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

On March 14^th a category three cyclone made landfall in Mozambique. Just six weeks later on April 25^th another cyclone came ashore a bit farther north in Mozambique. Significant rains before and after these cyclones also impacted the neighboring countries of Zimbabwe and Malawi. Please join with Youth With A Mission’s global prayer day this month as we lift up the people of Mozambique and surrounding countries and evangelistic and aid workers in those areas, including YWAMers.

Listen to the letter

According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, cyclone Idai has affected over 1.85 million people with at least 130,000 people displaced over four provinces in Mozambique. A minimum of 112,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. At least 715,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed at the beginning of the main harvest season. Over 400,000 people have been reached with food assistance, while 10,000 people are being helped with ready-to-eat meals in the city of Beira. The death toll is over 750 in Mozambique alone.

Watch the story here through the eyes of a young YWAM girl who lived through the destruction of Idai: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47828862

YWAM locations in Beira and Dondo were directly impacted by Idai, making them strategically located to help others. YWAM Blantyre, Malawi is also assisting their neighbors and providing hope to people who have lost much. YWAM Muizenberg, South Africa has become a communication and coordinating point for YWAM efforts including disbursing donations and other resources, as well as working with other YWAM locations to coordinate the development and resettlement phase that officially began this month.

In addition to prayer, YWAM leaders in South Africa are asking us to be generous towards our brothers and sisters in Christ in Mozambique as they are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical supplies. See the Take Action section of The Invitation for ways to help, including sending teams for rebuilding.

Please join YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, this month and pray for Mozambique. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, June 13. If you only have a few moments to pray please pray for our brothers and sisters in YWAM Beira and YWAM Dondo as they seek to recover from this disaster. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed for Mozambique. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

Consider these two short portions from Lamentations chapter 3:

“The waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish. I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.’ You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’ You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Lamentations 3, 54-58 and 22-26

In order to lead a group in their preparation time, it will help to have just these selected verses available for people to read, whether on a projected slide, or printed and available for each person.

These selected verses will be read aloud three times, either by one person or by someone different each time.

The first reading is an opportunity to simply notice which word or short phrase catches your attention. For a couple of minutes following the reading, allow time for people to speak out loud ‘popcorn style’ the word or phrase that struck them. Repetitions are fine, it is good to hear how God is speaking throughout the group.

The second reading is an opportunity to listen to the invitation the Lord may be bringing to you through these verses. This invitation may relate to the word or phrase you noticed in the first reading, or it may be something new. What is God inviting you to today? Perhaps He is inviting you to an attitude of compassion or trust? Maybe there is a step of faith He is inviting you to take? He may simply be inviting you to call on His name. Allow people a moment to jot this down in their journal.

The third and final reading is an opportunity to consider your response to this invitation from God. How does your heart respond to Him? In what way might you enter into the attitude or action to which He has invited you? You may wish to allow a short time of sharing as you move into prayer for Mozambique.

Pray for Mozambique:

• Pray for God’s leading and for hope for the millions affected by cyclones Idai and Kenneth. Pray that those who don’t know Him yet will find Jesus through this storm in their lives.
• The timing of Idai was just before harvest time for crops. Pray for provision of necessities between now and when the next crops are able to be harvested.
• Pray for rebuilding of businesses, buildings and farms in such a way that there is greater abundance in the future.

The human cost is immense. Many people are understandingly emotional: “I am not crying because I lost things, but what I experienced was scary. I want to run away from this city!”

