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Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray about building our spiritual formation by creating space for God.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

Since the beginning of the year the focus of our monthly prayer times has been growth. Last month we prayed about the possible parallel increase in persecution. As we experience both of these realities – an increase in numbers and an increase in trials – it is crucial that we put our roots ever deeper into God.

Silence can be a gift to us in this regard. Silence offers us an opportunity to become more aware of God and more aware of the truth of our own hearts. When things are going well, as when our numbers increase, we are tempted to rely on our own strength. Silence can safeguard us from the pitfall of self-sufficiency by keeping us in touch with our great need for God. And when things are difficult, as when we face trials and persecution, we are tempted to panic and try to save ourselves in our own way. In silence we are reminded of the greatness and nearness of God.

In any case, as YWAMers we are often a people of action and it is easy to find both fulfilment and distraction in our activity. When we practice silence, we make space for God to meet us beyond all possible distractions. God invites us to know Him and, in knowing Him, to know ourselves and to become the God-imaging, God-empowered people He made us to be.

To remain in silence for more than a few minutes can be uncomfortable for us. We are used to noise and chatter and in the quiet we often find our minds buzzing with all sorts of thoughts. In order to make space for God, we encourage you to join us in this month’s practice of silence – whether as a community, or individually – trusting that this deep listening will lead to a fresh springing up among us of God’s abundant life.

Prepare to Spend Time in Silence (for the prayer time facilitator if being facilitated as a group):

This month’s prayer time will focus on making space to hear God’s voice, listening, and being attentive in silence. Here are some practical tips to help those facilitating the prayer time.

• Decide ahead of time if you want the group to stay together, doing the same activity, or if you will let individuals choose for themselves which activity in which to engage. This is important in order to save time. If you want to let people choose which activity to do you may want to have the three options written out, either as a PowerPoint slide displayed on a screen or wall or on a handout. If the instructions are only verbal you may have to clarify and explain a few times, which would take away from the amount of time you could spend in silence.
• As a facilitator please help set the tone of the time by explaining the expectations to the group as you begin. You may want to emphasise the expectation of silence in the room (if you are staying in the same room) or of not talking to each other if the group is going outside. This may be challenging for some.
• Please be sure to give all the instructions at the beginning of the time of silence in order to avoid interrupting the group with further instructions. Include in the instructions a specific time to gather back together again.
• Consider ahead of time how you are going to process and receive feedback from the group. We have included some possible processing questions. Decide who will facilitate the processing time and how you will record the feedback.

Spend Time in Silence – The Practice of Silence

1.      Choose an Activity Option:

As part of your time of silence, you are invited to consider one of the following three activities as a way to practice “making space for God.” If you are participating with a group, we recommend you all do the same activity so that afterwards you can share together about your experience of God through that activity.

• Option A: Take a walk outside, in silence. 

  Begin by simply noticing how you are feeling physically and being present to the world around you. Practice curiosity and a deep listening to your intuition. Let this time be a journey of the heart, noticing where you are being invited to walk and where to stay for a while. Try to let go of any goals you have for this time (such as to reach a certain destination). Even if you walk only a few steps and simply notice what you see, that is enough.After spending time slowing down and being present to what is around you, become aware of any questions or reflections that come to your mind. Each season has its own particular questions to ask: for example, spring might cause you to reflect on the fullness of life and time for play. What draws your attention and what questions does your time outside invite you to ask at this particular time of your life?Finally, once you have enjoyed this time of reflection, ask yourself how are you moving in this journey of life with God? You might choose to mirror your response in the actual movement of your legs and feet as you walk (if you feel hurt, you might walk with a limp; if you are excited, you might bounce; if you are uncertain, you might mirror that in the way you walk). Then ask, how do you want to be moving through life in this season? You could move in that way for a short while. How might God be speaking to you through what this brings to your mind?

• Option B. Get comfortable and keep silence wherever you are.Be sure you have your journal and some pens or pencils. You may want to light a candle as a symbol of God’s presence. Get comfortable in your chair, or on the floor. Take a few moments to settle into this time and notice how you are feeling. Pay attention to the part of you that finds silence difficult, and to the part of you that looks forward to being with God in this way.After spending time slowing down and becoming present to yourself and to God, begin paying attention to what comes to your mind. Are you aware of questions you want to ask the Lord? Is there something going on in your life that the silence offers you an opportunity to think about? You might reflect on how you have been turning towards God in recent times, and how you have been turning away from Him. Speak with Him about this.

  In the quiet, you may well find that many random thoughts jump around in your mind, distracting you. If it helps, write down things you need to remember so you can stay focused during this time. Then simply return to an attitude of openness and listening to God. How might He be speaking to you through the things that come to mind? You could journal about this.

