peter lucy station - sbcv · retrn to brail to sere today, lets ray or sn as e reares to be a...

Friends, Acts 1:8 tells us we’re to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth and, today, we want to pray for two of our missionaries who are right on the edge of the ends. Peter and Lucy Station,

are serving in Mongolia. Now, in case you don’t have an atlas with you, that’s north of China and south of Russia, where many people still live in tents.

Peter and Lucy go out visiting in tent communities to witness and share the Gospel. We help support them in their work there, through our church’s Cooperative Program giving. Last Christmas they told a man and his wife the Christmas story and how Jesus came into the world; our missionaries also gave their testimonies about how Jesus could come into their lives and provide salvation.

The man, his wife and their daughters, all came to faith in Christ. Soon after this, the man, whose name is Ganzorig, became sick with hepatitis, which damaged his liver. While that’s bad, the good news is that this new believer was not afraid. He was trusting God to take care of him.

Today, let’s pray for our brave missionaries, who are being faithful in going so far to share the precious message of the Gospel. And let’s pray that this new believer may be healed if it is God’s will. Let’s ask the Lord for many to be saved in Siberia. K

Peter & Lucy StationS I B E R I A

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J A N U A R Y 1

We probably do not think of Canada as a mission field. But we should. There are hundreds of towns in Canada that do not have a church of any kind. Montréal is one of its largest

cities with some four million people, but few people bother with any kind of church. Most people know nothing about the Christian faith.

The city is anti-religion in some ways — it requires a permit to buy or rent a building for religious purposes, but then does not issue permits like that anymore. But our missionary in Montréal, David Pothier, started a church called La Chappelle four years ago with five or six people meeting in a living room. He has been supported in part by our church, through our Cooperative Program giving.

Now there are two congregations with some 1,300 members. On Easter Sunday a year ago, they baptized 69 new believers. They’ve started 45 home groups for discipleship. The church has helped many people get away from drugs and many other problems and become active church members instead.

Today, we rejoice that people are being reached for Christ in this city of lostness. And we pray that many, many more churches will be started in the days ahead. K

David PothierM O N T R É A L

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J A N U A R Y 8

Today we want to pray for one of our overseas missionaries serving in Eurasia. We’ll call him Matt.

One day he met a man walking out of a tattoo parlor; Matt stopped to talk to him because the man wanted to show off the new ink he was now wearing.

Now, tattoos and the man’s general appearance would have put off most people. But Matt’s a missionary, so he made it a point not only to talk with the man, but to arrange a time to talk more later — not about tattoos, but about the Gospel. “He could be the next church planter here,” Matt said.

Because our church gives through the Cooperative Program, we support missionaries like Matt who share the Gospel in many languages among all sorts of people around the world. Let’s pray for Matt now. K

MATT FONTENOTE U R A S I A

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J A N U A R Y 1 5

One of our missionaries in Spain, Tim Shupp, was meeting some people one day. He was puzzled, because when he was introducing himself, one of the women started crying.

Then she explained why.

Tim once directed a literature ministry in Spain. He drove a van packed with Bibles and Christian books all around to introduce the Gospel. One day when the woman came to the van, Tim’s daughter gave her a drawing that presented the Gospel and explained how to become a Christian.

Tim did not even know about it. But long after the Shupps had left, the woman came to faith in Christ.

Our church supports Tim and his family there in Spain through our Cooperative Program gifts.

Let’s pray for them and their ministry today. And let’s thank the Lord that even a drawing given by a child can help lead someone to faith in Jesus Christ. K

Tim ShuppS P A I N

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Portland, Oregon is a city with about 2.3 million people. Almost none of them consider church an important part of their lives. The city is famous for being so-called “freethinking” and focused

on New Age kinds of things.

That’s where two of our missionaries, Josh and Amy Carter, have gone to start a new church. They already started one church in East Tennessee, but they think Portland is going to be a bigger challenge.

They moved to the multi-ethnic western part of Portland. Once they have a successful church started, they plan to immediately start other churches about the city, because every one of Portland’s neighborhoods needs churches.

Today, let’s pray for Josh and Amy and the big assignment they have out in Portland. They are our missionaries; we support them through our church’s Cooperative Program giving. K

Josh & Amy CarterP O R T L A N D

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Our missionaries for today are Robert and Janice, who serve in the small country of Latvia. We want to pray for them. This is a country with about two million people that got independence

from the Soviet Union in 2001. It is situated between Russia and the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.

Robert and Janice are helping train Latvian students who will start new churches throughout the country. Baptists in Latvia started a church planting drive back in 2010 — they want to start 100 new churches by 2020.

The drive has gone well. They now have two dozen church planting teams with a total of nearly 350 people. New churches are urgently needed in Latvia; more than 60 percent of the people have no religion at all.

Through our Cooperative Program giving, our church helps support Robert and Janice as they serve in Latvia, so our church is helping reach many for Christ there. And the new churches we’re helping start will be growing for many years to come.

Today, let’s pray for our missionaries and pray that the Lord will bless and multiply these new churches. K

Robert & JaniceL A T V I A

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • F E B R U A R Y 5

We Southern Baptists partner together in many ways to minister to needs. One of our Southern Baptist chaplains in the U.S. Army, Chaplain Scott Yawn, tells how partnership

helped him a year ago when he was serving in the Middle East during a blazing hot summer.

He let Southern Baptists know that they needed some popsicles to give to the soldiers as a little break from the heat. Word got around to many of the churches. Chaplain Yawn was amazed when thousands of popsicles came pouring in from churches back in America.

Many of them came with cards or letters offering encouragement and support, which made the frozen treat even sweeter. Folks, when we work together for Christ, we can do anything. We can even ship popsicles to the desert!

