2016 P E R S O N A L
P R AY E R D I A R Y D A I L Y
Name Street Address / Box Number City / State-Province / Zip-Postal Code
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 Marit Newton Design Angela Bailey Illustrations Julie Bosacker © 2015 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®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, Copyright © 1971 owned by assignment by Illinois Regional Bank N.A. (as trustee). Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Navy: 978-1-57658-925-0 Burgundy: 978-1-57658-926-7 Green: 978-1-57658-927-4 Black: 978-1-57658-928-1 Insert: 978-1-57658-929-8 Printed in China
Contents Welcome Living and Praying Intentionally in 2016 4 Principles for Life and Prayer Introduction to the Christian Year 6 Seeking the Kingdom 8 The Ministry of Hospitality: Serving, Loving & Giving 11 Calendars Weekly Prayer Plan 13 2016–2018 Year-at-a-Glance Planners 14 2016 Month-at-a-Glance Planners 22, 36, 48, 62, 74, 86, 100, 112, 126, 138, 150, 164 2016 Week-at-a-Glance Planners beginning on page 24 Monthly Guides to Intercession and Reflection January: Mass Migration 20 February: Hope for Prisoners 34 March: The Dinka of South Sudan 46 April: American Dream, or Nightmare? 60 May: No Longer Bound by the Spirits 72 June: Restoration for Somalia 84 July: Mental Health and the Church 98 August: Sheepcare Community 110 September: A Nation Lost in the Desert 124 October: A Loss of Freedom in Crimea 136 November: Corruption in Argentina 148 December: Arab Neighbors 162 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
WELCOME Living & Praying Intentionally in 2016
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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 see God’s work in the world and join him in that work through vital intercession for the nations. Karl Barth, the great 20th-century German pastor and theologian, is well known for saying Christians must read both the newspaper and the Bible—and they must interpret the newspaper through the Bible. In essence, the Personal Prayer Diary and Daily Planner enables this. It contains pressing news and information about the world as well as thoughtful voices offering biblical perspectives. Its articles, Scripture resources, and prayers bring together knowledge of current events and knowledge of the Bible. Prayer is key for our Christian lives. Prayer is relational; it involves speaking and listening; it engages our hearts and minds. When we open our minds to God in humble worship and through honest dialogue, we invite the Spirit to lead us “into all the truth” ( John 16:13). In prayer, God can help us see with spiritual eyes the events occurring in our world today. Not satisfied with the lens of the media or our own limiting biases, we seek the perspective of God, who through Jesus Christ is reconciling to himself all things—on earth and in heaven (see Col. 1:20). One way we can cultivate an awareness of God’s perspective is to join with other believers in the daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms of the Christian life. For centuries, Christians around the world have recalled the important events in the life of Christ and the early church—Jesus’s birth, death, resurrection, and more. In many Christian 4
communities, it is through the Christian year, not the calendar year, that they keep time—the “time” of the church and the Christian life. John Witvliet writes, “The Christian year . . . provides a way of understanding the Christian life. These events are not just about Jesus; they are about us” (see his article on pages 6–7). By living into the seasons of the Christian year, we continually orient ourselves in God’s Story. It is a way to focus our whole lives on the person of Jesus Christ and the continuing work of God in the world. This resource therefore provides a weekly scripture for meditation selected from the Revised Common Lectionary1 (a cycle of readings shared by many churches) as well as a list of important Christian days, including the name of each Sunday, to help you grow and stay in tune with Christian brothers and sisters around the world. It is our sincere hope that as you practice these rhythms and engage in prayer for the nations, you will indeed be led “into all the truth.” 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 6 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
May
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by Elizabeth Thornton
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hieng’s voice shook with fear. “Only three months ago I decided to follow Christ, and this time no turning back to bondage to the evil spirits. How can this happen to my family?” The distraught father was cradling his seriously ill five-year-old daughter in his lap as they traveled 11 hours across the country to seek medical treatment at a Christian clinic in the capital city. His village deep in the forested hills of northeastern Cambodia had no medical services. His people did not have a tradition of seeking medical care anyway, attributing all illness to malevolent spirits who must be appeased. In fact, their first visit to the clinic had been interrupted by a 24-hour round-trip journey to allow the girl’s grandparents to sacrifice a pig on her behalf. Thieng did not join the ceremony, but he took notice that the sacrifice was not effective. He told the grandparents that he would make the decisions from now on; that meant his daughter must stay away from spirit worship. Now he was determined to take her back to the clinic, where she could get medical care and be surrounded by Christians.
