Our vision as Jesus followers is way too small! Let’s be honest. We mainly focus on ourselves and our families, with all our problems and needs. We may at times pray for our own church, and if we are keeping up with the news and big-hearted enough, we may also remember to pray for our community and nation from time to time. However, the Lord’s vision and heart are for the whole world. Indeed, in and with the Messiah, He wants to give us the peoples of the earth as He promises in Psalm 2:8: “Ask of me and I will make the peoples your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth your possession.” What an expansive calling and possibility through prayer and mission flowing out of prayer!

This focus on the peoples reaffirmed centuries later in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:20 was also on Jesus’ lips on the cross. While torturously gasping for air, he recited Psalm 22. That psalm starts with the anguished cry “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and concludes with the assurance that “all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.” (Psalm 22:1 and 27). This must have been in the Lord’s mind as He looked beyond His immediate suffering. In spite of His awful agony, He peered into the future, by faith seeing the peoples of the earth turning to Him one day.

PraThe Moravians grasped that same vision after the Spirit fell upon them at Herrnhut, Germany, in 1727. This impelled them to begin a 100-year plus 24/7 prayer chain to pray for the distant peoples, that they might have the opportunity to come into the relationship with Christ they themselves had discovered. The Moravian example should inspire us with what God can do with even a few who are committed to persevering, united prayer. Though only a couple hundred believers first began this 24/7 prayer chain, ultimately thousands over those years took part. And from that small village these intercessors sent out missionaries that impacted an estimated 5000 locations on earth. These were the first Protestant missionaries. It was also the Moravians and their example of prayer wedded to mission that deeply stirred the two Wesley brothers, John and Charles. So England underwent a great revival that also spread to the USA and around the world through a multiplication of prayer and mission efforts in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

In May of this year, international prayer and mission leaders came together at Herrnhut, where 6000 of these faithful Moravian intercessors and missionaries are buried. During our time together, we were stirred by the fact that over 1500 of the remaining unreached ethno-linguistic people groups still have no known missionaries or exposure to the Gospel. This is probably because no one is praying for them specifically, which is the first step to reaching them. Praying to the Lord of the harvest is a supernatural partnership with the One who can raise up those who are specially called and gifted to go and share the Good News with them. Without such prayer, there is no effective or sustainable mission outreach. 

It is unthinkable that on our watch these people groups would not have the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ and to become part of His eternal family.  Would you, therefore, please pray for the following?

1. That churches and prayer groups in your nation and around the world will each adopt at least one UPG until they are reached with the Good News of the Gospel. The definition of “reachedness” is that there is an indigenous community of believers established who are capable of evangelizing the rest of their people group.
2.   Pray also for these important upcoming prayer and mission events to be used of the Lord to catalyze this adoption of the unreached for prayer and mission engagement:

• The Zero Gathering, Oct. 13-14, in the Dallas area, including the birthing of the Vision 2025 initiative to pray until every UPG has the Bible in their own language. 1600 participants are expected to gather with many others participating through live-streaming. Our focus will be on the 1671 Bibleless peoples that even by 2025 there might be zero peoples lacking access to Scripture.
• For the Finishing the Task initiative and gathering of 700-800 mission people, Dec. 5-7, in Mission Viejo, CA. It will be the first time a prayer track will be included.
• For the UPRISING youth national assemblies for prayer and mission happening around the world during the coming year, that the youth will be challenged to adopt and pray for UPGs, and then once again at the culminating global youth event in Indonesia in October 2018.
  

Please keep these upcoming efforts in your prayers that they will be powerfully used of the Lord to get every UP adopted and covered with ongoing intercession. To find out more about how you and your prayer group or church can adopt an unreached people group and for resources on praying for them, please visit Joshua Project www.joshuaproject.net. Prayer cards and profiles are available to download and use.

Thank you for your prayers. The Lord will surely use them in a supernatural way to bring about the reaching of those still waiting to hear of His love and truth.

 John Robb

Chairman, International Prayer