Today, can we pray for Chaplain Yawn and his ministry with our brave military men and women? Our Cooperative Program dollars support our North American Mission Board, which endorses and supports more than 3,600 of our Southern Baptist chaplains. K

Scott YawnSOUTHERN BAPTIST CHAPLAIN

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • F E B R U A R Y 1 2

We know that the whole world has come to the United States — people

from all over the world. Our six Southern Baptist seminaries are training many of these to prepare for ministry. We support all six seminaries and the approximately 18,000 total students who attend them through our church’s Cooperative Program giving.

Today, we want to pray for one of those international students. His name is Sung Chung, and he is a very international student. He was born in South Korea but grew up in Paraguay and Brazil in South America. Sung grew up in a Christian family and feels God has called him to be a missionary and reach the nations for Christ. He decided to move to California and attend Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Now, remember that this is the

school that used to be called Golden Gate Seminary. It has changed its name to Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, because the school has opened new facilities away from the San Francisco area. Messengers approved the name change at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in St. Louis last year.

Sung has been studying at Gateway and also serving as a pastoral intern at a church in San Mateo. When he completes his studies and a bit more time as intern and youth minister, he will return to Brazil to serve.

Today, let’s pray for Sung as he prepares to be a minister and a missionary in Brazil. And let’s rejoice that our church has helped send a well-trained missionary to serve there in South America! K

SUNG CHUNGGATEWAY SEMINARY of the

SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

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We know God often prepares people ahead of our going to witness

to them. And that happens overseas, too. That’s what our missionaries, Jason and Diana Fuller in Italy, discovered. Now, Italy is a beautiful country and many Americans go there on vacations, but it’s a hard mission field for many reasons and starting churches is slow work.

The Fullers teach English as a way to both meet people and improve their Italian. Patrick was a man who came to one of their classes.

As they talked, Jason and Diana realized they had prayerwalked around the building where Patrick lives — asking God to prepare someone for witness. Then they learned Patrick’s mother is a Christian who has been praying for her son to follow Jesus.

Our church supports the Fullers as they serve there in Italy. So let’s pray for them and their ministry. Let’s ask God to prepare many hearts for the Gospel, so many can come to know Him. K

Jason & Diane Fuller

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I T A L Y

We know that reaching people with the Gospel in big cities is often

harder than working in small towns.

And few places are harder than the Mott Haven area of the South Bronx in New York City.

That’s where missionary Andrew Mann has started Graffiti 2 Community Ministries, a church

which has focused on helping needy people in the community

— where drugs, gangs, crime, and other urban ill are all too common.

Our church has supported Andrew through our Cooperative Program giving.

Today, let us pray for his ministry, that God would keep him safe and effective as he serves. K

Andrew Mann

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • M A R C H 5

B R O N X , N E W Y O R K

Today, we’re going to cowboy country in Arizona. There really are lots of cowboys

around Queen Creek, Arizona, which is southeast of Phoenix. Queen Creek has grown from under 30,000 to about 50,000 in three years; it is one of Arizona’s fastest-growing cities.

Our missionary, Trey Van Camp, decided to launch a new church meeting in a movie theater on the busy north side of Queen City. They mailed out 5,000 invitations to the first service. Nobody answered. But they had gathered about 40 people for that first service through offering Bible studies. Eight people answered the call to salvation and were

baptized that first service.

Many younger people in Queen Creek turn down being involved with a church though they know nothing about it, but the church has reached a number of people who were into drugs or had families that were broken.

Our church is supporting Trey through our Cooperative Program giving, and it’s important for us to know that this new church, meeting in a theater, also supports missions through the Cooperative Program. May we pray now that this new church will do well and reach many with the Gospel, especially those who do not realize how much they need it! K

TREY VAN CAMP

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • M A R C H 1 2

Q U E E N C R E E K , A R I Z O N A

Today, we want to pray for one of our missionaries who has started a new

church in California. His name is Jim Britts, and he helped start New Song Parkside Church in San Diego in September of 2014. Our church helped him do this because our church’s Cooperative Program missions dollars help support Jim. He’s one of our more than 5,000 Southern Baptist missionaries serving across North America.

The church has done well. They baptized 84 new believers in the first 18 months, but that’s because they work at being the church

— in other words, they work at outreach. More than half the 250 adult members work in their summer program for children, which help draw in families. Also, even though his church is still new, Jim is already working to start more new churches.

Many churches are needed in North County, where Jim serves. When asked what their religion is, more than half the residents answer “none.”

Today, let’s pray and ask the Lord to bless Jim and his ministry there on the Left Coast, so that many, many “nones” will become Christ followers! K

Jim Britts

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S A N D I E G O , C A L I F O R N I A

Today, we want to pray for two of our missionaries who are starting a new

church in Brooklyn, New York. Now, we see all the TV shows that take place in New York City, and it’s usually all skyscrapers and big buildings in Manhattan, but the missionaries we want to pray for today are on the other side of the East River, in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. This is still New York City, because Brooklyn is one of the city’s five boroughs.

Blake and Laura Beth Comer moved to Brooklyn from South Carolina in December of 2015. During the first few months of 2016, they found an apartment to live in and got their two young children enrolled in school. It was a big adjustment coming from South Carolina to New York! By the end of 2016, the Comers were beginning to invite people into their homes for brunch or cookouts, so they can get to

know neighbors, share faith and start Bible studies. Our church is helping Blake and Laura Beth serve in Brooklyn through our Cooperative Program giving.

More than 40,000 people live in Greenpoint, but there are only a few evangelical churches. Strong Bible-teaching churches are greatly needed. Many people in Greenpoint are of Polish background. There are many stores and restaurants where Polish is spoken. Blake and Laura Beth have found a great little donut shop they stop by once a week to meet people, again to share their faith. They often hear Polish spoken.

