Christians Called To Emphasize World Evangelism This Sunday
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
May 28, 2004
(AgapePress) - Southern Baptists are encouraging tens of thousands of churches to join in prayer and fasting this Sunday in observance of an annual event that emphasizes evangelism of those peoples around the world that have not yet been reached for Christ.The "Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization 2004" is spearheaded by the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention. Every year on Pentecost Sunday, members of the denomination devote the day to prayer for a people group that has not yet heard the gospel of Jesus.
Dr. Clyde Meador of the IMB says this year's initiative focuses on the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula, where there is a great need for missionaries. "As we look around the world and look at those who have least access to the gospel, this certainly is a group of people who have very little access," he says.
Meador says there are some 50-million people living in the seven countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. "A couple of those countries just absolutely do not allow any expression of Christianity at all. Christian churches are banned," he says.
Demographically, the people run the gamut from wealthy Gulf Arabs to poverty-stricken Yemenis, and from devout Saudi Muslims to demon-fearing Omanis. Also, within the region is a place sacred to Islam -- Mecca, the Saudi Arabian city where Muhammad is said to have written much of the Quran, and which Muslims must face when they pray.
As Shawn Hendricks of Baptist Press observed in a recent article, in most areas of the Arabian Peninsula, 100 percent of the population claims to be Muslim. And although the people vary in their physical and economic needs, the writer notes, "all share the same spiritual need - to have a relationship with Jesus Christ."
The IMB is urging Individual missions-minded Christians to get involved in the Day of Prayer and Fasting; but Meador also encourages entire families to join in the initiative. "There simply is not anything close to an adequate access to the gospel for the peoples of that part of the world, so it is more than appropriate for Christians to be praying that doors would open and that those peoples could have access to the good news of Jesus," he says.
The four-year emphasis of the Day of Prayer and Fasting (since 2002) is "That all peoples may know Him," and the theme selected for 2004 is "Go in God's Power," a reminder that the key to effective Christian witnessing and other missionary endeavors is the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
