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OM Philippines has finally moved in to the new office at 1050 Baltimore St., Brookside Hills Subdivision, Cainta last September 15, 2006. For now we are renting the place and aiming to purchase the property within one year, or earlier the better. More or less, we are settled in. You can call us at +63 2 6553753. We would be delighted to hear from you. Or come and visit our new home.
What are the benefits of having a permanent Home for OM Philippines? To mention a few:
- It projects stability of the ministry. No longer to transfer from one place to another! For almost 16 years that OM Philippines is registered here, we have been to 4 different places. One of the reasons is the ever increasing rent!
- For better management of resources. Instead of money just going to rent, it will free some cash for further ministry. It will reduce operational expenses as well.
- Our workers are raising their own support and most are struggling in this area. Instead of money going to rent, this can free a few cash for possible local medical insurance provision and for emergency purposes.
- Accommodation for our single volunteer workers who are finding it hard to let both ends meet just to be involved with us.
- Because we have a bigger space now, we have room for small team that can stay for few days for exposure and ministry.
- It has provision for small group trainings that we can offer to people in preparation for ministry cross-culturally.
It can help generate funds for the ministry.
We aim to raise *P5.0 Million* or around *USD100,000* to cover the
following:
P3.5M for the purchase of the house and lot
P1.5M for purchase tax, set up cost and cost for renovations
We will appreciate every prayers for this huge step of faith we are
taking. Thank you very much.
Our prayers! And here are 15 suggestions of just what to pray for.
— Paul G. Zimmerman (May 1984) Eternity
Does this prayer sound familiar? “Lord, please bless the missionaries. Be with them each day. Protect them and give them strength to do their work.”
Perhaps you’ve noticed that much of the intercession made for missionaries is general and shallow. Yet prayer is the most important service that we can render in fulfillment of the Lord’s Great Commission. Every Christian should be involved in world evangelism through faithful, biblically-based prayer.
But what is it? How should we pray for missionaries? Here are some suggestions.
1 Love for God
The most important commandment for all Christians, including missionaries, is “love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”Missionaries are usually overworked. There are far more responsibilities than can possibly be attended to. As a result, like Martha of Bethany a missionary can become service-oriented, rather than love-oriented.
Pray, then, that supreme motivation for obedience to the call of Christ is love for him.
2 Genuine love for others
The second great commandment is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
A Major difficulty for many missionaries is getting along with the other missionaries with whom they serve. One mission board discovered that 80 percent of its missionaries who did not return to the mission field had problems with their co-workers.
Pray also that missionaries have Christ-like love for nationals. One missionary couple were well-instructed in Scriptures, but nevertheless returned home because they “could not learn to love the nationals.”
Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians believers is a model for today: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else.”
3 A deeper relationship with God
Missionaries, with schedules packed than the equipment in their shipping drums, are tempted to skip or skimp on their time alone with the Lord. The only result is failure. Moses instructed Joshua to meditate on the God’s law day and night and to be careful to obey all the commandments found there. Only then, would his way made prosperous and successful. It is hard to imagine any missionary having a busier life than Jesus did, yet consistently went to a secluded place to commune with his Father.
4 Spirit-controlled lives
Missionaries, like all other Christians, have a tendency to do the Lord’s work in the energy and ingenuity of the flesh. But “the flesh counts for nothing.”
To be “filled with the Spirit” means every aspect of one’s being-motives, will, emotions, thoughts, actions-is under the control of the Holy Spirit. Missionaries who are guided and empowered will see the results of the work of the Spirit in the lives of those with whom they come in contact.
5 Fruit of the Spirit
Bad tempers are not uncommon, but bad tempers and characteristics like them can be a deterrent to people coming to trust and serve Christ. Nationals will not heed the message of Christ if they cannot see his likeness in the life of the messenger.
Christ perfectly manifested each of the fruits of the spirit-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Pray, therefore, that the fruit of the Spirit, the very beauty of Jesus, will be evident in the missionary’s life.
6 Wisdom and Knowledge
Missionaries are usually strong-willed people; otherwise they would never have overcome all the obstacles in getting to the mission field. What happens when two such persons sit in the same field council meeting and express diametrically-opposed viewpoints, both of which are adamantly described as “the will of the Lord”?
