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

Since the beginning of the year the focus of our monthly prayer times has been growth. Last month we prayed about the possible parallel increase in persecution. As we experience both of these realities – an increase in numbers and an increase in trials – it is crucial that we put our roots ever deeper into God.

Silence can be a gift to us in this regard. Silence offers us an opportunity to become more aware of God and more aware of the truth of our own hearts. When things are going well, as when our numbers increase, we are tempted to rely on our own strength. Silence can safeguard us from the pitfall of self-sufficiency by keeping us in touch with our great need for God. And when things are difficult, as when we face trials and persecution, we are tempted to panic and try to save ourselves in our own way. In silence we are reminded of the greatness and nearness of God.

In any case, as YWAMers we are often a people of action and it is easy to find both fulfilment and distraction in our activity. When we practice silence, we make space for God to meet us beyond all possible distractions. God invites us to know Him and, in knowing Him, to know ourselves and to become the God-imaging, God-empowered people He made us to be.

To remain in silence for more than a few minutes can be uncomfortable for us. We are used to noise and chatter and in the quiet we often find our minds buzzing with all sorts of thoughts. In order to make space for God, we encourage you to join us in this month’s practice of silence – whether as a community, or individually – trusting that this deep listening will lead to a fresh springing up among us of God’s abundant life.

Prepare to Spend Time in Silence (for the prayer time facilitator if being facilitated as a group):

This month’s prayer time will focus on making space to hear God’s voice, listening, and being attentive in silence. Here are some practical tips to help those facilitating the prayer time.

• Decide ahead of time if you want the group to stay together, doing the same activity, or if you will let individuals choose for themselves which activity in which to engage. This is important in order to save time. If you want to let people choose which activity to do you may want to have the three options written out, either as a PowerPoint slide displayed on a screen or wall or on a handout. If the instructions are only verbal you may have to clarify and explain a few times, which would take away from the amount of time you could spend in silence.
• As a facilitator please help set the tone of the time by explaining the expectations to the group as you begin. You may want to emphasise the expectation of silence in the room (if you are staying in the same room) or of not talking to each other if the group is going outside. This may be challenging for some.
• Please be sure to give all the instructions at the beginning of the time of silence in order to avoid interrupting the group with further instructions. Include in the instructions a specific time to gather back together again.
• Consider ahead of time how you are going to process and receive feedback from the group. We have included some possible processing questions. Decide who will facilitate the processing time and how you will record the feedback.

Spend Time in Silence – The Practice of Silence

1.      Choose an Activity Option:

As part of your time of silence, you are invited to consider one of the following three activities as a way to practice “making space for God.” If you are participating with a group, we recommend you all do the same activity so that afterwards you can share together about your experience of God through that activity.

• Option A: Take a walk outside, in silence.Begin by simply noticing how you are feeling physically and being present to the world around you. Practice curiosity and a deep listening to your intuition. Let this time be a journey of the heart, noticing where you are being invited to walk and where to stay for a while. Try to let go of any goals you have for this time (such as to reach a certain destination). Even if you walk only a few steps and simply notice what you see, that is enough.After spending time slowing down and being present to what is around you, become aware of any questions or reflections that come to your mind. Each season has its own particular questions to ask: for example, spring might cause you to reflect on the fullness of life and time for play. What draws your attention and what questions does your time outside invite you to ask at this particular time of your life?Finally, once you have enjoyed this time of reflection, ask yourself how are you moving in this journey of life with God? You might choose to mirror your response in the actual movement of your legs and feet as you walk (if you feel hurt, you might walk with a limp; if you are excited, you might bounce; if you are uncertain, you might mirror that in the way you walk). Then ask, how do you want to be moving through life in this season? You could move in that way for a short while. How might God be speaking to you through what this brings to your mind?
• Option B. Get comfortable and keep silence wherever you are.Be sure you have your journal and some pens or pencils. You may want to light a candle as a symbol of God’s presence. Get comfortable in your chair, or on the floor. Take a few moments to settle into this time and notice how you are feeling. Pay attention to the part of you that finds silence difficult, and to the part of you that looks forward to being with God in this way.After spending time slowing down and becoming present to yourself and to God, begin paying attention to what comes to your mind. Are you aware of questions you want to ask the Lord? Is there something going on in your life that the silence offers you an opportunity to think about? You might reflect on how you have been turning towards God in recent times, and how you have been turning away from Him. Speak with Him about this.In the quiet, you may well find that many random thoughts jump around in your mind, distracting you. If it helps, write down things you need to remember so you can stay focused during this time. Then simply return to an attitude of openness and listening to God. How might He be speaking to you through the things that come to mind? You could journal about this.
• Option C. Reflection on a painting.Finally, you may choose to spend your time in silence considering a painting such as this one, based on the story of Jesus and his disciples in the boat during a storm (Mark 4:35-41).

