Operation World - A Heart for the Nations

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens! – Psalm 148:13

It's been a while since my last post.  Forgive me.  Since returning from Ghana life has been a little busy!  There was much school work to catch up on . . . and I'm still not done.  But God is awesome and I felt led to forgo work for a few minutes and share some thoughts.

Only this morning God began to speak to me about the importance of mission here.  Many times we think of God working in the "there and then" rather than the "here and now."  Often we think of mission trips planned months in advance as the time when God will use us.  Or we wait for our church to organize something in order for us to share the Gospel and the love of Christ.  What I'm learning is that God moves much more in the here and now if you are open to His leading.  Don't be afraid to share what the Lord has done for you.  A simple story, even a short greeting could change a life forever.  In a sermon I heard this morning the pastor said, "If God has shown you mercy this week, tell someone!"

In addition to serving by living a life worthy of our calling each and every day in order to be witness of the love of God to those around us, we are also called to pray for those around the world.  Over the past couple weeks, and the past couple days in particular, God has really laid the nations on my heart.  I attended a course this past week on the history of missions around the world.  Part of this course involved presentations on the various regions of the world and the work of local missions within them. 

Some quick facts on missions around the world:  1/3 of the global population (2 billion people) are professing Christians, 1/3 (or 2 billion people) are non-Christians who have heard the Gospel, and 1/3 (2 billion people) are non-Christians who have never heard the Good News of Jesus!  When I heard these numbers I was astounded.  Here's more:  there are approximately 495,000 missionaries in the world.  Of those, approximately 2-3% of them are serving with un-reached people groups.

As I sat listening to all that God is doing and all that is still to be done, God led me to a book called Operation World.[1]  This book is incredible!  It includes information on every country in the world and then shares answered prayers and points for continued prayer.  While discussing these nations in class God put it on my heart to move through this book country by country and pray for them. 

The first country I'm focusing on is Afghanistan.  Let me share a few facts I've learned recently: 

• 46% of the population is under 15 years old
• Life expectancy is 43.6 years
• There is limited freedom to practice religions other than Wahhabist Islam and there appears to be "no freedom to propagate another faith or to covert from Islam."
• It is considered "the world's most dangerous place for a child to be born" due to high infant and maternal mortality rates.
• 78% do not have regular access to clean water.
• A recent BBC article indicated that this past May was the deadliest month for Afghanistan with almost 400 civilians killed in conflict-related incidents.

This is only a small portion of the information I've learned since reading about this country in Operation World.  Please join me in praying for genuine freedom, an improved quality of life, and a move of the Spirit within the Afghan people.  I don't just want to share the "down" stuff, but also want to share that compared to only a few decades ago when barely a couple dozen Christians could be found in the entire country, there are now a couple hundred believers!  God is already moving among the people, let us pray for those who are taking the Message to them and for the Christians there who are facing persecution as they attempt to spread the Gospel of Christ.

Our God is a God of the nations.  He loves every man, woman, and child on this earth no matter their ethnicity, nationality, income, health status, etc.  We, therefore, should share God's heart for the nations and pray for them.  Please join me in praying and believing for God to bring a great revival among the people of the world.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! – Psalm 150:6

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[1] Mandryk, Jason. Operation World. 7^th ed. Colorado Springs, CO:  Biblica Publishing (2010).