Shephen Mbewe, former base leader YWAM Marromeu

• Praise God for the many other organizations that have provided aid and resources including RescueNet and Mercy Air. Their work has been phenomenal.
• Praise God that no YWAMers were killed.
• Praise God for the initial donations that have been provided. Pray for all funds needed to rebuild YWAM ministries including the school and orphanage in Beira and the preschool and clinic in Dondo.
• Much rebuilding is still needed in Mozambique. There are many opportunities for YWAMers to reach out and help others. Pray for YWAMers directly impacted so they can help others effectively. Pray for continued resources and volunteers to support our YWAM locations impacted.
• Pray for YWAMers and others who were traumatized and in need of counseling.
• YWAM has solid ministries in these areas. Praise God for the impact that has already been made and ask Him to direct future ministries.
• Praise God for the structure and resources of YWAM Muizenberg so that resources can be dispersed effectively and with discernment. Pray for wisdom from God.
• There are many conflicting priorities. An example is that government officials want the people out of schools so that education can continue but temporary shelters are not always ready. Pray for governmental officials and leaders from aid organizations to collaborate effectively, making sure that all needs are addressed in a coordinated fashion so people are not further impacted by this disaster.
• Pray for relief for the city of Beira, Mozambique where many people initially fled.
• Many are still living in temporary refugee-type housing. Supplies are limited. Pray for adequate and equitable distribution of supplies.
• Pray for all children and that even in the midst of the devastation their education can continue. Pray that all children will soon have schools where schools were destroyed.
• All services including water, medical, electricity, police, postal and others were disrupted. Some serves are not yet fully restored. Pray for restoration of all services including water, electricity, police, postal and others. Pray for clean water sources.
• The threat of disease is high. Pray for God to protect the people from these threats and for those who are sick to believe He can heal.
• Pray for military and police officers who are guarding resettlement sites. Pray for their protection and that they will meet Jesus through their work. Pray for security of those they are protecting.

Take Action

• Donate and if you have already donated consider doing so again. If you have questions, contact YWAM Muizenberg at mzidai@ywammuizenberg.org:
  • Paypal: finance2@ywammuizenberg.org
  • Transfer funds to:
    • Account Name: Youth With A Mission NPC
    • Bank: FNB
    • Account No: 62544019997
    • Branch Code: 200409
  • For international transfers: see above plus:
    • Swift Code: FIRNZAJJXXX
    • Clearing Code: 250655
  • Mail to YWAM Muizenberg:
    • Youth With A Mission NPC
    • 19 Alexander Rd
    • Muizenberg
    • 7945
    • Cape Town
  • Review general information about the damage from the cyclones: https://www.ywam.org/blog/2019/03/26/response-to-cyclone-idai-in-mozambique/
  • Contact YWAM Muizenberg, South Africa to plan a team or to come mzidai@ywammuizenberg.org:
    • Any helpers willing to get dirty for the Lord are welcome.
    • People to help with ongoing trauma counseling: Many people have been left traumatized and deeply affected by what they have been through. Counseling teams would be welcome.
    • Construction, building and repairing teams: There will be a need for teams and individuals to come and help as there will be work to be done for some time to come. Please continue to give financially as this will allow the work of rebuilding to continue.
  • Prayer:
    • Continue to pray individually for those on the ground, for those traumatized and affected.
    • Organize ongoing prayer for Mozambique at your location.
  • Learn more about Mozambique. One such source: https://geology.com/world/mozambique-satellite-image.shtml. Then ask God what action He wants you to take.
  • Talk to your leader about disaster preparedness at your location and how your location could help others impacted by a local disaster. Help develop disaster plans where needed.

• If you are interested in prayer and communication, you can be part of The Invitation. Contact us at prayer@ywam.org. We need an administrator/coordinator; photographers/videographers; researchers; and translators for French and Indonesian.
• 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

May 2019 – YWAM Uyghurs People Group

• YWAM Chiang Rai, Thailand posted the picture above on Facebook and provided a report of how they prayed. One of their prayers was that the gospel would advance in the camps – like Paul influencing prisoners, guards, visitors, and the household of Caesar through his two years in chains. They also referenced Exodus 2:23-24 & 3:7-8;
  Psalm 146 and 1 Corinthians 10:4-5.
• YWAM Harvest City, Otukpo, Nigeria prayed and reported: “We thank God for involving us in the prayer for the Uyghurs. We felt the Lord reminding us that he is able to do the impossible. He is the Lord who makes streams in desert places. He is able to turn the hearts of the communists running these detention camps to himself. Let us be encouraged as we continue to pray!”
• YWAM Dunham, Quebec, Canada reported that they went down into a dark, cold and humid basement room and identified with those who live in darkness and oppression. With every prayer prayed we lit a candle representing the hope and light that God wants to bring to them. It was great to engage our senses and it added to the passion to pray for the Uyghur! They have also prayed for the Uyghurs since our global prayer day.

Future Topics:

• July 11, 2019: Central Europe
• August 8, 2019: Human Trafficking
• September 12: Hindu World

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.