The Invitation, February 8, 2024

The global YWAM family will gather in Manila from September 3-6, and the organizing team invites every YWAMer, across all ministries, communities, locations, and campuses, to prepare. Please set aside the third week of each month from February to September for corporate prayer and fasting. We acknowledge the significance of this time in history. Our founder and spiritual father, Loren Cunningham, has transitioned to glory. At the same time, YWAM is strategically positioned to catalyze a historic move of God. In support of this global YWAM family prayer initiative, we will share a brief video every month to inspire unified, corporate prayer for the nations, the mission, and the body of Christ. The first video comes from Andy Byrd of YWAM Kona. Please join us on February 8, the prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation, and please pray with us during the third week of each month.

1. Pray for YWAM Together Manila 2024. From September 3-6, the whole YWAM Global family will be gathering as staff and students for the first time since 2018. Please pray that as many staff and students as possible would join us and that it would be a catalytic time for our mission.
2. Pray for YWAM in this season. As you listen to the launch video from Andy Byrd and hear about the importance of the tender season that we are in with Loren’s passing, please pray that we would not miss out on anything God has for YWAM as we go forward.
3. The global body of Christ. As we are living in such a critical time, please pray in YWAM we would be key catalyzers and unifiers in the whole body of Christ to see this generation turn to God in a new and world-changing way.
4. A fresh youth movement. As God birthed YWAM through the vision of the waves of young people going from every nation to every nation, please pray for a fresh release of a new wave of workers in this generation, starting with Gen Z and beyond.

Take Action:

1. Contact your supporters and friends and ask them to intercede and fast during the third week of every month, January through September. Start by watching the launch video through this link: Y Global Prayer Initiative, later on watch this video Darlene talks about Y Global Prayer Initiative. Below there are short summaries for both videos but we recommend you watch them.

• First video: Andy Byrd of YWAM Kona speaks of a tender season of reflection he senses in YWAM after the passing of our founder, Loren Cunningham. Andy says this is a window of opportunity for God to test our thoughts (Psalm 139), for us to make things right with each other (Matt 5:24), for a spirit of revelation to land in our hearts (Eph 1:17-18), and for us to gain fresh vision and clarity, so we can run into fruitfulness (Hab 2:2). Andy also has been reminded of Joy Dawson’s words to him over the phone right before her passing in 2022. She was concerned that YWAM’s leaders not lose the passion for intercession, and she wanted Andy to pass this message on to as many leaders as possible. Andy said he and other leaders don’t want the place of intercession to grow weak in YWAM. Maybe we are not as covered as we should be. Maybe we are more vulnerable than we realize. Andy challenged YWAMers to be like Bartimaeus who cried out to God for the breakthrough he knew Jesus could give him. Andy urged YWAMers to be the presence-centered people God has always called us to be, for leaders to not grow so busy that they don’t close the door and cry out to the Father, for locations and families to re-prioritize and rekindle a hunger for a worship and prayer lifestyle. He encouraged every location to set aside the third week of each month leading up to September for united prayer. He said “I’m excited for these months ahead of us and excited to be together in Manila.”

• Second video: Darlene began by thanking everyone for all the care she has received. She said she misses Loren, chatting with him. In the decisions, they went to Jesus together, which she can still do. She wants that for all of us in YWAM too. In his video, Andy said this is a time of tenderness. Darlene reflected on that word. She said we were formed in YWAM on the word of the Lord. That’s what Loren’s book, Is That Really You God, focused on. What is in our DTS curriculum: how to hear the voice of the Lord. Darlene recalled the early days in YWAM. They prayed for the nations every day. She asked, “What was the word of the Lord that brought you to the place where you are?” We must always depend on the voice of the Lord. In those first years, they would wait on the Lord, and they would go to each other and make things right. God wants to speak to us. Jesus said, I don’t do anything on my own, I hear from my Father. How much more ourselves? Resist the enemy. Seek a clean heart. Darlene said, as we prepare our hearts to go together to the Philippines, this will be our first gathering in six years. Ask if God wants you to go to the Philippines. I believe God wants to speak to us when we are all gathered. I look forward to seeing you in person. Pray, intercede, walk in unity together, and just see what remarkable things God is going to do in the future.

