Djibouti, Africa: Pray that contacts lead to disciples for Jesus. Pray for God to send long-term workers, especially from nearby countries and people groups. Pray for unprecedented spiritual breakthroughs, long-awaited but as yet unseen. There is notable interest in Christianity from a small but increasing number of locals. For more information, go to www.operationworld.org.
Laws That Liberate
1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Denmark, Europe: Denmark retains a core of Christian tradition and values. They are deeply ingrained in Danish social laws and values. Over 80% of the population remain members of the Lutheran Church (despite the fact that over 50% are reported to be agnostic or atheist). Pray that more Danes will rediscover the faith that has shaped so much of the nation’s history and society. For more information, go to www.operationworld.org.
10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
There are new ministry challenges in the new Czech Republic. With many younger people leaving to work in other lands and a low birthrate, the population is increasingly aged. This requires new and specific approaches to ministry. Likewise, increasing numbers of immigrants are coming into the country – especially Russian speakers and East and Southeast Asians. These groups also need loving and focused outreach tailored to their needs and communities.
Special ministries can potentially touch almost every aspect of society:
a) Young people ask questions unanswered by traditional religion. SU (primary schools), IFES/VBH (groups in several universities) and Youth Outreach, an indigenous ministry, focus on the younger generation. Also, teaching English and summer camps (speaking Czech, German and English) impact young people. Pray for enthusiastic workers and much fruit.
b) Christian literature is increasing in distribution and scope. The Bible Society sells large numbers of Bibles and NTs and has opened its first permanent Bible House. Navrat Domu, Nova Nadeje and other publishing houses increasingly produce Christian materials in Czech; discipleship and apologetic materials are important, as is development of Czech Christian authors. The Bible in Czech is available (text and audio) on the Internet. A new Czech Bible translation in everyday modern language (called Bible21) was completed in 2009 and became a national bestseller that year. The vision is to see one million copies distributed in coming years. Pray for the fulfilment of this ambitious vision.
c) Christian radio and TV programmes are going from strength to strength. There is now a Czech Christian TV station (TV Noe); Christian programmes are increasingly aired on state television. Pray for continued growth and funding. TWR (transmitting globally and locally), HCJB Global (via Internet) and Radio 7 all provide excellent programming in Czech and other languages. The JESUS film has been translated into these languages as well and has enjoyed a wide viewership.
Mark 9:38-50
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Cuba, The Caribbean: Foreign missions are largely restricted to tactful support and occasional visits from outside the country. A few workers remain in low-profile teaching ministry; others visit to train church leaders in all aspects of ministry. The government blacklisted dozens of foreign organizations, one way of denying precious resources to the national Church. Pray that wise input from abroad will serve Cuba in an effective way. For more information, go to www.operationworld.org.
Mark 9:30-37
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. 33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Croatia, Europe: Evangelicals are one of the few groups that straddle the ethnic divide. Many Bosnians, Croats and Serbs have been won to Christ and brought into fellowship together. The churches’ and missions’ care and love for those who suffered in the war won much credit for the gospel. Pray that evangelicals would continue to demonstrate the boundary-breaking, universal love of God.
Believing churches are spreading. Though still relatively small in size and number, new fellowships are popping up around the country,
For more information, go to www.operationworld.org.
Cote d’Ivoire, Africa: Christian literature. Pray for the bookstores and depots of various missions, including The Bible Society, Maison de la Bible, CLC, CDM and others. Pray for the inter-mission/church Evangelical Publication Centre (CPE) and other publishers, that they might find the means to print books locally at a suitable quality. Currently, many books are printed in Asia or elsewhere. Well-intentioned efforts by outside ministries to sell their literature at subsidized prices keep African authors from publishing more relevant Christian works – because they cannot compete with these lower-priced books. Also needing prayer: lack of qualified staff (especially French-speaking), financial pressures and lack of good distribution outlets and marketing strategies. For more information, go to www.operationworld.org.