James wrote, “If anyone of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James also described characteristics of the wisdom of God: “…first pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
Pray missionaries will be grated this wisdom and be “fill[ed] with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” when establishing priorities, facing decisions and solving problems.
7Courage
Paul made an earnest prayer request in his letter to the Ephesians: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” When Peter and John were commanded to cease preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus, the early church prayed: “Lord…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”
Pray for courage for missionaries to share the truth in the face of opposition.
8 Receptive Hearts
The Book of Acts contains thrilling accounts of God’s amazing providence in bringing his messengers in contact with prepared people. God led Philip to speak to the Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53. God guided Peter to the Gentile Cornelius and his household waiting to hear words whereby they would be saved. God sent Paul to the Philippian jailor who cried out, “What must I do to be saved?
Only the Lord by his providence can create situations in which his servants are brought into contact with seeking and receptive people of his choosing at the time and place of his choosing. Pray for it.
9 Disciples
Christ commissioned his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations.”
Pray that missionaries will experience the joy of leading others to salvation and “teaching them to obey everything [Christ] commanded.”
10 A strong faith
The Apostles once made a direct request of Christ: “Increase our faith!”
Before Christ fed the multitude, he asked Philip, to test him, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip saw the greatness of the need, but not the greatness of the Lord.
Pray that missionaries will have great faith able to lead them to ask great things of our great Lord.
11 Steadfastness
Discouragement is a favorite device of the devil. The temptation to leave the work on the field and enter “greener pastures” of service at home is great.
Pray that missionaries will follow Paul’s intructions to the Corinthians: “Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give full to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
12 A Strong Family
A missionary doctor wrote: “If you are praying for me. I would want you to pray specifically about my relationship with my wife… I find it amazing how foreign society causes silly little things to become major irritations. Ask God to help us maintain a loving relationship that is an outstanding testimony to the grace of God.”
Children as well as parents need prayer in this way, enabling all family members to carry on their responsibilities to each others in love.
13 Protection
Life soldiers on the front line, missionaries are prime targets of the enemy. The Lord prayed to the Father. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from evil one.” Paul asked the Christians at Rome to join him in his struggle by praying for him. ”Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea.”
Missionaries need support. Pray the Lord will grant his powerful protection to his servants.
14 Material needs
In recent years the United States has experienced double-digit inflation and its negative effects. Can you imagine what triple-digit inflation is like? Some nations, such as Brazil and Argentina, actually have had inflation rates exceeding 100 percent!
Missionaries, as do countries they serve, face a time of unprecedented financial crisis. Pray that God will supply all their needs. “according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
15 Health and Strength
First-term missionaries are particularly susceptible to disease as they come into contact with an environment they have never encountered before.
One mission board discovered several of its missionaries came down with serious illnesses in the final year of their term just before furlough. It concluded they were physically drained, and thus their resistance was low.
God may purposely send “thorn in the flesh” to keep his workers humble-so that his sufficient grace may be manifested and his strength “made perfect” in human weekness.
Pray then that the Lord will grant the measure of strength and health that will bring his greatest glory and the greatest good for the missionaries.
The next time you sit down to pray for your missionary brothers and sisters, stay away from the generalizations you’ve heard all your life. Instead use this simple biblically-based list to help you pray as specifically and consistently as you can. The reward will be worth the effort.
Saturday Seminars
February 3, 2007 “Our Role in Multiplying Disciples” – Church Planting Movements (CPM) made practical
March 3, 2007 “Persecution and Security” – Identity, Communication and Contextualization
May 5, 2007 “Discovering your Ministry Identity” – understanding who you are so God can use you more powerfully in cross-cultural ministry
One-week Seminars
April 9-13, 2007 “Basic Training” (part I) ~ part II to be offered later in the year
June 4-7, 2007 “Planting Churches in the Most Difficult Places” (see below)
Planting Churches in the Most Difficult Places
Why did the Church in Russia barely survive while the church in China flourished under persecution?
