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.

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

The YWAM “DNA” is comprised of our purpose, beliefs and values and is the framework that helps us determine who we are, how we live and how we make decisions. This is the fifth issue of The Invitation where we have invited YWAMers to pray for our foundational values, three at a time. For January we will pray for foundational values #13 – 15. Please refer to https://ywam.org/about-us/values/ to see the purpose, beliefs and remaining values. Our values have been developed and refined over decades and are supported by scripture. YWAM cofounder Darlene Cunningham has stated that “These understandings are foundational to our tribe being who we are, and we praise God for the way He has led us.”

Listen to the Letter here

#13 – Be relationship-oriented

YWAM is dedicated to being relationship-oriented in our living and working together. We desire to be united through lives of holiness, mutual support, transparency, humility, and open communication, rather than a dependence on structures or rules.

#14 – Value the individual

YWAM is called to value each individual. We believe in equal opportunity and justice for all. Created in the image of God, people of all nationalities, ages and functions have distinctive contributions and callings. We are committed to honoring God-given leadership and ministry gifts in both men and women.

#15 – Value families

YWAM affirms the importance of families serving God together in missions, not just the father and/or mother. We also embrace the inclusion of single-parent families. We encourage the development of strong and healthy family units, with each member sharing the call to missions and contributing their gifts in unique and complementary ways. We uphold and celebrate the biblical view that God’s intent for holy matrimony is between one man and one woman.

Please join with The Invitation during the month of January to pray with us about these three values. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, January 10. If you only have a few moments to pray we would ask you to reflect on these values and pray that YWAMers would have full understanding of our values and that all teaching within YWAM will be true to these values. As you pray and contemplate these foundational values, we would love to receive stories from you regarding how these values have shaped your ministry or your life. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

Before you begin to pray, pair up with someone in your group with whom you feel comfortable. Have a facilitator set a timer for 2 minutes. For the duration of these 120 seconds, you are invited to silently hold one another’s gaze.

It can feel uncomfortable to look into another person’s eyes for an extended period of time! Do your best not to talk or fool around, or otherwise distract yourselves, rather bring to mind the inherent worth of the person in front of you. Think of all the life events that have brought him or her to this place, the good as well as the challenging or painful. Consider her courage, her vulnerabilities, her giftedness and her limitations. Seek to see this person as God sees him or her, feel His longing for her to become all that He intends for her to be.

Don’t be surprised if this exercise brings some tears to your eyes or causes a deep compassion to rise up towards the person you are with. Take a moment to debrief the activity before you move on to prayer.

Pray for YWAM Foundational Values 13 – 15:

• Pray that YWAMers would have a full understanding of our values and that all teaching within YWAM will be true to these values.

Pray about Value 13: Be Relationship Oriented:

• The presence of sin has impacted our relationships with one another. Pray for YWAMers to be relationship oriented. Pray for restoration where needed.
• Pray for unity through lives of holiness, mutual support, transparency, humility, and open communication.
• Pray for YWAMers to be effective encouragers, but also effective in holding each other accountable. Pray for proper balance. Pray for YWAMers to hold fast to God’s word and to build loving relationships.

Pray about Value 14: Value the Individual:

• Praise God that every human being is valuable and created by Him, in his image. Praise Him for how He loves each of us.
• Pray for YWAMers to have confidence in their identity as a child of God and a believer in Christ. Pray for YWAM to portray these beliefs to the outside world well.
• Pray for effective discovery and development of spiritual gifts by YWAMers and our DTS students.
• Pray that YWAMers will have gracious attitudes towards sinners, as we are sinners ourselves.

Pray about Value 15: Value Families:

• Pray for YWAM’s Family Ministries. In many countries, YWAM provides marriage and parenting retreats, family mentoring, resource centers for families, outreaches for parents and children, and support for national initiatives to strengthen families. Pray for the family ministries workers that are faithfully serving their communities. Pray for wisdom. Pray for innovation. Pray for provision.
• Pray for YWAM’s training programs for people wanting to become equipped in family ministry and counseling. Pray for the students and teachers.
• Andreas and Angela Frész, who are currently leading YWAM Family Ministries International, will be handing over the leadership in June 2019. We are grateful for the work they have done, the tribe they have built all over the world. Pray for a smooth transition and for wisdom for the team that will be following in their footsteps.
• Pray for our YWAM Families. Being in missions as a family is both a blessing and hard work. Pray for our marriages and for unity and oneness in our families, and for God’s protection as we serve others.
• Pray for divorced Christians and their children. Pray for churches to love them well and for all impacted to recover well.