Today, let’s pray for this young family as they adjust to life in a very different part of the country for them. Let’s pray the Lord will bless their ministry and help them get a strong and growing new church planted very soon! K

Blake & Laura Beth Comer

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S A N D I E G O , C A L I F O R N I A

Today, we want to pray for Clint Stewart, one of our missionaries serving in

Russia. We support him through our church’s Cooperative Program giving. Clint shares the Gospel with Muslims. He does that by offering English classes and presenting Christian movies. These can lead to Bible studies and witnessing opportunities.

One young Muslim man named Ildar came to the classes for months and has begun seriously considering the Gospel. Now, Ildar’s mother is interested in the Gospel.

Let’s pray today that many Muslims in Russia will find Jesus Christ is the only Savior, as they study English and come to movie nights. K

Clint Stewart

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • A P R I L 2

R U S S I A

When most of us think of Boston, Massachusetts, we probably think of

colonial times and Paul Revere and Old North Church and the like. But, unfortunately, there are actually very few evangelical churches in Boston and the city is filled with people who are lost. That’s why our North American Mission Board has sent dozens of missionaries to Boston to evangelize and plant new churches. Our church supports all of them through our Cooperative Program giving.

Two of those Boston missionaries

we want to pray for today are David and Gayle Butler. They are an experienced team who has worked together in ministry since their college days 40 years ago. Their ministry is to support the church planters and their wives and families, help them line up partnerships with churches in other states, and, in other ways, help them to succeed.

Today, let us pray for David and Gayle as they support our other missionaries there in Boston. Let us ask God to keep them strong in body and soul, that His work can go forward! K

David & Gayle Butler

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • A P R I L 9

B O S T O N , M A S S A C H U S E T T S

As we come to our missionary prayer time today, I want to point out

that when we come together for worship, we have hundreds of hymns and songs that we can sing.

But in some places where the Gospel is just being shared, there are no songs to sing because they have not been written yet.

That is exactly the ministry of our missionary, Quinn McClintock, who serves in West Africa. He

works with new believers and teaches them how to write worship songs in their own language.

Just imagine — years from now, believers in some of those countries may be praising God, singing songs that our missionary helped them write.

Our church supports Quinn as he serves there in West Africa, because we give through the Cooperative Program. Can we now pray for Quinn? K

Quinn McClintock

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • A P R I L 1 6

W E S T A F R I C A

Joe Kelley is one of our high-tech missionaries. Among other things, he operates

a multi-language web site that lets people ask questions about the Gospel. In this part of the world, many people either know nothing about the Gospel or dismiss religion as useless.

Joe’s work focuses on pointing people not to a religion, but to Jesus Christ. As he types out answers to questions, a young believer helps translate the

answers into local languages. Joe checks the answers, because sometimes the student’s translations change the Bible’s message without his realizing it.

Joe uses every such change as an opportunity to teach the students doctrine and biblical truths.

Our church supports both Joe and the web site he operates, as we contribute through the Cooperative Program. Now, let us pray for him and his ministry. K

JOE KELLEY

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E U R A S I A

Today, we’re going to Oregon, which is on the Pacific coast between

Washington state and California.

We usually read about Oregon

when they legalize marijuana or

the like. What you don’t usually

see in the news is that many

new churches are needed in the

state. Southern Baptists only have

about 450 congregations spread

across Oregon, Washington, and

northern Idaho.

So that’s some background on

why we are praying today for

Josh and Elizabeth Howeth, two

of our missionaries who have started a new church in Corvallis, Oregon, just over an hour south of the larger city of Portland.

The Howeths started Vine Church. Through this ministry, they’ve reached many college students enrolled at Oregon State University. They also started a ministry to the city’s homeless, even sending out teams to wash the feet of homeless people.

We support Josh and Elizabeth with our Cooperative Program giving and encourage you to pray for them and their ministry. K

Josh & Elizabeth Howeth

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C O R V A L L I S , O R E G O N

One of our missionaries in Russia we’ll call Brad Horne. He teaches English

as a way to meet people and share the Gospel. One week he asked a student named Anton if the young man knew his purpose in life. Anton said no.

When Brad offered to teach him the Bible, Anton agreed. The first meeting was five hours long as they studied what the Bible says about the purpose of life. At the end, Anton declared, “My life will

never be the same again.” Two

weeks later the young Russian

put his faith in Christ and became

a follower.

We support this missionary

in Russia and we rejoice that

he helped Anton find that a

life with purpose must center

on Jesus Christ. Our church

supports many missionaries in

Russia through our Cooperative

Program giving. Now let us pray

for Brad, our missionary. K

BRAD HORNE

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • M A Y 7

R U S S I A

N O R T H A F R I C A

We Americans tend to think that all of North Africa is solidly Muslim

and nobody wants to hear the Gospel. But that’s not true.

Here and there across the region, churches have been started as people have come to faith in Christ. This is happening even though believers sometimes pay a high price for their new faith. Our church is supporting missionaries serving in many North African countries, as we give through the Cooperative Program.

Recently one of our missionaries

we’ll call Jeb Colburn met a man at a coffee shop and Jeb was able to share the Gospel with the man, who we’ll call Gadi. Gadi said he wanted to please God and live as He wants him to. Jeb immediately prayed that God would show Gadi the right way.

It’s too soon to say how Gadi will respond, but today can we pray that his life will be changed because he turns to Jesus Christ? And can we pray for Jeb, our missionary, that God would keep him safe, but also effective in sharing the Gospel with people like Gadi. K

Jeb Colburn

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • M A Y 1 4

Today we want to pray for one of our missionaries in the Middle East. Of

course we understand what a dangerous area that is and so we cannot name him. But we want to pray for him, because we are supporting him through our Cooperative Program giving. We also want to thank God for his ministry. Recently a Syrian man arrived at a refugee camp with his wife and three children. The man was angry and upset, because he had lost everything because of the war. He had lost his house, his shop, his job. They had nothing.

