The Invitation, November 11, 2021

The division of Korea in 1945 was supposed to be temporary. Unfortunately, this artificial separation between families has now lasted 70 years. A great cultural and economic divide now exists between North and South Korea. The people of North Korea have suffered greatly under a regime that denies them basic human rights. Many Koreans in both countries long for unification, and many Christian leaders have sensed God giving them visions for this. Please join with us through The Invitation, one of YWAM’s prayer initiatives, as we pray for unification of North and South Korea. Please take a moment to pray right now and join us on our prayer day, November 11.

Listen to the Letter

As you begin to pray, hold your hand before you so that your five fingers can prompt you to pray in the following ways.

1. Pinky finger. This is the smallest and weakest finger. Pray for those in North and South Korea who feel they are disempowered and unable to affect change. Pray for those who are poor, both in spirit and in resources. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has recently admitted his country faces food shortages. In your heart, come alongside those who appear to be weak, that they may be strengthened in faith and encouraged in hope.
2. Ring finger. This finger is a symbol of commitment and covenant. Pray for renewed covenants of relationship and unity between North and South Korea. Pray against hatred and fear on both sides. Pray for a process of increasing relationship exchanges between countries. Pray for those in government who might lead the way in moving the two Koreas towards the oneness of unification in ways that respect the distinctness of both. Pray for God to guide countries with an influence on Korean unification, particularly China, the USA, Japan and Russia.
3. Middle finger. This finger is the tallest. Pray for all those in leadership and positions of influence, that their decisions would open the way for unification. Pray especially that God would raise up godly leaders who stand for God’s purposes and make decisions that act as foundations for the future. Pray for political leaders including President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and, in North Korea: Kim Jong-un, Choi Ryong Ha, Hwang Byeong Seo, Park Bong Joo, Kim Young Nam, and Kim Yeo Jung (Kim Jong-un’s sister).
4. Pointer finger. This finger points the way. Pray for Christians to stand boldly in their calling to be those who lead others, through prayer and action, toward the good purposes of God. Pray for revival in both Koreas. Pray for protection of believers in North Korea, where owning a Bible or being known as a Christian can be punished with time a labor camp.
5. The thumb is closest to you. You could point your thumb to your own chest. Ask the Holy Spirit to align your own heart with the good purposes of God for North and South Korea as you pray.

Perhaps this hand prompt will come to mind in the days ahead. When it does, take a moment to continue to hold the two Koreas before the Lord.

How We Prayed

October 14—COP26 Climate Conference

A YWAM team in Vietnam reported a “wonderful time of prayer.” They prayed for the hosts and delegates. “We prayed particularly for the emerging generation that they would have revelation of the God of hope as He is creator and is still in control.”

Join The Invitation

Learn more about this YWAM prayer day, called The Invitation, at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please let us know how you prayed at prayer@ywam.org. Please also tell us if you would like to recommend a prayer topic for The Invitation.

In the first two weeks of November, delegates from almost every nation will be gathering in Glasgow, Scotland for a huge United Nations climate change negotiation. Called Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) it will be one of the largest international events ever hosted by the UK, with up to 30,000 people in attendance. Many world leaders, including the Pope and Queen Elizabeth II, will be there, along with policy experts, diplomats, and scientists. YWAMers have been prayer walking the site and YWAM in the UK has planned an outreach during the event. Please join with us through The Invitation, one of YWAM’s prayer initiatives, as we pray for God to use this event to bring restoration to the world. Please pray right now and on our prayer day, October 14.

Listen to the Letter

1. Pray for God to use this conference to bring healing to our world. Problems such as climate change reflect our broken relationship with God, each other, and with the land God has entrusted to us to steward (Gen 1:26). This is a controversial topic for some, but the consequences of insufficient action are serious, particularly to poorer parts of the world. Alternatively a just, practical agreement could improve the lives of many people. Pray for the delegates to this conference and also for the Body of Christ globally that we would steward what we have been blessed with, not only for our own good, but the good of the generations to come. “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children” (Prov 13:22).
2. Pray for the negotiations. Pray for God’s presence to bring diverse peoples together for common purposes. Pray for truth to come into the light, and for deception to be revealed. Pray for good translation and communication. Pray for help for poorer nations with smaller delegations to be able to participate fully and for humility between countries. Pray for reconciliation between nations and those impacted differently by changes in climate.
3. Bless the city of Glasgow. Pray for city leaders and residents as they prepare for the influx of people from all over the world and as they organize hospitality and security–all while dealing with concerns for Covid19.
4. Pray for the YWAM street outreach to Glaswegians, COP26 delegates and activists. Pray for opportunities to share with those who have fears for the future and to communicate the hope Jesus brings to any situation.

