2021 P E R S O N A L
P R AY E R D I A R Y D A I L Y
P L A N N E R
Name Street Address / Box Number City / State-Province / Zip-Postal Code
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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 Director Warren Walsh Editorial Luann Anderson Marit Newton Lance Wubbels Design Fred Renich Angie Renich Illustrations Julie Bosacker
© 2020 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, all 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. [February 2018] Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) [February 2018] Blue smooth: 978-1-64836-018-3 Burgundy smooth: 978-1-64836-019-0 Black smooth: 978-1-64836-020-6 Gray fabric: 978-1-64836-021-3 Tan fabric: 978-1-64836-022-0 Bright blue fabric: 978-1-64836-023-7 Raspberry red iridescent: 978-1-64836-024-4 Dark green iridescent: 978-1-64836-025-1 Loose Leaf: 978-1-64836-026-8 Printed in Colombia www.nomos.co
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Contents Welcome Living and Praying Intentionally in 2021 4 Principles for Life and Prayer Prayer: The Source of Power 6 Prayer and Evangelism 8 Greatness in the Kingdom 10 Introduction to the Christian Year 12 Calendars Weekly Prayer Plan 13 2021–2023 Year-at-a-Glance Planners 14 2021 Month-at-a-Glance Planners 22, 36, 48, 62, 74, 86, 100, 112, 124, 138, 150, 162 2021 Week-at-a-Glance Planners beginning on page 24 Monthly Guides to Intercession and Reflection January: Human Rights Abuses in China 20 February: The Forest Children of Burkina Faso 34 March: Mission Builders International 46 April: At-Risk Youth in Southeast Asia 60 May: Chinese Parenting and Education 72 June: Religious Persecution in India 84 July: Drug Cartels and Mexican Youth 98 August: The Khmu People: Loved by God 110 September: Hidden Slavery in Yemen 122 October: Children in US Foster Care 136 November: Migrant Workers from Uzbekistan 148 December: Modern-Day Slavery in Lebanon 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 Endnotes 205 Contributors 206
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WELCOME Living & Praying Intentionally in 2021
Y
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 Swiss 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
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 page 12). 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 Lectionary (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. Collection 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.
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Welcome C
D B F
E G
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 pages 205–206. 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 2021. 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
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
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Prayer:
The Source of Power by Vishal Mangalwadi
T
he Holy Spirit empowers us for prophetic, compassionate evangelism in response to prayer. The power comes from prayer because prayer puts us in touch with God. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before his arrest, Jesus asked his disciples to pray so that they might have the power to withstand opposition. They did not pray; thus they fled before the threat of persecution. Before his ascension, Jesus again asked his disciples to pray. This time they did, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and with power to serve, to suffer, and to turn the world upside down (i.e., reform) with their prophetic preaching. A theology of power has to begin with God, who is all-powerful. When Zerubbabel, Joshua the high priest, Ezra, and Nehemiah faced the task of restoration and rebuilding, they were told by God, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” the great mountain shall be removed (Zech. 4:6). Nehemiah had to build with a sword in his hand, but the Bible makes it clear that his faith rested not in the power of the sword but in God. If there was ever a man of prayer, he was one. His power for great reforms came from prayer. Dependence on God and the use of service,
suffering, the sword, or wise strategies are not mutually exclusive. It is like taking medicine and praying for healing. Of course, some people do not even take medicines because they find it inconsistent with faith. My question to them is: “Why do you pick up a wrench or a screwdriver to repair your bicycle when it breaks? Don’t you believe that God can fix it? Why don’t you just pray?” They inevitably reply, “Because a bicycle is a machine.” But the body is also a machine, as is the universe. Just as a person can work on a bicycle, so can people work on the human body and in the physical universe. Because humans are made in God’s image, our actions have significance. We must not belittle our God-given abilities and significance. But we must also remember that just as a machine is open to human intervention, so is it open to divine intervention. God can and does work in the universe, in a human body, and in a machine like a bicycle. Four times I have seen a scooter and a car run on prayer! Because the universe is open to God’s intervention, prayer has meaning and significance. Both prayer and wise strategies are necessary
Adapted from Vishal Mangalwadi, Truth and Transformation: A Manifesto for Ailing Nations (Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 2009), 190–193, 85.
