PRAYER GUIDE
Local Focus
GIBC
Pray for our Music Ministry. Pray for Pastor Shaun as he leads the ministry, as well as the numerous volunteers who help out. Pray that God would be honored by our efforts to worship Him in song. Pray that our people will genuinely engage in collective worship through music. Praise God for the many gifted and passionate people God has brought into our church family to serve in our music ministry. Pray for our extra perpetration for Easter with our choir and worship team.
Community
Pray for our ministry partner, Life’s Choices Women’s Clinic. Pray for the director, Marcia Marron, the staff, and the volunteers. Pray that they would continue to share the love of Jesus by loving women who have crisis pregnancies. Pray that they would receive all the funds and resources necessary to meet the needs of those they serve. Pray that the staff and volunteers would have opportunities for gospel witness. Pray that all who are in a crisis pregnancy would choose life. Pray that the Walk for Life on Saturday will be a success and a witness to our community.
USA
Continue to pray for efforts to protect life in the womb. Praise God for the progress made in helping to protect life. Pray that God would lead each state to create laws that protect life. Pray that the efforts being made at the state level and in Congress to create laws guaranteeing the right to abortion would be met with failure. Pray that God would strengthen and embolden those who fight for the Pro-life cause. Pray that our country’s citizen’s would awaken to the evil that is abortion and stand together against it. Pray for churches and organizations as they work hard to counsel and help those with crisis pregnancies.
North America:
Pittsburgh
Known for its advancements in industry and infrastructure, Pittsburgh boasts some 446 bridges within its city limits and the largest inland port in the country. Loyal fans of the Penguins, Steelers and Pirates know the city as a hub for athletic excellence, and many students call this place home. Food, culture, arts and activities are on the rise, drawing visitors from around the globe. And recently, BusinessWeek ranked Pittsburgh one of the top places to live and raise a family in America, which only adds to its reputation as one of the most habitable cities in the Northeast.
Yet with all this, there is still something missing in the city of Pittsburgh. Though the city is rich in religious tradition, there is a significant lack of healthy, gospel-centered churches. Currently, there are only 53 Southern Baptist churches serving the Pittsburgh population of close to 2.5 million people. With only one church for every 45,841 residents, there simply aren’t enough churches to reach all the lost and seeking people who call Pittsburgh home.
“What this city needs more than anything is a genuine community of Christians who are committed for the long-haul,” says Pittsburgh area church planter, Rob Maine. “There is a need in Pittsburgh for people to come, share the gospel, make disciples and pray that Jesus will do what He promised us in Scripture.”
Pray for Send City Missionary: Steve Canter
Steve is the Send Network Regional Director for the Northeast and currently resides in Manhattan with his wife, Jennifer, and youngest daughter, Micheline. Throughout his ministry experience, he has focused on developing missionary leaders who will provide laborers for the harvest field, with a particular burden for indigenous minority leaders. Steve has played an integral role in the establishment of GenSend, Send New York City, and the Rebuild Network, a network of churches focused on developing multiethnic leaders for the urban context. Steve enjoys exploring the city with his family and likes to eat chicken wings and drink coffee. His favorite Scripture verse is Isaiah 55:8-9.
Send an encouraging word to Steve at
Information gathered from North American Mission Board
Every Country:
Greece
Population: 9,938,845
Unreached: 3%
Christian Population: 91.5%
In Acts 16:9, Luke writes, “During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” Paul responded, and the subsequent evangelization of Greece brought the Gospel into Europe. Greece was the seat of one of the greatest ancient civilizations. Sophisticated science, medicine, philosophy, drama, and the arts flourished, particularly in Athens. Ruins like the Parthenon are reminiscent of the achievements of that golden age. Strategically located near Asia and surrounded by the Aegean, Ionian, and Mediterranean Seas, Greece has had a significant sea trade history. Today, Greece has the world’s largest merchant fleet.
Democracy was first practiced in Greece’s early city-states, but in the years that followed much freedom was lost. Four hundred years of Turkish domination ended in 1830 with independence and the institution of a monarchy. World War II brought Nazi occupation, followed by a civil war and two military dictatorships, which ended in 1974. A parliamentary republic was formed and the monarchy was eliminated. In the late 2000s a financial crisis swept the globe and devastated Greece. A history of massive public spending and tax evasion, combined with a debilitating recession, led to a severe government debt crisis and a decrease in the living standards of its people. Greece has yet to recover. On top of this, over one million people have fled war and persecution in Africa and Asia, landing on Greece’s shores in search of peace. In fact, hundreds still arrive daily. Many of these vulnerable masses find themselves stranded and unable to find asylum. Greece’s refugee population has now reached over 62,000; their living conditions are deplorable and unsustainable.