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: www.thesend.org

Take Action

• Watch videos:
  • #13 – Be Relationship Oriented: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcu-qAejboY
  • #14 – Value individuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCljJ_r-r6Y
  • #15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am6yQ5MMREw
• If you are part of a YWAM location, spend a week focused on being relationship oriented. Fast as a group one day asking the Holy Spirit to further unite you. Ask the Spirit to reveal where there is sin or weakness regarding holiness, mutual support, transparency, humility, and open communication. Spend time as a group agreeing on ways to improve in these areas so that you can become more unified.
• Evaluate your YWAM relationships. Note those that are relationship oriented and those that are lacking. Commit to becoming more relationship oriented.
• Study Jesus in one or more of the gospel books and note specific instances and ways that He was relationship oriented.

• Study what scripture has to say about valuing the individual and discuss in a group: Genesis 1:27; Leviticus 19:13-16; Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Psalm 139:13-16; Mark 8:34 37; Acts 10:34-35; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Hebrews 2:11-12; James 2:1-9
• Do something to value the individual on their birthday. (YWAM Perth, Australia does this well. Contact them for more information.)
• If you have not conducted a spiritual gifts test recently of the individuals at your location do so. Discuss how each person is uniquely gifted. Look at various combinations of spiritual gifts in each person.
• Consider what it means to be made in God’s image. Reflect on Scripture: Genesis 1:25 – 27, 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Colossians 1:15 – 17 and James 3:9. Review what another ministry says about what it means to be made in the image of God: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-q-and-a/faith/what-it-means-to-be-made-in-the-image-of-god
• Find out more about YWAM’s Family Ministries: https://www.ywam-fmi.org/ Attend an event: https://www.ywam-fmi.org/events/
• Pursue a degree in family studies through the University of the Nations and the Family Resource Center.
• Subscribe to YWAM Family Ministries newsletter: https://www.ywam-fmi.org/
• Learn about the House of Oneness, a teaching that comes out of extensive research on strong families: https://www.ywam-fmi.org/resource/house-of-oneness/. What is your family good at? What characterizes your family? What is an area that needs attention? Discuss together as a family what you see.
• Read books:
  • When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself, by Steve Corbett, Brian Fikkert
  • Broken, Yet Whole, by Bram de Blouw
  • Marriage Savers, by Michael J. McManus
  • Divorce and Remarriage in the Church, by David Instone-Brewer
• Attend a Significant Marriage conference: http://www.thesignificantmarriage.com/events.html
• Read articles about creating meaningful family legacies:
  • https://www.ywam-fmi.org/news/multigenerational-legacies-the-story-of-jonathan-edwards/
  • https://www.ywam-fmi.org/news/god-sightings-in-our-family-history/
• As a family in ministry, you want to build the Kingdom of God together. You are a team. God has put together the members of the team and the composition is unique. Download the questionnaire from the book Families In Ministry and spend some time discussing how your family is working as a team. http://families-in-ministry.com/our-family-team/
• Share stories on Facebook and send email to prayer@ywam.org regarding how YWAM foundational values have impacted your walk with Christ, your family, your ministry or other aspects of your life.
• 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:

December 2018 – Moscow

• YWAMers have a heart for praying for cities and geographic areas. YWAMers across the world lifted up the unique challenges of a unique city and its people to the Lord.

Future Topics:

• February 14, 2019: Two-Thirds-World Missionaries
• 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.

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

This month, please join the YWAM family as we pray for Moscow. With an estimated population of 12 million in 2016, it is the sixth largest city in the world and northernmost megacity. The primary religion is Christianity with the Russian Orthodox Church being the most popular and Muslims accounting for 14% of the city’s population. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center in Russia and in Europe.

Listen to the letter here

Some say that Moscow is a city of contradictions. On one hand, Moscow has provided economic stability for many migrants coming from other parts of Russia and former Soviet republics in recent years. Moscow also received worldwide praise for its hosting of the 2018 World Cup for soccer last summer. Historically, Moscow has attempted to leave behind the communistic days of Lenin and Stalin.

But on the other hand, Moscow has been involved in recent disputes with both some neighboring nations and the West. In recent years Moscow lawmakers have targeted evangelistic efforts and media boundaries limiting freedom of religion and freedom of the press. It is also a city with significant drug and alcohol problems, a high prison rate and much human trafficking.

