2014 P E R S O N A L
P R AY E R D I A R Y D A I L Y
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P L A N N E R
YWAM Publishing is the publishing ministry of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an international missionary organization of Christians from many denominations dedicated to presenting Jesus Christ to this generation. To this end, YWAM has focused its efforts in three main areas: (1) training and equipping believers for their part in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), (2) personal evangelism, and (3) mercy ministry (medical and relief work). For a free catalog of books and materials, call (425) 771-1153 or (800) 922-2143. Visit us online at www.ywampublishing.com. Project Editors Ryan Davis Luann Anderson Project Direction Warren Walsh Design Angela Bailey Illustrations Julie Bosacker © 2013 by YWAM Publishing. All rights reserved. Published by YWAM Publishing a ministry of Youth With A Mission P.O. Box 55787, Seattle, WA 98155-0787 Information was taken from the most recent and reliable sources available to the best of our knowledge. Every effort has been made to ensure factual accuracy. However, because of the complexity and rapid pace of world events, statistical information should not be regarded as authoritative. Updated information is welcome. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the holy bible, new international version®, niv® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Verses marked nasb are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Navy: 978-1-57658-781-2 Burgundy: 978-1-57658-782-9 Green: 978-1-57658-783-6 Black: 978-1-57658-784-3 Insert: 978-1-57658-785-0 Printed in China
Contents Welcome Using Your Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner 4 Weekly Prayer Plan 6 Principles for Life and Prayer The Primary Task: Making Disciples of All Nations 7 Poverty, Suffering, and God’s Vision for the Church 10 Living Intentionally: What We Do and Why 12 Calendars 2014–2016 Year-at-a-Glance Planners 14 2014 Month-at-a-Glance Planners 22, 36, 48, 60, 74, 86, 98, 112, 124, 138, 150, 162 2014 Week-at-a-Glance Planners beginning on page 24 Monthly Guides to Intercession and Reflection January: Syria’s Persecuted Christians 20 February: Afghanistan’s Uncertain Future 34 March: Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia 46 April: Roma Refugees 58 May: Leprosy in Somalia 72 June: Brazil’s Slums 84 July: The Baiga Tribe 96 August: Medical Missions in Peru 110 September: Injustice and Unrest in Mali 122 October: Ministry among First Nations People 136 November: Child Mortality in Ethiopia 148 December: Free in Cuba 160 Snapshots of the World Weekly Featured Nations beginning on page 24 Maps of the World 178 Countries of the World 188 Time Zones 199 Scripture Infusion Daily Bible-Reading Plan beginning on page 24 Weekly Meditation and Memorization beginning on page 24 Bible-Reading Checklist 174 Resources Contacts 200 Notes/Prayer Journal 202 Contributors 205 Article Notes 205 About Youth With A Mission 207
WELCOME
LIVING AND PRAYING INTENTIONALLY IN 2014
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ou hold in your hands a unique prayer and scheduling tool designed to help you live an intentional, integrated life connected to God’s kingdom. This multifaceted resource is far more than an effective organizer. It is a window through which thousands of believers like you, each year, see God’s work in the world and join in through vital intercession for the nations. After more than 30 years of publishing this resource, we are convinced that humans are story- centric beings. We define ourselves through our personal and collective stories, ranging from small stories of daily occurrences to overarching stories about the nature of humanity, the world, and God. As story-centric people, we are not alone or isolated; we relate to one another through common stories or contrasting ones. We also learn and develop through stories. They are a vehicle to learning, if we have open hearts. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus explains to his disciples why he speaks in parables, quoting the prophet Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them” (Matt. 13:14–15). Jesus’ disciples are blessed, he says, because they do “see” and “hear” the reality of God’s kingdom. They are transformed by what they hear. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the apostles continue to tell the story of salvation. Paul quotes the same prophecy from Isaiah and says that the message of salvation is for all who “will listen” (Acts 28:28). Peter comments on the truth of the apostles’ message: “For we did not follow 4
cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Pet. 1:16). The apostles had been radically changed by Jesus’ life and teaching, and they worked tirelessly and boldly to spread the good news. Rather than providing bare statistics, the Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner has always told stories. Stories of those who have yet to hear the gospel. Stories of those who lack food or water, safety or freedom. Stories of orphaned children, refugees, the persecuted, the sick, the poor and oppressed. Stories also of places of hope, where the kingdom of heaven has taken root in earth. These stories are not fiction—they are about real people and events around the world. When we encounter such stories, we are given opportunities to engage, to pray, and to be shaped by what we hear. This year, may the story and example of Christ form us and shape our responses to the stories of our lives and our world. Using Your Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner The Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner is designed to assist you in integrating three vital areas of your daily life: (1) intercessory prayer; (2) Bible reading and meditation; and (3) planning your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual schedules. It provides many opportunities for you to live and pray intentionally throughout the year. Mini-library of relevant Christian teaching. Beginning on page 7 is a series of short teachings to further inform your intercession and help you discover principles readily applicable to your daily walk with God. These challenging, insightful teachings lay a strong foundation for prayer, mission, and personal reflection and growth.