Suggestions for Group or Individual Prayer

Use the video in the letter to help you pray through the sites of COP26, or follow along with the audio in this podcast:

Take Action

• Pray every day of COP26, November 1-12, at 12 noon in your time zone. Go to a green space, get on your knees and call out to God for reconciliation and justice between the land, humanity and our Creator. “If my people would humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chron 7:14).
• Visit this website for more info and to sign up for news updates: ywamcop26.org.

Join The Invitation

Learn more about this YWAM prayer day, called The Invitation, at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please let us know how you prayed at prayer@ywam.org. Please also tell us if you would like to recommend a prayer topic for The Invitation.

The Invitation, September 9, 2021

As the school year begins in many parts of the world, a YWAM prayer initiative called The Invitation is focusing on universities. Please pray with us for God’s purposes for higher education. More students than ever are enrolling in universities. A newly updated study by the ICEF Monitor, the leading market intelligence resource for the education industry, shows that the number of students attending university has doubled in the past 20 years and is projected to double again in the next 20 years. The future will be shaped by these students and their ideas and practices as well as the events that occur on their campuses. Please pray for these students right now and on our prayer day, September 9.

Listen to the Letter

1. Pray for universities and students near your community, and for any institution of higher education where students you know are enrolled. Pray for those suffering from anxieties and other mental health issues. Pray for those experiencing Covid-related stress. Pray for good relationships between students and their parents.
2. Pray for former YWAMers and other believers currently studying in university. Pray for their continued spiritual formation and active engagement in Christ’s mission. Pray for believing students to study abroad as a means to become ambassadors for Christ in other nations. Pray that stories of faith and courage on campus would be retold and published to encourage a new generation of students to join Jesus’ mission.
3. Pray for international students from unreached people groups and creative-access nations, for the planting of campus fellowships for them. Pray that these students would be empowered to reach their own people throughout the world.
4. Pray for YWAM’s Campus Ministries. Pray for YWAM’s University of the Nations Student Mobilization Centre (http://stucentre.com), which aims to mobilize university students of all nations on every campus worldwide to God’s purposes for their lives. Pray for a new wave of student interns led and hosted by YWAMers and friends of YWAM (www.ywamconverge.org). YWAM interns have established therapy routines in orphanages, set up working pharmacies, developed healthy nutritional plans for hospices, taught forgiveness education to refugees, and created curricula for schools. Pray for the equipping of new YWAM missionaries to universities through training programs such as the School of University Ministries & Missions (https://uofn.edu/course/a0c1600000FFWFkAAP).

Suggestions for Group or Individual Prayer

• Take two minutes to jot down a list of former YWAMers and other people you know who are currently in university.
• Visit a local university and pray there.

Take Action

• Show hospitality to international students who are far from home by providing transport, sharing a meal, or through language practice.
• Help students to serve and learn about issues of poverty, disease, illiteracy, impure water, human trafficking, domestic violence, drug abuse, homelessness, at risk youth, etc.
• Partner with student organizations to distribute Bibles and conduct Bible engagement activities.
• Set aside time to pray on campus and then post a video or blog about the prayer time. #PraytheCampus

Join The Invitation

Learn more about this YWAM prayer day, called The Invitation, at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please let us know how you prayed at prayer@ywam.org. Please also tell us if you would like to recommend a prayer topic for The Invitation.

The Invitation, August 12, 2021

Please pray this month for Bible translation. The End Bible Poverty Now initiative exists to see a Bible in every heart language made available to every individual on earth. More than 1,000 languages still do not have a single portion of the Bible in their mother tongue. YWAM is committed to help change that statistic. We recognize that the great majority of those who speak a Bible-less language are oral learners, and the Bible will be at its most impactful in audio format. YWAM is working on Oral Bible Translation (OBT) for these remaining languages. The goal is to have 30 carefully selected passages translated orally into 1,000 languages by the end of 2025. Please pray with us right now for these Bible translations and pray on the prayer day called The Invitation on August 12.