• Option C. Reflection on a painting.Finally, you may choose to spend your time in silence considering a painting such as this one, based on the story of Jesus and his disciples in the boat during a storm (Mark 4:35-41).
  

  

  Consider projecting this image so everyone in your group can see it, then settling into a silent time of reflection.

  • As you first look at the painting, ask yourself these questions:
    • What grabs my attention right away?
    • How does the scene change for me, as I look at the painting?
    • What is surprising to me about the painting? What questions does it raise for me?
    • Which of the characters do I most identify with, and why?
    • What would it be like to be in the boat in such a storm?
  • You could also consider reflecting on the following questions:
    • What are the storms in my life right now?
    • In what ways have I overlooked – or been aware of – Jesus’ presence with me?
    • What is His invitation to me in those stormy places? And what is my response?

2.       Conclude Silence Activity:

In conclusion: Whichever activity you choose, at the end of your time simply express gratitude to God for your awareness of His presence, for what He has revealed to you, and for the grace to move toward Him. 

3.       Process Questions as a Group:

Once your time of silence has concluded, here are some questions to help your group to process:

• How was the time of silence and listening different from having a specific topic to pray for?
• What challenges did you experience in the time of silence and listening?
• What insights did you gain from this time of silence?
• How do you think a time of corporate, worldwide silence and listening like this could impact the mission?
• What do you think God thought and felt as we took time around the world to be silent before Him?

4.       Close the Time of Silence:

You may like to use this as a closing prayer:

Lord, thank you that you are not a silent God. Thank you for your desire to communicate with your children. Please give us patience to wait in silence and the ability to quiet our hearts before you. Please train our ears to hear your voice. Help us to be aware of the noises and distractions in our life that may keep us from being close to you, and give us the grace to be still and know that you are God.

Take Action:

• Find out more about spiritual formation from YWAMers:
  • https://ywammontana.org/spiritual-formation-for-extraverts/
• http://www.ywamsalem.org/tag/spiritual-formation/
• Attend training on spiritual formation:
  • http://www.ywamseamill.org/spiritual-deepening/
• Plan another spiritual formation event for your location.
• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

April 2017 – Growth – Persecution

• YWAM Melbourne prayed for our Egyptian brothers and sisters from the Coptic Church after bombs exploded in multiple churches on Palm Sunday.
• YWAM Madison and YWAM Melbourne prayed and invited others to join them through Facebook. YWAMers from Homer, Alaska also posted that they prayed.
• Others posted on Facebook that they prayed specifically for Christians in Nigeria, the Middle East and for the Hazara people group in Central Afghanistan.
• YWAMers at YWAM Europe conference prayed for the nations.

Future Topics:

• June 8, 2017 Back to Jerusalem
• July 13, 2017 Two-thirds-world Workers, Financial Support
• August 10, 2017 Family, Singles, Marriages

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hash tag #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

Photo credits: Nick Kenrick and Carol Jacobs-Carre, Flickr

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Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray about the Persecution that often comes with Growth.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. This month we pray about persecution that often comes from growth …

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

YWAM Redding prays for the persecuted Church (YWAM Redding)

In this, the last of our three-part series on growth, we invite you to join The Invitation this month as we pray about the persecution that often comes along with growth. According to Christianity Today magazine, persecution of Christians continued at a high level last year: “For the third year in a row, the modern persecution of Christians worldwide has hit another record high.” YWAM’s founder, Loren Cunningham, expects more opposition in the years to come. He says “The reason I believe that persecution is going to increase on us, and I’ve already seen the signs of it, is that we are going to have a release, not just of workers but of effectiveness.”

Have a listen now to Loren Cunningham’s comments on how to pray about persecution…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVjWs1RR14M&index=2

Recent examples of persecution of YWAM workers include a kidnapping, families expelled from countries, one YWAM worker killed for his faith and bold witness, a YWAM worker held by militia, family members held by police, all workers from a YWAM location expelled from the country, computers and phones confiscated, home burnings of YWAM associates, burning of a church planted by a YWAM team, government harassment, imprisonment, monetary fines, beatings, hours of interrogation, and intimidation.

Loren Cunningham warns that persecution can also come by legal means such as media attacks, loss of jobs, and lawsuits against Christians. YWAM leaders also express concern over the ways governments seem to be tightening their control of, and opposition to, Christians.

Persecution is different by region and even from family to family as persecution extends to that level. One of YWAM’s leaders for the Middle East notes that there are some regions currently where “we are being much more bold and active than we have been before, but getting the same or less hassle than before, but there are some areas that have become more restrictive and are continuing to tighten up.”

