St. Lucia, Caribbean: Evangelically oriented churches have multiplied – as have divisions. Pray for true unity amid the increasing diversity so that churches can offer a united front for the gospel’s sake. The Fellowship of Gospel Preaching Churches is working to develop that unity in practical terms.www.operationworld.org
St. Kitts& Nevis, Caribbean: There is no lack of churches or other ministries on these islands, but their impact is limited. Pray for the Holy Spirit to revive, empower and embolden believers for Kingdom effectiveness. Pray especially for ministries that draw together the diverse denominations, such as the Evangelical Association and Youth ImpactMinistries. www.operationworld.org
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”
14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,
“See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed!
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven
and of the fatness of the earth
and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac. 20Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23And the LORD said to her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
24So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
31But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
33Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
New King James Version
The isolation of the islands makes vibrant ministry and church life a huge challenge. Connection to the outside world and to Christian resources is limited. The small and more transient populations of Ascension and Tristan have even less evangelical presence and ministry, if any.
Passionate Spirituality – who doesn’t want it? Consider how important it is to Starbucks and Teavana. They have recently begun a campaign where with every cup of coffee you get a “Steep Your Soul” quote. They write that the “Steep your Soul” quotes “invite you to take a few moments to pause and reflect each day. Your own personal steep time.” Then, on the other side of your Quad-Half-Calf-2%-Caramel-Macchiato you get a quote to help you steep you soul. One cup quotes Oprah Winfrey: Know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world.
I mention all that to make the point that the general population who have common sense (that would exclude those who prefer Dunkin Donuts) are also interested in spirituality. Here’s the thing. Not that I don’t like Oprah but who made her the authority on spirituality? She could teach me endless things about how to run a company or host a talk show but when it comes to spirituality I am going to the Bible.
So what exactly is spirituality according to the Bible? Well, as Jesus said, “God is Spirit”. Further, after Jesus rose physically from the dead he sent God the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). The Holy Spirit is essential to true human flourishing or true Spirituality (note the capital “S”). He comes as the gift to all those that trust that Jesus’ death saves. He comes as the guide for all those longing for a renewed human life of true and passionate Spirituality.
What about passion? What does that have to do with Spirituality? Well, to put it simply – if you have Spirituality then you have passion (or desire or longing or loving or whatever you want to call it). The two go together like coffee and cream. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” If my passion is not for the kingdom of God then my longing will be for some alternate kingdom, some other vision of human flourishing.
Alright, granting you want to be passionately Spiritual, and not just in some bland pluralist “sparks the light” blah blah blah sort of way but the Jesus-Christ-True-to-Reality sort of way, then you want to know how to go about it. Here’s the kick – it doesn’t just happen. In the Old and New Testament God again and again commends practices and habits that help to develop passionate Spirituality. Gathering with others for regular worship, singing songs together about the Kingdom of God, praying alone and with others, listening to the voice of God in Scripture, being still before God in recognition of his majesty, and others are examples of practices that help to further passionate Spirituality. The Scriptures even commend wise creativity with respect to these practices. For example, Jesus went to synagogue week-in-and-week-out yet this was never commanded (Luke 4:16).
Warning: these practices are not to be honed in order to force God to do stuff for you. These practices are not to be trotted out as reasons for people to notice you. These practices are not to be done the same way by everybody at all times and places.
The idea is that just as a trellis gives guidance for the vine so too Spiritual practices give structure to the truly passionate life in Christ. Rooted in Jesus through faith we can grow more and more into those who truly long for the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
The religious scene of Rwanda has been reshaped by the 1990s. A country in which 80% call themselves Christian, yet allowed and perpetrated such atrocities, might have been Christianized, but it clearly was not converted. Pray for:
a) The Catholic Church, which lost much credibility by failing to adequately oppose evil and speak against the ethnic hatred that led to the massacres. Many righteous Catholics, including priests and nuns, laid down their lives to protect others. But others failed to intervene or even connived with the perpetrators. As a result, many defected away from Catholicism out of disillusion. Pray that such nominalism and compromise might never happen again and that genuine renewal will transform the Catholic Church; signs that Catholics are seeking renewal are encouraging.
b) Evangelicals grew rapidly in the aftermath due to very active evangelism, aid programmes, ministry to the hurt and traumatized and a message of hope for all regardless of tribe. The East African Revival of the 1930s began in Rwanda. Pray for a new revival to break out, one that places tribalism and revenge at the foot of the cross and is characterized by repentance and reconciliation. Some evangelical groups seem concerned only with numerical growth rather than discipleship and transformation.
c) Muslims also increased significantly in the last 15 years – unsurprisingly for similar reasons as evangelicals. Aggressive mosque building, aid and education programmes, a universal message that transcends ethnicity as well as the moral high ground for playing a less active role in the genocide have seen Muslim numbers increase to possibly over 5% of the population, although this number is disputed. There is negligible Christian outreach to Muslims, and churches have little idea how to do so; pray for a loving witness by believers.