The Greek Orthodox Church is the official church of Greece, and the strong force that perpetuated the Greek culture and language during the long Ottoman rule. It continues to be a significant part of the cultural identity of the nation and receives state funding. Most of the population (98%) considers themselves to be Orthodox, but less than three percent attend any church regularly. Although laws have changed lessening discrimination for non-Orthodox believers, Protestants and Catholics often face problems if it is perceived they are drawing Greeks away from the Orthodox Church. But Evangelicals, both within and outside the Orthodox Church, are finding ways to reach the many who do not know the Gospel through service and other activities.
Information gathered from
Operationworld.org and PrayerCast.com
Unreached Peoples:
Turk in Turkey
Population: 61,800,000
Worldwide: 67,389,000
Christian Population: 0.02%
Main Religion: Islam
Turkey is considered to be a “link” between the Orient (Chinese and Mongols) and the Occidental (Anglo-Saxons, Slavs, Goths, and Latins). The Turk, therefore, have a knowledge and mixture of both Eastern and Western cultures. The Turks represent a great opportunity to create a “fulcrum” church movement that could reach many other Muslim people groups.
Though traditional ways continue to exist in some areas, the typical urban Turks lives a secularized, modern life, with all the materialistic advantages and temptations that go with it. Some Turkish men and women are doctors, lawyers, architects or engineers. About 60% of Turks live in major cities such as Istanbul (with 15 million people), Ankara, Izmir and Adana. About 40% of Turks are employed in agricultural sector living in villages and using natural resources to earn a living. Some peasants live as nomads, moving their sheep from place to place in search of greener pastures and dwelling in tents or huts.
Rural Turkish men work outside while the women spin yarn, dry fruits and vegetables for winter, prepare meals for their families, care for the children, and do the household chores. They also sometimes help with the men’s work. Children help their parents with the outside duties if no school is located in their community. They may ride in ox-drawn grain carts or help make colorful knots in rugs.
The diet of rural Turks consists of a heavy bread, olives, cheese from sheep or cow’s milk, onions, molasses from grapes, fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts. Meats such as fish, wild game, or poultry are only eaten once a week. Wealthier farmers may also eat lamb and beef, but Islam prohibits them from eating pork.
Urban or rural, relaxation is of the utmost importance to the Turk. Coffee houses are places where men meet to visit and talk politics or business. In general, the Turks are courteous, gentle people who readily show hospitality to strangers. They are also very patriotic and have a deep sense of nationalistic pride and love for their country. For that reason, they get offended if one brings up the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire, etc.
The Turks of Turkey are predominantly nominally Sunni Muslim, believing in one god (Allah), and an eternal heaven and hell. However, they also have many ethnic beliefs as well. For example, they believe that men have the power to curse others by giving them the “evil eye.” They believe that one is protected against such a curse by wearing blue beads, which the evil eye cannot face. Another way to avoid this cursing glare is to spit in a fire and pray to Allah. They also believe that if a woman puts fish oil around a door and a man walks through it, he will love her for the rest of his life.
One of the unique characteristics of Turkey is that they are a country where Muslims sometimes go and pray in churches and synagogues on special occasions. Judaism and Christianity and their prophets are generally respected by Turks.
Although the Turks of Turkey have Christian resources (both the Bible and the JESUS Film have been translated into Turkish) available to them in their language and missions agencies have worked among them, they remain strongly Muslim. Prayer alone has the power to break through spiritual strongholds.
There are negative attributes of modern urban life such as drunkenness, drug use and prostitution. Such an atmosphere can lead to identity crises that could lead individuals to Christ, or to fundamentalist Islam or to self-destruction. Memories of conflict with Christians might pose a barrier to Turks accepting the blood sacrifice of Christ.
- Pray that churches and missions organizations will accept the challenge of adopting and reaching the Turks.
- Ask God to give the Turkish believers boldness to share the gospel with their own people.
- Pray that God will grant wisdom and favor to mission agencies focusing on Turks.
- Ask the Lord to save key leaders among the Turks who will boldly declare the gospel.
- Pray that many Turks living abroad will be reached with the gospel and will take it back to Turkey.
- Pray that Turkey will avoid both ethnic strife (especially with the Kurds) and resurgent Muslim fundamentalism.
Information gathered from JoshuaProject.net