  

  
  Consider projecting this image so everyone in your group can see it, then settling into a silent time of reflection.
  • As you first look at the painting, ask yourself these questions:
    • What grabs my attention right away?
    • How does the scene change for me, as I look at the painting?
    • What is surprising to me about the painting? What questions does it raise for me?
    • Which of the characters do I most identify with, and why?
    • What would it be like to be in the boat in such a storm?
  • You could also consider reflecting on the following questions:
    • What are the storms in my life right now?
    • In what ways have I overlooked – or been aware of – Jesus’ presence with me?
    • What is His invitation to me in those stormy places? And what is my response?

2.       Conclude Silence Activity:

In conclusion: Whichever activity you choose, at the end of your time simply express gratitude to God for your awareness of His presence, for what He has revealed to you, and for the grace to move toward Him. 

3.       Process Questions as a Group:

Once your time of silence has concluded, here are some questions to help your group to process:

• How was the time of silence and listening different from having a specific topic to pray for?
• What challenges did you experience in the time of silence and listening?
• What insights did you gain from this time of silence?
• How do you think a time of corporate, worldwide silence and listening like this could impact the mission?
• What do you think God thought and felt as we took time around the world to be silent before Him?

4.       Close the Time of Silence:

You may like to use this as a closing prayer:

Lord, thank you that you are not a silent God. Thank you for your desire to communicate with your children. Please give us patience to wait in silence and the ability to quiet our hearts before you. Please train our ears to hear your voice. Help us to be aware of the noises and distractions in our life that may keep us from being close to you, and give us the grace to be still and know that you are God.

Take Action:

• Find out more about spiritual formation from YWAMers:
  • https://ywammontana.org/spiritual-formation-for-extraverts/
• http://www.ywamsalem.org/tag/spiritual-formation/
• Attend training on spiritual formation:
  • http://www.ywamseamill.org/spiritual-deepening/
• Plan another spiritual formation event for your location.
• 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.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

April 2017 – Growth – Persecution

• YWAM Melbourne prayed for our Egyptian brothers and sisters from the Coptic Church after bombs exploded in multiple churches on Palm Sunday.
• YWAM Madison and YWAM Melbourne prayed and invited others to join them through Facebook. YWAMers from Homer, Alaska also posted that they prayed.
• Others posted on Facebook that they prayed specifically for Christians in Nigeria, the Middle East and for the Hazara people group in Central Afghanistan.
• YWAMers at YWAM Europe conference prayed for the nations.

Future Topics:

• June 8, 2017 Back to Jerusalem
• July 13, 2017 Two-thirds-world Workers, Financial Support
• August 10, 2017 Family, Singles, Marriages

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, hash tag #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.

Photo credits: Nick Kenrick and Carol Jacobs-Carre, Flickr

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

In this, the last of our three-part series on growth, we invite you to join The Invitation this month as we pray about the persecution that often comes along with growth. According to Christianity Today magazine, persecution of Christians continued at a high level last year: “For the third year in a row, the modern persecution of Christians worldwide has hit another record high.” YWAM’s founder, Loren Cunningham, expects more opposition in the years to come. He says “The reason I believe that persecution is going to increase on us, and I’ve already seen the signs of it, is that we are going to have a release, not just of workers but of effectiveness.”