According to Blair Carlson, formerly with the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, “The challenges of Moscow speak to the enormity and complexity of large European cities. We need to pray for the unity, vibrancy, and muscularity of the church in the great cities of Europe.”

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of December to pray for Moscow. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, December 13. If you only have a few moments to pray, please pray for unity and vibrancy in the church in Moscow.

Prepare to Pray:

Take some time to sit quietly with this image of an open door, painted by Andrei Zadorine. If you are praying with a group, consider projecting the image onto a screen so that everyone can see it clearly. What do you notice about the way the light from the open doorway floods into the dark room? Think about the nature of light, and the way even a small light can chase away darkness.

Read aloud from Psalm 24:

“Open up, ancient gates!
Open up, ancient doors,
and let the King of glory enter.

“Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies—
he is the King of glory” (verses 9-10)

There are many doors that God might want to open up in the context of Russian society. Where are the places He is longing to shine the light of His presence? Turn your attention from the darkness you might perceive, to the hope and strength of the light of God, made known through the life of Jesus. Keep your focus on His light as you go into prayer.

Let’s Pray:

• Pray that God would soften the hearts of Moscow’s people to accept Christ and that He would open doors for these believers to be discipled in a free and open environment.
• Pray for the Central Asian immigrant community. They come from restricted-access Muslim nations to Moscow in search of economic improvements. Please pray for those believers who have made these immigrant workers their mission and that in the end the immigrants would find Christ.
• Pray against human trafficking. Real statistics are hard to come by, but they seem to suggest that as many as 80,000 girls could be working in the sex trade in Moscow, many of them against their own will.
• Pray for the Russian Orthodox and Evangelical church. Less than 2% of the population attends church at least once a month. Revival is needed!
• Pray that the Russian Orthodox Church would be open to renewal and unity with evangelicals.
• The alcoholism rate is one of the highest in the world and there are a large number of drug addicts. Pray that Christians can be a stronger influence as they reach out to those in bondage due to addiction.
• Death rates have been higher than birth rates in Moscow for years, and its population growth is now solely dependent on migration. Pray for transformation of its people through Christ. Pray that the result is a lower abortion rate and fewer drug and alcohol related deaths.
• We normally think of the Russian people in Russia, but there are dozens of indigenous ethnic minorities scattered about this massive nation who have never heard the gospel in a way that they can understand. Pray for believers from Moscow to go to these unreached ethnic minorities comprising much of the population.
• Pray for prison ministries as Russia’s prison rate is one of the highest in the world (825,000 prisoners throughout the nation).
• Pray for God’s wisdom for government leaders and other leaders presiding from Moscow.
• Pray for Christians living and working in Moscow as conditions have changed in recent years, making Russia a less open nation.
• Pray for positive transformation socially and culturally of Moscow as a megacity.
• Many reporters and fans have praised Moscow for its hospitality and handling of the 2018 Soccer World Cup last summer. Christian workers and churches were able to seize this opportunity to hold evangelistic events where people could watch the games. Praise God for how He used the 2018 Soccer World Cup for evangelistic purposes.
• Pray for openness for evangelism. Russia is now listed as one of the worst countries in the world for religious freedombecause of its ongoing crackdown against foreign missionaries, evangelists and other religious activities.

Take Action:

• Learn about working in megacities such as Moscow: https://www.ywamcity.org/get-involved and https://www.ywamcity.org/recources and https://www.ywamcity.org/media
• Visit Moscow. Make sure your trip includes a historical tour of Red Square, a visit to a Russian Orthodox church and a guided tour with someone who understands the cultural challenges in Moscow.
• Identify a short-term mission opportunity in Moscow.
• Moscow is a thriving international business hub and many foreigners find work as “guests” in Moscow. Explore business and expat opportunities to work there.
• Read about the history of Russia and the Communist leaders of the Soviet Union/Russia who have presided from Moscow (Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Vrezhnev, Andropos, Chernenko and Gorbachev) to gain further understanding of how to pray for the people of Moscow.
• Commit to pray for Moscow on an ongoing basis. Subscribe to news feed(s) to stay current on conditions in Moscow so that your prayers can stay fresh.

