Copyright (c) 2019 Baptist Press. Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The original story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/53980/week-of-prayer-prayer-requests-from-paul-chitwood
WEEK OF PRAYER: Prayer requests from Paul Chitwood
IMB president Paul Chitwood (center) sits with missionary Kevin Singerman (left) and Geofrey Ochan of Hope Baptist Church in Arua, Uganda. Chitwood said the trip gave him deeper insight into the struggles missionaries face and how better to pray for them. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
Michelle Chitwood, wife of IMB president Paul Chitwood, enjoys a worship service on a recent trip to Uganda. She and Paul visited missionaries there who are reaching out to refugee camps near the South Sudan border. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
IMB missionary George Smith (left) shares a laugh with IMB president Paul Chitwood while Chitwood was in Uganda for a visit. Chitwood says life on the field can be full of joy, but seeing the daily logistical struggles missionaries face in reaching their people reminded him of the deep need for prayer. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
As IMB missionaries pursue people all over the world with the gospel of Christ, they are met with stories of need and even severe trauma. But they are seeing hearts changed and people find hope. IMB president Paul Chitwood called Christians to pray for missionaries to have spiritual, physical and emotional stamina as they work to reach the unreached. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
Cai Chitwood (center, left), daughter of IMB president Paul Chitwood, jumps rope with a new friend on a recent trip with her parents to Africa. The whole Chitwood family came away with new insight on how to better support and pray for missionaries on the field. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
IMB president Paul Chitwood (center) and his daughter, Cai, share a conversation about their faith with a man they met on a recent trip to Africa. While on the trip, Paul said he got a firsthand view of some of the challenges missionaries face, including logistical issues like maintaining vehicles and navigating dusty roads to get to the unreached. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
All over the world, IMB missionaries work alongside national partners to reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ. IMB President Paul Chitwood asked Christians to pray for missionaries to be able to form an effective team of Great Commission partners from diverse cultures and languages. IMB file photo
IMB file photo
EDITOR'S NOTE: This year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention is Dec. 1-8, focusing on Revelation 7:9 ("I saw a great multitude from every nation and all tribes ….") The theme undergirds the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. The offering, in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches, supports international workers in seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Gifts to the Lottie Moon offering are received through local Southern Baptist churches or online at IMB.org/lmco, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $165 million.RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- A thousand snapshots -- that's what IMB president Paul Chitwood got in a recent trip to East Africa. He knew missionaries faced challenges in taking the Gospel to the unreached. He knew the logistical and spiritual struggles could be intense for those on the front lines of pushing back the darkness.
But while he was in Africa visiting with IMB missionaries, every ride down a dusty road and every walk down a city street was a reminder that each missionary faces unique challenges. And every single prayer for missionaries matters -- he says it's so important that missionaries know they are loved, remembered, and prayed for.
So Chitwood offered these ways you can pray for missionaries spread all over the world year-round:
-- PRAY FOR missionaries as they lead in different types of trauma-healing ministry all over the world. It can take a toll on them. In refugee ministry, for instance, missionaries' continuous exposure to horrific pain and loss can create its own trauma -- trauma that can manifest itself in anger over injustice or a sense of helplessness and depression in the face of so much human need. They can also deal with compassion fatigue. Pray missionaries would have spiritual, emotional, and physical stamina to carry out their ministry over the long haul.
-- PRAY FOR missionaries as they face the practical challenges of their ministry assignments. Just getting to the people they are trying to reach can have enormous challenges. For some, trucks can have ongoing mechanical issues from traveling unpaved roads to get to refugee settlements. For others, traffic on streets can be brought to a screeching halt by explosive population growth and navigating that can dominate a missionary's schedule. Pray God would give missionaries patience, determination, and special grace.
-- PRAY FOR missionaries as they work with diverse teams. As missionaries seek to expand their kingdom impact, God is bringing alongside of them national believers and missionaries from other U.S.-based agencies. Not only that, more and more often He's bringing missionaries from other countries to work alongside them. Pray missionaries would have the ability to form an effective team of Great Commission partners from diverse cultures and languages.
-- PRAY FOR missionaries as they struggle with being so far away from their home church, country, and family members. Pray they would have peace in knowing that they are not forgotten by us.