To hear more of Loren Cunningham’s comments on how to pray about persecution, watch this short video (For a transcript, see the end of The Invitation.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVjWs1RR14M&index=2

Recent examples of persecution of YWAM workers include a kidnapping, families expelled from countries, one YWAM worker killed for his faith and bold witness, a YWAM worker held by militia, family members held by police, all workers from a YWAM location expelled from the country, computers and phones confiscated, home burnings of YWAM associates, burning of a church planted by a YWAM team, government harassment, imprisonment, monetary fines, beatings, hours of interrogation, and intimidation.

Loren Cunningham warns that persecution can also come by legal means such as media attacks, loss of jobs, and lawsuits against Christians. YWAM leaders also express concern over the ways governments seem to be tightening their control of, and opposition to, Christians.

Persecution is different by region and even from family to family as persecution extends to that level. One of YWAM’s leaders for the Middle East notes that there are some regions currently where “we are being much more bold and active than we have been before, but getting the same or less hassle than before, but there are some areas that have become more restrictive and are continuing to tighten up.”

This YWAM Middle East leader thinks YWAM has been spared significant persecution up to this point and attributes this to “possibly quite a bit of prayer cover.”

As we experience growth, we will also experience greater persecution. Now is the time to ‘review and count the cost’ of following Jesus to the ends of the earth. God hears the cry of the poor every day and he wants us to respond, ‘Here I am Lord, send me.’

Steve Goode, YWAM mercy ministry leader

In some cases, YWAM does not experience the persecution directly but we find ourselves helping others who have been or are being persecuted. Some of these examples are many YWAM locations sending teams to refugee camps that house Christians who have been persecuted in their home country. Other locations offer immediate assistance to cities, towns, and villages where Christians and new believers are persecuted.

The most recent World Watch List from the organization Open Doors predicts that the top ten countries for persecution in 2017 will be North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea. YWAM has had a presence or has a presence in most of these countries.

Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). Please join us for The Invitation in April, and particularly on our prayer day April 13, as we pray about persecution.

Prepare to Pray:

• Review these Bible verses and other resources regarding the cost of following Jesus:
  • Luke 14:25-33, Romans 8:16-17, Revelation 12:11.
  • Read story of a young man, previously a Muslim, who counted the cost of following Jesus and did a DTS in YWAM, southern Nigeria. (Posted by Andy Brooks, YWAM Montana)
  • Review this article and watch some videos regarding YWAMer Dan Baumann when he was imprisoned in Iran:

All of a sudden I realized something, I am free! I am free! So what if they kill me. My life is bought by the blood of Jesus, my home is in Heaven. No one can take that away.”

Dan Baumann, YWAM teacher and author

• As a group or individually, ask God to give you clarity on the cost of following Jesus for your specific ministries.
• As a group, note things that you can do to prepare DTS students and staff for the persecution that is expected with the anticipated YWAM growth.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulations or distress, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35, posted by YWAM Abuja, Nigeria

Pray about persecution that comes with growth:

• Pray for courage and protection as we make more disciples. Pray for safety for new believers as they become rooted in Christ.
• Pray for courage to bear witness when we are persecuted, imprisoned and brought to court (Luke 21:12-13). Pray that we would endure when we are persecuted (1 Corinthians 4:12).
• Pray for YWAM locations in countries known to be the worst for persecution including: North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, and Eritrea. Pray for more workers and disciples in these countries.
• Pray for YWAM locations that have had to leave certain areas including Syria and South Sudan due to persecution. Pray for eventual YWAM growth in these areas.
• Pray for YWAMers in the field who must remain relatively isolated for security reasons.
• Praise God for the way that He works in all things, including persecution, for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
• Pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).