follow the path of his elders. No one in his family’s history had ever followed the Jesus Way. It had taken great courage to break with the spirits. But after several months, the pressure to continue with spirit worship was too intense for Thieng to stand strong. He felt he had no choice but to join his family as they appeased the spirits. However, just three months before his second trip to the clinic, while watching new believers prepare for Christmas, Thieng had decided to break with the spirits for good. This time there would be no turning back. He was committing himself to follow the creator God, the supreme power over the spirit world, and to follow the Jesus Way. He would follow the one true God, who had demonstrated his love by sending his Son, and who was calling all mankind to himself. This included Thieng and his people living in the remote, forested mountains of Cambodia, where they had only recently heard the gospel story. Thieng’s family belongs to the Brao/Kavet ethnic minority group living in the highlands of Cambodia. Their traditional homelands are the “dragon’s tail”—the triangle of thick forest in the far northeastern corner of Cambodia bordered by Laos and Vietnam.
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 Previously Unreached People Group Five years earlier Thieng had beenbe among the first contributors can found on page 205. in his village to try following the Jesus Way. As the youngest in his family, he faced strong pressure to 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 more than 50 portions of Scripture to memory in 2016. 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 check-off 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 72
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 it will assist 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
INTRODUCTION T
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Christian Year b y Joh n D. Wi t vli e t
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he way we tell time says a lot about us. The dates we circle on our calendars reveal what is most important to us. Lovers of leisure circle vacation days and orient their lives around them. If family is important to you, then you probably focus on birthdays and anniversaries. Many of us wake up each day counting the days until our major work or school assignment or our next vacation, birthday, or holiday. We are creatures of time. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have in various ways attempted to put Christ at the center of their personal calendars. The most universal way comes to us in what is often called the “Christian year” or the “church year,” a series of celebrations and seasons that divides up the calendar and leads Christians on an annual cycle of memory and anticipation through key events in Jesus’s life. The Christian year is anchored in the main salvation history events described in the New Testament. Its anchors are celebrations of Jesus’s birth, death, resurrection, and ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Just as many Old 6
Testament psalms and early Christian creeds rehearse the history of salvation, so too the Christian year retells the story of these earth-shattering events. Thus, the Christian year is a memorial to key events in salvation history. The Christian year ensures that worshipers will be fed a balanced diet of biblical themes. The Christian year also provides a way of understanding the Christian life. These events are not just about Jesus; they are about us. For we are united with Christ through baptism into his death and resurrection (Romans 6). We experience each of these events with different emotions. The Christian year also ensures that worship features a balanced diet of Christian affections or emotions. We focus on hope during Advent, penitence during Lent, and celebration during Eastertide. Several writings from the fourth and fifth centuries (the period in which the Christian year was first developed) suggest that these Christians intended to find a way to keep time that would be a fitting celebration of the gospel message. For example, Augustine speaks of the season of Lent this way: “In what part of the year could the
Introduction to the Christian Year observance of the forty-day fast be more appropriately instituted than that adjoining, so to speak, and touching on the Lord’s Passion?” He goes on to describe Eastertide this way: “These days after the Lord’s resurrection form a period, not of labor, but of peace and joy. That is why there is no fasting and we pray standing, which is a sign of the resurrection. . . . [During this season] the ‘alleluia’ is sung to indicate that our future occupation is to be no other than the praise of God.” Observance of the Christian year is not prescribed in the New Testament. It is one of dozens of devotional practices that Christians have developed as helps to their public and personal prayer life. It is helpful to think of the Christian year as a devotional guide, like any other you might purchase at a Christian bookstore. The advantage to this guide is that it is nearly universal. By following the Christian year, we join our hearts in prayer with Christians throughout history and throughout the world. Christians follow this calendar because it points beyond itself to these main events in salvation history. It is a means to hold before us these crucial events and to challenge us to orient our lives around these events. Like any institutional arrangement, the Christian year can be abused. And indeed it has been. The sixteenth-century Reformers and the seventeenth-century Puritans protested the Christian year because they felt it was being treated as an end in itself. They feared that worshipers were more concerned with the correct observance of certain days, rather than focusing on the events those celebrations pointed to. In the past generation, many Christians in many traditions, including many Protestant Christians, have recovered the Christian year as a basic framework for organizing their common prayer and worship. They have attempted to recover the genius of the annual journey of telling