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Prayer: The Source of Power for world-transforming witness. Humans forget prayer only at his own peril. One night the chief of a village, Karri, came to our community to ask if any of us knew sorcery. A snake had bitten a Brahmin woman, Ramkali. The sorcerers had been called and were casting spells when Ramkali became unconscious. Then the government doctor who was there gave her intravenous glucose, because he didn’t have antivenin. Her condition became more critical. Now, as she was dying, her friends were running around looking for witch doctors. I said to the chief, “We don’t know sorcery, but we can pray.” He said, “Please come and at least pray.” One Muslim seeker and three of us Christians went to pray. We knelt around Ramkali’s bed. Over fifty people, including the doctor, watched us as we prayed for this virtually dead woman. In less than ten minutes, as we opened our eyes, she did too! On the third day she walked to our home three miles away to thank us and the living God who answers prayers. I know that prayer is a Christian’s source of power because I have seen the power of prayer in our struggle with the government, police, politicians, and power structures of villages, gangs, and bandits. For months the highest police officer of Chattarpur had been threatening to kill me. For at least one year a politician of the ruling party and another of the Communist party schemed ways to murder me. But through the power of prayer, we were able to withstand all this. We have the power of prayer in bringing hardened people to repentance and in moving believers to share their wealth with the needy at great personal cost. I believe in human planning, strategy, and action because human beings are significant. We affect not only machines but society and history as well. But I also believe in prayer, because God is almighty. He acts in the mechanical universe as well as in the hearts of believers and unbelievers. I believe in prayer because God is the author and finisher of history; therefore prayer for reformation, prayer for change in society, has meaning. Some of the greatest reforms in biblical history came when men like Daniel and Nehemiah
prayed (see Dan. 9 and Neh. 1). Sometimes prayer is the only solution when we are faced with natural, social, or spiritual problems that are beyond human wisdom and strength, because prayer releases the power of God. It is necessary that we stand in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, because the battle between good and evil ultimately is supernatural. Modern man ignores the diabolical, supernatural dimensions of evil and is therefore unable to understand or to deal with the social dimensions of evil. Praying is trusting God. The Bible says that faith is what ultimately overcomes the world (1 John 5:5). Faith is power because it produces hope and generates action in a stagnant society. Faith is power because it produces patience and perseverance. Faith is power because it gives staying ability in the midst of opposition—the ability to stand, to serve, to fight, to suffer, to die, and to overcome. Supremely, trusting or praying releases power because our dependence on God moves him to act. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples when a hundred and twenty of them knit their hearts together in prayer. Though they were many, by sharing one Spirit they became “one body”—a church. Jesus intentionally built up his following, his ecclesia, as a power structure to withstand the mighty forces of destruction and death. He said to Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:18). The destructive forces of death will fight against Christ’s new society but will not prevail against it. The church was meant to stand against the forces of oppression and death because it was asked to “feed my lambs” and “take care of my sheep” ( John 21:15-16). In an unjust, oppressive society, when a group stands up for the smallest of lambs, it automatically stands up against the mighty vested interests that grow fat on their flesh (see Isa. 61:1–2). Jesus and his new community were naturally and intentionally a threat to the kingdom of darkness. Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem and precipitate a confrontation. He forced Israel to choose between the status quo and transformation. 7
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January
by Anne Jansen
A
ynur stares out the window of the prison transport bus she is on. She and her fellow inmates are shackled and cuffed. After over a year in an internment camp or so-called “vocational school,” they are secretly being sent to another part of China for forced labor in a textile factory. Aynur tries not to think about the family she left behind or her five-year career as a nurse, now lost. She repeats to herself: “Stay alive, stay alive.” Her crime? She is an ethnic Uighur from Yining City where she spoke her native tongue with family and close friends. Aynur’s coworker heard her greet the mother of one of her patients in the familiar language and reported her to authorities. For this offense, she was apprehended in the middle of the night to an internment camp in her area. Ancient History About the size of Iran, China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, or XUAR, is the country’s most westerly region, bordering the former Soviet states of Central Asia as well as Afghanistan, Russia, and Mongolia. The largest ethnic group, the Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uighurs, has lived in this province for centuries. The region has seen occasional independence, but was finally brought under Chinese control in the 18th century.