• Pray for persecuted Christians to be rescued from their persecutors (Psalm 31:15).
• Pray for the YWAM missionary kidnapped in Africa last year. Pray for his safe return, for comfort for his family and that his captors would know Jesus.
• Pray for God to create “Pauls” out of those who persecute today. Pray for God to provide them with mercy and to show them love through YWAMers and other workers.
• Pray for those who are displaced and marginalized to find safety and for YWAM workers who are ministering to them.
• Pray for loved ones of martyrs of the Christian faith to see their deceased as more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). Pray also for practical relief and spiritual support for these families.
• Pray for YWAMers and their friends and families who are directly impacted by persecution. Pray for strength, wisdom and provision.

YWAM’s presence in South Sudan has shifted as persecution has intensified – Sudan being one of the worst countries in the world for persecution.

Take Action:

• Watch Loren Cunningham on growth and persecution:
  • Trees of Growth for YWAM (teaching video, 14:33 minutes, 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4bcW0S5Kxc&index=3

• Rise of Persecution explained (6 minutes):

https://vimeo.com/76347562

• On the Voice of the Martyrs Persecution Blog (http://www.persecutionblog.com/) see January 30, 2017 and February 7, 2017 to hear interviews with Loren Cunningham on sharing Bibles in the hardest parts of the world.
• Read books by YWAMer Dan Baumann, who was imprisoned in Iran, to see how persecution has shaped him and his teaching within YWAM:
  • Cell 58 (Formerly Imprisoned in Iran)
  • A Beautiful Way
  • A Fresh Look at Fear
• Track locations, stats and trends about persecution:
  • Voice of the Martyrs: http://www.persecution.com/pdfs/Global_Report_2017.pdf
  • Open Doors USA: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/ and http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/country_profiles.php

• Consult Operation World for more prayer points on the persecuted church in each country of the world. Adopt a country and pray regularly or focus on a new country each month or week.
• Review the Back To Jerusalem 2014 Persecution Report: https://www.backtojerusalem.com/report/BTJ_2014_Persecution_Report.pdf (more coming on Back To Jerusalem in The Invitation in June).

Read books to gain a greater understanding of persecution and the cost of following Jesus:

• • Tomorrow You Die: “You are a traitor and traitors are shot.” (International Adventures), Reona Peterson Joly, 1996, YWAM Publishing.
  • Singing Through The Night: Courageous Stones of Faith from Women in the Persecuted Church, YWAM Publishing.
  • Jesus Driven Ministry, Ajith Fernando (See what it looks like to follow Jesus through Sri Lankan women and men who have been imprisoned for their faith.)
  • The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
• Remember and honor YWAMers who have gone to be with the Lord as a result of persecution or other reasons: http://www.ywam-memorial.org/about
• If you missed The Invitation in February or March please review these short videos about growth that were produced for The Invitation: YWAM’s Lynn Green on ten-fold growth:

• And also Loren Cunningham on global growth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzUyW_lTB1M&index=1

• 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.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

March 2017 – Growth – Global

• YWAM Togo, Kuwede Kara, Togo, West Africa received Genesis 1:11-12 regarding multiplication in the Horn of Africa and a vision of an open eye with the Lord saying “I the Lord have my eyes on you, I support you.” They also prayed for growth of faith for staff and students and for ending Bible poverty.
• YWAM Perth sensed God giving them Hebrews 12:26-29, concluding that if we want to see growth and breakthrough we need to refine our character. They also prayed for the children who grow up in YWAM that they would have a heart for the Lord, and for smaller locations to have an increase of staff joining and increase in finances.
• An individual prayed that YWAM would influence youth in their spheres of influence and that professionals and scientists would aggregate their knowledge to the kingdom of God and the advancement of the gospel.
• YWAM Vijayawada, India posted on Facebook that they prayed for women’s ministry growth.