But our missionary there talked to the man, showed him love and urged forgiveness instead of

vengeance. As the two talked, the Syrian man came to faith in Christ. He was baptized with his wife and three children. Here’s what the man said: “God saved me from the war to bring me here, to know Him and His love through His Son, Jesus.” Folks, if we Baptists and other evangelicals would just send enough missionaries, we would not need to send so many soldiers overseas!

Can we pray for this missionary now? Even though we do not know his name, the Lord knows and is blessing his ministry. And let us pray for this family who are now our brothers and sisters in Christ, that God will bless them in the days ahead. K

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Unnamed MissionaryN O R T H A F R I C A / M I D D L E E A S T

Could we think for a few moments about Memorial Day tomorrow and the

men and women who have given their lives for our country? And today we want to pray for Chaplain Doug Carver, who holds the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army. He is one of our Southern Baptist chaplains we endorse through our North American Mission Board, which our church supports through our Cooperative Program giving.

Chaplain Carver recalls leading a Memorial Day service just outside Baghdad back in 2003 when the war in Iraq was under way. It had been a quiet day before the service started at 6 p.m. But as soon as the service ended, Chaplain Carver got word that five soldiers had died that day, all about the same time as the memorial service.

Here’s what our chaplain said about that day:

“We had paused in a war zone to think about life, to thank the Lord for those who’d paid the full measure of devotion to duty to our country and to celebrate the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“And then with a prayer and the ‘amen,’ you’re brought right back to the fact that here we are in a combat zone where young men and women are standing in harm’s way and the war continues,” he said.

Today, let’s thank God for our military men and women. And let’s pray today for the ministry of Chaplain Carver, as he serves our military and ministers to their spiritual needs, often amid life-or-death situations. K

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DOUG CARVERSOUTHERN BAPTIST CHAPLAIN

S O U T H A S I A

Two of our missionaries serving in South Asia are Rawson and Carlie Brinley.

They go out to villages to share the Gospel.

Sometimes their ministry goes well. Sometimes not. On one visit, three people in a village had said they wanted to become Christians. But when the Brinleys returned to that village, leaders told them the three had changed their minds. The leaders had beaten the three villagers to convince them to forget Christianity.

The Brinleys were told never to come to the village again. But in another village, believers said they had located 10 homes where someone was interested in the Gospel and were open to studying the Bible.

Today, let us pray that the Brinleys stay confident in the Lord and strong in their faith, so that, even when a door closes in their ministry, others will open.

Our church supports Rawson and Carlie through our Cooperative Program giving. K

Rawson & Carlie Brinley

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J U N E 4

Our six Southern Baptist seminaries have a total enrollment of more

than 18,000 students who are preparing for ministry as pastors, missionaries or other leaders. Our seminary students pay much lower fees to attend our schools, because our Cooperative Program dollars provide a big part of their budgets.

We know seminary students study the Bible and many topics related to serving in or through a church. But often today students are being taught how to share the Gospel in today’s world — both here in the United States and overseas.

Drake Nosco is a student at our seminary in New Orleans. He and a team of other New Orleans students went on a missions trip to Southeast Asia. They went to

a country where it’s illegal to evangelize. Our missionaries there told them to go as tourists, but when a door opened, just brag on Jesus.

At a large Islamic mosque, Drake asked a Muslim man how he thought sins were forgiven. The man answered that if his good deeds in life outnumbered his bad deeds, then he could hope to be admitted into heaven — which is a false hope, of course. That answer gave Drake an opening to explain the truth — he was assured of his own salvation because of Jesus Christ and His atonement.

Today let’s pray for Drake and the many other seminary students who are learning to share the Bible’s truth to a world that has often settled for much less! K

DRAKE NOSCONEW ORLEANS BAPTIST

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J U N E 1 1

S O U T H A S I A

One of our missionaries we’ll call Heath was praying in a park. A

visiting volunteer asked why they were taking time to pray so long instead of just preaching about Jesus. Heath answered that they were asking God to show them where He was at work — that’s where they wanted to be.

Heath reminded the worker what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit — He goes where He wants, like the wind. Just then, a strong wind swept through the

park. Immediately after a Muslim man came up and told Heath and the volunteer that someone had given him a tract about Jesus, and he had been reading it over and over. Now, he wanted to know more.

Heath was only too happy to talk to the man, of course. We support Heath through our church’s Cooperative Program giving. Let us pray he will continue being responsive to what the Holy Spirit directs him to do there in South Asia. K

Heath

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E A S T A S I A

We know that our missionaries face many hardships and dangers

when they serve overseas. But Phil

Wardell, one of our missionaries

in East Asia, says having a child

who is sick is one of the biggest

challenges he and his wife have

faced. His oldest daughter was

sick for almost three years; five

times she had to be evacuated

to a hospital in another area for

emergency treatment.

But their strong Christian

faith enabled the Wardells to

continue serving. Their daughter

recovered. Phil says they learned that the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will. When other missionaries have hardships, he shares their story to encourage them not to give up.

Aren’t you glad we are supporting missionaries like the Wardells, who are truly committed to their calling and to service? It is through our church’s Cooperative Program giving we support them.

And now let’s thank the Lord for taking care of this missionary family and for their faithfulness in service. K

Phil Wardell

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Today we want to pray for one of our missionaries in Canada: Garth Leno. He

was a pastor for many years in Windsor, a city just across the border from Detroit, Michigan, before he became a church planter. There are a few churches in Windsor, but only about seven percent of Windsor’s people are evangelical Christians.

