My Prayers for the Xingu Mission

We celebrated my 52nd birthday this week. In the 1980s, during the five years I was a grader operator in the Yukon, I first started to seriously dream of being a missionary to another land. Along the way, the Lord has greatly encouraged us. “I see you as a huge bridge, from North America to the mission field, with people crossing over it.” Again, “I see a hallway with many doors, and you helping people to open the doors to pass through.” These are my memories of words spoken over us. I thank God for all the people serving in countless ways who enabled this to happen.

Sometimes I wonder: 

1. What is God’s plan for world missions for the next 20 years? 

2. What would another Missionary Sending Movement look like in our generation if it really started to grow explosively?

3. What exactly is my part in God’s plan?

While the big questions cause me to wonder, kind of like I am looking into the fog that occasionally lifts for a few minutes, I find that our next little step is usually very clear.

*** I invite you to pray with me as the Xingu Mission works towards our goal of planting 1,000 churches under the leadership of a national church-planting movement. Here is a cut-and-paste from my prayer journal as a starting place.

*** I invite you to email me if the Lord shows you anything while praying for us.

MY PRAYERS FOR THE XINGU MISSION

I pray for a healthy mission w solid friendships all around. Please unite us deeply.

Please enable me to provide strong, healthy leadership to a robust, motivated team of servant leaders.

Please give us a team that loves to be together and to work together, who are supportive of my leadership. Thank You for all who are here. Please give us one vision as we move forward.

Please let us continue to grow into a healthy decentralized team that greatly encourages one another and who laugh together.

Please help us identify and remove any elephants in any rooms. Please let this be a safe mission, one in which all of us can speak freely and openly. Please open our eyes to any attacks against us. 

Please give us a fun off-site missionary training, strategizing, planning event per year.

Please anoint me to write and to positively influence the direction of our mission in this way.

I ask that You would care for the formation and release of the Northern Brazilian leadership team, that the mission could graciously hand things over and step away when the time is right.

XM Leadership – Please give me the ability to clearly hear You, to honor the others on the team, to build the decentralized model You have given us, the courage to obey You, the ability to SPEAK CLEARLY, to always leave people feeling encouraged, and to plant a national church-planting movement.