Future Topics:

• May 11, 2017 Spiritual Formation
• June 8, 2017 Back to Jerusalem
• July 13, 2017 Two-thirds-world Workers, Financial Support

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, hash tag #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/category/shows/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

Transcription:

Global Day of Prayer-Growth and Persecution

by Loren Cunningham

“Persecution is only really a result of us being effective. If we quit being fruitful, quit multiplying, quit filling the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord that wants to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, you won’t have persecution. In fact, the devil will actually say ‘good job’ but we don’t want to hear that from him. We want to hear from Jesus ‘well done thou good and faithful servant.’ ‘So as they persecuted me,’ Jesus said, ‘so they will persecute you.’ The reason I believe that persecution is going to increase on us, and I’ve already seen the signs of it, the reason is that we are going to have a release, not just of workers but of effectiveness, of fruitfulness and of multiplication, and of filling the earth. We need to plant into every Omega Zone. Plant what? Well preschools, grammar schools, high schools, the University of the Nations. But we also need to plant YWAM movement that becomes organization. A missionary movement should be started as we go into every nation on earth and as we do so were going to see the army released out in the next pioneering area. Pioneering is what it’s all about. That’s going and taking territory from Satan. ‘Oh it’s going to be bad, you’re going to get attacked.’ Yes, but ‘Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.’ So, let’s do what Jesus said. Let’s see waves of young people from everywhere going to everywhere sharing the good news, discipling people, bringing them into literally a part of the army of God that we’re a part of, and then at the same time serving those called into the other six spheres. As we do that we are going to be serving them, they will serve us, and we’re going to see something amazing in these next years. I can only say to young people look at this movie, it’s a movie of a big wave and that’s the wave you’re going to be riding–right now you’re already starting—but that wave is growing and growing into a spiritual tsunami that will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea and YWAM’s going to have a big part in it.”

 

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

Many of you joined us last month for The Invitation when we prayed for supernatural growth for ourselves and for our local communities. In a video last month YWAM leader Lynn Green talked about prophetic messages YWAM has received about ten-fold growth and he explained how praying for growth fits with themes in the Bible.

We asked you to provide growth plans that God has given your location so we could include those in The Invitation for this month as we pray for growth from a global perspective. We heard from many of you and we reached out to several of the ministries associated with YWAM to ask about their growth goals. These specific growth plans and prayers have been included in The Invitation for March and our prayer day on March 9.

As we prepare to pray for global goals, please watch this short video from YWAM’s founder Loren Cunningham about what to keep in mind as we pray for growth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzUyW_lTB1M

Next month is our final month for praying about growth and we will focus on prayer about persecution that often accompanies growth. If you have a specific prayer or story about persecution associated with growth, please share that with us by emailing prayer@ywam.org.

Also, from now on we are offering a new way to enter into The Invitation. You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.

Looking back and seeing the progress, and looking ahead I know there is much more to come. What’s going to happen in the future is more exciting than what’s happened in the past.

Kevin Sutter, YWAM Frontier Mission

 Prepare to Pray:

• Invite your location to spend some time corporately and individually listening to God and ask Him to speak to you regarding YWAM growth in general and regarding specific requests that have been outlined below.
  • Corporately: Watch the video from Loren Cunningham about praying for supernatural growth. Ask your worship team to design a time of worship that praises God and incorporates who God is and what God does.
  • Individually: Ask God to speak to you as you review the story of Noah (Genesis 6 – 10). Think about the faith that Noah had to be so obedient as to build an ark so far inland. Think about your own faith. Is God showing you an area where you can be more obedient to build what He wants you to build? (Inspired by YWAM Perth.)

As you pray:

• Pray as Jesus prayed: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2).
• Pray for all YWAMers to be aware of global goals that God has given YWAM and that each will understand their part.
• Pray for building of character. Pray for leaders of YWAM teams and ministries to effectively disciple staff and students to have a “Jesus” character so that non-believers see Jesus in them and come to faith. (From YWAM Perth.)
• Pray for YWAM staff and students to have faith to live the growth. Pray that we will repent of any unbelief related to provision and growth. Pray that we will trust God with all our heart. (From YWAM Sertão, Brazil.)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Pray for global growth:

• Pray for the following growth goals and prayer requests from various YWAM ministries:
  • End Bible Poverty Now: Pray that all the remaining 1,776 Bible-less languages would have at least a verbal recording of the New Testament by Christmas 2020 as a gift to Jesus (endbiblepovertynow.com).
  • Frontier Mission: For several years, God has been speaking to our YWAM Frontier Missions leadership team to believe Him for supernatural increase in the harvest.With a focus upon making new disciples and starting Disciple-Making Movements, they have set a goal: “10X and Beyond!” Ten times the number of new believers and ten times the number of new movements among the unreached. Over the past few years, they have already seen a three-fold increase in disciple-making movements. Pray for God to lead them to the fulfillment of their goal to see a 10-times increase by 2020.
  • Mercy Ministry: Pray for YWAM and its partners to have 18,000 mercy ministry staff in 200 countries by 2020 ministering to 50 million of the poorest and most vulnerable people.
  • City Ministries: Pray for urban ministry teams in every one of the 40,000 cities worldwide where YWAM does not yet have a long-term presence.
  • YWAM Ships: Pray for a fleet of 40 ships serving isolated islands and rivers throughout the world. The current fleet stands at 25 vessels. Pray also for trust to develop between YWAM ships and the governments of nations so that YWAM can engage the spheres of the nation where doors are open.
  • Horn of Africa: Last month a group of YWAM pioneers met in Somaliland, a country that does not yet have long term YWAM presence, and they prayed for growth in their region. Pray for their goals for the next two years: four teams on the ground in Somaliland, a beachhead into Yemen, and six-fold growth in workers in another Horn of Africa country.
  • YWAM DNA Infusion Asia reports that God has given the body of Christ in Cambodia a vision to see a church planted in every village by 2021. Please pray for this.
  • Mission Builders currently equips between 500 and 1,000 volunteers to serve 20-100 YWAM ministry centers each year. Pray for their long-term faith goal to raise up 15,000 volunteers each year to serve every YWAM ministry that has a need. They also want to thank everyone who prayed for them last year. They were able to pay off their mortgage by December 31, 2016.
  • YWAM Associates USA: Pray for God to use the transition and changes in leadership to reveal His growth plans for YWAM Associates.
  • University of Nations: Pray for effectiveness in serving where the need is greatest, supporting students in completing tracks and degrees and developing courses and tracks that empower people to engage.
  • Homes of Hope is currently building 390 homes for the poor each year in 9 different locations. Pray for their growth goal to build 600 homes for the poor each year involving 12,000 volunteers.

For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

1 Corinthians 4:20

Take Action:

• If you missed this video from last month, watch Lynn Green speaking about prayer for growth

• Establish an area at your location where global and local growth goals can be visibly displayed as a reminder to pray and to focus.
• Read Kingdom Reflections by Kevin Sutter of Frontier Mission
• Read the warning about unbelief that can cause years of lost growth
• Read article on Increase!
• Read article regarding why we value reporting and tracking of our activities related to increase.

• 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.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

February 2017 – Growth – Local

• YWAM Perth, Australia was praying for their YWAM locations in East Asia when they sensed that God was telling them to communicate their specific prayers for YWAM globally. (See prayers above related to obedience and character.)
• YWAM Sertão, Brazil shared prayers noted above and reported that God gave them the word “people” regarding local growth.
• YWAM Colombia: A woman from YWAM Colombia shared several topics for future prayer. Topics included family, marriage and others.
• A Chilean asked for prayers for his country where there are outbreaks of fire, specifically that the fires would cease and that Chileans would turn to God in genuine and humble ways.
• A Syrian refugee requested prayer for his family seeking resettlement in Argentina.
• YWAM Tallinn, Estonia prayed and listened and sent this photo of their time with the Lord:

The Invitation – February 2017 – YWAM Tallinn, Estonia

 January 2017 – Unity – Building Bridges

• YWAM Blantyre, Malawi reported that God brought representatives from over 10 countries covering five of the six continents to their location in early January. Staff and students from YWAM Kona, YWAM Hernhutt and YWAM Blantyre prayed for unity in YWAM and within the church. After praying for each continent they went out in mixed teams to pray in the community. They also prayed that YWAM would be an effective vehicle in drawing the body of Christ together.
• At the YWAM DNA Infusion Asia Conference in Battambang, Cambodia almost 500 people prayed for unity within the body of Christ. They also thanked the architects of the new campus for their story of dependence on God for every detail of their work.

