Prayer Coordinators and Mobilizers

Ecclesiastes 1:2 ““‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!’””

If anyone could ever affirm the truth of this statement, it was the author, Solomon, King of Israel. He had it all—power, wealth, honor, glory, wisdom, and a large family! Yet he proclaimed it all worthless. Why? Solomon had forfeited the enjoyment of God’s blessings by his disobedience. Even though he was used of God to bless the Queen of Sheba (in Ethiopia), Solomon encumbered God’s plan to bless “all the families of the world” because of his sins of marrying many pagan wives and then being led into idolatry by them. With the channel of blessing diverted to personal pleasure, Solomon evaluated life as vain, empty, and futile.

Pray that the Kanuri people will learn to become focused on the things of God rather than diverting their resources to personal pleasures.

Today’s People Group

Once-powerful rulers often don’t know where to direct their energies after they lose their power. This has been the experience of the Yerwa Kanuri people of Sudan, who began losing their power in this region during the early years of the 20th century. The British took power in 1914, and the influence of the Kanuris became much less significant. Nevertheless, they do still exercise a degree of influence on the surrounding people groups. Several other people groups have adopted various Kanuri practices and traditions in language and culture.
The Kanuris are tall and very dark in complexion, carrying a stately, dignified look. Making their living primarily through farming, the Kanuri people also do various other things during the dry season, such as raising livestock. Many of the Kanuris in cities perform government jobs.
Islam has remained the dominant religion of the Yerwa Kanuri people since the 11th century. This carries with it the belief that husbands should dominate their wives, with no recognition of any sort of equality. Along with Islamic traditions, many Yerwa Kanuris also practice many superstitions, using amulets and charms in a vain attempt to aid in pregnancies and protect themselves from the spirits of the dead.

Pray that the Church will begin going to the Yerwa Kanuri people to befriend them, connect with them, and touch them with the gospel.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by bbyrd
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Ecclesiastes 3:11 ““(God) has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.””

Author Don Richardson has employed the phrase “eternity in their hearts” as the title of his thrilling account of God’s redemptive activity among the peoples of the earth. Richardson discovered evidence of the knowledge of the One True Creator God in the ancient stories and legends of people groups from every continent on earth. Yet these stories and the yearnings for eternal truth they express are not sufficient to lead men and women to saving faith in Christ. “How can they hear without a preacher?” Paul asks. “And how can they preach except they be sent?”

Pray that God will prepare and send out the right people to go to the Beja peoples who know that there is a God of creation, but don’t know of His ways.

Today’s People Group

“I will never forget our time with the legendary Hadendoa Bejas.” The photographer and writer from England continued, “After miles of traveling on a rough road through the scorching hot Sahara Desert near the Red Sea, our guide led our small group on camels. … Suddenly, dwarfed by the mountains, came several dark skinned men with hair so bushy it almost hid their faces. They were Hadendoas collecting firewood, which they would eventually take to sell in a nearby town.… Then several Hadendoa Bejas on camels came towards us with swords in the air and rage in their eyes. We assured them in Arabic that we had come a long way to meet them and had brought coffee as a gift. This immediately relieved the tension. We both dismounted and the leader gave us a warm welcome. Soon we were drinking coffee and were invited to come to their camp.”
The 63,000 Hadendoa Bejas are traditionally a pastoral people. Droughts and lack of grazing reserves have caused some to find new livelihoods in farming, labor jobs at seaport cities, or selling some of their products. Although their language is Bedawiyet, many can also speak Arabic. Islamic in identity, most Hadendoa have never heard of the Biblical God.

Pray that God will send His people to them to tell of His greatness, mercy, and love.

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by bbyrd
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All over the world there are people who worship strange gods and keep their commandments. They know very little about the only true God who created them and loves them. Billions of people have wasted their lives obeying gods that are not real. Don’t we owe them a chance to know and embrace the only One who has the right to command them?

Pray that missionaries will find and disciple Beja people who have open hearts and are willing to seek the true and living God.

In the early 1500s a European visitor described the Bisharin Bejas of Egypt as “never at peace with their neighbors, but continually at war with everybody. They have no king or great lord over them, but are ruled by their sheikhs. They build no towns nor other fixed habitations.”
All of this could still describe the 42,000 Bisharin Bejas except that they are not at war. Divided into small clans, most of these proud nomads continue to herd their camels, goats, and sheep through the rough terrain found in the Nubian Desert of Sudan and southern Egypt. Some have been forced to find jobs in trading, labor, or farming. They do not want to accept the authority of any central government. However, when faced with the inability to take care of their families and other problems, they sent representatives from their tribe to the Beja Congress in Sudan. The Beja Congress has not been very effective in helping the Bisharin people.
The Bisharins in Egypt are more committed to their Islamic faith than most Bejas. Many are followers of Sufism, a devout, but unorthodox form of Islam. Slowly they are giving up their Bisharin language for Arabic. One thing that has not changed is their suspicion of all strangers.

Pray that committed believers will patiently reach out to the Bisharin Bejas and show them the way of peace that only Jesus can give.

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by bbyrd
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Prayer: Lord, I thank You for all the unique cultures and languages You have created. You know and understand all of them. Thank You that even in places we cannot go, You are there. There is no person that is hidden from Your sight, and no place You cannot reach.

Lord I ask that You would anoint and appoint workers to create relevant, culturally sensitive Christ-centered radio and TV for the Yazeed. Aid them as they research the culture, and give them divine insight and inspiration in their presentation of the Gospel.

I ask that You would bless them with brilliantly creative ideas to communicate Your truth, and that the Yazeed would be receptive to Your message. I ask Father that You would give the workers favor with people in the media business, and that You would bless them with all the resources, provision, and volunteers they need. Anoint these media presentations to break through the darkness and shine the light of Your truth.

Posted on January 30th, 2012 by bbyrd
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Proverbs 4:6 “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.”

Today we are reading about a young Oromo man who wants wisdom, but doesn’t know where to find it. Life is changing rapidly for this people group. He knows that the old ways of his people offer some tainted answers to life’s challenges, but what should he do instead? Fortunately, there are Oromo believers, though almost all of them come from other Oromo subgroups.

Pray for Oromo believers to share the pure, true wisdom of God with the Kereyu Oromo people, who rely on traditions to show them the way to go.

Today’s People Group

The young Kereya Oromo man of Ethiopia sat with his head in his hands. What was he going to do? He did not agree with what his father taught him as a young boy. He desired to get married, but he thought it was a ridiculous and old-fashioned tradition to have to kill a wild animal to bring to his future bride. At least he was no longer required to bring part of a man he killed to his bride. This was required as recently as his father’s generation, but no longer required of him. Still, he wondered why other things have not changed. For instance, although he was an adult, because he lived in his father’s home, his father has the final authority in the home.
The young man’s generation no longer lives in rural areas on the farm. Instead, the young people work in the industrial labor force, transportation and education. The old ways are intermingled with the new. There is now friction between the generations, and the 35,000 Kereyu Oromo people live in confusion in the midst of the old and the new. Jesus Christ is the only one who can release this folk Islamic people from a life of confusion.

Pray for God to send faithful Christ followers to the Kereyu Oromo people to build relationships with the young adults who are caught between the old and the new. Pray that many christian fellowships will be planted among the Kereyu Oromo people.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Posted on January 27th, 2012 by bbyrd
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