ELLKHART, Ind.—Mennonite Mission Network will hold a day of prayer on Friday, May 18, for mission work across the street and around the world.
2012 marks the second year that Mission Network has sponsored a day of prayer. In 2011, Mennonites came together in prayer for their local churches’ mission work as well as the mission work of the broader church.
“Prayer is something that’s vital to mission,” said Marlene Kroeker, development associate at Mission Network and member of the Day of Prayer coordinating committee. “We wanted to have a day specifically focused on praying for mission workers and the church’s mission outreach.”
Prayers for mission are important all the time, and Mission Network has a team of more than 1,000 prayer partners who have committed to praying daily for workers and partners in the United States and around the world. Kroeker and her team, however, have been brainstorming ways that individuals and congregations can share their prayers on May 18.
“The Day of Prayer page on Mission Network’s website has ideas and prayer suggestions,” Kroeker said. “We love getting videos and e-mails about how people are praying.”
The team has made use of social media and technology by encouraging people to upload videos about how they pray onto the video-sharing site YouTube, and creating a prayer feed that will be updated in real time on the Day of Prayer site on May 18. But Mission Network welcomes low-tech ways of sharing prayers, too.
“Last year, we had a congregation who held a 24-hour prayer vigil,” Kroeker said. “People took shifts and prayed for mission through the day and night.”
Other ideas include inviting former mission workers or Christian Service teams for a meal and a time of prayer, focusing on a specific country by eating foods from that country and learning about the workers there, or simply praying through Mission Mosaic (MMN’s prayer directory).
Lois and Wayne Hochstetler, workers based in London, were blessed by last year’s day of prayer, as they heard from numerous people who prayed for them and sent them copies of the prayers that were said. They also took advantage of their social media connections.
“Both of us posted this very memorable event on Facebook,” Lois reported. “By the end of the day, we had heard from a number of other people who were not part of our congregation, but who added their prayers and were glad to be a part of the Day of Prayer.”
Even though the Day of Prayer lasts only 24 hours, the workers are blessed long after the day is over, say the Hochstetlers.
“The prayers were for 24 hours,” Lois wrote. “We bottled them and are enjoying the fragrance of those prayers even though the 24 hours are long past.”
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