Important cross-cultural ministry principles based on extensive interviews and research
Speaker Dr. Nik Ripken
Topic Include:
How Churches can be started and multiply in new, resistant areas
Avoiding needless persecution
The most effective role of a missionary where persecution is strong
For additional information on any of the above seminars, pls. contact:
CrossTrain: (0917) 613-6844 ~ (02) 434-2832; Email: crosstrain@asia.com
Please send us your prayer requests related to mobilizing the Philippine church for missions and we will post them on this site. Just send your prayer requests to:
Expect a delay of a day or so while we process your prayer request.
Blessings on you!
Pray for “A”, a missionary from Turkey, for joy and stability, wisdom, God’s anointing in learning the Turkish language and for the host family where she’s presently staying with. Pray also against loneliness, that God will bless her with new friends in this foreign land.
Dra. Ruthie [ JHMMT ] : Pray for us as we go to Albay, Sorsogon and Northern Samar for Bless the pastors, bless the youth and bless the children, free clinic and prayer journey on January 19-February 3, 2007.
JOIN the Worker2Witness cover design contest and get a chance to win P20,000 cash plus have your winning entry printed as the cover of the book!
Who can join:
All OFW and non-OFW professional and amateur artists who are born again and belong to an evangelical church.
Contest rules:
You can use any medium, and submit by email (tif, jpeg or pdf), in CD or hard copy with complete contact information. Entries must be sized 12 x 9 showing front & back cover. You can submit more than one entry.
All winning entries become the property of Church Strengthening Ministry (CSM).
Consolation prizes await the 2nd, 3rd & 4th placers
Deadline of submission of entries: March 15, 2007
Announcement of winners: March 26, 2007
Awarding of winners: April 13, 2007 @ W2W Conference, Manila
For more information, call PMA at (02) 9134469 or email them at missions.phil@gmail.com
W2W (Worker to Witness) Editorial Team prayer requests are:
Smooth, efficient field test of the lessons during the whole month of Feb in NCR, Bacolod and Marawi
On-time submission of field test evaluations (March 1)
Many exciting and excellent entries from OFWs and non-OFWs for the cover design contest
Raising of funds for the P20,000 grand prize and three other consolation prizes
Selection of skilled facilitators for the training session during the W2W conference (April 14)
On-time production of the W2W curriculum in spite of Holy Week (April 5-8)
NYMM prayer requests for this year are:
Expansion of membership and more regular involvement in the Manila core team.
Exploratory talks with key people and influencers in Mindanao (a point person for every major city–Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Cotabato, Zamboanga)
Aggressive promotion and steady income from the book, “God’s Foot Soldiers”
Establishment of a committed core team in Cebu and in Iloilo that will spearhead youth missions events and prayer movements
Contextualization of a Global Prayer Team manual for campus and church
Coordination and preparation for the Manila core team’s short-term missions trip during the summer
More prayer and income-generating events this year
God bless you for coming up with a prayer website! NYMM badly needs prayer! Here are our immediate prayer requests:
NYMM-Bacolod led by Leah Aguirre has to pay more than P130,000 worth of financial obligations before the end of January 2007. Pray that they are able to raise enough funds by selling all the Tshirts, books and materials to Bacolod and Iloilo churches, groups and individuals. Pray, too, that those who pledged support to the NYMC would give to this immediate need.
NYMM-Bacolod to activate and effectively carry out their tracking plan for following up the 168 delegates that attended the NYMC last December. Pray that they coordinate well with NYMM teams in Manila, Cebu and Iloilo.
Those who attended the NYMC and expressed their desire to share what they learned with their churches, campus fellowships and youth ministries would immediately act on their commitments.
Improved communication between Manila and Bacolod teams for the next two months
Evaluation and celebration time for NYMC organizers, staff and the NYMM-Bacolod team
To All Mission Interested Churches, Individuals and Partners:
Starting this year 2007 ACM-NCR will be having various Mission oriented activities in which we invite you to JOIN and even Pray for. We aim that all of us will be united to prepare and do the will of GOD to Go and make disciples of All NATIONS (Matthew 28:19-20) by sharing our passion and God’s vison with you …
“SO COME JOIN AND BECOME A PART OF US”
For More Information: Call our ACM-NCR at 8195389, 8190697 local 40 & 46;
Kairos Prayer Movement 