2. Sign up your team for YWAM Together 2024 in Manilla. Click the link www.yt2024.com before April 30 to get the early-bird price.

Join The Invitation.

Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.

The Invitation, January 11, 2024

Please pray for Bible translation this month, the passion of YWAM’s founder Loren Cunningham, who died in October of 2023. Thousands of languages, spoken by hundreds of millions of people, still do not have a Bible. The goal of the Oral Mother Tongue (OMT) approach is that the Bible be accurately and clearly translated by mother-tongue speakers into their languages. This can be accomplished in as little as two years. Since launching OMT in May 2023, YWAM Nigeria alone has finished 30 translations that have been received with joy by churches, who testify to their accuracy. Please pray for oral Bible translations by taking a few minutes right now, and please also pray with us on January 11, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.

1. Pray for the launching of a global prayer movement in YWAM that would birth a global translation movement.
2. Pray for more bright examples of OMT around the world, like the work Paul Dangtoumda is doing in YWAM Nigeria to equip and strengthen YWAMers with testimonies and with methods that can be replicated.
3. Pray for grassroots funding to accompany the prayer movement. For OMT to remain a movement, it must remain modular and decentralized in its finances.
4. Pray for renewed pioneering grit and grace to sweep the global YWAM family as we embrace the OMT vision that every mother tongue in the world would have the full Bible.

Take Action

• Register at prayomt.com to pray for a Bibleless language. While there, get familiar with a wide range of OMT documents.
• Start a weekly prayer group and adopt a Bibleless people group to pray for and fund.

Join The Invitation

Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.

The Invitation, December 14, 2023

YWAM Uganda asks for prayer as they reach out to an ethnic group in the northeast of their country. The Karamojong (also spelled Karimojong) number nearly one million. Cattle are their main livelihood and there are often violent cattle raids among three neighboring tribes: the Acholi, Lango and Iteso. The increase in modern firearms has increased the death toll, and there is a growing number of widows. According to data from the Joshua project, the Karamojong is about 30 percent Christian, with about two percent Evangelical. Other Karamojong follow various ethnic religions. YWAM Uganda is starting an outreach center in the midst of the Karamojong and is reaching out through medical care and short-term teams. Please pray for the Karamojong people by taking a few minutes right now, and please also pray with us on December 14, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.

1. Pray for an increase in Christians among the Karamojong. Pray for courage and boldness for those who are already followers of Christ to share their faith with others. Pray also for hearts to be softened and open to hearing the good news.
2. Pray for the YWAM presence in Uganda. There are currently six different YWAM locations in Uganda. Please pray for an increase in staff, resources and financial provision for these ministry centers.
3. Pray specifically for the YWAM Soroti, Uganda location. YWAM Soroti is pioneering a new YWAM location in Kaabong, a town in the midst of the Karamojong people. YWAM workers are helping to feed the patients at the local hospital. This enables families to stay with their sick family members there. Pray that this ministry will lead to more opportunities to share the gospel at the hospital. The Soroti location also runs a Discipleship Training School which is doing its outreach among the Karamojong people. Please pray for their safety and for God to use them to bring hope to the people.
4. Pray for those who are ill. In general, care for the sick is lacking. Most family members drop their sick family members off to the hospital and then leave. Please pray for an increase in care for the sick, both in terms of resources and ability for families to stay with their loved ones.
5. Pray for their crops to thrive. The rainy season is short where the Karamojong people live and it is a very hot and dry environment. Pray for enough rain for their crops to mature.

How We Prayed

YWAM’s founder, Loren Cunningham, died on October 6 at the age of 88. Many have been praying for the Cunningham family and for YWAM. Please join us in prayer. Also, you are invited to attend one of the celebration of life events planned for the coming months. Please go to lorencunningham.com to find out more.

Join The Invitation

Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.

