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July-August 1993 The Editorial Comment by Ralph D. Winter People From All Walks Of Life Are Sending in $136.50 to Support MF. The Original - "Appeal to Disciples Everywhere" One Hundred Years Later - "An Appeal to Disciples Everywhere" The Local Church and Prayer Through the Window . KOREA, Host Country For GCOWE ’95, Sets The Pace In AD2000 National Initiatives When Local Churches Act Like Agencies: Operation World, the Introduction Because You're Praying. Does God answer prayer? Mission Frontiers Vision Network Update
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The Local Church and Prayer Through the Window One Pastor’s Perspecitive --Ted Haggard (Come this October 1993 over 20 million people will be praying through the 10/40 Window. Over 800 churches have enlisted to pray for specific countries. Ted Haggard pastors one of these churches, a large and fast growing church in Colorado.) Seeing the world through Jesus' eyes is a major key to success in the Christian life. As a pastor, the Lord gave me this vision for my congregation even before I observed its validity. So when I first heard about the AD2000 Prayer Through the Window project, I realized that to focus Christians on the most spiritually needy areas of the world could directly promote my vision. The actual working out of this concept began several years earlier when I served as a youth pastor. Giving young people a world vision, I discovered, was the quickest way to build them up in Christ,. We began by involving at least a hundred students each year in some type of short term missions project. With competent leadership and adequate training, these teams produced remarkable results. What happened in their lives further substantiated my vision. Destructive traits such as rebellion, selfishness, immorality, and excessive independence dramatically diminished when these young people were placed in an environment where they could see the world from God's perspective and become involved in a purpose bigger than themselves. Even the claim of "Christian" took on an entirely new meaning as they viewed themselves in the global perspective of being a member of Jesus' body rather than just one struggling Christian. We noted that sexual issues, family relationship problems, and identity struggles which previously occupied major attention dwindled to minor proportions through a world mission emphasis. The popular American teen concerns strangely lost significance. So if a world perspective among teenagers provided such impetus for spiritual growth, wouldn't it do the same for adults, I asked myself? When the Prayer Through the Window project was introduced, I knew immediately this was what I'd been waiting for. If we could utilize such an effort as a catalyst to teach the local church about the spiritually needy countries of the 10/40 Window, our world vision would increase. In addition, a prayer emphasis could be developed offering a unique opportunity for training in prayer, intercession, spiritual warfare, and the necessity to live a spirit-filled life. As if that were not enough, we could actually send some of our members on prayer journey teams into the 10/40 countries we'd prayed for. These people weren't required to be qualified speakers or evangelists. No personal contact with nationals would be necessary. All they needed to do was pray! What an opportunity for any local church pastor. So in October of 1993, New Life Church will be sending a team of 31 people on a prayer journey into Albania, our designated target nation. This team is made up of boys as young as ten on up to mature intercessors. While our team is actually in Albania, their efforts will be immersed at the home base through dozens of prayer meetings. Additionally, 4,500 of our members will pray through the entire 10/40 window according to the calendar prepared by Dick Eastman of Every Home for Christ. To prepare for this effort, Peter Wagner's three books (Prayer Shield, Spiritual Warfare, and Engaging the Enemy) have been widely read by our congregation as well as Dick Eastman's booklet The School of Victorious Warfare and George Otis' book The Last of the Giants. The result of this emphasis correlates precisely with my vision. Our church is experiencing phenomenal spiritual refreshment and, consequently, growth. We are becoming increasingly aware of our world, the power of intercessory prayer, and the nature of our role in what the Lord is doing in this generation. Involvement in the world's largest prayer meeting can do nothing but benefit any pastor or church. I believe Prayer Through the Window is the opportunity of the century and may be one of the most significant events I will ever participate in during my entire lifetime. Because I trust Luis Bush and his staff at AD 2000, I know this project to be one of spiritual integrity. It was the Holy Spirit who birthed this plan into the hearts of Christian people, so I, therefore, chose to be involved. Isn't this, after all, what pastoring a New Testament church is all about?
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