Pray for Oklahoma Baptists who are serving with the International Mission Board as they work to bring the Gospel to the Asian-Pacific Rim people group.
Members of this people group can be found in the megacities of China, Japan and the Koreas and in the remote grasslands of Mongolia and isolated Pacific islands. They live in the Himalayan mountains of Tibet and the rice fields and rainforests of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. The languages, customs and cultures of this people group are as diverse as their geographical areas.
Fifty percent of the world’s largest cities are in the Asian-Pacific Rim, where, of the population of 2.3 billion people, 95 percent are living in spiritual darkness. Though some are devoted to religion, most have yet to meet the One True God.
Twenty-seven percent of the people are non-religious while 25 percent adhere to ethnic religions, such as ancestor and idol worship. Other religions include Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Every day 46,470 of this group of people are dying without Christ. But because of the hard work of missionaries, last year 157,308 people heard the Gospel, 14,477 people accepted Christ and 1,521 new churches were planted.
Pray fervently that the Lord will send even more laborers into this harvest field so many more lives will be radically transformed by the Gospel. Pray for the missionaries serving in this vast geographical area of many languages, customs, and cultures. Pray the Holy Spirit would quicken the hearts of the Asian-Pacific Rim peoples to seek the One True God and that they would have the courage to set aside all other gods and worship practices, especially ancestor worship.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together.
Asian Pacific Rim Peoples are featured in the 2023 Missionary Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information about the Cooperative Program, visit oklahomabaptists.org/cp.