This YWAM Middle East leader thinks YWAM has been spared significant persecution up to this point and attributes this to “possibly quite a bit of prayer cover.”

As we experience growth, we will also experience greater persecution. Now is the time to ‘review and count the cost’ of following Jesus to the ends of the earth. God hears the cry of the poor every day and he wants us to respond, ‘Here I am Lord, send me.’

Steve Goode, YWAM mercy ministry leader

In some cases, YWAM does not experience the persecution directly but we find ourselves helping others who have been or are being persecuted. Some of these examples are many YWAM locations sending teams to refugee camps that house Christians who have been persecuted in their home country. Other locations offer immediate assistance to cities, towns, and villages where Christians and new believers are persecuted.

The most recent World Watch List from the organization Open Doors predicts that the top ten countries for persecution in 2017 will be North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea. YWAM has had a presence or has a presence in most of these countries.

Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). Please join us for The Invitation in April, and particularly on our prayer day April 13, as we pray about persecution.

Prepare to Pray:

• Review these Bible verses and other resources regarding the cost of following Jesus:
  • Luke 14:25-33, Romans 8:16-17, Revelation 12:11.
  • Read story of a young man, previously a Muslim, who counted the cost of following Jesus and did a DTS in YWAM, southern Nigeria. (Posted by Andy Brooks, YWAM Montana)
  • Review this article and watch some videos regarding YWAMer Dan Baumann when he was imprisoned in Iran. I’ve grabbed the audio from one of the three videos, and you can hear it now:

All of a sudden I realized something, I am free! I am free! So what if they kill me. My life is bought by the blood of Jesus, my home is in Heaven. No one can take that away.”

Dan Baumann, YWAM teacher and author

• As a group or individually, ask God to give you clarity on the cost of following Jesus for your specific ministries.
• As a group, note things that you can do to prepare DTS students and staff for the persecution that is expected with the anticipated YWAM growth.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulations or distress, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35, posted by YWAM Abuja, Nigeria

Pray about persecution that comes with growth:

• Pray for courage and protection as we make more disciples. Pray for safety for new believers as they become rooted in Christ.
• Pray for courage to bear witness when we are persecuted, imprisoned and brought to court (Luke 21:12-13). Pray that we would endure when we are persecuted (1 Corinthians 4:12).
• Pray for YWAM locations in countries known to be the worst for persecution including: North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, and Eritrea. Pray for more workers and disciples in these countries.
• Pray for YWAM locations that have had to leave certain areas including Syria and South Sudan due to persecution. Pray for eventual YWAM growth in these areas.
• Pray for YWAMers in the field who must remain relatively isolated for security reasons.
• Praise God for the way that He works in all things, including persecution, for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
• Pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).

YWAM Prays for the Persecuted Church (Photos posted on Facebook by YWAM Ozarks and YWAM Worcester)

• Pray for persecuted Christians to be rescued from their persecutors (Psalm 31:15).
• Pray for the YWAM missionary kidnapped in Africa last year. Pray for his safe return, for comfort for his family and that his captors would know Jesus.
• Pray for God to create “Pauls” out of those who persecute today. Pray for God to provide them with mercy and to show them love through YWAMers and other workers.
• Pray for those who are displaced and marginalized to find safety and for YWAM workers who are ministering to them.
• Pray for loved ones of martyrs of the Christian faith to see their deceased as more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). Pray also for practical relief and spiritual support for these families.
• Pray for YWAMers and their friends and families who are directly impacted by persecution. Pray for strength, wisdom and provision.

sharing the Gospel with refugee children on Easter morning; one of the first YWAM signs in South Sudan

Teaching YWAMers in South Sudan

YWAM’s presence in South Sudan has shifted as persecution has intensified – Sudan being one of the worst countries in the world for persecution.

Take Action:

• Watch Loren Cunningham on growth and persecution:
  • Trees of Growth for YWAM (teaching video, 14:33 minutes, 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4bcW0S5Kxc&index=3

• Rise of Persecution explained (6 minutes):

https://vimeo.com/76347562

• On the Voice of the Martyrs Persecution Blog (http://www.persecutionblog.com/) see January 30, 2017 and February 7, 2017 to hear interviews with Loren Cunningham on sharing Bibles in the hardest parts of the world.
• Read books by YWAMer Dan Baumann, who was imprisoned in Iran, to see how persecution has shaped him and his teaching within YWAM:
  • Cell 58 (Formerly Imprisoned in Iran)
  • A Beautiful Way
  • A Fresh Look at Fear
• Track locations, stats and trends about persecution:
  • Voice of the Martyrs: http://www.persecution.com/pdfs/Global_Report_2017.pdf
  • Open Doors USA: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/ and http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/country_profiles.php

OpenDoors World Watch List Map 2017

• Consult Operation World for more prayer points on the persecuted church in each country of the world. Adopt a country and pray regularly or focus on a new country each month or week.
• Review the Back To Jerusalem 2014 Persecution Report: https://www.backtojerusalem.com/report/BTJ_2014_Persecution_Report.pdf (more coming on Back To Jerusalem in The Invitation in June).