this story of faith, while remembering that this framework is never an end in itself. The traditional Christian year includes two types of observances: feasts and seasons. The feasts are day-long celebrations of key events in Jesus’s life—his birth, visitation by the magi, baptism, transfiguration, arrival into Jerusalem, death, resurrection, and ascension: • • • • • • • • • •
Jesus’s birth (Christmas) The visit of the magi (Epiphany) Jesus’s baptism Jesus’s transfiguration Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) Jesus’s last supper (Maundy Thursday) Jesus’s death (Good Friday) Jesus’s resurrection (Easter) Jesus’s ascension The coming of the Spirit (Pentecost)
The seasons are periods of several days or weeks that lead up to or follow the big events of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. The length of these observances provides space to savor the meaning of these climactic events. Advent, the four weeks that precede Christmas, is a season of repentance and anticipation to prepare ourselves for both Jesus’s first and his second comings. Lent, the 40 days that precede Easter, is a time to focus on our baptism, our union with Christ in his death and resurrection, and our daily practice of repentance. Eastertide, the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost, is an extended celebration of Christ’s victory. The time following Pentecost, often called Ordinary Time, focuses on living by the leading of the Spirit in our everyday lives and in the ministry of the church. There are variations in how the Christian year is celebrated from one congregation or denomination to the next. But in every case, the point of it all is nothing less than “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2).
This article was first published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (worship.calvin.edu). Used by permission.
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January
by Marit Newton
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mena sits, weary, on the deck of an Italian naval vessel. Like hers, the faces of her husband and children are red, burned by three days of sun as the family huddled on a fishing boat carrying more than 200 people across the Mediterranean Sea from Libya. Rescued from their drifting boat, Amena thanks God for this mercy in a chain of misery. The family escaped Syria, but Lebanon held no future—no schooling, no work, and no hope of going home. They made it to Libya, where mounting violence confirmed the risk was rational: they would pay smugglers to join the thousands leaving Libya each week for Europe. Worldwide Displacement With over 50 million people displaced worldwide and this generation seeing the worst refugee crisis since World War II, how are Christians to respond to a global humanitarian crisis so complex? In the Mediterranean region alone, the massive people movement and loss of life is unprecedented. Many of the displaced have fled violence and persecution to preserve their lives or freedom. Traveling with these refugees and asylum seekers are migrants who choose to travel to improve their lives. Yet even migrants typically aren’t casual travelers but driven by economic despair. 20
This mixed migration is happening in many areas of the world: the Americas, where an estimated half a million undocumented migrants cross Mexico’s southern border each year, mostly from Central America, en route to the US and Canada; the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Belarus, through which increasing numbers of migrants and refugees from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East try to reach Western Europe; the Gulf of Aden, where Somalis and Ethiopians risk death to reach Yemen; and in the Mediterranean, where hundreds of thousands attempt to cross the sea into Europe from Africa, and others attempt entry via Turkey. Crisis on the Mediterranean Amid multitudes of Mediterranean Sea tragedies, in April 2015 off the coast of Libya, yet another boat capsized, killing as many as 850. At that time, Bernardino León, head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, estimated that half a million people waited in Libya to cross. While the crossings are not new, the numbers crossing and the numbers dying are increasing. On the central Mediterranean, detections of illegal border crossings increased 277% in 2014. UNHCR estimates that 170,000 made it to Europe via the central
