Breathing Out to Our World
Prayer and missions are as inseparable as faith and works; in fact prayer and missions are faith and works. Jesus Christ, by precept, by command and by example, has shown with great clarity and force, that he recognizes the greatest need to see worldwide evangelization take place is prayer. Before ''give'' and before ''go,'' comes ''pray.'' This is the divine order. Anything that reverses or alters it inevitably leads to loss or disaster.
Early last century, God used a young man named John R. Mott to launch what became the biggest sending of new missionaries in history. Responding to Mott’s visionary call, the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM) was launched, and over 10,000 students from the US, Canada and Great Britain started a wave of new missionary goers. In addition, another 90,000 committed to prayer as the crucial strategy to see the cause of Christ advanced in places where he was unknown. (In fact, a number of Lake’s own missionaries from a previous generation, were fruit of the SVM.)
Prayer and missions are as inseparable as faith and works; in fact prayer and missions are faith and works
This weekend World Focus is on the intersection of Prayer and Mission and how it is at the heart of “The Ministry of Reconciliation.” For Randy and Edie (Edie is a 3rd generation Lake Avenue missionary worker), prayer and reconciliation are cornerstones of their ministry. They have planted churches in the deserts of East Africa, led prayer movements in Manila and currently are combining both in Pattaya and Bangkok Thailand. Additionally, we welcome one of their Thai ministry leaders Ying Pratana, whose commitment to women trapped in the bars, many of whom were trafficked into those places, will inspire and challenge all of us to be reconcilers in our neighborhoods, schools, clubs and offices.
You may recall last year Pastor Waybright visited the church plant in Pattaya, True Friends Church. He described it as being “like no other church I have ever been in!” This reconciled community, coming out of the bars and clubs of Pattaya, are discovering a true and sustaining freedom, all undergirded and prefaced by, a commitment to strategic prayer, as the critical element of God’s reconciling work.
A Fellow Pilgrim on a Journey,
Scott White
Pastor of Global Outreach