Baptist Convention of Maryland/Deleware

Pray for our new International Mission Board missionaries as they go through orientation in preparation for going overseas. Pray for them to be able to absorb all the information which they are presented. Pray for God’s Spirit to guide them in effective ways to impact the peoples they will be serving with the Gospel of Christ. Pray for them as they will be learning a new language and culture.

Pray for potential church planters as they go through the assessment process here in Maryland and Delaware. Pray for God to give them a clear vision of His will and plan for their lives as they serve Him in joining Him in growing His Kingdom here in Maryland and Delaware. There are many new churches that need to be planted to reach the thousands that don’t have a personal relationship with Christ. Pray for more church planters to be called out to join God in growing His Kingdom here in our own states.

Daily our International Mission Board missionaries deal with the stress of sharing to message of Christ in a cross cultural context and in a language that is not their mother-tongue. Pray for God to give them the physical, emotional and spiritual strength they need to go forward sharing Christ daily. Pray for God to hold them close as they weather the storm of culture-shock.

The South Region in “Send North America” focuses on the cities of Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans. Pray for God to open the hearts of the people in these cities to the Gospel and for new churches to be started to equip them for serving Him.

In Clovis, New Mexico, Derek and Sharla Osburn are serving our Lord as they plant a new church. The name of the church is The Vine Community Church. Their website is www.thevinecc.tv. You can go there to learn more about this new North American Mission Board church plant. Pray that those who come to church will realize that God has a purpose for their lives bigger than anything they could have imagined.

October 14, 2012 is a day for us to focus on world hunger ministries as we have “World Hunger Sunday.” This is a day for us to collect funds to help with ministries all around the world that seek to minister to people holistically. That is to say, to minister to people physically and spiritually. These funds are used to minister to victims of disaster, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and such. Pray for the thousands of lives impacted with the love of Christ through these funds each year.

In western Maryland Julie & Bill Duvall are meeting people where they are and sharing God’s love with them. It may be with folks who have come to participate in the “Dunk” at Deep Creek. Or those who are enjoying some much needed family time at the campgrounds in the area, or at other ministry opportunities. Pray for God to continue to lead Julie & Bill as they lift up Christ to people in Western Maryland.

The Midwest Region of "Send North America" is focusing on the cities of Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis and Detroit. Pray for efforts to start new churches in these cities. Pray for those who will be the church planters in these cities. Pray for God to give them favor with “gatekeepers” in these communities so that they may have many opportunities to impact lives with the message of Christ. Pray for “partnering churches” to come alongside these church plants and join them in what God is doing through their lives.

Many International Mission Board missionaries are seeking God’s leadership in how to deal with aging parents. Pray for God to grant them His wisdom as they seek to make decisions that honor Him and their parents. Pray for God to give them His peace as they make those decisions.

In “Send North America” the north region includes the cities of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Pray for God to open the hearts of men and women in these cities to the Good News of God’s love for them. Pray for those who become followers of Christ to be gathered into newly formed churches for them to be discipled in as the reach others for Christ.

In Europe pray for JB & SB, TM & PM and RO & DO as they work with people migrating to Europe from South Asia. Millions of South Asians have migrated to Europe looking for work and education opportunities and a better life for themselves and their families. J & S, T & P and R & D are looking for opportunities to share the message of Christ with these people groups and gather them into communities of faith. Pray for God to give them fruit for their labor in His name.

This summer 13 – 15 Summer Missionaries will be serving here in Maryland and Delaware. Pray for them as they prepare to come and be a part of what God is doing here. Pray for their safety and for stamina as they will have some long days in ministry. They will be serving in Vacation Bible Schools, at Girls' Camp, with Outreach to Internationals in Ocean City, and other ministries.

Another one of the “Send North America” regions is the Northeast. It includes the cities of New York, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Pray for the existing church planters in these cities and for the hundreds of new church planters who will be joining church-planting efforts in these cities. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send forth more laborers in the harvest fields of these cities.

Pray for the hundreds of new International Mission Board missionaries who have going overseas in the past twelve months. Pray for them as they adjust to a new culture. Pray for them as they work diligently to learn a new language so they can effectively communicate the Good News of our Lord. Pray for DS and BS and their baby as they have gone to Southeast Asia. Pray for physical and spiritual strength and health for all of our new missionaries.

