Each day of the Annie
Armstrong Easter Offering Week of Prayer (WOP), the Biblical Recorder will
share stories about missionaries on the field.
There will be videos, photos and
stories covering various parts of the North American Mission Board’s coverage
area.
Today, the BR shares what
the theme means. Check back daily Sunday (March 7) through Sunday (March 14)
for WOP coverage.
Scripture: Romans 1:16 — For
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to
everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek (HCSB).
Purpose:
- To nurture in Southern
Baptists an awareness of and sensitivity to the many people groups and personalities
represented in North America, and the urgent need for all to be transformed by
God’s power from sinful man to redeemed believer.
- To inspire and challenge
Southern Baptists to sow down the gospel throughout North America.
-
To encourage Christians to
be active in sharing the gospel with their families, friends, and neighbors.
- To increase awareness of and
participation in praying for and giving to North American missions efforts
through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®.
Rationale:
With nearly three out of
every four people in the United States, Canada and their territories living
without a personal relationship with Christ, it is easy to see how urgently
people need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Only God is powerful enough
to transform the lives of those living in sin or living without hope that is
found in eternal salvation.
Each person’s life can be transformed by the same
power that raised Jesus from the grave and offered eternal life to those who
would follow Him.
But how will people hear the powerful, life changing message
of God without someone telling them? How are Southern Baptists sharing God’s
transforming power with the multitudes of unbelievers?
Our North American
missionaries, in partnership with state conventions, associations, and local
churches are living out the call God has placed on their lives by moving out of
their comfort zones and unashamedly proclaiming the message of salvation with
all people they encounter.
They are creatively and actively seeking common
ground with unbelievers so they can share the powerful message of God which
transforms lives from sinful man to redeemed believer.
Together, we can pray for
our North American missionaries, give sacrificially to the Annie Armstrong
Easter Offering, and work alongside our Southern Baptist missionaries and do
our part to share God’s powerful message of forgiveness and the offer of
eternal life.
During the Week of Prayer
for North American Missions, consider how you can “Live with Urgency” and
impact the Kingdom of God through your continued prayers, giving, and going in
this urgent task God has called us to carry out.
Pray for these missionaries
who represent the dedicated work of thousands like them.
National AAEO Goal:
$70,000,000
Suggested Dates for Week of
Prayer: March 7-14, 2010
Day One
Idaho
Associational Missions/
Church Planting
Jim Ballard serves as
director of missions for Eastern Idaho Baptist Association working with
Hispanic, cowboy, and other people groups.
-
Pray for more churches to
unashamedly share the gospel with Hispanics in the area.
- Pray for Jim as he
encourages, prays for, counsels, and trains pastors and church planters working
among a variety of ethnic and cultural groups.
Day Two
New York
Collegiate Evangelism
Michael McQuitty is a
collegiate evangelism missionary at Syracuse University working through Baptist
Collegiate Ministry to witness to students and help them grow spiritually.
- Pray for Michael as he
encourages and helps college students to share Christ with their peers.
- Pray for God to burden
students for evangelism and give them a desire to help start new churches in
New York, North America, and around the world.
Day Three
Missouri
Church Planting/
Woman’s Missionary Union
Vivian assists with
multihousing church planting and encourages churches to see these communities
as mission fields. Through her work with Woman’s Missionary Union, she also challenges
women in Missouri Baptist churches to live a missions lifestyle.
- Pray for Vivian as she
encourages churches to become aware of ministry opportunities within
multihousing communities and to go beyond the walls of the church to minister
to residents there.
- Pray that the 97 percent
of multihousing residents who do not have a connection to an evangelical
Christian church will experience the power of God’s love.
Day Four
North Carolina
Special Ministries
As directors of Appalachian
Trail Servants, Mission Service Corps missionaries Craig and Suzy Miles hike
the Appalachian Trail interacting with and ministering to fellow hikers by
sharing the gospel through actions and words.
- Pray that long-distance
hikers will connect the beauty of the creation around them with the one, true
Creator.
- Pray for more qualified
chaplains to commit to hiking the trails and sharing Christ in word and deed.
Day Five
Colorado
Associational Missions
As area missionary for Pikes
Peak Baptist Association, Bill Lighty assists churches in utilizing a variety
of strategies to reach many different types of people with a wide variety of
backgrounds.
- Pray for Bill as he
utilizes a variety of different church styles including ethnic, cowboy, and
multihousing churches to connect with the more than 500,000 unbelievers in the
area.
- Pray for more church
planters to come with a burden and desire to proclaim the gospel to the
residents in the area.
Day Six
Michael and Marla Allen, Illinois
Church and Community
Ministry
Michael Allen is the senior
pastor and Baptist center director at Uptown Baptist Church, a multicultural
and multi-ethnic church and ministry in Chicago.
- Pray for more of the
300-plus homeless men, women, and children who come to the Monday night meal to
hear and respond to the gospel.
- Pray for God to continue
to give Michael wisdom, compassion, and boldness as he pastors his congregation
and shares God’s love with the community in action and words.
Day Seven
Puerto Rico
Church Planting
Luis Rodriguez is a Hispanic
churchplanting missionary and pastor of Baptist Church of Coamo ministering to
the community through the church and the Coamo Christian Academy.
- Pray for wisdom and
guidance as Luis and Lourdez minister to students and their parents through the
Christian Academy Ministry.
- Pray for God to provide
more missionaries and church planters to start churches in and around Coamo
where there is only one Southern Baptist church.
Day Eight
Louis Spears, Arizona
Church Planting
Louis serves the Valley Rim
Baptist Association in Mesa, Ariz., where he assists church planters with
ministries to multihousing communities and mobile home parks. He also
encourages church planters working with house churches and Bible studies as
they begin congregations.
- Pray for God to send more
workers to start new churches.
- Pray for believers already living in Arizona to
answer God’s call to move into apartment communities in order to share the
transforming power of God’s love with residents.
Related stories
AAEO Week of Prayer — Live With Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power
AAEO Day 1: Mtn. Survivor now cowboy preacher
AAEO Day 2: Reaching students at Syracuse U.
AAEO Day 3: Multihousing as a mission
AAEO Day 4: Blazing an Appalachian Trail
AAEO Day 5: Reaching a vast wilderness
AAEO Day 6: Reaching out in word and deed