Welcome C
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A Monthly articles exploring places of brokenness and redemption around the world (A). Each month you’ll read about a people, nation, or issue in desperate need of the church’s intercession and intervention. Each Sunday you’ll find a reminder to pray for the people or situation discussed in that month’s profile. Notes to the articles and a list of contributors can be found on page 205. Daily thematic prayer guide (B). Each day a group or need related to that month’s prayer focus is targeted for prayer. Join thousands of other diary users worldwide in praying for the same people or situation. Bible meditation and memorization guide (C). Weekly meditation and memory verses are found at the beginning of each week. By meditating on and memorizing each selection, you will commit 53 portions of Scripture to memory in 2014. Weekly guide to praying for the nations (D). A nation related to the monthly prayer focus is highlighted each week. Important information and a flag are included in each listing to assist you in praying for that nation. On pages 197–98 you’ll find explanations of the symbols and categories used in the listings. Each nation may also be located geographically using the maps section beginning on page 178. Two-track Bible-reading program (E). Option 1: Read through the Bible in a year by following the reading guide each day. Option 2: Use the checkoff system on pages 174–77 to read the Scriptures in your own order and at your own pace. By reading an average of 3.5 chapters each day, you will read the entire Bible in one year,
regardless of the order you choose to read each portion. Calendars for planning your day, week, and year (F). A three-year long-range planner can be found starting on page 14. Each month opens with a month-at-a-glance planner to keep track of important events, birthdays, and appointments. The daily calendar is designed in a handy week-at-aglance format. This section can be used as a daily planning tool or as a daily journal and prayer diary should you desire to use the monthly planner for all your scheduling needs. (Note that some nonChristian religious holidays are included on the calendars as an aid to prayer.) Personal notes and contacts. A personal notes/ prayer journal page is included at the beginning of each month. Additional notes/journal pages begin on page 202. Also, a handy section for recording phone numbers and addresses begins on page 200. Reference helps (G). The world maps, countries of the world section, and time-zone chart are found on pages 178–87, 188–98, and 199, respectively. The more you use your Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner, the more natural it will become to you, assisting you in connecting the whole of your life to God’s kingdom. As you learn about areas of need and areas of hope in God’s world this year, both through this tool and in your daily life, be encouraged and emboldened in the knowledge that you are one of thousands of Christians using this diary worldwide who are united in vital intercession. 5
Weekly Prayer Plan
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The Family
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his page will help you remember your prayer commitments. Each day of the week lists one or more areas of society that help shape a nation. You may want to note the particular people or needs in these spheres of influence for which God has impressed you to pray. You may also record other prayer responsibilities here, such as your native land, its governmental and spiritual leaders, your family, your friends, non-Christians you know, your area of ministry, a nation of particular need, or specific individuals for whom God has called you to pray.