Garth decided to start a new church in 2014 and began holding Bible studies in his living room. The group grew quickly and soon they had to find meeting space — first a golf club

and finally a warehouse. Now more than 350 people attend. Members include South Asians, Chinese, Filipinos, Romanians, Eastern Europeans and people from the Caribbean islands. Many more new churches are needed in Windsor. Garth and others are hoping this new church will help them get planted.

Today, we can thank God that this new church is growing so well as it reaches new believers. And we are thankful to have a hand in supporting it through our Cooperative Program giving. K

GARTH LENOWINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J U L Y 2

S O U T H A S I A

One of our missionaries in South Asia, Brennan Masterson, reminds

us that in his part of the world, becoming a Christian can be costly in many ways. He tells what happened when a man we’ll call Deepak accepted Christ as Savior.

Deepak’s family disowned him and kicked him out of their home. He was not allowed to attend his brother’s wedding, nor allowed to see the brother’s first child.

Deepak’s brother, Rahul saw

all this, yet he also became a Christian. Now these two brothers are taking the Gospel to new places. Their own family cut all ties with them; now fellow Christians are their only family.

So often we in America take the Gospel for granted and forget that knowing Christ personally is the most precious thing there is.

We support Brennan as he faithfully shares the Gospel there in South Asia. Our church supports him through our Cooperative Program giving. K

Brennan Masterson

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J U L Y 9

S O U T H A S I A

Many of our Southern Baptist churches across the United States have

ministries for deaf people. In recent years our International Mission Board has sent increasing numbers of missionaries to share the Gospel with deaf people overseas.

Today we want to pray for one of those missionaries to the deaf serving in South Asia. His name is Danny. Our church supports him through our Cooperative Program giving.

Danny met a deaf man named Abhay who was a Hindu. Abhay had been to the United States to attend a school for the deaf. Christians there witnessed to him,

but Abhay would not listen. He returned to South Asia, where he later met our missionary, Danny.

Danny became friends with Abhay and began to tell him Bible stories, using the same sign language Abhay uses. Abhay heard the Gospel and for the first time understood God’s love for him as shown through Jesus Christ. He gave his life to Christ and became a follower. This story is being repeated all over South Asia and entire churches with deaf members have been started.

Today let us pray for our missionary Danny and for these new believers, that they will continue to grow in their understanding of the Lord. K

Danny

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • J U L Y 1 6

Calgary is a big city of skyscrapers sitting on the plains of western Canada.

It is also a city of lost people. More than 1.2 million people live in Calgary and that number is increasing rapidly because of the boom in oil and gas. It was that lostness that captured the heart of our missionary we’re going to pray for today. Brett Myers was a pastor in the small town of Westminster, South Carolina, when he visited Calgary on a mission trip. He and his wife, Kristin, and their three daughters

wound up moving there to start a new church in 2014. That’s when our church started supporting them through our Cooperative Program giving.

Baptists in Calgary say the biggest need is more church planters who are willing to stay for a long time and start new churches, despite the long, cold winters and the people, whose hearts are often equally cold to the Gospel. Today, let us pray for Brett and his family, and ask God to give them a lasting commitment to start new churches. K

BRETT MYERSCALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA

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A F R I C A

Today we want to pray for Laura Sharpe, one of our missionaries in Africa. She

works in a clinic that helps people in need, and in the country where she serves, that’s about everybody.

One of the people Laura helped was a young woman named Sahiba. Sahiba’s first baby died when he was just a few months old. Local people told her it was because of demons. But the real cause was malnutrition. Sahiba came to the clinic for help after her second child was born, because she was not able to feed him.

Laura gave her a goat that could be milked; goat milk would literally save the baby’s life. Sahiba wept with gratitude. As she learned about goat milk, of course, Sahiba also learned about the love of Christ.

Friends, our church helped send Laura to Africa and our church helped buy that goat that saved the baby’s life, both through our Cooperative Program giving.

And now let’s pray for our missionary, Laura, and her ministry there in Africa. K

Laura Sharpe

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Today we want to pray for two of our missionaries who are starting a new

church in Dayton, Ohio. Randy and Denise Chestnut grew up in Dayton, but moved away for many years, before God called them back there to start a new church. They are two of our Southern Baptist missionaries we support through our church’s Cooperative Program giving.

They have started Hope Community Church and it meets in the same elementary school the two of them attended years ago. They found the community

has changed a lot, because many immigrants from other countries now live in the Dayton area. When Randy and Denise set up a community event with food samples, they had foods from nine different cultural groups.

Randy has been in touch with a group of Muslims from Turkey, for example, and hopes to reach some of them. Let’s pray for Randy and Denise as they reach people there in Dayton with the Gospel. Let’s ask God to bless and direct the Hope Community Church. K

Randy & Denise ChestnutDAYTON, OHIO

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • A U G U S T 6

C O N G O

Our missionaries go overseas to share the Gospel and start churches.

But often their ministry changes more to training others to do the same thing once churches are established.

Today we want to pray for two of our missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa: Jeff and Barbara Singerman. They are two of the hundreds of missionaries serving in Africa that our church supports through the Cooperative Program.

A while back Jeff and Barbara trained Baptists from 250 churches how to share their

faith, using stories from the Bible. After the training, reports on what happened began pouring in. One pastor said 60 new believers joined his church. Ruth, a high school student led five of her classmates to Christ. Paulin, a former gangster, went out on the streets to witness and led 19 gang members to faith in Christ and baptism. Jeff and Barbara counted more than 1,000 people who came to faith in Christ because of the training they did.

Today we are going to pray for the Singermans and thank God for the thousands of people that are coming to Christ through their ministry there in Congo. K

Jeff & Barbara Singerman

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • A U G U S T 1 3

Folks, we know that any young person God calls to be a missionary has to be

brave to follow through and go. But how about when you’re older and settled and you and your wife have three kids and one’s already a junior in high school? THEN, when you pick up and move halfway across the country to help start a new church — THEN you’re brave indeed.