The Invitation, November 9, 2023

In the midst of a fierce civil war in north Sudan, a YWAM team of nearly 30 Sudanese staff continue to live and serve. Before the war, which began in April 2023, most lived in and around the capital. All of these staff have moved themselves and their families to safer areas of the country. They continue to look for opportunities to serve in the midst of the war, hosting “revival” meetings in their new locations, gathering women together to encourage them and looking for opportunities for mercy ministry. Please take a moment right now to pray for the people of Sudan and the YWAM team there, and please also pray with us on November 9, our monthly prayer day for the prayer initiative called The Invitation.

1. Pray for provision of food, water and medicine for the Sudanese people. Very little international aid has made it into the country due to the fighting and instability. The Sudanese people, including the YWAM team, are struggling to find their daily needs of food, water and medicine.
2. Pray for ministry to happen in the midst of the war. YWAMers and other Christians carry the good news with them as they are displaced. Many Sudanese Christians have found themselves in remote areas, living among unreached tribes. There is an openness to the gospel and we are hearing testimonies of evangelism and discipleship.
3. Pray for plans for mercy ministry. YWAM has been involved in mercy ministry in Sudan for the last 20 years. They are now looking for ways to distribute blankets to the displaced as the weather is getting colder in the displaced areas.
4. Pray for the peace of the country. Both the government army (SAF) and the militia (RSF) have committed atrocities during the fighting in the last six months. Most Sudanese people are not sure who could return their country to peace. Pray for the plans of Satan to steal, kill and destroy to be frustrated. Pray for peacemakers to be raised up in the country.

Take Action

To find out more, to make a donation, or to find out how to get involved with Sudanese refugees in Egypt, contact sudanese@ywamcos.org.

How We Prayed

YWAM Flotilla, October 2023

• From D. H.: “I have wanted a boat for years and am finally in a position to buy one. I always wanted a mission for me, my wife and the vessel. I want to help.”

Join The Invitation

Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.

The Invitation, October 14, 2023

In the Pacific lie 936 isolated islands with no airports or regular ferry services. How can we reach all of the people on those islands? Even with YWAM’s 27 vessels worldwide, we can’t get to everyone. YWAM’s new Flotilla ministry partners with private yacht owners to reach isolated areas, thus opening more opportunities to reach the most remote islanders, people loved by God. Please take a moment now to pray for these isolated islands. Please also pray with us on October 12, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.

1. Pray for French Polynesia. Sixteen isolated islands in the Tuamotu group have no airport. We have two yachts reaching them this year. Pray for more access to become available.
   • Operation Christmas Child. Pray for continued partnering with this organization so every child may know God’s love for them.
   • Oral Mother Tongues. There are nine known mother tongues in this region, but we are told there are many more. Pray that everyone can have the Bible in their language.
   • Community assessments. Pray for deep connections with the local people as we dream about God’s heart for each community.
   • Translation. Pray for French speakers to have a heart to help local people to translate.
2. Pray for Southeast Asia. In parts of Asia, islands with fewer than 500 people are considered uninhabited. God sees every person and has plans and purposes for their lives.
3. Pray for new locations. Flotilla yachts are either already active or planning ministry in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. Pray for more groups of ministries to partner together.
4. Pray for Christian yacht owners. Pray for more to answer the call of the Great Commission, because there are many more isolated places to reach.

Take Action

• Visit www.ywamflotilla.org.
• Talk to Christian boat owners who might be interested in volunteering their vessels for missions.
• Consider doing a School of Navigation to be equipped with marine skills for sailboats.
• Pull a team together and go. We position our boats near airports so that volunteers can fly in, get on board, and then sail out to isolated islands. We match the needs of the isolated Islands with the many tools that YWAM has to offer.

How We Prayed

September, 2023: YWAM Leadership

• Ivory Coast: A YWAM team prayed for unity and for YWAM leaders “to keep carrying the spirit and flame of YWAM.”
• South Korea: A YWAMer prayed for growth after pruning: “It’s time to grow again, time to transform, and time to seek more of Him!”

Join The Invitation

Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.