Economic development of the region under Communist rule has included large-scale immigration of Han Chinese, and fierce discrimination against the Uighurs has taken place since the 1990s, often flaring into violence. The government of China (Chinese Communist Party, or CCP) is abusing the human rights of its citizens while most of the world turns a blind eye. The CCP’s objective is to erase both the culture and religion of the ethnic Muslims—mostly Uighurs, but including other Turkic peoples such as Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Tajiks residing in the XUAR. Extreme Oppression Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, the CCP is using a campaign of extreme oppression and crimes against humanity to assimilate Muslim Uighurs into Han Chinese culture. Government forces have detained, incarcerated, and reeducated more than two million Muslim minority people, as well as Christians and other religious groups, holding prisoners in what the government calls “Vocational Training Centers.” These centers, scattered across Xinjiang, are really concentration camps where people are held against their will, without trial, under extreme
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Human Rights Abuses in China conditions, including torture and sexual abuse. Even outside the camps, local people are not free. The CCP uses the highest forms of artificial information technology to track every movement, phone call, and facial expressions of Muslim peoples. There are multiple checkpoints around towns and cities where faces and phones are scanned. Indeed, the region is the most heavily policed area on planet Earth. In one of the worst cases of human rights abuse, government employees, mostly Han, stayed for lengthy periods of time with Uighur families to ensure no one was praying or adhering to Muslim dietary restrictions, which forbid pork and alcohol. In some cases, Muslims were forced to consume both pork and alcohol to stay out of detention camps. The Muslim population of XUAR has also had their biometric information collected through mandatory blood and DNA tests. There are reports of organ transplants on demand, with advertisements for “halal” organs traced to Saudi Arabia, which pays its citizens to fly to China for transplant tissues. There is also word of forced sterilization among women taking place. Textile factories like the one Aynur was sent to have been built near detention centers, establishing most of China’s cotton production in the XUAR region. As much as 84% of cotton used in Chinese-made garments is sourced from Xinjiang, with the government using forced labor to eliminate culture and religion. The CCP has moved ex-detainees and poor minorities into manufacturing as they have increased textile and apparel manufacturing. Through a mix of company subsidies and underpaid workers, these workers are connected to Western supply chains and consumers like us. There is now a call to action on human rights abuses in XUAR in the apparel and textiles sector. And during the COVID-19 outbreak, when most Chinese citizens were in lockdown, many able-bodied detainees, including Muslim young people gathered from outside the camps, were sent to work in crowded factories to replace the Han Chinese who had vacated and been ordered to stay at home and quarantine.
Prayer and Action In the years that the CCP has been inflicting persecution on the Muslim population, many have disappeared into prisons and “education camps” without record of death or families being notified. Children have been placed in boarding schools and orphanages and not allowed to return home or speak their native tongue to assimilate faster into Chinese culture. The Psalmist cries out, “How long, Lord, how long!” We know God sees and hears the cries of the oppressed. We know human suffering moves him to action. And yet, his answer often comes through diverse peoples praying and laboring for justice in the world. How many people are moved into prayer and action when they witness this kind of suffering? It is difficult to understand and even believe that people can be targeted by their government and persecuted in such horrific ways. We only need to remember how terribly the Nazi government treated the Jewish people during World War II. What we are seeing now in the CCP’s treatment of the Muslim population in XUAR reminds us of those times. How long will it take for us, and our governments, to realize these abuses are happening? Will we have the courage and strength of will to pray for them without ceasing? Pray • for God to give the people of China righteous, God-fearing leaders • for Western countries to pressure China to release detainees and stop systematic oppression • for imprisoned citizens to find God’s love surrounding them amid suffering • for Christian neighbors to reach out in compassion to expatriate XUAR communities living abroad who are suffering anxiety, depression, and survivor’s guilt • for those involved in advocacy work for these people to continue, not giving up until God’s justice rolls down and prisoners are set free
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January Sunday
Monday
month at a glance Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Friday
1
Notes:
Saturday
2
New Year’s Day
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Epiphany
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
26
27
28
29
30
M. L. King Jr. Day
24
25
31 22
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Notes & Prayer Journal
December
S M T W T F S
6 13 20 27
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
3 10 17 24 31
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
Januar y
S M T W T F S
3 10 17 24 31
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
6 13 20 27
7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
2 9 16 23 30
Februar y
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 7 8 9 10 14 15 16 17 21 22 23 24 28
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
6 13 20 27 23
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December HEBREWS 1:1-2 In the past God spoke to our
forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. Goals and projects for the week:
27 SUNDAY
Pray for human rights abuses and forced labor in China to cease (see pages 20–21)
China
– Eastern Asia Population: 1,394,015,977 Nonreligious: 44.36% Chinese: 28.5% Buddhist: 12.5% Christian: 7.92% Other: 6.72% Literacy Rate: Male 99% Female 95% Life Expectancy: Male 74 Female 78 Infant Mortality: 11 GDP per capita: $18,200 Hag.; Prov. 27; Rom. 12
First Sunday after Christmas Day
28 MONDAY
29 TUESDAY
24
Pray for forced laborers in Mongolia
Zech. 1–4; Prov. 28; Rom. 13
Pray for forced laborers in closed countries
Zech. 5–9; Prov. 29; Rom. 14
See pages 197–98 for an explanation of the abbreviations, symbols, and categories used in country statistics.
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December–January Zech. 10–14; Prov. 30; Rom. 15
Mal.; Prov. 31; Rom. 16
Pray for forced laborers in human trafficking
Pray for forced laborers in the UK
WEDNESDAY
30
THURSDAY
31
New Year’s Eve
Gen. 1–2; Ps. 1; Matt. 1
Pray for forced laborers in inner cities
FRIDAY
1
New Year’s Day
Gen. 3–4; Ps. 2; Matt. 2
Pray for forced laborers in the Dominican Republic
SATURDAY
2
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