• 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:

November 2018 – North Africa

• YWAM Stockholm, Sweden prayed. They sensed God focusing their time on Habakkuk 1:5 and Romans 6:3-11. They also prayed for Christian-Muslim relationships in North Africa.
• YWAM Lebanon prayed and provided pictures they drew (see above). Pictures denoted darkness going away and light coming.
•  YWAM India prayed.
• YWAM Hope Land and YWAM Torch, both in Jinga, Uganda, partnered to pray and reported that they “had an intense and serious time of prayer and hearing from God for North Africa.”

Future Topics:

• January 10, 2019: YWAM Foundational Values 13 – 15
• February 14, 2019: Redeeming Cultures
• March 14, 2019: Muslim Unengaged People Groups

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.

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

“Jesus is God. It is the truth. I believe!” was the voice message left by a local North African last month. This simple declaration of faith is evidence of the deep workings of the Holy Spirit in North Africa. Seeing North African friends come to a saving faith in Jesus is often a long, hard fought battle entailing years of fellowship, food, storytelling, evangelism, Bible reading, and desperate prayer before the Lord! It is no small victory for the Kingdom of God when one believes. Please join us this month in prayer for the people of North Africa.

Listen to the Podcast

In 1991, the YWAM North Africa Regional Center was established in Southern Spain as a strategic springboard to North Africa. Predominantly Muslim, with little Gospel influence, the North Africa region includes Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger and Tunisia.

YWAM’s North Africa Regional Center runs a DTS and a secondary frontier school called Foundations In Intercultural Studies (FIS), as well as, offering hospitality and member care for long term workers in the region. The team is focused on sending new workers and teams into the region where there are over 130,000,000 unreached peoples.

Isaiah 60:1a – Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of November to pray for North Africa with us. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, November 8. If you only have a few moments to pray, please pray for more workers to come to North Africa bringing the glory of the Lord with them and pray for the hastened work of the Holy Spirit in North Africa.

(Please note: All North African nations are very sensitive and have security risks. Careful attention is needed to communicate about YWAM’s work there. Please be aware that stories, news, or prayer requests from the region should not be posted online or shared in public settings, including churches and YWAM meetings that may be recorded.)

Prepare to Pray:

Ahead of your prayer time, please weigh out 250 grams of uncooked short-grain white rice. If you were to count them, this will be approximately 10,000 individual grains. Place the rice in a dish or container. Add to your white rice 20 uncooked brown lentils or grains of black wild rice, that can be visibly distinguished from the rest of the rice. (See picture below.)

As you prepare to pray, allow participants to run their fingers through the grains in the dish. Invite them to consider that across North Africa, evangelical believers find themselves comprising no more than 0.2% of the population. Imagine how widely dispersed these believers are, how difficult it is for them to gather to support one another, and how challenging it is to establish discipling communities. At the same time, bring to mind the 98.8% of the population who may never meet a believer who can tell them the message of Jesus.

As you seek to enter into this experience – possibly of isolation, or remoteness – you are invited to bring the emotion, longing or need you identify into your time of prayer. May your prayers bring with them the gift of identification with and empathy for the people of this region.

Pray for North Africa:

• North Africa needs workers for the harvest! Pray for more workers. (Matt 9:37-38)
• Pray for the peoples of North Africa to call on the name of the Lord. (Rom 10:13)
• Pray that believers (local, YWAMers and other workers) will abide in Jesus so that they will bear much fruit. (John 15:4-5)
• Pray for unity of YWAM teams, local believers, churches: whether expat, local, official or small house groups. (John 17:21)
• Intimidation and fear are big strongholds in North Africa. Pray for our teams and believers to operate in the opposite spirit. (1 John 4:18)
• Pray for believers in North Africa to stand strong when they face hard times or persecution. (Daniel 11:32b)
• Pray for workers living in security-sensitive areas to find their identity, both hidden and shown, in the Lord.
• Pray for those in captivity.

Take Action:

• Read and pray through some of these challenges facing Muslims coming to Christ.
  • Developing a Biblical Worldview
  • Family and community pressures
  • Threat of physical harm due to decisions about Jesus
  • Fear of new ways of life, persecution, societal influence, loneliness
  • Spirituality – focusing on relationship with God instead of doing good works
  • Leaving behind traditions and previous ways of life
  • Difficulty integrating into communities of Muslim background believers
  • Living in countries where change of religion isn’t allowed
  • Emotional wounds and struggles due to low economic status or difficult backgrounds
• Contact us at info@gosahara.org about having a field worker speak on your DTS or School.
• Take the Foundations in Intercultural Studies (FIS) Course at YWAM North Africa. Contact: gosahara.org/fis
• Read “We Died Before We Came Here,” by Emily Foreman, An incredible true story of God’s work in North Africa.
• Sign-Up for YWAM North Africa’s Newsletter
• Bring your outreach team through the North Africa Center for an Orientation. Contact: info@gosahara.org
• Contact us about a 3-month internship with one of our field teams. (info@gosahara.org)

