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PRAYF O R U N R E A C H E DP E O P L E G R O U P S
Ask the Lord of the harvest to raise upAfrican believers to take the gospel tothese hard-to-reach people groups. Pray for the Lord to remove barriers thatare preventing these people groupsfrom hearing the good news. Consider adopting a specific peoplegroup and praying for them by name.Prayer requests for each group areavailable at www.imb.org/55-in-5.
IMB missionaries in Sub-Saharan Africa havea goal to engage 55 unengaged, unreachedpeople groups with the gospel by the year2025. Among these groups there are few orno Christians or churches. The gospel willnot spread among them naturally — outsidehelp is needed. The IMB is calling onchurches in the United States and aroundthe world to pray for and support theengagement of these 55 people groups.
Pray for the Unreached
PRAYF O R R E F U G E E S
I N A F R I C A
Pray for Refugees in Africa
Pray that God would allow the blindedminds of refugees to see the light of thegospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). Pray for Christian workers to havecontinued access to these people, andask the Lord to continue to providelaborers for the harvest.
Chaos and turmoil around the world haveforced millions of people to flee their homes.Thousands of refugees have poured intoSub-Saharan Africa from North Africa andthe Middle East. Within Sub-Saharan Africa,people are also fleeing war and persecution.Some are displaced within their borders,while others go to neighboring nations.Because the Lord does not wish that anyshould perish (2 Peter 3:9), His mercy shineseven in these circumstances. Refugees, whomight never have heard the gospel in theirhome countries, now have an opportunity torespond to the message of salvation.
PRAYF O R P E R S E C U T E D
C H R I S T I A N S
Pray for Persecuted Christians
Ask the Lord to continue helpingpersecuted believers remain strong intheir faith. Pray for physical provisions for thesebelievers. Pray they will have food, water,clothing and good health. Pray for the church to support those whoare being mocked and oppressed.
Centuries ago Arab traders started spreadingIslam across Africa, and now there aremillions of African Muslims. Many who decideto follow Christ face persecution. They aremocked and shunned by family andcommunity. Sometimes spouses or childrenare taken from them. Some receive deaththreats, yet remain steadfast. One friend of apersecuted Christian claimed he, too, wantedto follow Jesus. He had seen the pain andshame Christians experience and knew thepromise of eternal life must be true. No one,he said, would suffer like that for a lie.
PRAYF O R A F R I C A ' S
C I T I E S
Pray that those moving to cities willencounter the truth through laborers,sent from faithful churches, workingtogether to see each citycomprehensively engaged. Pray that local churches would be trainedand mobilized to reach the diversity oftheir city, from the affluent businessperson to the vulnerable refugee. Ask God to send gifted strategists andenergetic implementers to change thereligious trajectories of the cities of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The cities of Sub-Saharan Africa are preparingto undergo a drastic shift. By the end of thecentury the continent will be home to 15 ofthe world’s 25 largest cities. As individualsmigrate to the city for safety, culture andopportunity, there is a chance to engage their worldview with the transforming truthof the gospel.
Pray for Africa's Cities
PRAYF O R A F R I C A N
Y O U T H
Ask the Lord to create new outlets forthe youth of Africa to be reached andmobilized. Pray that God would raise up next-generation leaders to reach the diversityof Africa with the gospel. Pray that social media, urban centersand technology are leveraged toincrease access and connectgenerations to the gospel.
With 62 percent of the population under theage of 25, Sub-Saharan Africa has immensepotential in reaching the world for Christthrough the next generation. In a culturewhere relationship is key, and a generationwhere social media is a main mode ofconnection, who better to reach Sub-Saharan Africa than their own age group?Let’s pray for God to call out young peoplefrom the United States and around theworld to engage African youth.
Pray for African Youth
PRAYF O R A F R I C A N
C H U R C H E S
African churches will have a heart topray for the nations, and will embracetheir role in the Great Commission. African churches will discoverindigenously appropriate ways ofchoosing, training, supporting andsending cross-cultural missionaries. African missionaries will go to thenations with a strong biblical theology.
Jesus commands all believers from everyculture and language to “go and makedisciples of all nations.” Many African Baptistshave embraced evangelizing peoples withintheir respective borders, but not to theextremities of the earth. Christ’s mandate isresolute. Obedience is imperative. Yet a gap isevident. Keys to a missions movement acrossthe continent include prayer, relationship,casting vision for God’s desire for the nations,and training toward culturally appropriatemissions endeavors. Please pray that:
Pray for African Churches
PRAYA G A I N S T T H EP R O S P E R I T Y
G O S P E L
Pray Africans would deepen theirunderstanding of God’s Word and thetrue gospel. Pray they would learn to trust God tocare for their daily needs without beinglulled into a false belief that suffering,sickness and persecution are due to a“lack of faith.” Pray the African church would sendAfrican missionaries to the nations withthe true gospel.
The “prosperity gospel” is a perversion ofthe true gospel that defines the purpose ofJesus’ death, burial and resurrection asbeing for our physical, earthly blessing, andmonetary gain. The true gospel, on the otherhand, teaches that Jesus died and roseagain to save us from our sin, regenerate us,and give us eternal life. The true gospelemphasizes spiritual regeneration, holinessand sacrifice, while the prosperity gospelemphasizes blessing, health, wealth andearthly success. The Bible does teach God’scare of His children on earth, but this isnever the “point” or “purpose” of salvation.While He gives us what we need, we arenever guaranteed wealth, health or anabsence of suffering. Africa is a difficultplace to live, and the challenges of daily lifewith poverty, sickness and hunger make theprosperity gospel appealing to many.
Pray against the Prosperity Gospel
