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.

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 Kolkata, India, the world’s eleventh largest city. YWAM’s City Ministries Director, Tim Svoboda, claims Kolkata is the most captivating city in the world.

Listen to the Letter

Kolkata is the capital of the state of West Bengal where there are 67 unreached and unengaged people groups, each with its own culture and beliefs. Of this population, 78% is Hindu, 20% is Muslim and less than 1% is Christian.

YWAM has had a presence in Kolkata for more than 35 years, reaching various people groups and providing an enchanting field for other YWAM locations to send their Discipleship Training School (DTS) teams. YWAM Kolkata is also part of City Ministries YWAM that is not only reaching out to the poor and needy of the cities but to the high and mighty as well. City Ministries is about reaching the entire city with the gospel. This means employing strategies that reach into every ethnic, linguistic, religious, economic and employment structure of a city like Kolkata.

Kolkata has a richness of cultural diversity, beautiful sites, and also many challenges: poverty/slum living, a caste system, political violence, economic stagnation, pollution, street children, and migration from rural areas.

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!”

William Carey, Missionary to India (b. 1761 – d. 1834)

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of September to pray for Kolkata with us. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, September 13. If you only have a few moments to pray, please pray that God would usher in many workers that are called to reach the people groups of Kolkata and that the people would become hungry to hear about Jesus.

Prepare to Pray:

• Read this story from a YWAM team in Kolkata: Many teams wonder how they will be able to communicate when they come to Kolkata. They are finding it’s easy to get locals to translate, but sometimes those local translators aren’t Christians themselves. What some may think is a problem can become a great opportunity. One of our translators had been open with us early one day saying “There are 1,000 reasons why God cannot exist.” Throughout our mobile clinic he was translating the gospel for us and watching as miracles happened right in front of his eyes. As more people received healing, he said, “Your prayers really work!.” At the end of our ministry time, he decided to give his life to Jesus as well, and as we left, he told us “I have changed my mind, I know now that there are 10,000 reasons why God is real.”
• Watch a video or two about Kolkata (each just over 3 minutes long):
  • The Spirit of Kolkata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOx_c9XHMGY&feature=youtu.be

• Happy (We Are Kolkata)

• Read this poem from a YWAM outreach in Kolkata: https://ywammadison.org/i-left-a-piece-of-my-heart-on-that-street/

Let’s Pray:

• Pray for qualified and well-trained missionaries to come and plant churches and to become leaders in the city.
• Pray for evangelists to reach the Bengalis and for church multiplication.
• Pray for short-term missionaries to come and evangelize the young people.
• Pray for greater networking among churches and mission organizations.
• Hindus are dedicated to the goddess of destruction and death – Kali. Pray for the revelation of Jesus’ life and power to break through the darkness.
• Kolkata has a very small population of Christians. There are a very small number of churches for the population size. Pray for the Christian believers to be strong.
• It is estimated that over 1 million people are living on the street and 100,000 of them are street children. Pray for the Christian organizations reaching them like Emmanuel Ministries, YWAM and others.
• There are over 1.5 million people living in over 5,000 slums in the city. Pray for the gospel to spread in the slums and for ministries to reach people through mercy ministries.
• Pray for Business as Mission initiatives to provide employment.
• Pray for the ministries that are endeavoring to reach Muslims and for God to speak to the Muslims through dreams.
• There are 11,000 sex workers in one slum alone called Sonagachi. Pray for Freeset https://freesetglobal.com/ a Christian organization reaching the women in the slum of Sonagachi.
• The urban issues in Kolkata can become overwhelming. Pray that Christians will minister to both the rich and the poor in this city.

Take Action:

• Be inspired by four great missionaries who lived and worked in Kolkata: William Carey, Mother Teresa and Mark and Huldah Buntain:
  • William Carey – https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/missionaries/william-carey.html
  • Mother Teresa – https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1979/teresa/biographical/
  • Mark and Huldah Buntain – http://www.calcuttamercy.org/founder/
• Read about how YWAM ministers in Kolkata:
  • https://www.ywamperth.org.au/articles/breakthrough-beginning-kolkata/
  • http://ywamnorthcascades.com/learning-to-love-others-my-ywam-dts-story/
• Review various ministry models for the very complex environment in Kolkata and ask God to show you innovative approaches for your ministries:
  • New efforts to reach the “urbanized” youth of the city is happening through innovative business as mission efforts like 8^th day café: http://8thdaycafe.com/mission/
  • Reaching people living on the street – Emmanuel Ministries: http://emcalcutta.org/
  • A Christian organization reaching the women in the slum of Sonagachi – Freeset: https://freesetglobal.com/
• Learn more about ministries providing hope for sex workers.
  • Watch this video:

• International Justice Mission also working amongst minors in prostitution. https://www.ijm.org/partner-offices/india/
• Learn more about Kolkata from the City Ministries YWAM Kolkata page: https://www.ywamcity.org/kolkata-india-c18gp
• Learn more about YWAM City Ministries: https://www.ywamcity.org/locations
  • Pursue a ministry or training opportunity related to YWAM City Ministries.
  • Read to learn more about ministry in urban areas: https://www.ywamcity.org/recources
  • Watch videos and listen to audios: https://www.ywamcity.org/media
• Attend a YWAM School of Urban Missions. The next one is in Mumbai India, starting Oct 1, 2018. For more information contact: muthuindia2000@hotmail.com

• 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:

August 2018 – YWAM Together 2018

• From the YWAM Together Prayer Team:  There is a growing momentum of prayer globally for YT, for Pattaya, Thailand and Asia and for this time in our history.  Many have participated in the 21 Day Prayer and Fasting and The Invitation, both corporately and individually.  We believe this tenderizes our hearts, prepares us to hear the Lord afresh and encounter Him as we “Come Up Here,” and “see those things that must take place” Revelation 4:1
• IHOP in Kansas City prayed and they produced a daily prayer guide for their YWAM prayer which focused on YWAM Together 2018.

