Monday, September 1, 2014

AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Micronesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Home > Sep 01: Micronesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau

Sep 01: Micronesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau

Micronesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau

Micronesia

Pacific

Geography

Area: 1,950 sq km
The 2,000 islands of the Caroline, Marshall and Mariana archipelagos lie in 7 million sq km of the North Pacific. Only 100 are inhabited.

Peoples

Religion


Challenge for Prayer

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Micronesia.


Federated States of Micronesia

Federated States of Micronesia

Pacific

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 702 sq km
Over 600 coralline islands in four main groups: Chuuk, Pohnpei, Yap and Kosrae.
Population: 111,101    Annual Growth: 0.31%
Capital: Palikir
Urbanites: 22.7%

Peoples

Peoples: 24 (4% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

    Languages: 19 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians107,37996.650.5
Evangelicals27,00624.30.9

Challenge for Prayer

Pray for Bible translation and distribution. The whole Bible exists only in Chuuk and Pohnpein; the others have only the NT at best. This, combined with a non-literary culture, holds back the spiritual development of the largely Christian population and opens them to error and the predation of cults. Pray for the development of reading programmes and oral resources based on Scripture that would dynamically impact the population.
     For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Federated States of Micronesia.


Marshall Islands

Republic of the Marshall Islands

Pacific

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 181 sq km
There are 34 atolls with 1,156 islands, spread over nearly 2 million sq km of Pacific.
Population: 63,398    Annual Growth: 2.25%
Capital: Majuro
Urbanites: 71.8%

Peoples

Peoples: 7 (14% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Marshallese; English    Languages: 2 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians61,55997.102.2
Evangelicals28,21244.53.0

Challenge for Prayer

The need for godly leadership in the churches is great. Theological training is limited to a very small United Church college and the AoG-run Calvary Bible Institute. Pray for the effectiveness of these institutions in equipping God’s people, as groups such as Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baha’is and others actively proselytize.
     For an additional 2 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Marshall Islands.


Northern Mariana Islands

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Pacific

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 477 sq km
A chain of 14 volcanic and coralline islands 650 km north of Guam. The southernmost islands, Saipan, Tinian and Rota, are the largest and most important economically.
Population: 88,409    Annual Growth: 1.97%
Capital: Saipan

Peoples

Official language: Chamorro; Carolinian; English    Languages: 7 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians75,32485.201.7
Evangelicals11,26012.73.1

Challenge for Prayer

Existence can be simultaneously precarious and dull because of the fickle garment and tourist industries, heavy dependence on US aid and geographical isolation. This drives some into the arms of faith, but others into immorality. Prostitution is common and most youth are sexually active. Pray for renewal that would give meaning and focus to the young and old alike.
     For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Northern Mariana Islands.


Palau

Republic of Palau

Pacific

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 488 sq km
Sixteen inhabited volcanic and coralline islands.
Population: 20,531    Annual Growth: 0.40%
Capital: Koror
Urbanites: 82.7%

Peoples

Official language: Palauan; English    Languages: 5 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians19,68995.900.4
Evangelicals4,90523.91.4
Prayercast

Challenge for Prayer

Missionary vision for less-evangelized Micronesian islands and beyond is being stimulated by the YWAM base in Palau. YWAM is also having an impact on the campus of the only college in Palau.
     For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Palau.
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Romans 15



Romans 15 (New International Version, ©2010)

Romans 15

1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."[a] 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name."[c]

10 Again, it says, "Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people."[d]

11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him."[e]

12 And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope."[f]

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."[g]

22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord's people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord's people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord's people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God's will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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Genesis 30



Genesis 30 New International Version (NIV)
30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
3 Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”
4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, 5 and she became pregnant and bore him a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.[a]
7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.[b]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “What good fortune!”[c] So she named him Gad.[d]
12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.[e]
14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”
“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.[f]
19 Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[g]
21 Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph,[h] and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”

Jacob’s Flocks Increase

25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”
31 “What shall I give you?” he asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32 Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. 33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”
34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. 41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, 42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Footnotes:

  1. Genesis 30:6 Dan here means he has vindicated.
  2. Genesis 30:8 Naphtali means my struggle.
  3. Genesis 30:11 Or “A troop is coming!”
  4. Genesis 30:11 Gad can mean good fortune or a troop.
  5. Genesis 30:13 Asher means happy.
  6. Genesis 30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.
  7. Genesis 30:20 Zebulun probably means honor.
  8. Genesis 30:24 Joseph means may he add.
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