 How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Psalm 133:1

(Cited by YWAM Blantyre during prayer.)

Future Topics:

• April 13, 2017 Growth: Persecution
• May 11, 2017 Spiritual Formation
• June 8, 2017 Back to Jerusalem

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, hash tag #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!

A great awareness has been taking place on a worldwide level that is bringing people from different confessions and denominations together in Christian unity. Recent events include a global gathering held in Jerusalem to link the east and the west; an event commemorating the 500^th year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in which Lutherans, Catholics and many other denominations celebrated Christian unity; and the upcoming annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity January 18 – 25^th in which many YWAMers and denominations are involved.

Some have described Christian unity as the process of becoming one or oneness vs. having a focus on one denomination’s distinctions over another’s. The process of becoming one involves having a greater focus on the workings of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; affectionately loving our Christian brothers and sisters even if we do not agree completely with the doctrine of their denomination; focusing on the essentials of the Christian faith as opposed to the details of one denomination or another, and humbling ourselves like Christ. In humility, we can perceive that the Body of Christ exists within and outside different Christian expressions.  Though we might agree with the theology of a particular church or denomination, we know that does not mean everyone who attends there is a believer, but there are also Godly believers who are members of churches or confessions with whom we might disagree. We all seek to have a Biblical faith and theology but we all reach different conclusions.

Jesus spoke of unity: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—“ (John 17:22). Paul prayed for and encouraged unity:

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:5-7

One of YWAM’s eighteen foundational values includes being interdenominational. YWAM believes this denominational diversity is a positive factor that contributes to the health and growth of the mission. Some examples of YWAMers working interdenominationally for Christian unity are:

• YWAM Egypt’s work within Coptic churches.
• Based upon a long-standing relationship between a YWAM leader and the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who became Pope Francis, the Pope has received YWAM leaders and sent greetings to YWAM events. Watch this video of YWAM praying for Pope Francis: http://www.ywam.org/blog/avada_portfolio/alejandros-prayer-for-pope-francis-loren-cunningham.
• The work of YWAM’s Kerygma network (http://kerygma.network/) in the Catholic world.
• Many who teach in YWAM training schools have been drawn from a wide variety of denominations and confessions.
• In the Middle East, many of our staff and leaders identify themselves as Orthodox.
• Many YWAMers have joined in with regional and global Gatherings of Watchmen for the Nations, where unity has been a major theme over recent years, bridging divisions within the Chinese church and between Christians from different tribes and nations.

Please join us this month in praying for YWAMers and other Christians to have a heart for fellowship in the body of Christ across institutional barriers, even in polarized communities.

Prepare to Pray:

• Read Acts 15 and ask the Father to:
  • Reveal who, by your mouth, needs to hear the gospel and believe
  • Provide clarity for your ministry regarding:
    • Living harmoniously with other Christians
    • Diversity that needs grace and/or forgiveness
  • Reveal how your location can achieve a higher level of unity with churches and partners in your area
  • Reveal to you where your particular views may be limiting unity
• Consider beginning your prayer meeting by watching Alejandro Rodriguez’s prayer for Pope Francis and then join in with that prayer.

• Review countries in your area to identify specific prayer needs regarding Christian unity.

Pray:

• Pray for a greater vision of a united Church and that the love of Christ would become a means and motive for reconciliation.
• Pray that we would obtain a greater sense of wonderment regarding our Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit so that we would not be focused on the little things.
• Pray for a deeper appreciation for the unity within the Godhead.
• Pray for relational unity with other Christians where relationships are strained and love is lacking.
• Pray that we would refrain from the temptation to compare our best with the others worst areas when we talk of other Christians. Pray that we would rather focus on and believe in the marvelous work of Christ in the others.
• Pray for Christians and churches to focus on beliefs that unite us, which is much stronger and greater than what divides us. Pray also for humility and respect in addressing divisions.
• Pray for heartfelt repentance starting with ourselves, where we have built walls of sinfulness out of pride, fear, independence, selfishness, etc.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13