Listen to the Letter

1. Pray for 72 YWAM locations to start Oral Bible Translation training. Through this training facilitators are taught to oversee the start of new languages for Oral Bible Translation. Pray for many students to come to these programs. Pray for the training of the trainers, which will begin with a big program in September in eight locations.
2. Pray for 33 OBT hubs. An OBT Hub is a YWAM location strategically located near a Bible-less people group. Hubs will be intentional in their efforts to reach the Bible-less people groups near their location.
3. Pray that the goal would be accomplished of 30 carefully selected passages translated orally into 1,000 languages by the end of 2025.
4. Pray for the new OBT school plant in Madang, Papua New Guinea this fall. YWAM Kona, Hawaii and YWAM Ships are jointly sending a team to plant an OBT school in Madang. Papua New Guinea has over 175 languages without the Bible, and is a strategic location to begin Oral Bible Translation training.

Suggestions for Group or Individual Prayer

Experience what it might be like to communicate the Bible orally. Read Luke 7:11-17 two times, or have two members of your group read the passage. Then pair up and each person tell the story to the other, without looking at the Bible text. If you don’t have a group, try to say the story out loud. The goal isn’t to memorize the words or to comment on the meaning but simply to convey all the elements of the story. You can take this exercise a step further by having a facilitator ask questions, first about the elements of the story (“What does Luke tell us about the boy and his mother?”), then analysis questions (“How do you think the crowd’s view of Jesus changed?”) and then application questions (“How do you respond to Jesus?”). During the next week, look for an opportunity to tell this story to someone else.

Take Action

1. Join End Bible Poverty Now Kona’s team in their monthly Zoom call this month as they pray for the Oral Bible Translation efforts. This will be on August 25 at 10 a.m. Hawaii time: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83015492807.
2. Continue to pray for the Bible-less by signing up for the End Bible Poverty Now monthly prayer newsletter at endbiblepovertynow.com/pray.

Join The Invitation

Learn more about this YWAM prayer day, called The Invitation, at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please let us know how you prayed at prayer@ywam.org. Please also tell us if you would like to recommend a prayer topic for The Invitation.

The Invitation, July 8, 2021

As athletes from around the world begin arriving in Japan for the Tokyo Olympic Games, please join with YWAM in prayer for the nation of Japan. For the Olympic outreach, YWAM in Japan has joined with the Japan International Sports Partnership. Prior to the pandemic, they did outreaches and provided evangelism training in churches. Now that Japan is facing many Covid-related restrictions the focus has turned primarily to prayer. The partnership hopes to mobilize one million hours of prayer for Japan. The Olympic Games begin July 23. Please take a moment right now to pray for Japan and please pray with us on the YWAM prayer day called The Invitation on July 8.

Topic suggested by Jose Diaz, in Japan.
Prayer content by Marty Woods, in Japan.
Photo credit: YWAM Olympic outreach in Oita, Japan; by Jose Diaz.

Listen to the Letter

1. Pray for unity of the Spirit amongst Japanese believers. According to YWAM Tokyo there appears to be a new level of openness in the hearts of the people, churches are uniting and supporting each other and ministry pioneers are rising up all over Japan.
2. Ask God for a spiritual awakening among the Japanese people. It is estimated that fewer than one percent of the people are evangelical Christians. The national religions of Buddhism and Shintoism are closely tied to the Japanese identity, so choosing to follow a different religion can be perceived as rejecting your family.
3. Pray for more discipleship and church planting initiatives in Japan. There is believed to be only one missionary for every 64,000 people in Japan.
4. Ask God to guide the Japan-wide sports outreach through the work of the Japan International Sports Partnership. Within the national Covid-related restrictions some outreaches are still taking place.

Take Action

Participate in 50 minutes of bilingual prayer and worship in English and Japanese each day leading up to and including the Tokyo Olympics July 23-August 8 and Paralympic Games August 24-September 5. Go to: www.youtube.com/user/onfirejapan.

How We Prayed

June 2021 – Covid in South Asia

1. An intercession group in Perth, Australia reported that they prayed 2 Chron 7:14 for the poor and needy, they prayed against death, they asked for miracles in the hospitals, and sensed God leading them to Isaiah 40:31, that YWAMers and others would not grow weary but would reap a harvest.

Join The Invitation

Learn more about this YWAM prayer day, called The Invitation, at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please let us know how you prayed at prayer@ywam.org. Please also tell us if you would like to recommend a prayer topic for The Invitation.