And today we’re going to pray for Rob and Amy Burgess, because that’s what they did: Moved from Florida to Denver, Colorado, to help start a new church. Although a move like that did not make much financial sense or general sense, both of them clearly understood that’s what God wanted them to do.

Rob and Amy are working with Ben Mandrell to get a new church called Storyline Fellowship up and running in a town called Arvada, which is really a suburb of Denver.

It started in February of 2015 and already has some 500 people attending every Sunday. Our church is partnering in this new church, because these missionaries are supported through our Cooperative Program giving.

We already know Rob, Amy and Ben are brave. Now, let’s pray that God will continue to multiply the members and the churches across the Mile High City through their ministries. K

Rob & Amy BurgessARVADA, CANADA

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W E S T A F R I C A

If we go out to visit homes and share the Gospel, probably the most negative thing we have

to deal with is bad weather. But in West Africa, it can be much worse.

Our missionary in West Africa we are going to pray for today is Laura Reese. A few years ago she had just a few believers to work with. Now there are two churches. Recently when the churches had an evangelistic outreach, 61 people were saved and baptized. When that news got out, local witch doctors cast

spells against the new believers, trying to destroy their new faith.

Laura met with the new believers for a praise service, because nothing happened to them! God is more powerful than any spell, she told them. We thank God for this brave missionary, who struggles against rugged living conditions and witch doctors as she shares the Gospel. We support her through our church’s Cooperative Program giving. Now, let’s pray for Laura and those new believers. K

Laura Reese

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A F R I C A

In Africa and other parts of the world, sometimes Muslims come to faith in

Christ because God speaks to them in dreams. One of our missionaries in Africa our church helps support through the Cooperative Program is Mike McAfee. Recently a local pastor brought a man to him who had been dreaming about a man in white.

The man was not just a Muslim; he was an imam — a Muslim teacher — his people group is 99 percent Muslim. When he told his family about the dreams, they persecuted him and said he was

possessed by evil spirits.

But Mike told the man God was speaking to him through his dreams, and wanted him to trust Jesus Christ as his Savior. Mike’s words were in keeping with what the man had dreamed and he knew Mike spoke the truth.

The man accepted Christ as Savior and became a Christian. Our missionaries often deal with miracles like this. After all, isn’t every salvation a miracle?

Now let’s pray for our missionary Mike and for this believer and all believers God is calling through dreams. K

Mike McAfee

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • S E P T E M B E R 3

Most of us know something about Atlanta, that big city in Georgia, and

probably some of us here today have been there. We probably have not thought about Atlanta as a mission field. But it is. Even though there are some large and effective churches in and around Atlanta, there are not enough to reach all the lost people there. Some of the older, traditional churches are shrinking because they have lost a vision of missions. Now we move just a little east of Atlanta to the city of Conyers and look at one of those churches that had declined.

Emmanuel Baptist Mission Church was down to eight members when Eric Suddith went there as pastor. He, his wife and their three children immediately added five more

members. Suddith was a bivocational pastor. He had served 25 years in corporate business, including 15 years as an executive at AT&T, even as he served as a minister. Less than 10 years later, Emmanuel has some 1,300 people attending, has a new building and many community ministries.

This is the kind of church turnaround that our North American Mission Board is promoting; ministers are being trained in how to replace declining stagnation with growth. Our church’s Cooperative Program giving is helping fund that ministry. Now, let us ask God to bless Eric Suddith’s ministry and pray that this kind of miracle can become more and more common! K

ERIC SUDDITHCONYERS, GEORGIA

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • S E P T E M B E R 1 0

Today we want to pray for a missionary who’s not one yet. In fact, we don’t know

what Brianna Weir may wind up doing in life. She is attending Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Our church’s Cooperative Program giving helps support Southeastern — one of our six seminaries — so Brianna’s tuition is much lower than most schools of similar quality would offer.

While she was still in high school Brianna and five of her friends organized a ministry called “Save

Our Sisters,” which fights human trafficking, a global curse.

That might become her life’s ministry, but she doesn’t know for sure yet. She says all of life is an opportunity for missions and ministry. Attending Southeastern is a great way to be ready for whatever the Lord has in store for her.

Today, let’s pray for this Southeastern student and ask the Lord to lead her wherever He wants her to go. Looks like she will be ready. K

BRIANNA WEIRSOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

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Today, we want to pray for Rusty Ford, one of our missionaries serving

in Europe — one of those our church supports through the Cooperative Program. As Rusty ministered to a family, he met a young man named Raoul, who looked strong and athletic, because he was a kickboxing champion. But the young man struggled with drug addiction. Rusty took Raoul to a Christian rehab center for treatment that included counseling and prayer. As Raoul heard the Gospel, he accepted Christ as his Savior.

Soon, Raoul’s twin brother, Jorge, also became a Christian.

The two brothers decided they could use their boxing as an outreach method and Rusty helped them start classes at a church. Young men flocked to the classes, and so far the two brothers have shared the Gospel with more than 50 of them. Many of these young men have decided to follow Christ and to stop using drugs. Today let’s pray for Rusty’s ministry there in Europe, which desperately needs to know the Gospel, just as these two boxing brothers did. K

Rusty FordE U R O P E

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E U R O P E

Jackie Lewis is one of our missionaries in Europe, but she does not serve in

the places tourists visit and buy postcards. Jackie works with the Gypsy people, also known as the Roma people. These are the poorest, least educated and most oppressed people in all of Europe, east or west. Mostly they live in slums, in villages or in rough communities on the outskirts of larger cities. Jackie works with Gypsy kids and also visits Gypsy families to witness and teach the Bible.