Thousands of spiritual leaders were murdered or fled and have not been replaced. The remaining often despair of being able to cope with the desperate physical, social, psychological and spiritual damage done. Less than 10% of evangelical pastors have any formal theological training. Several theological colleges have a born-again presence, including the Rwanda Institute of Evangelical Theology (the encouraging result of the merger of two colleges), an Anglican college and a Pentecostal college. All face challenges. Some pastors train and study in Uganda or Kenya. A number of other programmes, including TEE and modular training, are also being utilized. Poverty often prevents pastors from getting the training they need and long for. There is a dearth of good Bible study aids, and the government’s decision to rapidly transition from French to English as the language of education will impact training for some years. Pray that God may raise up godly men and women fitted for Rwanda’s hour of need. Pray also for financial provision for both students and schools.
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
Unreached peoples. There are 78 ethnic minorities considered unreached, totalling over 13 million in population. (See the different ethnic republics below.) Most expatriates and even Russian ministries focus on reaching ethnic Russians. Moscow operates as the centre of the former Soviet world, and nearly every ethnicity from the fSU can be found there. Most of these ethnicities are more accessible and open away from their home location and cultural setting. Pray for effective partnering and viable strategies to plant churches among them.
a) Muslims number over 17 million and account for the majority of non-Russians in the Russian Federation. Their growth and the ethnic-Russian decline could make Muslims a majority in Russia by the end of the 21st Century. The largest groups are Tatars (5.5 million) and Bashkirs (1.6 million), but there are also many Central Asians and peoples of the Caucasus. Undocumented and often illegal, millions of Central Asians live as temporary workers in Russia. Pray for openness to the gospel on the part of Muslims, and a loving and sensitive passion for their salvation on the part of Christians in Russia.
i Radicalization of Islam. While only around 20% (at most) of Muslims faithfully practice Islam, the radicalization of Muslims in Russia accelerated due to the Chechen war and foreign Islamist influences. Russian military belligerence in the south and the equation of Christianity to Russian imperialism make witness to these peoples difficult for practical, cultural and spiritual reasons.
ii Conversions to Christianity. Some reports claim up to two million Muslims converting to Orthodoxy. This is seen as a reaction of horrified Muslims to terrorist atrocities, such as the Beslan massacre, and consists of mostly nominal Muslims in the Caucasus region. Protestant missionary effort is limited but sees fruit among the peoples of the Caucasus.
b) Several widely dispersed peoples need prayer:
i The Jews once numbered over two million, but are now reduced to one-eighth of this. Emigration to Israel continues, but there are important concentrations in European Russian cities. Significant numbers – over 10,000 – have come to Christ, and a large proportion of Messianic Jews in Israel are of recent Russian or Ukrainian origin. However, pockets of Georgian, Tat and Hill Jews in the Caucasus region are still unreached. The Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Far East Russia only has a few thousand Jews remaining, but there is outreach to them.
ii The Romani (Gypsy) live scattered over European Russia with many in the Urals; they are significantly Christianized but also heavily marginalized. Some areas see an awakening and churches planted. About 5% of Russian Gypsies are evangelical.
iii The Chinese number over 50,000 in Moscow alone and over one million nationally, including temporary migrant workers in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They are largely unevangelized, though a few dozen small churches exist. Russian attitudes toward Chinese are poor, but Chinese in China and abroad have a growing heart to reach these unappreciated workers who are essential to Asiatic Russia’s economy.
c) The 16.5 million Russians of the “near abroad”. The collapse of the USSR left many as ethnic minorities in the 15 new states formed, where they are often resented. Their status and future are far from secure. Nearly 20 million Russians emigrated back to the Russian Federation in the last 25 years – often with few possessions. Pray that many among them might be receptive to the gospel and in turn gain a burden for the non-Christian peoples among whom they lived.
Church planting is still a vital ministry. Over 100 new churches are planted each year, but many more are needed. A consortium of mission agencies works across evangelical denominational boundaries to facilitate reaching the 19 cities and 9,500 villages (43% of all villages) without a single evangelical church. Many more congregations are still needed in the cities. There is notable resistance to non-Orthodox expressions of Christianity in most villages, and rising costs and rapid cultural change make for urban challenges. Pray for this vision to become a widespread movement, owned by the national church and effective at planting churches in every city, town and village.
Foreign missionary deployment was rapid and profuse in the immediate post-Communist years. Amid much that was good and worthwhile, some workers went in with little tact and less wisdom, causing almost as much harm as help. There is still a great need for expatriate missions in training, church planting and meeting the many social needs. Pray that expatriate Christians called to serve may show sensitivity, humility, true partnership and an ability to learn from, and work alongside, Romanian Christians. Many Western (and Korean, African and Latin American) groups now work in partnership with Romanian agencies and churches. Among the largest sending agencies are ReachGlobal(RG), IMB, GEM, ABWE, OCI, AoG. Increasingly, ministries started by expats are being handed over to national direction and leadership.
