@Prayercast – JC Mission

Prayer Monday – United Kingdom

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United Kingdom consists of two main islands: Britain and the northeast of Ireland. A union of four countries: England 103,400 sq km, Scotland 78,800 sq km, Wales 20,800 sq km, Northern Ireland 14,100 sq km. Also three small autonomous states that are dependencies of the British Crown: Isle of Man 588 sq km (in the Irish Sea); Channel Islands 194 sq km (Guernsey, Jersey).

When I started reading about the United Kingdom, I was really shocked at the numbers. Only 60% are Christians and of those 8.8% of Evangelicals. Since the United Kingdom is made of four countries, I thought I would put all four Prayercast videos on my blog today and let them speak for themselves. The videos will give you some ideas of what you can be praying for, but revival is definitely one of them.

Prayer Monday – Ukraine

Ukraine, a former member of the communist USSR, achieved it’s independence in 1991. It is a country of just under 48.5 million people. Of those 48.5 million people around 79% claim to be followers of Christ while just under 4% claim to be evangelicals. Since 1991 it has been a struggle to take advantage of it’s economic resources. There has been a rapid increase in alcoholism and the number infected with the AIDS virus.

While Chernobyl seems like a distant memory to most people in the past, it still very much is influencing the lives of those in Ukraine. Even though it occurred in 1986 it is still impacting the environment and causing disease and death.

There is hope though, for sure. Ukraine was once considered the “Bible belt” of the former Soviet Union, but major persecution of the church occurred during Soviet rule. The perseverance of believers through that persecution and oppression has paid off as there is a new spiritual ambition and vision that has not been seen before in Ukraine. A blossoming of agencies also followed independence with Ukrainians now working in outreach (evangelism, literature, media), with children (in summer camps and schools), and especially in humanitarian work (with prisoners, hospitals, orphanages and soup kitchens). Pentecostals/charismatics and Baptists minister both within Ukraine and without, sending missionaries to other former Soviet states

Please join me in praying for:

Those affected by Chernobyl.
Forgiveness towards the communists.
The continued missions work, both in and outside of their country.
The different churches to come together and work towards a common goal of seeing others come to Christ.

Prayer Monday – Turkey

Turkey straddles two continents, but by far the majority (97%) of it lies in Asia. Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country with 96% belonging to that religion and less than 1/4 of 1 percent being Christian. That is around 163,000 out of the almost 76 million people. That number is in decline too. The Evangelical population only claims just over 7,000 people, but there is a small growth happening there. The most difficult thing for Christians in Turkey is fear of persecution and so discrete ways of distributing Christian information is vital. Bible correspondence course, online courses, websites and relationship witnessing are some of the most successful practices. The presence of Turkish immigrants in other countries (especially Germany and Austria) lead to a unique situation as well where Turks move to a new country, become Christians and then go back to their homeland and lead their friends and family to Christ.

Please pray for:

Cultural barriers to be broken.
Christians to have freedom to share their beliefs.
The Turkish immigrants in other countries to hear, see and believe the truth about Christ and for them to have a desire to return home and share what they have learned.
For creative outreach to be used and be successful.

Prayer Monday – Switzerland

With just over 7.5 million people, Switzerland has a small but growing population of just over 300,000 evangelicals. I have seen first-hand what some evangelical groups have been doing just over the border in Basel. A while back they organized a city wide art event where art of all different types were on display in churches and other public locations throughout the town. Many churches were involved and it attracted a lot of people who may not have otherwise set foot into a church.

The Catholic and Reformed communities are struggling as there is a major shortage of clergy and liberal theology threatens the faith of the congregations. Though that is happening, modest growth continues in Free churches, an active movement for renewal lives in Reformed churches and Catholics are returning to a more conservative and traditional faith.

Please pray for:

Pray for a national vision of evangelization.
Continued answers to prayer for Switzerland’s involvement in the spread of the Gospel world-wide.
Pray against the falling away of the Swiss people from the church and that more people will intercede on behalf of Switzerland.
For the continued growth among the Evangelical population.
Pray for various media to reach the foreign communities within Switzerland for the gospel.

Prayer Monday – Sweden

Sweden is the largest Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and has prospered from its political neutrality. It prides itself on being a nation of equality. It has not been at war since 1814 and is one of the world leaders in gender equality. Described as “folkhemmet”, meaning the people’s home, Swedes take care of their own and place family first. Among the most cherished values are materialism, hedonism and individualism. 57% of Sweden claims Christianity and 7% are Evangelicals, but only 1-2% of the members of the church actual attend.

Please join me:

Pray for a God-planted curiosity among secular, humanistic Swedish youth.
Pray for Christian leaders and educators to be strong apologists for the Biblical worldview.
Pray for continued unity within the Church as well as a compulsion to tell Jesus’ story.

Prayer Monday – Portugal

Portugal, a country that the Protestant Reformation never reached, has just under 11 million people. Almost 94% claim to be Christian and 3% are Evangelical Christians. Recently there have been gains in the Evangelical movement, but due to disagreements between the denominations. There is also a major need for trained pastors and a few Bible schools are attempting to do just that.

Watch the video below and please pray for:

A united vision between the denominations – specifically for the Portuguese Evangelical Alliance to grow in impact.
More pastors to be adequately trained to lead their churches to become more of an impact.
For the young adult generation to continue to mature in Christ and become great witnesses for their fellow Portuguese.

Prayer Monday – Poland

Poland is a country of over 38 million people bordering the Baltic Sea as well as seven countries. Of those 38 million people a vast majority (almost 90%) are associated with the roman Catholic Church and a very small percentage (.3%) are evangelical Christians. Despite these numbers, in a somewhat recent survey, less than 1% of the total population said they believed that faith is necessary for a successful life.

Please pray for:

God to call more workers to Poland (fewest missionaries per capita).
Polish Evangelicals to be strong and active in their faith.

I recently came across a ministry called prayercast who’s goal is to produce a prayer video for every country in the world. I enjoyed the video on Poland, so I thought I would start sharing them whenever they have a video for the country of the week. So here is Poland!