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Education
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THE PRIMARY Making Disciples of TASK: ALL NATIONS by Darrow L. Miller “The Church is only the Church when it exists for others.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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he Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper, at the inauguration of the Free University in Amsterdam, famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”1 Christ is sovereign over the university, the hospital, the business, the factory, the auto shop, the farm, and the artist’s studio. He wants his people to represent his kingdom, whatever their occupation, wherever they are deployed. Paul speaks of Christ’s supremacy over all things: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; . . . he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:16–20). With this background, we can understand Christ’s words as he commissions his disciples: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). Because Christ has conquered the fear of death and death itself, because “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to him (28:18)—therefore go! It is important that we understand the primary task of the Great Commission, Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all nations.” The Task of the Church This task is not an option; it is a command from Christ, central to the existence of the church in each generation. Why? Because there is no
neutrality in this matter: if the church does not disciple a nation, that nation will disciple the church. Ideas have consequences, and someone’s ideas will shape society. Social networks that turn ideas into lifestyle will inevitably shape the institutions and life of a nation. If the church is not consciously incarnating the word of God, and thus impacting the world, then the ideas that dominate the nation will govern the church. In the Gospel of John, Christ prays for his disciples and the church: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world” (17:15). He goes out of his way to articulate what he was not praying. Why? Why did he not pray to have his disciples taken out of the world? Because he wants his people in the world! Christ left heaven to come to the earth as the incarnate Word of God.2 Now he wants the church, the body of Christ, to manifest the Word of God in their communities. Sadly, many Christians instead become like the world. Others, wanting to be distinct from the world, virtually take themselves out of the world and into a building. Christ wants the church to be in the world but not of the world. His people are to influence the world in all areas of life and every sphere of society. It’s common to assume that the church is a building. It is not. A mosque is a building, a synagogue is a building, but the church as taught in the Scriptures is a people, a community of believers. The church gathers on Sunday for corporate worship and equipping. The church may gather in a rice field in Thailand, under a tree in rural Kenya, in a soccer stadium, or on a large urban campus. The same church scatters on Monday all over the city to minister to and influence society. 7
The Primary Task The church does not exist for itself as a kind of social club, nor does it exist for the pastor as a kind of fiefdom. No, the church is a people established by God for the sake of others. William Temple, archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 to 1944, understood this when he said that the church is “the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members.”3 The church is not merely a base for activities and programs that benefit the congregation, but is an outpost of the kingdom of God for the community. My good friend Dr. Bob Moffitt, founder of the Harvest Foundation, is fond of asking the provocative question, “If your church suddenly disappeared overnight, would anyone notice?” A church that exists for itself could disappear unnoticed, but one that exists for others would be missed. This way of thinking must influence the way we view our communities. Gary Skinner, founding pastor of the outwardly focused Watoto Church in Kampala, Uganda, instructs his church’s leaders and members to identify and address the needs and problems in their communities. He states, “The problems are not the communities’ problems—they’re our problems!”4 Discipling Nations The West has always recognized the significance of the individual, as it should. More recently, however, we have drifted from a Judeo-Christian concept of the uniqueness and value of every human to a mere shadow of this ideal in the modern concept of individualism. In the past, Western culture honored God, and the individual found his or her unique place as a free and responsible agent within God’s glorious order. Now, Western culture no longer honors God, but makes man the center of the universe. Now we worship man, which is the essence of individualism. We see this individualism everywhere: Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way,” the rugged Marlboro Man, Burger King’s invitation to have a burger “your way.” Shaped by today’s values, the church has focused its evangelism and discipleship on individuals, blinded to the communal component of the Great Commission. Individuals must come to a saving knowledge of Christ, but this 8
truth must not blind us to the biblical concept of community. Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations. The word translated “nations” in Matthew 28:19 comes from the Greek word ethnos, meaning “a people, a large group based on various cultural, physical or geographic ties.”5 Ethnos is related to ethos, “the distinctive character, spirit, and attitudes of a people.”6 A culture’s ethos includes its sacred belief system, its values system, its first principles, and the virtues of its people. We must not confuse “nation” (ethnos) with the modern concept of a geopolitical state. For instance, Ethiopia, a geopolitical state, is home to dozens of ethnic groups, or ethnē (the plural of ethnos). Throughout history, nations have been identified in other than geopolitical terms, such as by descent, tribe or clan, language, cultural heritage, religion, or ideals. Today some occupational groups—medical personnel, for example—have aspects of a distinctive culture and language and thus may be considered ethnē. In addition, the concept of transnationalism finds growing expression in global organizations. These “transnationals” transcend national borders and often carry greater economic and political clout than the nations where they engage. Transnationals fall into several categories: multinational corporations like Toyota, Airbus, Google, and Conoco-Phillips; nongovernmental organizations like the International Red Cross, Catholic Social Services, and World Vision International; and quasi-governmental organizations like the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Today all of these groups can be considered ethnē, “nations,” to be discipled. Matthew Henry (1662–1714) was an English Presbyterian Puritan perhaps best known for his commentaries on the whole Bible, works bound not by modern sensibilities of individualism but by the biblical frame of community. In his commentary on our text, he wrote: “Do your utmost to make the nations Christian nations”; not, “Go to the nations,
The Primary Task and denounce the judgments of God against them, as Jonah against Nineveh, and as the other Old-Testament prophets” (though they had reason enough to expect it for their wickedness), “but go, and disciple them.” Christ the Mediator is setting up a kingdom in the world, bring the nations to be his subjects; setting up a school, bring the nations to be his scholars; raising an army for the carrying on of the war against the powers of darkness, enlist the nations of the earth under his banner.7 Discipleship is an inside-out process, beginning in an individual, moving into the family, the vocational sectors or other ethnē, and from there to the larger society. The gospel penetrates culture. Jesus taught that his people are salt and light. Salt must come out of the shaker to flavor and preserve. Light cannot bring life, illuminate, or heal unless it comes out from under the bushel basket.8 Christians are salt and light, not theocrats; influencers, not autocrats; organic, not hierarchal; bottom up, not top down. We are to be people of light in a world of darkness, people of compassion in a world of cruelty, people of justice in a world of wrong, people of beauty in a world of the mundane. Christians are to be radicals in the traditional sense of the word: having roots, going to the origin. We are to call societies back to the root, back to first principles. Cultures are not to be Westernized nor destroyed; they are to be thoroughly redeemed. Nations are to be discipled at the level of culture. We call nations into the life of the kingdom under the authority of the King. Every Christian As a young Christian, I was taught that the Great Commission was for the professional missionary going overseas. It had nothing to do with the Christian in the pew. Those Christians who were more spiritual went overseas; the less spiritual stayed home and worked “secular” jobs, giving money to support missions.