• 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:

October 2018 – YWAM Foundational Values 10 – 12

• YWAM Kona – Darlene Cunningham’s staff rejoiced that The Invitation for October was in “perfect sequence” with the release of the updated YWAM Beliefs and Values document, with the clarified wording for Value 15.
• Many prayed for YWAM Foundational Values and also requested prayer for other topics including healing and recovery without dependency on drugs and forgiveness regarding abortion through faith and repentance.

Future Topics:

• December 13, 2018: Moscow
• January 10, 2019: YWAM Foundational Values 13 – 15
• February 14, 2019: Growth

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.

• #10 – Function in Teams
• #11 – Exhibit Servant Leadership
• #12 – Do First, Then Teach

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

YWAM’s Foundational Values have been passed along from generation to generation for over three decades. These values have stood the test of 33 years and have shaped everything – our culture, our prayer time, our growth, our leaders, our students, our curriculum, our ministries, our partnerships, our challenges and our opportunities. While other things have changed, our values have remained steady and true. Our values were developed through the prayerful introspection, deliberation, collaboration and consensus of our leaders. In 2018, The Invitation, YWAM’s global prayer day, focuses on three of our foundational values each quarter. Please pray with us! This is our fourth quarter of praying for our values and so this month’s Invitation is focused on:

Value 10: Function in teams – YWAM is called to function in teams in all aspects of ministry and leadership. We believe that a combination of complementary gifts, callings, perspectives, ministries and generations working together in unity at all levels of our mission provides wisdom and safety. Seeking God’s will and making decisions in a team context allows accountability and contributes to greater relationship, motivation, responsibility and ownership of the vision.

Value 11: Exhibit servant leadership – YWAM is called to servant leadership as a lifestyle, rather than a leadership hierarchy. A servant leader is one who honors the gifts and callings of those under his/her care and guards their rights and privileges. Just as Jesus served His disciples, we stress the importance of those with leadership responsibilities serving those whom they lead.

Value 12: Do first, then teach – YWAM is committed to doing first, then teaching. We believe that firsthand experience gives authority to our words. Godly character and a call from God are more important than an individual’s gifts, abilities and expertise.

Listen to the Podcast

Please join with The Invitation during the month of October to pray with us about these three values. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, October 12. If you only have a few moments to pray we would ask you to reflect on these values and pray for the Holy Spirit to move through the YWAM family globally in a continued manner as we saw at YWAM’s big family gathering, YWAM Together, which took place in early September in Thailand. As you pray and contemplate these foundational values, we would love to receive stories from you regarding how these values have shaped your ministry or your life. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

As you gather with your group and prepare to pray, we have a fun activity for you! This is a great game to help the group connect in a fun way before getting down to prayer. Laughter and movement are helpful ways to raise the energy in the room before focusing on the prayer topics.

You might remember the childhood game, ‘Follow the Leader,’ in which a group forms a line behind the appointed leader, following her and copying exactly everything she does. If she jumps, you jump! If she skips, you skip! If she stops, you stop. Wherever she goes, you follow, trying to mimic her movements, pace, or any noises she makes. You can have different people take the role of leader for just a couple of minutes each or have more than one group with their assigned leader weaving in and out of one another in the same space.

When your game of Follow the Leader has concluded and everybody has settled down, you might take a brief moment of reflection. Have everybody reflect quietly on these questions:

If you had other people mimicking the way you live your life, what aspects of your life would you be happy to see them model? What aspects of your life would you want to hide from them, or prevent them from imitating? As you hold these things before God, what is His invitation to you, in those areas you feel are presentable as well as those you feel are not?

After a few moments of reflection and an opening prayer, you may direct your group towards the prayer points noted below.

