Dear Father, We invite you back in to our Schools to walk the school property to walk the halls and to provide YOUR PEACE, PROTECTION, PROVISION, PURITY AND your very PRESENCE in ______________ school -- over every administrator, teacher, student and the families associated with this school, in Jesus Name.
Area: 912,050 sq km
About 80% of the population live along the Caribbean coastal belt in the north; the centre and south are grasslands and tropical forest. Population: 29,043,555 Annual Growth: 1.68% Capital: Caracas Urbanites: 94% HDI Rank: 58 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Ministry to 30 Amerindian tribal peoplesby evangelicals has met opposition from anthropologists, leftist politicians, the government and some Catholic priests. The work ofNTMandMAFwas effectively ended by government decree in 2005. The indigenous peoples themselves have not been consulted much in this process, but illegal gold prospecting and expanding cattle ranching threaten their lands and their health. Pray for: a)The opportunity for every Amerindian peopleto hear the gospel – few still live in their traditional ways that some would “protect”. b)Churches to reachthe few remaining unevangelized tribes.Venezuelans ofAoGand ADIEL (Evangelical Free Church) have well-established tribal works; other Venezuelans are taking up this challenge in places where expats have been forced out. c)The continued ingatheringof the Guajiro, Maquiritare, Yanomami, Panare, Motilone and others into culturally appropriate churches. Most of the larger tribes have significant and growing churches. d)Bible translation workcontinues in 11 languages. There are still 14 language groups with no Scripture. Pray for God’s Word to transform these peoples and equip them to survive the inevitable encroachment of Venezuelan culture and all the trappings of civilization. Mission work by evangelicalsis difficult. Obtaining visas for religious purposes is often a battle in faith; the government increasingly refuses applications and the process is slowing. The government’s hostility toward Western groups can at times be compounded by Catholic hesitations regarding evangelicals. Expats are now all but prohibited from evangelizing Amerindian groups. But there is a great need for more missionaries for urban church planting and Bible teaching ministries. Pray for good relationships between expatriates and national workers, and for open doors for those called to serve here. The largest missions:CLC,BIM, CCCC,AoG, TE, Church Resource Ministries.
For an additional 10 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 Venezuela.
Venezuela is one of the most bio-diverse nations in the world, with the snow-capped Andes Mountains to the West, the lush Amazon rainforest in the South, and pristine Caribbean beaches along the coast. However, socially it is fragmented into two distinct groups: rich and poor. Two-thirds of its 26.1 million inhabitants live below the poverty line, with one-fourth living in inadequate housing. The top fifth of all Venezuelans control the majority of the wealth.
Unfortunately this social gap extends into Venezuela's religious culture as well. The vast majority (96%) of Venezuelans claim to be Catholic, but less than one-third of them attend mass once a year. Therefore, it is no surprise that 80% of Venezuelans view Catholicism as merely a part of their culture and tradition, not a living faith or personal relationship with God, making Venezuela the least religious nation in the Americas.
The elite and upper middle class dominate the religious hierarchy and maintain the traditions of the institutional Church. As one descends the social ladder, he finds that the poor in rural domains and urban neighborhoods are unsure of Catholic doctrine, often blending it with folk spiritualism, and are leery of Christian beliefs that do not conform to their local culture and traditions.
Finding themselves disconnected from the Catholic Church hierarchy, many of these poor and marginalized Venezuelans are finding eternal life in Christ and the strength to endure their difficult lives. The number of evangelical Christians in Venezuela has more than doubled in the last twenty years, and two new churches are planted each day. But so many of these new believers come from dysfunctional backgrounds damaged by drugs, crime, poverty, abuse and spiritualism. These churches are working hard to help their brothers and sisters realize their new lives in Christ and grow in discipleship.
Venezuelans need to know that Christ loves each of them individually no matter what their social status. They need to hear and understand that He died, was buried, rose again and ascended to the Father for them and will give them the Holy Spirit to empower them in gaining victory in this life and the next. Please pray for them.
5 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.4 As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. 7 The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers[b] and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled. 10 The queen,[c] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.12 He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.” 13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” 17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. 18 “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes. 22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[d] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. 25 “This is the inscription that was written:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin
26 “Here is what these words mean:
Mene[e]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel[f]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
28 Peres[g]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,[h] was slain,31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.[i]
Footnotes:
Daniel 5:2 Or ancestor; or predecessor; also in verses 11, 13 and 18
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