One of her big breakthroughs recently was finding André and

his wife, Stanka. She has been discipling them so they can reach their people with the Gospel. Eventually there may be a church for the Gypsies in her area.

Folks, we know Jesus told us to care about “the least of these,” and the Gypsies in Europe fit the bill. God called our missionary, Jackie Lewis, to work with the Gypsies and we helped by supporting her through our Cooperative Program giving.

Now let’s pray for Jackie and for these two new believers, who will also be missionaries to the Gypsies! K

Jackie Lewis

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • O C T O B E R 1

Southern Baptists respect and appreciate America’s military men and women

who defend our country. One of the ways we serve the military is through more than 3,600 chaplains, who are endorsed by our North American Mission Board. One of those chaplains we want to pray for today.

Anthony Beazley is a Southern Baptist chaplain who serves at the government’s VA medical center in West Palm Beach, Fla. More than 100 of our chaplains serve at VA hospitals like this one. Anthony is a pastor to soldiers and veterans who come here for treatment. Some patients he

listens to and visits like he is their friend — because he is indeed a friend.

Sometimes patients who are near death will ask questions about eternity. Anthony is able to tell them what the Bible says. While the hospital pays Anthony’s salary, our church’s Cooperative Program giving helps fund our North American Mission Board which endorses and supports our chaplains.

So today we want to pray for Chaplain Beazley and thank God for his faithfulness and the ministry he provides to our brave military men and women, who risked life and limb for us. K

ANTHONY BEAZLEYSOUTHERN BAPTIST CHAPLAIN

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • O C T O B E R 8

Did you know there are thousands of Baptists in Cuba? We don’t hear much

about them here in the United States, but Southern Baptists have sent many hundreds of volunteers to Cuba to partner with them.

Now, here’s another chapter in that story. A while back, the Cuban Baptists sent out their first overseas missionaries to Ecuador, on the northeastern side of South America. They worked with Johnny Maust, one of our missionaries serving in Ecuador.

In fact, Johnny helped baptize

six of the people the Cuban missionaries led to faith in Christ as they worked together. Isn’t it great that, because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we can partner in so many ways to help get the Gospel to people who need to hear?

We Baptists here in this state partner with Baptists in all the other 50 states to help send missionaries like Johnny to the mission field. Sharing to send missionaries — that’s what we call the Cooperative Program. Now, let us pray for our missionary Johnny and his Cuban Baptist partners. K

Johnny MaustE C U A D O R , S O U T H A M E R I C A

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • O C T O B E R 1 5

B R A Z I L

One of our missionaries in South Brazil is Phil Kesler and we want to

pray for him today. Phil teaches many churches about the Bible and about how to share their faith. One way to talk to people, Phil tells them, is about names. Many Brazilians in South Brazil are descended from Europeans who settled there in earlier times. Cities like Florianópolis have a very European look and feel to them.

Phil’s last name, “Kesler,” is German, because his ancestors were German. He meets many

Keslers and Kesslers in South Brazil. When he taught a missions course in a church, one of the Baptist students was named Kessler and was training to become a missionary.

Of course in eternity, it is not important where a person comes from; Phil is more concerned about where they are going. But having the same names can lead to many conversations about that very point.

We support Phil Kesler in Brazil through our church’s Cooperative Program giving. K

Phil Kesler

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I R A Q

Just about every day on the news we hear about the battles and killings and

suffering across the Middle East. But we must remember two things: Our missionaries are serving in and around these troubled areas. They are even seeing more response now because of the problems. One of our missionaries in Iraq we’ll call Mary. She says a Syrian man and his wife came to Iraq to escape the fighting in their homeland. They are Christians and have actually started a house church where they now live in Iraq!

Mary also tells of an Iraqi man named Elias. Islamic State fighters attacked his village and he had to flee for his life to another part of the country. There a missionary led him to faith in Christ. Now Elias is ministering to other refugees — he understands their situation very well, but also knows now that people need to hear the Gospel even in the middle of fighting and confusion.

It is our church’s Cooperative Program giving that helps us send missionaries to these dangerous places. And now, how we need to pray for Mary Alan! K

Mary Alan

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E A S T A S I A

Can sickness provide a Christian witness? Yes it can! And here’s how it did

in East Asia. That’s where our two missionaries, Jeremiah and Joy Farmer, are serving and we want to pray for them today, because we support them through the Cooperative Program. The Farmers were discipling the new believers they had led to faith in Christ. They told the believers that, as Christians, they must have open hearts and that involves giving.

Then Joy got very sick and the Farmers had to leave East Asia. As soon as Joy was better, they went right back to start serving again. Jeremiah told the believers that

Baptist churches back in America give money through a system called the Cooperative Program. That’s how the Farmers were able to get the medical help for Joy she needed. That’s how the Farmers could be in East Asia at all.

Those East Asian believers got a good lesson in giving. They also saw that the Farmers were faithful, and that sickness would not frighten them into quitting their important ministry. Friends, this is the kind of missionaries we want representing Christ in that distant land. Let us pray for their health and celebrate their strong faith. K

Jeremiah & Joy Farmer

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • N O V E M B E R 5

J A P A N

Today we pray for one of our international missionaries serving in Japan. Now,

Japan is one of the most difficult mission fields in the world, partly because the Japanese language is very difficult to learn.

But our missionary, Jon Cole, also communicates in other ways. It so happens he’s a pretty good trumpet player. He might have become a professional jazz musician if the Lord had not

called him to mission service.

So he plays trumpet in the Japanese language church he attends. The band plays music at the local metro station for outreach.

Our church supports Jon through our Cooperative Program giving. Today, let’s give thanks that he can use his God-given music talents there in Japan. And let’s ask that many will come to faith in Christ through Jon’s ministry. K

Jon Cole

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • N O V E M B E R 1 2

Today we are going to pray for one of our Chinese missionaries in Baltimore,

Maryland. Yi Zhang is starting churches for the many Chinese people who live in the Baltimore area. Our church is helping support him through the Cooperative Program.