Pray for YWAM Foundational Values 10 – 12:

• Praise God for a wonderful 2018 YWAM Together event in Thailand. Praise Him for bringing our family closer together. Pray for the changes that we will make as a ministry as a result. Thank God for providing the funds and opening calendars for so many YWAMers (3,900) to be together in Thailand.
• Praise God for providing wisdom to our leaders over 30 years ago in identifying and defining our Foundational Values. Pray that they will continue to guide us along the ways of God. Ask the Lord to give us wisdom as a global movement and guide us to continue to align with our foundational values as we grow and change.
• Pray for YWAM locations and ministries to wait on the Holy Spirit for his leading for “where to from here.”
• Thank God for the clear model that He has given us of Jesus as a servant leader. Pray for clarity about servant leadership for our Discipleship Training School (DTS) students.
• Jesus had a do first, then teach strategy with his disciples. Aleck Cartwright from YWAM’s University of the Nations explains three levels of Jesus’ teaching to His disciples. Pray that all YWAM teaching will apply His model well:
  • Level 1 was quite formal – what we could call lectures, teaching and speaking in front of crowds of people.
  • Level 2 was informal, these were impromptu moments when the disciples were perhaps shooing the children away, or when a blind man is led toward him and he would ask, “What do you want me to do for you?”
  • Level 3 was also informal – unguarded conversation, chatting into the night about all manner of topics, meals around the table where discipleship occurred by simply watching Jesus’ humanity and divinity at tension in the most everyday occurrences as they walked and talked or joked with each other.
• Pray for continued unity that results from functioning as teams, being servant leaders and wise teachings through “doing first.”
• Pray for the anointing by the Holy Spirit of our YWAM leaders who are teaching people first to do and then to teach. Pray for God to humble us where we need humbling.
• Pray that the joy and life that was experienced at YWAM Together 2018 would continue as we do ministry through our functioning in teams, our servant leadership and our do first, then teach teaching model.
• Pray that YWAMers would mimic Jesus in every way through formal teaching and even in the mundane and everyday.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12 (NIV)

• Pray for effective feedback and evaluation on our teaching so that we grow in our theology and in our faith. Pray for many opportunities for us to “do” so that we can be more fruitful in our lives and as a global ministry.

Take Action

• Review and discuss the following Bible verses and discuss the benefits of functioning in teams:
  • Ecclesiastes 4:9
  • Proverbs 27:17
  • Ephesians 4:11
  • 3 John 1:8
  • Romans 15:5
  • Hebrews 10:24
  • 1 Corinthians 1:10
  • 1 Corinthians 12:14
• Do this YWAM Turner Valley Bible study and take the secret servanthood challenge: http://ywamturnervalley.org/2012/12/10/the-first-word-on-christian-leadership-servanthood-matt-2020-28/
• Read and discuss this article on servant leadership: Five Marks of a Servant Leader: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/five-marks-of-a-servant-leader
• Consider the various teams you are on and identify ways that you could improve the functioning of your team through your actions. If you do not already have one, ask the Lord to provide you with a mentor who is a good example of a servant leader. Also if you do not already have someone you are mentoring in this area, ask the Lord to show you someone you could mentor.
• Ask God to reveal to you how well you are aligning with the YWAM foundational values. Consider improvements where you are weak. Asked God also to give you strength in these areas. For a list of all 18 YWAM Foundational Values: https://www.ywam.org/about-us/values/
• Review videos from YWAM Together 2018 and look for examples of Do First, Then Teach: https://ywamtogether.com/home/
• Share stories on Facebook and send email to prayer@ywam.orgregarding how YWAM foundational values have impacted your walk with Christ, your family, your ministry or other aspects of your life.
• 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

September 2018 – Kolkata

• YWAM Champagne, France prayed and sensed God saying He is going to give a new strategy for YWAM in Kolkata, India. They received a picture of the city being drawn together with unity between the poor and the rich, a new mentality about castes and a refuge for street children.

August 2018 – YWAM Together 2018

• YWAM Cascades, Idaho had everyone who prayed plant a seed in a container of soil, representing a harvest field. Among other topics, they prayed that all nations would be represented and that this conference would be the start of something new like a pebble in a lake that causes ripples throughout Thailand and Asia.
• YWAM Hong Kong National Office had a “knock down, drag out” intercession time. Some of the key points were that everyone attending would make divine and strategic connections and that the worship time would be flooded with the Spirit of God. Several verses from Isaiah 42 were brought to light.

Future Topics:

• November 8, 2018: Muslims (North Africa)
• December 13, 2018: Moscow
• January 10, 2019: YWAM Foundational Values 13-15

#13 – Be relationship-Oriented
#14 – Value the Individual
#15 – Value Families

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.