Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray about the Two-Thirds-World Workers and their Financial Support.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

Today in modern missions many people who live in what was considered the mission field have now become a significant part of the mission force. A large portion of YWAM missionaries now come from countries like South Korea, Brazil, India, and Indonesia.

Along with these changes come great challenges as norms change. One such challenge is raising support for those working in or sent from the Two-Thirds-World. We want to pray for those workers and their financial challenge during The Invitation this month.

As we prepared the prayer information, we surveyed several YWAMers with ministries on different continents to get their input on current challenges and lessons learned regarding financial support. Of those surveyed, only a very small percentage of them receive support from their local church. Some noted that they receive support from Christians and non-Christians  and most of them noted that friends (many of them friends made during YWAM training programs) and family members provide support. Some of them reported that they take on small jobs for money and one even said that only 10% of her support is consistent from month to month but that God always provides what is needed.

Many of the challenges reported relate to misperceptions on the part of local churches, people who are asked to provide support, and YWAMers themselves. The misperceptions revolve around people not having a solid biblical understanding of money and cultural differences. Lessons that have been learned by YWAMers surveyed include: trust in God, pray, follow up on all requests, meet in person with people, and develop a biblical understanding of money. All of those surveyed report that they have seen God’s work in providing partners who stand beside them financially.

Terry Sherman, who provides training to YWAMers regarding support raising, states that those from the Two-Thirds-World “will encounter spiritual opposition the same as those who have gone before from the One-Third-World.  So the same lessons apply: we all need to find freedom to form partnerships. Our own ways of thinking and cultural taboos about money are our biggest enemies.”

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 6:24 (KJV)

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of July to pray for financial support for Two-Thirds-World workers. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, July 13.

If you have only a few minutes to pray, please lift up our YWAM workers from the Two-Thirds-World. Pray that they would increase their financial support and their biblical understanding of how to raise finances. Pray also for churches and individuals in the Two-Thirds-World to take on a greater role of sending missionaries by giving and praying generously. Please put a coin in your pocket to remind you to pray this month.

If you are praying with a group or if you have more time to pray, please see below for the complete list of prayer suggestions.

Prepare to Pray:

* Consider keeping a coin in your pocket (purse, car, etc.) to remind you to prayerfully hold this matter before God. Each time your fingers touch the coin (or you see the coin), take a moment to ask God for a release of finances for YWAM staff and students from Two-Thirds-World nations. In particular,

Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray about the Back to Jerusalem Movement.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

The Back to Jerusalem movement began in the 1920s when the Chinese church received a vision from God to take the Gospel to all unreached people groups between China and Jerusalem. Chinese Christians understood that the spread of Christianity had generally taken a westward path and had reached as far as China. Their mindset was that a Back To Jerusalem effort from China westward would complete the circle around the entire globe, ending where it all began, in Jerusalem.

Through decades of persecution, where the primary work being conducted was often underground, this movement has continued. The contemporary Back To Jerusalem movement started in 1983 when Simon Zhao was released from prison. Simon had been one of the leaders of this movement in the 1940s and 50s. During his time in prison he prayed daily, “God, the vision that you’ve given us has perished, but I pray you’ll raise up a new generation of Chinese believers to fulfill this vision.”.

Brother Yun (The Heavenly Man) said:

The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man.

The current movement has a goal to have 100,000 missionaries sent out across the globe, primarily in the nations between China and Jerusalem. Many of these nations are within the 10/40 window and are primarily Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu. There are approximately 5,100 unreached people groups and tribes in these nations. The Back to Jerusalem movement helps the Chinese church train and send Chinese missionaries into unreached areas of the globe.

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of June to pray for the Back to Jerusalem movement. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, June 8.

Prepare to Pray:

* Listen to this short message about “Back to Jerusalem” (audio):

* As you prepare we suggest that you ask God to reveal a key prayer request to you that He wants you to pray over and over. Pray this prayer as a breath prayer holding this topic before God throughout the day. Write out a short phrase to repeat in pace with your in and out breath, to pray whenever it comes to mind throughout the day. For example, as you breathe in, you pray: “Merciful and gracious God,” and as you breathe out, you pray: “Have your way in China and westward toward Jerusalem” (or whatever key prayer request the Lord gives to you).

Pray for the Back to Jerusalem movement:

* Pray for continued growth and strength of the Chinese house-church networks so they can train and send 100,000 missionaries to the 10/40 Window and across the globe.

* Praise God for the growth of the Chinese church. Praise Him also for the Chinese Christians that willingly go, knowing that they may give their life so that the lost can hear the good news.

* Pray that the Back to Jerusalem movement will be protected from people who would want to organise and control it.

* Pray for the Chinese government, who have good historical reasons for being suspicious of Christianity because it was often intertwined with foreign governments and their political and military ambitions.

* Pray for the government to recognise that Biblical Christians are trustworthy citizens. Many Christians go out to other nations or to minority tribes within China in the course of their work or as a result of government initiatives.

* Pray for these workers to understand how to be an ambassador for Jesus.

Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray about building our spiritual formation by creating space for God.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. 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 question...

Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray about the Persecution that often comes with Growth.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. This month we pray about persecution that often comes from growth …

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.”

Have a listen now to Loren Cunningham’s comments on how to pray about persecution…

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 follo...

Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray for Global Growth.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. This month we pray about global growth …

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 have a listen to this short message from YWAM’s founder Loren Cunningham about what to keep in mind as we pray for growth:

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 [email protected].

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,

Thank you for joining us this month as we join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray for local growth.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. This month we pray about local growth …

YWAM began with a vision of growth. A young man, Loren Cunningham, saw a mental picture of wave after wave of young people covering the continents. A few years ago, YWAM received two more messages about growth, prophetic pictures of YWAM growing ten-fold, from 20,000 to 200,000 missionaries. YWAM’s leaders prayed about these words and sensed they were from God, and in keeping with a consistent theme throughout the Bible. Said Lynn Green, one of YWAM’s leaders, “growth is just intrinsic to the kingdom of God.”

For the next three months of 2017, we invite you to pray about growth. In February we invite you to ask God, do these messages about ten-fold growth apply to me and my community? If so, how?

To better understand what this prayer could look like, watch this video from Lynn Green, prepared specifically for The Invitation in February (for a transcript, see the bottom of this file):

Then, after you pray, if you sense God giving you a vision about growth please share it with us. You can do so by emailing [email protected].

In March, we will pray for these faith goals as well as for other global goals in YWAM that seek supernatural increase.

Then in April The Invitation will again focus on growth, specifically on persecution that often accompanies growth and expansion.

As we begin this season of prayer for increase, consider this promise from the apostle Paul:

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (1 Corinthians 9:10).

Read the full post here.

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 500th 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 – 25th 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.

Read the full post at The Invitation – Unity – Building Bri...