People from China are a big mission field for us here in the United States — it’s estimated that about 4.6 million Chinese now live in the United States and Canada. But so far, we have started only 228 Southern Baptist churches for these Chinese. Now,

Yi has an interesting approach to outreach. Many Chinese people work, of course, in Chinese restaurants. So Yi goes to the restaurants to meet with the workers and lead Bible studies.

They can only meet when they finish working for the day, which is usually around midnight. So many of the Bible studies are held in the middle of the night.

Let us pray for Yi, who so wants to share the Gospel with his people, he is willing to hold midnight Bible studies over and over so they can hear. K

YI ZHANGBALTIMORE, MARYLAND

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Today we go to the southern part of California, just north of the city of San

Diego, to the city of San Marcos. Around 90,000 people live in this town but there are few churches. The missionary we’re praying for today, Ray Owens, moved there with his family and started a church in 2012. That first service in their living room had about 15 people.

Now the church has grown to about 70; they just baptized three

new believers. The church is sponsoring community events like concerts to meet people and have opportunities to share the Gospel.

Our church is partnering with this new church and providing financial support through our Cooperative Program giving.

Now, let us pray for Ray and this new church that it can both grow and multiply into other churches across the city. K

Ray OwensS A N M A R C O S , C A L I F O R N I A

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M O Z A M B I Q U E

Today we want to pray for one of our missionaries who serves in Mozambique,

Africa: Becky Harrell. It is hard for us in America to even imagine the constant spiritual warfare that fights our missionaries as they work to plant the Gospel in African hearts.

Becky works with fearful women who make their children wear magic charms that are supposed to protect them from evil spirits

and diseases. It is hard for these women to trust in God, but of course, those who do move into a life of blessings — free of fear.

Becky is one of the 10,000 or so missionaries our church supports through our Cooperative Program giving. As we pray for her today, let’s ask the Lord to keep her spiritually strong as she fights those evil forces there in Africa. K

Becky Harrell

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • D E C E M B E R 3

We’ve seen reports on the war in Syria in the news. But what we haven’t

seen on the general news is

how Baptists are ministering in

the middle of the conflict. Our

missionaries are serving all over

the Middle East. This is about one

we’ll call Don, and no, that’s not

his real name.

One of Don’s friends we’ll call

Tarik operates a Christian school

for Syrian refugee children. This

is a school where kids learn about

God’s love for them instead of

the hatred taught by the many

extremist groups. But recently

Tarik was in a bind; he was out of money. He would have to close the school without more operating funds. Don was able to get money a church here in the States sent for ministry to refugees. The school was saved.

It was Cooperative Program funds that enable Don to be there and help make the connections. Part of our church’s Cooperative Program giving helps support Don in that dangerous place.

Today, can we pray for Don and his friend, Tarik, and the school that teaches the love of God instead of some group’s hatred? K

DONN O R T H A F R I C A / M I D D L E E A S T

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• Missionary Highlight52 Sundays • D E C E M B E R 1 0

T H A I L A N D

The Bible is pretty clear that, as Christians, we’re supposed to help people

in need and we’re supposed to share the Gospel with everyone. Sometimes we can do both at once. That’s what our missionaries Scott and Alyssa Branding are doing in Thailand.

They are working with a group called the Rohingya. About a million of these people left Myanmar — that’s the country in Asia which we used to call Burma

— because they were treated harshly by the government.

But the problem was that none of the other Asian countries wanted them. Some of the people went to Indonesia, some to Malaysia and some to Thailand. But they are mostly in refugee camps

and have trouble getting food, clothing and medical care.

Scott and Alyssa visit these refugee camps and give people food and clothing provided by Baptists in America. They also share the Gospel every chance they get. It is a hard and dangerous ministry. But someone must tell the Rohingya people that God loves them and wants them, even if nobody else does.

Today let us pray for Scott and Alyssa and ask God to keep them safe. And let’s ask God that many in the refugee camps would come to know Jesus Christ as Savior. It is our Cooperative Program giving that enables Scott and Alyssa to serve. K

Scott & Alyssa Branding

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Z A M B I A

T oday we want to pray for Suzie Rodgers and especially for her two boys.

They live in Zambia, one of the African nations. Suzie took them with her to a food market; the boys went off on their own in the store. After a while one of the boys came running back to her and said a man wanted to be baptized. Her son had been telling Bible stories to a man in the store. When she went to check, she found her other son was also telling Bible stories to a man.

Suzie got the two men together

and shared the Gospel with them. They both decided to follow Christ! Suzie said they went shopping but ended up fishing.

Today we want to pray for Suzie, her husband and those two fine boys. Aren’t you glad we send missionaries to Africa who will interrupt grocery shopping to share the Gospel? And aren’t you glad they have done a great job of raising their boys?

Our church’s Cooperative Program giving keeps that missionary family serving there in Africa. K

Suzie Rodgers

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S U D A N

O ne of the reasons we must pray for our missionaries is because we send them

to some of the most dangerous

places in the world. Today we

want to pray for Robert Lane,

one of our missionaries in

South Sudan, one of the African

countries where violence is

common. We support him

through our church’s Cooperative

Program giving.

Recently he was training a man

who would go back to his village

to share the Gospel. But before

he could leave, he got a message.

His village had been attacked and most of his people killed; their houses were burned. His sister’s husband was killed; she ran for her life with a rifle strapped to her back.

Here’s what Robert said about it: “We speak with urgency not because people are getting old and dying without Jesus, but because they are being killed before we can get to them.”

I am sure we want to pray for Robert and the people he is working with in that troubled land. K

ROBERT LANE

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