• Pray for YWAM ministries that serve diverse churches and that build Christian unity.
• Pray for the 250 YWAMers that call the Middle East their home. Pray for unity in partnerships so that the people of the Middle East will meet their Savior.
• Pray for YWAMers to have clarity on essentials of the Christian faith.
• Praise God for the opportunities we have to work with people from different denominations and confessions and ask Him to give us wisdom in modeling Christian unity the way Christ would.
• Pray for the leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
• YWAM Kerygma requests prayer for Catholics and Protestants to be open to learning from each other so that they can love and reach the poor and unreached together.
• Pray for oneness with your partner churches and other Christian organizations in your area.
• Pray that deep rooted historical differences will be resolved in a spirit of love.
• Pray for YWAMers to grow in their ability to love everyone and to be humble.
• Pray for YWAMers to be true ambassadors of reconciliation, proclaiming this reconciliation in word and deed to all the world. Pray that we would lead as examples and facilitate for others the breaking down of walls, building of bridges and opening doors to new ways of living to the communities to whom we reach.

(The Lutheran World Federation)

Take Action:

• Find ways to celebrate Jesus and what we share in common with other Christians and together pray for your area.
• Join together with other Christians in outreaches to serve the poor and marginalized in your area.
• Ask open questions of other Christians about beliefs and practices from their tradition which puzzle you, with a genuine humility and desire to learn.
• Read the first five pages of the booklet for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity January 18 – 25 produced by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and develop a plan for your involvement. Consider facilitating a joint prayer service for Christians and churches in your area sometime during the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” (Jan.18th-25th).  You could use the suggestions on pg.13-24 as a guide for such a gathering.

(The Lutheran World Federation)

• Christian Unity wall – Please add details and photos of your events, prayers and messages of unity to the Christian unity ‘wall’ at weekofprayer.org by posting to Twitter using the #wpcuwall hashtag.
• Organize a day of Bible study and prayer with Christians from multiple theological backgrounds. For inspiration review an experience YWAM Montana had: https://ywammontana.org/love-one-another-by-joshua-walker/
• Find out more about YWAM working with other believers including Catholics, Orthodox and persecuted Christians :
  • Coptic Orthodox Christians
    • http://www.ywammiddleeast.org/index.php/nations/egypt
  • Catholics
    • http://kerygma.network/ (special focus on the Catholic world)
    • http://www.wayoflife.org/reports/youth_with_a_misson_one_world_church.html
  • Persecuted Church
    • http://www.ywam.org/blog/2011/03/15/reaching-out-to-christians-in-pakistan/

• Read about the relationship between local churches and mission agencies: Should YWAM Exist? 
• Research persecuted Christians in your area and formulate a plan to reach out to them in brotherly love. Read about Coptic Christians being persecuted in Egypt: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38280627

• 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.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

December 2016 – Paris

• YWAM York, United Kingdom prayed against loneliness and bitterness in Paris, for generous hospitality, and that the gospel would be distinctive and would shine bright against the backdrop of humanism and the occult.
• YWAM Blantyre, Malawi prayed all day and YWAMers signed up for certain times.
• YWAM Ports De Vie, France joined The Invitation during their weekly base intercessory time. They report that it was a great privilege to pray for their brothers and sisters in Paris and for the city itself and its inhabitants.
• YWAM Orlando, United States focused during The Invitation on prayer for Paris refugees and terrorism.

• YWAM Ituzaingo, Argentina prayed for refugees to know the way of salvation and for YWAM bases to open where refugees are living.
• A woman in Jakarta who attended a DTS several years ago reported that the Lord had led her ministry two months ago to travel to Paris and other European cities to pray against darkness and to preach the Gospel December 8 – 18, 2016. Thirty nine team members travelled to Paris on December 8 to start this mission trip.
• YWAM Tallinn, Estonia prayed for Paris and shared a photo of their white board.

 Future Topics:

• February 9, 2017 Growth: Local
• March 9, 2017 Growth: Global
• April 13, 2017 Growth: Persecution

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 post on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hash tag #praywithywam.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.