Pray for Prayer-walking efforts, Block Parties, Community Evangelism teams and Hispanic Ministries, taking place during Crossover New Orleans. These will be taking place June 15 & 16 in New Orleans, prior to the SBC annual meeting.

In our six seminaries, Southeastern, Southern, New Orleans, Southwestern, Midwestern and Golden Gate, pray for the Faculty and Staff as they seek to equip our next generation of church leaders.

GPS, God’s Plan for Sharing, is a 10-year emphasis on sharing the message of Christ in North America. This is a big task calling Southern Baptists to reach people through praying, equipping, sowing and harvesting of the Gospel. This is a great emphasis that all of our churches can participate in.

Pray for the “Call 2 Embrace” emphasis with the International Mission Board. This is a challenge to our churches to adopt one of the Unreached Unengaged People Groups (UUPG) of the world. This is a big task for our churches to carry the Good News of God to those who have yet to hear that Good News.

Dr. Kevin Ezell is the president of the North American Mission Board. Pray for God to keep His hand upon Dr. Ezell. Pray for God to bless Dr. Ezell with His heavenly wisdom as he seeks to lead our NAMB missionaries and our churches to impact North America with the Gospel.

Pray for our Outreach to Internationals in Ocean City, Md. Pray for the hundreds of lives who are touched by this ministry each year. Pray for these internationals to understand the message of God’s love for them they hear, and pray for them to say, "Yes," to Jesus as Lord of their lives. Pray for Lynn Davis as she leads this ministry.

Pray for “Send North America.” This is an effort of the North American Mission Board to help mobilize churches to focus on church-planting in 5 regions in the U.S. and Canada. One of those regions is the West Region. In the West region there will be a focus of church planting in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Denver. There are over 60 million people without a personal relationship with Christ in this region. Pray for the message of Christ to be shared and churches to be planted in the West Region.

Two of our North American Mission Board (NAMB) missionaries are Joshua and Tiffany Lenon. They serve in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are planting the Red Door Church. Pray for God to open doors of ministry as they share Christ with Cincinnati.

Dr. Tom Elliff is the president of the International Mission Board. Please pray for God to give Dr. Elliff wisdom and guidance as he seeks to lead our missionaries and us to reach the peoples of the world with the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Pray for the leaders of the nine Affinity Groups, for God to protect them and give them wisdom as they lead the missionaries assigned to them.

Crossover New Orleans is an outreach effort that will take place June 15 and 16 just prior to our SBC annual meeting in New Orleans. Please pray for the efforts at Crossover New Orleans to touch lives with God’s love and grace. If you are going to be in New Orleans for these dates you can join in these outreach efforts: go to http://joinnoba.com/crossover for more information on how you can participate.

Our Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware (BCM/D) annual meeting will take place at Global Mission Church in Silver Spring, Md., on November 11, 12 and 13. Pray for God to lead in all the preparations leading up to the annual meeting and for God to be glorified as we gather in the Washington, D.C., area. 

Continue to pray for our International Mission Board missionaries who are serving all around the world. Pray for BE and TE as they reach out to an Unreached people group in Southeast Asia. Pray for RY and CY in Asia. Pray for DB and DB in Africa, and your roughly 5,000 other missionaries around the world. Pray for them to have godly wisdom as they strive daily to share the message of Christ with multitudes around the world.

Pray for the North American Mission Board's "Send North America" efforts to impact the cities in North America with the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One of the goals of "Send North America" is to have 5,000 new church plants in North America in ten years. Pray for the church-planting efforts that are taking place and will be taking place through this vital effort.

Southern Baptists have six seminaries we support through the Cooperative Program. These seminaries are dedicated to the equipping of God’s people for ministry near and far. Please pray that God will use the thousands of students in these seminaries greatly to grow His Kingdom.

Disaster Relief (DR) is a very effective ministry our churches are able to connect with to touch lives with God’s mercy and grace during a time of crisis. Please pray for DR training events held throughout the year to equip our church members to serve through Disaster Relief. Pray for Ellen Udovich on our BCM/D staff who leads us in this ministry. 

In the month of May hundreds of Missionary Kids will be graduating from high school and preparing to return to the U.S. for college. This is a time of mixed emotions for young people and their families: a time of excitement for this great milestone in their lives and a time of dread for the separation from their families they will experience in the months ahead. Please pray for these young people, their parents and siblings.

Please be in prayer for the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 19 – 20. Pray for God to lead in all the decisions made during this meeting and for Him to be glorified in all of our activities in New Orleans.