Praying for the 'Lord of the Harvest'

December 10, 2010

Once the Advent and Christmas season is over, two Christian Reformed Church agencies are hopeful that church members will participate in "Pray to the Lord of the Harvest," a special prayer vigil in January that focuses on those who are at work in communicating the Gospel, and encouraging others to get involved in missions in North America and beyond.

Sponsored jointly by Christian Reformed Home Missions and Christian Reformed World Missions and featuring ministries from each agency, the program arises out of and receives inspiration from the Bible verse, Matthew 9:38, that says: "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

"The mission field today is vast. All around the world, from New York City to New Delhi, people need to hear the Gospel of Jesus. And the need for workers to spread this message of Good News to the world is still great," says Gary Bekker, director of World Missions.

Given that the mission field remains large and the workers few, the two agencies are trying to "use the power of prayer to implore God to send workers for the global harvest."

For more information on either agency, click, Christian Reformed Home Missions or Christian Reformed World Missions.

Those who are interested in participating are asked to sign up to receive daily prayer requests which include information on specific ministries. The requests and information will come in emails for the 28-day period or a printable brochure that covers the four week period.

"These prayer requests, focused on the ministries of World and Home Missions and their partners around the world, are meant to encourage churches and individuals to appeal to God to raise up workers for the North American and global mission fields," says Ben Vande Zande, interim director of Home Missions. Although the emails will be available only in January, the brochure can be used for any 28 day period in the year.

Currently, people can download the brochure for the program, in English, Spanish, or Korean, for free.

Or, you can sign up to receive a daily prayer request for the entire 28-day period, by going to:

Here are some graphic resources, with more being prepared:

For bulletin announcements:

Contact:
In the US: For Home Missions resources call Kristie at 1-800-266-2175, ext. 0825. For World Missions resources call Marcea at 1-800-346-0075, press option #4.

In Canada: For Home Missions resources call Kristie at 1-800-266-2175, ext. 0825. For World Missions resources call Liz at 1-800-730-3490.