Dubbed “the definitive quantity of prayer details about the world,” Operation World (OW) celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in 2024. The World Version of the Prayer Information, revealed each few years, has grow to be a well known supply of data for Christians on methods to pray. for the nations.
What could also be much less well-known, nevertheless, is that the primary version in 1964 by Patrick Johnstone, a missionary for WEC Worldwide, was solely 32 pages lengthy and included hand-drawn maps. In response to a latest OW information replace (December 16), it was printed in apartheid South Africa utilizing an previous hand-clicked Gestetner press. A bigger cargo appeared in Germany the next 12 months, 1965.
“It's exceptional that this modest however formidable work has grown into all that Operation World is at the moment,” stated Jason Mandryk, additionally of WEC Worldwide and an writer, workforce co-director, and OW researcher.
“Much more amazingly, this work was accomplished underneath the apartheid authorities, which did every part it may to stop black African Christians and white believers (each overseas missionaries and South Africans) from worshiping, praying and serving collectively.
“Postal sanctions towards South Africa meant that younger Patrick Johnstone was unable to correspond instantly with contacts who may present him with dates and prayer factors. He wanted to depend on couriers – buddies or associates who traveled to and from Africa. carry correspondence by hand.
“His analysis workplace was a pair of containers that he lugged round at the back of a van that his evangelism workforce took from congregation to congregation. A far cry from the world of immediate search outcomes, synthetic intelligence, and digital media that we dwell in.” at the moment.”
OW has expanded to incorporate 4 youngsters's editions and different titles resembling “The Church Is Greater Than You Suppose” and “The Way forward for the World Church”. There have been additionally digital codecs, together with a free cell app. Altogether, OW assets have been translated into 20 languages with a complete of three million items.
In a information replace, Mandryk defined the varied methods OW assets have helped Christians with their religion.
“Believers, church buildings, prayer actions, mission organizations and theological establishments have been affected everywhere in the world,” Mandryk stated. “Many leaders in mission and repair from the bulk world and past credit score the delivery of their world imaginative and prescient to assembly with Operation World.”
Mandryk and his colleagues checked out historical past from 1964 and thought of adjustments in each world mission priorities and the broader world atmosphere itself throughout these years.
He famous that Hans von Staden, director of the Dorothea Mission, which printed the 1964 quantity, said within the authentic preface that “practically half of humanity is now past the attain of regular Christian work.”
“From 1964 to 2024, this proportion elevated from about 50% to about 28% – lowering the world's unevangelized inhabitants by such an quantity is a testomony to a lot trustworthy effort and arduous prayer,” commented Mandryk.
“Nonetheless, absolutely the numbers of these outdoors the conventional attain of the excellent news have elevated to an alarming diploma,” he added.
Half of the inhabitants “untouched by the gospel” correlated with 1.67 billion folks in 1964, Mandryk calculated, however in 2024, 28 % of the world's 2.28 billion folks symbolize a rise of 37 %.
“Regardless of every part that has grow to be a world mission within the final 60 years, the excellent news for each particular person is way additional away,” lamented Mandryk. “The inhabitants with out the gospel is growing sooner than we’re reaching it – a rise of greater than 50,000 folks each day.”
The missionary problem within the Sixties, “lower than a lifetime in the past,” was very completely different from at the moment, the OW co-leader added. He famous world occasions throughout this era such because the Chilly Conflict and the best menace to world missionary work was atheistic communism.
“Christianity was nonetheless the bulk Western faith; the voices of Christian leaders from Africa, Asia and Latin America had been simply starting to be heard.”
At the moment, Western missionaries primarily supplied assets for OWs, which is in stark distinction to at the moment, the place the bulk world has “now thriving missionary actions” and makes up nearly all of broadcasting missionaries.
Mandryk additionally famous that OW performed a key function on this broader transition “from harvest subject to reap power.”
“What is especially essential, the convergence of mission, analysis and prayer actions has not but reached its true arrival,” he added. “There have been some forerunners, resembling William Carey's Inquiry in 1792 and the World Mission Atlas in 1925. However lots of the normal suspects of worldwide mission as we all know them at the moment are conspicuously absent from this record.”
Amongst these “normal suspects” is Youth With A Mission, based by the late Loren Cunningham, which didn’t grow to be an entity till 1966. Operation Mobilization was additionally in its infancy, based in 1963 by the late George Verwer.
“The Lausanne motion didn't exist till 10 years later,” continued Mandryk. “By the way, this was the identical 12 months that Operation World started protecting each nation on the earth with its first world launch.
The “World Christian Encyclopedia” was solely revealed in 1982. The “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” initiative started in 1993. The “Joshua Challenge” and “Praying By the Window” appeared a couple of years later, the momentum of the AD2000 motion.
“'24-7 Prayer' hit the scene in 1999. It wasn't till after 9/11 that the IPC (Worldwide Prayer Council) was fashioned.”
On the plus facet, Mandryk famous that there are extra mission initiatives at the moment “than we are able to maintain monitor of,” all “pushed by intercession, extra prayer-driven, research-driven actions, and extra mission-mobilizing analysis efforts.”
“However these first 5 editions of the complete Operation World (1974, 1978, 1980, 1986 and 1993) supplied a novel impetus within the progress of this convergence,” he added.
“The everlasting influence of our collected prayers won’t ever be identified this facet of the New Heaven and New Earth,” Mandryk stated.
“In the identical manner, and consequently, Patrick's [Johnstone] imaginative and prescient and loyalty, Operation World's influence on the previous, current and future can’t be measured. However till Jesus returns to completely reclaim and restore the Earth, we’ll proceed to do what He has known as us to do—analysis that evokes prayer and prayer that adjustments nations.”
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