Guest Author - LeeAnn Bonds
Life changes you. Sometimes I’m astonished by how differently I respond to things now than I did years ago. Often I’m shocked to find that a movie I thought hilarious twenty years ago now seems raunchy and worthless. Books I remember enjoying don’t always stand up very well to a second reading. Many do, for which I’m grateful, but not all. I have a different heart now, and am being slowly transformed by the renewing of my mind. I am changed. I read a small bit of Operation World a long time ago, but was daunted by the thickness (the current edition runs 978 pages), the thousands of statistics and the palpable lack of plot. This time around I am eagerly devouring the daily readings.
Reading changes you, too. I recently read and reviewed Radical by David Platt. One of the things he challenges Christians to do is pray for the world, and the tool he suggests is Operation World by Jason Mandryk. I bought the book and am reading through it. It is heartbreaking, encouraging, discouraging, fascinating, and daunting still.
The book is subtitled “The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation.” After 35 pages of introduction explaining the abbreviations, charts and symbols, and suggesting various ways to use the book, the entries begin. The first entry is “The World,” and then a few pages for each region or continent. On page 89 the entries for each nation begin. Each entry includes the same basic elements. A map of the country locates it on the planet, and its geography both natural and political is described. The various people groups, their literacy rate, the languages they speak and which languages have Bible translations are listed next. Then the political organization of the nation, and its religious character are explained. Finally, the entry lists Answers to Prayer and Challenges for Prayer.
The countries are arranged in alphabetical order, so you pray for Bangladesh, and then go across the world to Barbados, then back to Belarus. At the bottom of every page is a date or dates on which to pray for each country. I bought the book in July, and started reading July 14th at Iran, praying through the Challenges for Prayer for three days, then read about and prayed for Iraq for two days. Ireland took one day.
I am learning so much on so many fronts. Just to reacquaint myself with the world in a geographical sense is refreshing. Nations that were just names on a map when I was in school are now places I’ve seen in the news, places I’ve read about in Scripture, even places I’ve lived. The statistics are not dry, but paint a vivid picture of how life in Italy or Jamaica compares to the life I live in America. That in itself is heartbreaking when I read how bleak life is in North Korea. But even more piercing is my growing realization of how much work there is to do. Every nation has its corruptions, its troubles, its own history with the Church, good and bad. Many once-Christian lands have fallen away from the truth, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Thousands of people groups have yet to be significantly introduced to Christ at all. Daunting. The urgency of the situation makes my blood race when I read, and makes me pray fervently for God to send workers into the harvest, and to show me how I can participate more fully in the work He is doing.
It is encouraging, too, to read about my faithful brothers and sisters all over the globe. Their bravery, steadfastness, boldness and endurance in suffering and persecution inspire me. I thank God for them, and pray for their comfort, strength, and deliverance. I look forward as never before to meeting them in heaven one day, and honoring them for their devotion and sacrifice. I examine my own life once again, and resolve to fight the good fight more completely, to turn my eyes upon Jesus, and to pray like crazy until the work is done and our King comes back to set all things right and establish peace and justice from north to south, east to west, and to the far flung corners of the universe. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Buy the book. Read it. Pray for the world.
