the prayers of Southern Baptists, some believers will be helping Arab students settle into their studies at universities in the United States. Please ask that those who welcome these students will share in culturally appropriate ways and that the students will be open to the Good News. Also pray that details for a fall training event to better equip people to engage with Gulf students will come together and the training will enable many believers to effectively relate to these Arab students.

SATURDAY, 12Sep:
This month a team will be visiting some poverty-stricken communities in Karachi, Pakistan, to enable the residents to have good, clean drinking water and to learn about the Living Water. Pray that the project will bless and meet the needs of these communities. Pray for those who will be sharing the Good News asking for boldness and wisdom, and many “divine appointments.” Also pray for the Pakistanis who will be receiving the help to have hearts that are open to the Truth.

http://www.go2southasia.org/

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International Mission Board
3806 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230