Includes Case Study.

IDEAS
QUESTION From: <Merriott@aol.com> Randall Merriott 06 Apr 96 .I had begun attending a small church since I had moved back to Texas...I wasn't sure if I would be able to serve in any capacity since I hadn't yet become a member. Imagine my surprise when, after a couple of weeks away, I returned and was informed that I was now the missions prayer coordinator and was to bring forth a monthly prayer emphasis to the congregation starting that evening. (Gives me some ideas for missions mobilizing. Don't ask for volunteers. Just tell people to go!) Anyway, I plan to make the most of this, and I'd like to hear everyone's favorite idea for promoting prayer for missions.

ANSWER by: NateWilson@XC.org

1. Definitely model prayer for missions in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. If your pastor isn't praying for the missionaries why should the congregation feel the need to? Preachers should regularly include sermons on prayer, too. If you can't get the preacher to do it, volunteer to do a mission focus once a month on Sunday morning and lead the prayer yourself. (This Sunday, I'll be showing 4 minutes of video footage on Yemen, followed by my mission team partner praying for missions in Yemen.) Then ask your pastor to meet with you once a week to pray together--he'll eventually get sold on the importance of prayer. Wednesday night prayer services are important in this regard also!
2. The missionary photo prayer cards that can be stuck to the fridge at home and displayed on the walls of the church building are always helpful. Many denominations and mission agencies also print brochures on "How to pray for your missionaries;" I have a file full of them. Get/make these things and distribute them!
3. Get Sunday schools to adopt a particular missionary and use a portion of every Sunday School hour to read an update on the missionary and pray for them. You could also use this format to adopt a particular country or unreached people group--have the class members gather data on the country/group. If the Sunday School idea doesn't fly, recruit individuals to band together in groups of 3-4 and covenant to pray together once a week.
4. Hold a special "Concert of Prayer." Get a copy of David Bryant's book, "With Concerts of Prayer" from your local bookstore and do it.
5. Take advantage of "Praying Through The Window III-The Unreached Peoples" coming up for October 1997. If you didn't go through "Praying Through The Window II-The 100 Gateway Cities" last October, go ahead and order the book and video from a bookstore and go through that as a church!
6. Be sure to publicise ANSWERS to prayers to encourage the congregation of the efficacy of their prayers!

IDEAS FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH
Question From: Harold Britton <Hbritton@Cproject.Com> If your church did anything about the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church? Would you share a brief word about it?...

ANSWER From: Karl Mueller <khym@juno.com> During our Saturday Nite Celebration (a seeker-sensitive service) we showed 15 minutes of the IDOP video, and then split into groups of 8-10 people for a concert of prayer. I directed the prayer topics based on the Lord's Prayer, and then people prayed in groups. At the end of our prayer time, we had a communion time. We also offered material at the end of the evening for people interested in getting more involved. About 25% of the people who attended picked up the information sheets. Many people were blown away by the video. They had no idea what was going on in regards to the persecuted church. In our Sunday morning services (which are quite formal and not very flexible), we had a bulletin insert about the persecuted church, and then prayed during the congregational prayer time. The Saturday Nite Celebration was significantly more effective...

ANSWER From: Hebert Sardy <omyv@telcel.net.ve> ...I received a brochure of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church from Intercede (a bi-monthly publication of the Center for Ministry to Muslims). In that brochure they gave information of Internet sites to get extra information, so I downloaded news from the Voice of the Martyrs..., translated part of that material and shared it with 5 churches. In my church that Sunday the [sermon] was about prayer and after that I shared the information and we prayed for our persecuted brothers. The people got the sense of the situation in other countries...

CASE STUDY
From: Bill Copeland <100103.3652@compuserve.com> We were brainstorming on how we could mobilize prayer... This is basically what we came up with, and it seems to be reaching churches not on e-mail. If you're in the same boat I'm in, something similar might help you.

I sent a letter to all of my friends and churches, asking them to join an international prayer team we were forming. I explained that if we were going to make a difference in that difficult part of the world, we needed committed believers all over the world to pray for our work in Central Asia. Enclosed with the letter was a response card giving them the option to start a prayer team in their church, be a member of a church prayer team, or just pray without being on a prayer team.

In turn, I committed to send them a monthly bulletin, a bi-monthly people group feature, and a yearly muslim prayer focus booklet. I also told the churches in the States that I would be visiting the US in September and part of October, and if they needed any help setting up a prayer team, I would visit them and help them (finances and schedule permitting).

All this was done by snail-mail, and responses are trickling in from all over the world. Imagine what you could do though Brigada on e-mail!

EOF