The problem with this teaching, which many Christians hold, is that it is a dualistic understanding of the world that comes from Greek philosophy. The Bible does not recognize any concept of merely secular work for the Christian. Every calling is sacred because every calling is assigned by Jesus Christ. Nor does the Bible give special status to one’s place of deployment. A Christian who goes abroad is not somehow more spiritual or important than one who remains at home; both are essential to the work of the kingdom. The task of discipling nations is shared by every Christian, wherever he or she is. When Christ says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,” the Greek word translated “go” means “to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one’s journey.”9 Christ commands his followers to make disciples as they continue on their journey. The task is not just for professional missionaries overseas but for all Christians wherever God deploys them and in whatever vocation they are called. Several years ago at a leadership school for 150 young Christian leaders from fifty nations, I taught on Christ’s universal sovereignty and exposed the false dichotomy of the sacred versus the secular. As I finished, a young woman came up to me and said that I had “ruined her life.” When I asked how, she told me she had studied and practiced law. When she became a Christian, her new Christian friends said her work was secular and thus inferior. They told her she needed to leave law and become an overseas missionary, a “spiritual” and thus superior occupation. So she quit her job, undertook missions training, and went to West Africa as a missionary. Now, years later, having heard teaching on the kingdom of God, this woman realized that God in fact wanted her to be a lawyer. She decided to return to West Africa, her place of deployment, and work as a lawyer, seeking to bring more justice to a corrupt society. This woman embraced the primary task of the Great Commission.
Adapted from Darrow L. Miller, Emancipating the World: A Christian Response to Radical Islam and Fundamentalist Atheism (Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 2012), 131–37.
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January
by Ryan Davis
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anya waited for a bus that would take her and her two young sons, ages four and seven, to a refugee camp in neighboring Jordan. Piles of belongings of other Syrian refugees lined the dusty road where she stood waiting for hours. Ranya’s husband and eldest son had been killed by a blast in their home village. They had done nothing wrong—they weren’t involved in the conflict between the rebels and the government. In fact, Ranya had heard mixed reports about whether the rebels or the government forces were responsible for the bombing. But the damage was done, and now she was fleeing her beloved country with the only things that mattered—her sons and her life. “Humanity Has Been the Casualty” The antigovernment protests that began in Syria in 2011 have led to a bloody, drawn-out civil war between rebel and government forces. The death toll at the time of this writing was near 100,000, and war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by both sides. Foreign governments and international groups have been hamstrung, looking on at the horrors of the war but unable or unwilling to stop them. Reports reveal the use of chemical weapons and thermobaric 20
bombs, “which scatter a cloud of explosive particles before detonating, sending a devastating blast of pressure and extreme heat that incinerates those caught in the blast and sucks the oxygen from the lungs of people in the vicinity.”1 Syrian government forces, under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad, dropped bombs near bakeries, “killing and maiming scores of civilians who were waiting for bread.”2 Suicide bombers have attacked city squares, killing dozens, and the list of atrocities continues. All this led one commentator, Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of a commission of inquiry investigating the hostilities in Syria, to say, “Syria is in free fall. Crimes that shock the conscience have become a daily reality. Humanity has been the casualty of this war.”3 Christians in Syria For Christians worldwide, Syria, which borders the Mediterranean Sea between Lebanon and Turkey, is a land central to their religious history. The country was the location of early Christian missionary efforts, and church communities have existed there ever since. The apostle Paul (then Saul of Tarsus) was converted on the road to
