Monday, August 12, 2013

AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Kingdom of Lesotho - Africa

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Home > Aug 12: Lesotho

Aug 12: Lesotho

Lesotho

Kingdom of Lesotho

Africa

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 30,355 sq km
A mountainous country completely surrounded by South Africa. Only 10% is arable.
Population: 2,084,182    Annual Growth: 0.88%
Capital: Maseru
Urbanites: 26.9%
HDI Rank: 156 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 13 (8% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Sesotho, English    Languages: 6 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian
Religion               Pop %Ann Gr
Christians1,861,38389.310.9
Evangelicals253,04012.12.7

Challenges for Prayer

The Basotho were Christianized generations ago, but most were never fully converted. The social pressure against becoming bapholosoa, or born again, is wielded by traditional religious forces, mainline churches and family members alike. All the factors have reduced the mainstream church to maintaining the religious status quo with marginal redemptive impact on society. Pray for the Holy Spirit to sweep out impurities from the churches and bring new life. There are two issues of particular importance:
a) Traditionalism and nominalism are common in the Catholic Church and in the Lesotho Evangelical Church. The latter is the fruit of the great pioneering work by French missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society.
b) Many AIC churches compromise with African traditional religious practices and beliefs. Sometimes this is due to a lack of biblical teaching; sometimes it is a deliberate syncretization. Practices like balimo (ancestor worship), curses and charms, and the Sephiri (a secret society involving African traditional magic rites) are all an affront to the holiness of God and the purity of the gospel.
Newer evangelical/renewalist groups and agencies continue to see growth (AIM, YWAM, IMB, various South African groups). Special items for prayer:
a) Bible teaching. A strategic need, since most evangelical pastors lack experience and training. There are five residential Bible colleges/seminaries, as well as further TEE programmes, the Bible Training Centre for Pastors and the missions-specific ECMTC (Operation UP).
b) Theological purity. Several foreign African groups have entered Lesotho preaching a gospel that includes excessive or incorrect emphases on prosperity, healings and other issues. Pray for discernment for the leaders of Lesotho’s churches to know what is right and biblical and appropriate for their own context.
c) Unity in the churches. There are many evangelical, charismatic and Pentecostal groups for such a small country, but no central body through which they can relate together. Pray for a spirit of humility and cooperation.
     For an additional 4 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 Lesotho.
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Let's Remember to Pray for our Schools this week.


Here's a declaration that some have been using:

We pray the PEACE, PROTECTION, PROVISION, PURITY AND PRESENCE OF GOD for __Add the name of you school_____ school -- over every administrator, teacher, student and the families associated with this school, in Jesus Name.
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Isaiah 56 (New International Version)

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Isaiah 56

Salvation for Others

1 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people." And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree."

4 For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-

5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

8 The Sovereign LORD declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: "I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."

God's Accusation Against the Wicked

9 Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.

11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.

12 "Come," each one cries, "let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better."
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Proverbs 12 (New International Version)

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Proverbs 12

1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

2 A good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a crafty man.

3 A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

4 A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

5 The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

7 Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.

8 A man is praised according to his wisdom, but men with warped minds are despised.

9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

10 A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

11 He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.

12 The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

13 An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble.

14 From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

15 The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

16 A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

17 A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.

18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

20 There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.

21 No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.

23 A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly.

24 Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

25 An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

26 A righteous man is cautious in friendship, [a] but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

27 The lazy man does not roast [b] his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

28 In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.
 
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Romans 6 (New International Version, ©2010)

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Romans 6

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
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