Many YWAM Locations send teams and long-term workers to minister to persecuted Christians and others who have fled to Lesbos, Greece (YWAM Honolulu)

Read books to gain a greater understanding of persecution and the cost of following Jesus:

• • Tomorrow You Die: “You are a traitor and traitors are shot.” (International Adventures), Reona Peterson Joly, 1996, YWAM Publishing.
  • Singing Through The Night: Courageous Stones of Faith from Women in the Persecuted Church, YWAM Publishing.
  • Jesus Driven Ministry, Ajith Fernando (See what it looks like to follow Jesus through Sri Lankan women and men who have been imprisoned for their faith.)
  • The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
• Remember and honor YWAMers who have gone to be with the Lord as a result of persecution or other reasons: http://www.ywam-memorial.org/about
• If you missed The Invitation in February or March please review these short videos about growth that were produced for The Invitation: YWAM’s Lynn Green on ten-fold growth:

• And also Loren Cunningham on global growth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzUyW_lTB1M&index=1

• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

March 2017 – Growth – Global

• YWAM Togo, Kuwede Kara, Togo, West Africa received Genesis 1:11-12 regarding multiplication in the Horn of Africa and a vision of an open eye with the Lord saying “I the Lord have my eyes on you, I support you.” They also prayed for growth of faith for staff and students and for ending Bible poverty.
• YWAM Perth sensed God giving them Hebrews 12:26-29, concluding that if we want to see growth and breakthrough we need to refine our character. They also prayed for the children who grow up in YWAM that they would have a heart for the Lord, and for smaller locations to have an increase of staff joining and increase in finances.
• An individual prayed that YWAM would influence youth in their spheres of influence and that professionals and scientists would aggregate their knowledge to the kingdom of God and the advancement of the gospel.
• YWAM Vijayawada, India posted on Facebook that they prayed for women’s ministry growth.

Future Topics:

• May 11, 2017 Spiritual Formation
• June 8, 2017 Back to Jerusalem
• July 13, 2017 Two-thirds-world Workers, Financial Support

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hash tag #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/category/shows/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

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Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray for Global Growth.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. This month we pray about global growth …

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

500 People from 43 Countries Celebrate New University of the Nations (UofN) Campus
DNA Infusion Asia at Battambang, Cambodia in January (Dawn Gauslin)

Many of you joined us last month for The Invitation when we prayed for supernatural growth for ourselves and for our local communities. In a video last month YWAM leader Lynn Green talked about prophetic messages YWAM has received about ten-fold growth and he explained how praying for growth fits with themes in the Bible.

We asked you to provide growth plans that God has given your location so we could include those in The Invitation for this month as we pray for growth from a global perspective. We heard from many of you and we reached out to several of the ministries associated with YWAM to ask about their growth goals. These specific growth plans and prayers have been included in The Invitation for March and our prayer day on March 9.

Continue reading →

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Thank you for joining us this month as we join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray for local growth.

On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. This month we pray about local growth …

YWAM Medical Ships Expands in Papua New Guinea to build a Youth Training Campus in Alotau

YWAM began with a vision of growth. A young man, Loren Cunningham, saw a mental picture of wave after wave of young people covering the continents. A few years ago, YWAM received two more messages about growth, prophetic pictures of YWAM growing ten-fold, from 20,000 to 200,000 missionaries. YWAM’s leaders prayed about these words and sensed they were from God, and in keeping with a consistent theme throughout the Bible. Said Lynn Green, one of YWAM’s leaders, “growth is just intrinsic to the kingdom of God.”

For the next three months of 2017, we invite you to pray about growth. In February we invite you to ask God, do these messages about ten-fold growth apply to me and my community? If so, how?

To better understand what this prayer could look like, watch this video from Lynn Green, prepared specifically for The Invitation in February (for a transcript, see the bottom of this file):

Then, after you pray, if you sense God giving you a vision about growth please share it with us. You can do so by emailing prayer@ywam.org.

In March, we will pray for these faith goals as well as for other global goals in YWAM that seek supernatural increase.

Then in April The Invitation will again focus on growth, specifically on persecution that often accompanies growth and expansion.

As we begin this season of prayer for increase, consider this promise from the apostle Paul:

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (1 Corinthians 9:10).

Read the full post here.