Syria’s Persecuted Christians Damascus, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities and the capital city of modern Syria. Today the majority of Syria’s population is Sunni Muslim, and roughly 10% is Christian (2.5 million people), spread across Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant traditions. Syrian Christians and Muslims once lived peacefully in the same cities together, without division. Since the beginning of the uprising, however, a hostile, sectarian atmosphere has taken hold, and Christians have faced increasing persecution. Some of the antigovernment rebel groups, linked to the Islamist terrorist organization al- Qaeda, have desecrated and burned churches and the homes of Christians. In April 2013, two Christian archbishops were captured by extremists and another was killed. Two months later, in June, Father François Mourad, a Syrian monk, was shot and killed when he opposed Islamist rebels who attacked the Franciscan monastery of St. Anthony of Padua in Ghassanieh, a predominantly Christian village near the border with Turkey. The monastery was providing a safe place for a number of friars, nuns, and other Christians.4 Because of the increased persecution, as well as the danger of being caught in the clashes between rebel and government forces, countless Christians have fled to neighboring countries. Some Christians have made the dangerous journey to Lebanon, taking refuge in a convent in the mountains. Others have undoubtedly ended up in Jordan, where the Zataari refugee camp alone holds 120,000 people in tents and trailers. Still others have remained in Syria amid the chaos of war. Traditionally, Christians have supported the al-Assad government because it protected minorities, and many fear what would happen if a radical Islamic regime took control of the country. The future of the church community and religious freedom in Syria remains uncertain, and some Christians have attempted to remain neutral, waiting and hoping for the conflict to abate. The Need for Forgiveness In a country that is being torn apart by destructive forces with little or no regard for human
life, there is great need for a fear of the Lord, the Judge of good and evil acts (2 Cor. 5:10). There is also need for forgiveness and reconciliation, and Christians are those who bear this message. Paul writes, “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. . . . For Christ’s love compels us. . . . God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:11, 14, 19). After a massacre in Tartus Province in which entire families—including women, children, and babies—were killed, Ahmad Abu al-Khair, a wellknown blogger from the area, asked, “How can we reach a point of national forgiveness?” Some Syrian Christians responded to the attacks by embodying the message of reconciliation. “Survivors said Christian neighbors had helped survivors escape, and on Tuesday, Alawite and Christian residents of the province said they were starting an aid campaign for victims to ‘defy the sectarian wind.’”5 Father Hanna, a Franciscan priest who lives in a small village north of Aleppo, has witnessed the constant tug of war between government forces and rebels. He rings the bell to mark the hours of the day and as a sign of hope for the whole population.6 Let us pray for an end to the violence and killings, and for a point of national forgiveness to be reached. And let us pray that the ancient roots of the Syrian Christian community will once again flourish, bringing a message of reconciliation in the one Lord, Jesus Christ. Pray • for Syrian families whose lives have been destroyed • for the millions of Syrian refugees as they are resettled or return to Syria • for the establishment of a stable and just government, and that destructive forces will not overtake the country • for those guilty of crimes against humanity to be brought to justice • for Christians to be strengthened to help others and embody God’s love and forgiveness 21
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Notes & Prayer Journal
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December ROMANS 8:15–16 The Spirit you received does not
make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Goals and projects for the week:
Syria — Middle East
Population: 22,457,336 Muslim: 90% Christian: 6.34% Nonreligious: 1.4% Baha’i: 0.01% Other: 2.25% Literacy Rate: Male 86% Female 74% Life Expectancy: Male 73 Female 78 Infant Mortality: 15 GDP per capita: $5,100
29 SUNDAY
Pray for the many people in the DRC who live below the poverty line
Zech. 5–9; Prov. 29; Rom. 14
30 MONDAY
Pray that materialism would cease to be worshipped in the West
Zech. 10–14; Prov. 30; Rom. 15
31 TUESDAY
Pray that the church will embody God’s justice, mercy, and truth
New Year’s Eve
24
Mal.; Prov. 31; Rom. 16
January Gen. 1–2; Ps. 1; Matt. 1
Pray that Jesus Christ would be the object of all worship
WEDNESDAY
1
New Year’s Day
Gen. 3–4; Ps. 2; Matt. 2
Pray that Jesus Christ would be the object of all honor
THURSDAY
2
Gen. 5–7; Ps. 3; Matt. 3
Pray that Jesus Christ would be the object of all adoration
FRIDAY
3
Gen. 8–9; Ps. 4; Matt. 4
Pray that Jesus Christ would be the object of all praise
SATURDAY
4
25