Future Topics:

• October 11, 2018: YWAM Foundational Values 10 – 12
  #10 – Function in teams
  #11 – Exhibit servant leadership
  #12 – Do first, then teach
• November 8, 2018: Muslims (North Africa)
• December 13, 2018: Moscow

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.

Ambassador City Jomtien – Pattaya, Thailand
September 2 – 8

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

Over the last decades, our YWAM family gatherings have always included celebration, relational connection and cross-cultural diversity. They have been significant times where God has spoken to us and shaped our lives. Many YWAM staff, volunteers, students and friends are now looking forward to attending another such event, called YWAM Together, which will be held in Thailand from September 2-8. Please join us in prayer for this gathering.

Listen to the letter.

YWAM Together 2018 comes during a critical and transitional time in the history of the YWAM movement and the world. Coordinators of this gathering believe God desires to usher YWAM into a deeper level of unity with Him and each other in an “Acts 2” moment that could have a profound impact on all present and flow out to the nations.

“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

Revelation 4:1 (NASB)

Revelation from Jesus. As we “Come Up Here” (Revelation 4:1) we anticipate more of Jesus. We will engage in worship and prayer to hear what He has to say to us as individuals and corporately in this historic time.

From every nation (Revelation 7:9). We are expecting approximately 3,000 YWAM family members to gather, from many nations, especially from Asia. Many have never attended a YWAM gathering of this nature.

Shine Pattaya on Wednesday 5th September. We have an opportunity to shine the light of Jesus into the city of Pattaya.  Imagine 3,000 delegates and local participants going to the streets, schools, prisons, and neighborhoods of this city, encountering tourists and sharing the gospel through the arts, music and sports. We will also be distributing Bibles and praying. We believe this day will impact Pattaya and Thailand.

Calling prayer warriors! We need you! Battles are won through worship, praise, thanksgiving and spirit-led intercession. Through prayer, you are planting seeds from the heart of God and His Word, deep into the heart of Pattaya, Thailand, and into YWAM for future generations.

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of August and throughout the YWAM Together event to pray with us. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, August 8. If you only have a few moments to pray, please pray that God would use YWAM Together 2018 to build His kingdom and that He would break down barriers for YWAMers to attend.

Let’s Pray:

• Pray that YWAMers whom God is calling to Thailand will hear and go. Pray also for provision of resources. Pray for a full complement of delegates from many nations. (Revelation 7:9). Pray for God to break down barriers for people to be able to go.
• Pray that YWAM Together 2018 will catalyze an ongoing move of the Holy Spirit in Pattaya, Thailand and in the region.
• Pray for strategic partnerships with local Thai believers.
• Pray for protection for those coming from “sensitive”
• Pray for the word of the Lord to be clear through many voices in our corporate gatherings and through Shine Pattaya.
• Pray for heart preparation of all coming.
• Pray that we would receive His burden and strategies afresh for YWAM and the nations (Rev. 4:1). Pray that we would be guided by the lessons in our history and propelled into our future by the Holy Spirit.
• Pray for grace for all volunteers and the YWAM Together 2018 Convening Team for covering over all areas of their lives.
• Pray that the Round Tables will be a feast of impartation between the cultures and the generations.
• Pray that the Network Circles will lead to effective partnerships among like-minded ministries.

Take Action:

• Connect through prayer. We would love to hear what you sense the Lord is saying. Please share what you pray: prayer@yt2018.org and prayer@ywam.org.
• Watch YWAM leader John Dawson’s video regarding YWAM Together 2018:

• Come to YWAM Together 2018:https://ywamtogether.com/home Register NOW!:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ywam-together-2018-registration-39908268706
• Give as a way to sponsor someone to attend YWAM Together 2018. Sponsor another: https://www.ywamthai.org/yt2018-donations/

• Commit your team to pray God’s prayers over His people from now through the end of YWAM Together 2018. Please stand in the gap for the fullness of God’s purposes to be revealed at this historic time.
• Sign up to join the YWAM Together prayer initiative and 21 days of prayer and fasting: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1egde_KnhvR8rChag9ixH5sGq44hGrJnoYX58D2xqn08/viewform?edit_requested=true
• Commit to pray for Thailand. Use this beautiful prayer guide here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mumt94ez2ls5cjl/AABwscctHBYLrdJ2DkHqrKyIa?dl=0 Order printed copies here: pray4thailand.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

July 2018 – YWAM Foundational Values 7 – 9

• YWAM San Francisco, California reported that they had a wonderful time praying for the YWAM foundational values 7 – 9. They also provided feedback on how to talk about value 9 and this feedback has been passed on to YWAM leadership.
• One person on Facebook suggest a missions idea related to having a biblical worldview: Each time you go to a country, buy a Bible in the local language and leave it somewhere God reveals to you.

Future Topics:

• September 13, 2018 Kolkata
• October 11, 2018 YWAM Foundational Values (10 – 12)

#10 – Function in teams
#11 – Exhibit servant leadership
#12 – Do first, then teach

• November 8, 2018 Muslims (North Africa Update)

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.