Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

You are invited to join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray and hear from God about the mobilization of Two-Thirds-World (Majority World) missionaries.

Listen to the YWAM Prayer Letter

For decades there has been a dramatic shift in the makeup of the global body of Christ. In the 1900’s, most Christians lived in Western nations. But today, most of the followers of Jesus are from Asia, Africa and Latin America. As one would expect, there has been a similar shift in the makeup of the missions force. In 2010, three of the top ten countries sending the most missionaries were from Asia and Latin America: Brazil, South Korea and India. Other notable sending nations included South Africa, the Philippines, Mexico, China, Colombia, and Nigeria. (Melissa Steffen in Christianity Today.)

This means that missions is no longer “the West reaching the rest.” It is “the reached reaching the unreached.” According to mission researcher Jason Mandryk, “Today the Majority World Church sends out as many cross-cultural missionaries as does the Western Church.”

We are witnessing the globalization of missions where just about every country is both sending and receiving missionaries! This globalization of missions is also being enabled by several other trends such as unprecedented migration, a communications revolution and transportation technology. People are on the move. Both travel and communication are easier. But the globalization of missions may be disorienting, as there are new challenges and it requires new paradigms. The reached everywhere are partnering together to reach the unreached! This is nothing less than the global body of Christ partnering together to plant the body of Christ globally.

From the beginning, God lead YWAM to be international and interdenominational (Foundational Value #8). Today we are thrilled that over 50% of our staff are from the Majority World. Therefore, YWAM is uniquely poised to continue to play a significant role in mobilizing, equipping, sending and sustaining new missionaries from new sending countries.

Please join with The Invitation during the month of February to pray with us about the missions movement from the Majority World. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, February 14. If you only have a few moments to pray we would ask you to pray for a Two-Thirds-World missionary that God puts on your heart. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how God touched your heart through this prayer. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

You may find it helpful to appoint a facilitator for the Prepare to Pray exercise.

You will need a ball of string or twine. If you are a larger group, you may find it helpful to divide into smaller groups of 8-10 people, with one ball of string or twine for each group.

With the group standing in a circle, one person begins by holding the string. Being sure to keep hold of the end, they throw the ball of string to someone else in the circle. This person keeps hold of their piece of the string, then throws the ball of string to someone else. Continue throwing until everyone in the group is holding a piece of the string and the entire circle is connected by a network of string.

Pause at this point and take a look at the person who threw the ball of string to you. What do you appreciate about this person? What do you receive from them in your relationship as team members, or part of this community? In what ways is it easy to receive from them? In what ways do you feel resistant to what they may offer? Now take a look at the person to whom you threw the ball of string. In your relationship with them, what are you able to offer them that is a source of blessing or strength to them? In what ways is it easy to give to them? What might prevent you from giving to them?

A facilitator may gather feedback from these reflections. Your group may also find it helpful to consider any additional reflections from this exercise. How do you feel about giving to and receiving from others? In what ways does giving and receiving create connection within a group, across cultures, or across diverse socio-economic groups? Bring to mind all the ways our world is connected as people travel to study, work, take vacations, or volunteer. People also move around the globe as refugees, or displaced people. How does this inter-connectedness create opportunities to give and receive from one another, and especially to share our faith in Jesus? Think about the web of string you created – what can be created as we all play our part?

Pray for Two-Thirds-World Missionaries:

• Praise God for the increasingly strong and mature national leadership from Majority-World sending nations.
• Pray for the development of relevant missions mobilization resources.
• Pray for openness of Western leaders to listen to and learn from Majority World leaders.
• Pray for wisdom for partnership with national missions initiatives.
• Pray for insight regarding relevant funding models for new workers from new sending countries.
• Pray that biblical missions topics will be integrated into the training of pastors in new sending countries.
• Pray for more coaching, mentoring and training available for Majority World missions leaders/mobilizers.
• Pray for a renewed emphasis on maintaining and developing good relationships and partnerships with local church leaders.

Continue to Pray for The Send:

• Pray for an upcoming event: The Send on Feb 23, 2019. Pray that those who attend will be activated into their evangelistic and missional calling. Pray that it would be a “tipping point” gathering that would spark a great wave of evangelism and missions. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JObabQXTF8 For More: thesend.org

Take Action

• Give: Begin monthly support for a Majority World missionary!
• Give: Start a giving campaign to engage others in supporting a Majority World missionary.
• Create: Ask God for next steps in developing more missions training and mobilization resources in the language of your region.
• Pray: Commit to pray that more leaders in the body of Christ will have the wisdom and grace to embrace what God is doing in this season.
• Read and research:
  • Article: Global Shift in Christianity Requires ‘New Paradigm Missionaries’
  • Article: The Surprising Countries Most Missionaries Are Sent From and Go To
  • Article: A South to South Missions Force
  • Article: Recovering Mission: Majority World Mission – A Return to Mission for the Majority
  • Video: What you don’t know about Christian Missions. – StoryLine

• • Video: New Missionaries from New Sending Nations – GlobalCAST
  • Podcast: Why Majority World Mobilization Matters – Mission Pulse
  • Journal: Mission from the Margins to the Margins: Two Case Studies from Latin America. – Samuel Escobar
  • Journal: The New Missionary Force Mission from the Majority World – Eldon Porter
  • Book: Missions from the Majority World
  • Book: Christianity in Its Global Context – Todd Johnson
  • Book: The New Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity – Philip Jenkins
• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed:

January 2019 – YWAM Foundational Values #13 – Be Relationship Oriented, #14 – Value the Individual, #15 Value Families

• Three people responded with how these YWAM values have impacted their lives:
  • “One time, when I was a student, I was late for class. I thought the staff would be upset with me, but they weren’t. They had tea ready for me.”
  • “Seeing the way families around the base are still able to serve God and that having a family doesn’t have to slow you down or change things is pretty cool.”
  • “I was part of a school with 53 students. The leader of that school was also my one on one and I was so impressed in how he took time to hear God on my behalf and push me further than I could ever have gone by myself… he saw value in me where I didn’t . . .“
• A group from YWAM Perth noted that they had been directed to pray for the Andrea and Andreas Frész family:
  • Don’t fear evil. God goes ahead and behind. Protected on all sides.
  • God had anointed them to lead and be the example of the Bridegroom of Christ. Be aware as they represent His image, be aware of the areas that the enemy would want to attack.
  • Picture of bird’s eye view. Could see the footprints of where they had been. Mountains ahead, but seeing from above the path was clearly set. God has made a path clearly even if they see mountains ahead.

Future Topics:

• March 14, 2019: Two-Thirds-World Senders
• April 11, 2019: YWAM Foundational Values 16 – 18

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.