March 01, 1989 by Barbara Brown

Recently a friend told me, "How exciting when an answer to prayer is known and shared!" In that spirit we give you this report of how God has responded to His church's use of the Global Prayer Digest, the monthly devotional produced at the U. S. Center for World Mission.

At least six times the 20,000 Buddhist Sherpas of Nepal have been highlighted in the Global Prayer Digest (GPD). A young couple was raising support to work among the Sherpas when this couple was featured in the GPD's October 15-16, 1987 readings. The suggested prayer asked God, "Provide for every detail so that they will be able to minister effectively." In the period immediately following, their support quadrupled and they were able to leave for Nepal.

After many years of service in Mexico, Wycliffe Bible Translators were refused visas to work among the minority peoples. Translators moved to Tucson, Arizona, where they depended on informants coming to them and continued work under less than ideal circumstances. The Global Prayer Digest first featured the 12,000 Cora Indians on March 29, 1986. God answered prayer, and at last the Cora New Testament was completed and dedicated on August 5, 1988.

On September 29, 1988—the day the GPD article on the Cora was reprinted—Gene Casad, a translator among the Cora, asked a small group of Christians to pray that a church be firmly established among this people. (Only 75 have become Christians.) On December 6, representatives of a church in Riverside, California called the U.S. Center for World Mission to ask about "adopting" an unreached people group from northern Mexico for prayer support, and the Center's Institute of Tribal Studies suggested the Cora. Praise God for this first step in answering the prayer which read, "Father, bring salvation to all the Coras of Mexico."

The 20,000 Ormas of Kenya are a semi-nomadic tribe whose roots go back to the powerful Galla people from Ethiopia. Since the 1800s Christian missionaries have attempted to reach them with the gospel but to no avail. Because of the Orma's long association with Somali peoples, they have adopted many of their customs, and during the late 1940s the entire tribe converted to Islam.

The Orma were first highlighted in the Global Prayer Digest on July 22, 1986. The prayer read, "Lord Jesus, we know You care for the Orma. Open the doors for the workers who are waiting to reach them...." Today three couples and one single woman with Africa Inland Mission and one couple with Wycliffe Bible Translators are ministering among the Orma. All these workers received permission to live among the Orma after the GPD article was printed.

God loves to answer even those prayers which contain factual errors! On April 9, 1986 the GPD exhorted readers to "Pray for the Pygmies of Kenya." Unfortunately, the Pygmies of the Ituri Forest live in Zaire, not Kenya! The problem arose because the Mission Aviation Fellowship missionary requesting prayer works in Zaire but has a post box in Kenya. However, God answered anyway!

Now Jennie Langford, prayer secretary for Africa Inland Mission, reports, "Miraculous things are taking place.... There are 17 baptized believers and a couple are attending Bible Institute to become pastor and wife of the Pygmy church recently constructed in the forest." Another source reports that a "missionary kid" raised in Zaire is preparing to translate the New Testament and that Portable Recording Ministries has recorded tapes of the Lese language for use among the Pygmies.

What happens when a church prays about "adopting" a people for prayer, financial, and personnel support and has a list of 14 tribes as possibilities? Such a church in Pennsylvania contacted the U.S. Center for World Mission for more information, and in May 1988 church representatives traveled to Tanzania to "scout out the land." On November 8, 1988 the survey team recommended to the board of elders that the church adopt the 35,000 Sandawe and consider a similar initiative on behalf of the 50,000-80,000 Barabaig once work among the Sandawe is established. Only later, when checking the Global Prayer Digest to find out which of the 14 tribes on the church's list had been profiled, did everyone concerned discover that only two tribes had appeared—the Sandawe and the Barabaig.

The 25 million Sundanese of Indonesia, the largest unreached people group in the world, were featured in the Global Prayer Digest on January 21-22, 1983. At that time only one full-time missionary couple was ministering to them. The GPD prayer read, "Raise up many witnesses among these people who have yet to believe in You." Today 24 people are working among the Sundanese, with additional workers on the way.

God has a plan for reaching the "nations," and prayer is central to that plan. When we pray, God answers. So take heart and keep praying!

You may obtain a subscription to the Global Prayer Digest by using the order form on the inside back cover of this issue of Mission Frontiers. Write or call for information on group plans, quantity subscriptions, and customized editions.