Mass Migration Mediterranean that year, while 24,000 children arrived by sea just in Italy and Malta, more than half unaccompanied. Each of these thousands of people typically spends one to four days on the high seas on severely overcrowded, unseaworthy boats in the hands of criminal smugglers with no food, water, or even life preservers. Boats have been stranded for as long as two weeks, have capsized, sunk, suffered fires, been maliciously rammed by other vessels, and are routinely abandoned at sea by traffickers. Too many have watched their companions drown, including one young Syrian woman, Doa Al Zamel, who while clinging to an inflatable ring in the sea accepted the care of two infants from the perishing.1 So why are so many attempting such a dangerous crossing? While those crossing the Mediterranean come from more than 40 nations, in the past few years nearly half have originated in Syria and Eritrea. Syrians have been forced to flee government persecution, civil war, and now ISIS. By the end of 2014, some 3.2 million Syrian refugees had been registered in neighboring countries, and Lebanon and Jordan had closed their borders, completely overwhelmed. Likewise, Eritreans must flee. Their nation of five million, near the horn of Africa, has one of the most repressive regimes in the world. If Syrians and Eritreans can get to Europe or the US, they can get asylum. However, restrictive land borders make it very difficult to reach the EU to apply for asylum. So thousand of desperate people from conflict zones like Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Somalia risk the Mediterranean crossing, relying on criminal organizations of human traffickers. Libya is the most common transit point, but also an intended final destination for many people from sub-Saharan Africa. However, the country’s descent into chaos and the rising influence of ISIS following the overthrow of Muammar Gadhafi in 2011 have pushed many refugees and economic migrants to flee. The Global Initiative against Organized Transnational Crime reports that terrorist groups, including ISIS, are profiting from human trafficking across the Mediterranean from Libya to Europe. Yet the majority of people smuggled into Libya are
Syrians fleeing civil war and the brutality of ISIS at home. Ironically, the current flow of people into the hands of human traffickers funds the armed groups and criminal economies destabilizing the Middle East and parts of Africa. ISIS has been killing sub-Saharan African Christians in Libya, some right on the shore of the Mediterranean. In this light, crossing the sea is not unreasonable. A Christian Response Who is to blame? Who must take responsibility now? With so many lives on the line, which principles should have preeminence in public policy? In Europe, logistics, competing interests, and moral stakes are staggering. In Africa, some blame the EU for not loosening its asylum restrictions; others point the finger at their own governments and ask us all to focus on countries of origin. Thomas Albinson, ambassador for refugees, the displaced, and stateless people at the World Evangelical Alliance, writes, “The Mediterranean has become a giant reflecting pool, exposing the unrelenting evil and despair that is loose in our world.” As followers of Jesus, that brokenness is our call to be present. As Albinson points out, even “Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has asked church leaders to play an important role in the global refugee crisis—that of ‘creating humanitarian space in the hearts and minds’ of people for refugees.” We can start by educating ourselves on the biblical and contemporary context of displacement, through Albinson’s guide—“A Christian Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in the Mediterranean”2—and many other voices. And let’s pray together. Pray • for God’s intervention and human stewardship to address the root causes of forced migration • through Scripture, for displaced peoples and for receiving governments and societies (Ps. 5:11; 107:1–8; 142; 146; Matt. 25:34–40; Lev. 19:34; Exod. 2:15–22; 1 Sam. 23:9–16; Ruth 1:22; 2:11–13; Acts 8:1–8; 18:1–4)
• for the church, that our divine mandate to love the alien and welcome the stranger would demonstrate the love of God 21
January Sunday
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Notes & Prayer Journal
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3 10 17 24 31
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Januar y
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5 12 19 26
6 13 20 27
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
Februar y
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1 8 15 22 29
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3 10 17 24
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
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December REVELATION 21:6 He said to me: “It is done. I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Goals and projects for the week:
27 SUNDAY
Pray that the worldwide church would join in prayer for the new year
Syria — Middle East
Population: 17,951,639 Muslim: 90% Christian: 6.34% Nonreligious: 1.4% Baha’i: 0.01% Other: 2.25% Literacy Rate: Male 90% Female 78% Life Expectancy: Male 61 Female 76 Infant Mortality: 16 GDP per capita: $5,100
Hag; Prov. 27; Rom. 12
First Sunday after Christmas Day
28 MONDAY
Pray that local churches would be houses of worship and refuge
Zech. 1–4; Prov. 28; Rom. 13
29 TUESDAY
Pray that the peace of Jesus would sow seeds of reconciliation
Zech. 5–9; Prov. 29; Rom. 14
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December–January Zech. 10–14; Prov. 30; Rom. 15
Mal.; Prov. 31; Rom. 16
Pray for believers to trust in Jesus and live for hope
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Pray for a repentant heart that seeks forgiveness
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New Year’s Eve
Gen. 1–2; Ps. 1; Matt. 1
Pray for patience and hope in suffering
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New Year’s Day
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Pray for friends and neighbors to experience God’s love
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