The great missionary Paul, under the divine inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, instructs intercessors in this area throughout the Epistles. Ephesians 6:19-20 “and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Colossians 4:3 “praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;” 1 Thessalonians 5:25 “Brethren, pray for us!” 2 Thessalonians 3:1 “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you;” Hebrews 13:18-19 “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.”
Personally, I think one of the best teachings on the ministry of intercession given by God the Holy Spirit is found in 2 Corinthians 1:11 “you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.” Here we learn three key truths concerning intercessory prayers for missionaries: #1 “you also joining in helping us through your prayers…” In God’s value system, those who labor in prayer and those who labor on foreign fields are co-laborers together. They share equally in the ministry and in the rewards. No one need feel guilty that he cannot be physically living in another country, ministering, because God has created a way for all to minister with missionaries through prayer. This is not mere promotional hype, for God the Holy Spirit never resorts to salesmanship. Instead, He explains clearly to Christians how they may minster effectively with missionaries. #2 “so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf…” Through your prayers, prayers of thanksgiving abound. Not only do your prayers assist missionaries but they multiply praise and thanksgiving to God throughout the world. Thus, you minister to the missionary, you minister to those on foreign fields and you minister to God. What a fantastic ministry!! #3 “for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.” This is a very real truth. Missionaries for whom you pray are blessed in ways that they would otherwise not experience. Doors are opened, ministries are blessed, the Word goes out in power, they are protected in numerous ways and sustained in times of trial and illness. This is truly an important ministry to which you are committed. No wonder the Apostle Paul pleaded with the church in Thessalonica “Brethren, pray for us!”
Arrival: On our arrival we were sustained and protected by your prayers. We made all our connections. All bags made it to South Africa. Passport and customs went smoothly with no problems along the way. We could see that the way had been prepared for us by you our intercessors and we are so thankful for your ministry. At the airport, my longtime friend of 30 years, Udobong Idemetor, was there to meet us along with the Navigator Country Leader - Paul. What a joyous reunion we had.
The First Night Waiting for us at Udobong’s home were a group of pastors and ministry leaders. They wanted me to share key lessons of life that had enabled me to walk with God from my conversion in 1968 till today. I emphasized that some of the decisions I thought were crucial turned out to not be that important, while others – to have a daily quiet time turned out to be one of the most important decision in my life. We looked not only at how to have a Daily Quiet Time Alone With God, but also how to use this a tool to make disciples.
The Second Day The next day was spent in preparations for the conference. How we praise God for your faith, prayers and generosity which supplied Bibles, Bible study aids and more to pastors, ministers and Bible teachers in South Africa. You may remember that last year we experienced quite a bit of trouble getting our precious cargo through customs. I was contacted by a Heinrich who was in a Bible study with me when I was Adult Education Pastor at Rice Temple Baptist Church her in Houston. Hienrich is from South Africa and put me in touch with a conservative Christian book store. This coupled with the strength of the dollar almost doubling since last year against the Rand meant we were able to get far more materials for the ministry in South Africa. As a result no money was spent on excess baggage or customs fees so your gifts went much further than originally planned. God is indeed good!! The strength of the dollar also meant that conference workbooks and materials could be printed in South Africa. That night we once again ministered to a Small Group on the subject “The Lordship of Christ”. I was humbled by the receptive hearts and the eagerness to know and apply God’s Word.
The Marriage Covenant Seminar – Day One I was really humbled by the turnout to the Marriage Covenant Seminar. Many were there because of the testimonies of those who had attended the Family Discipleship Seminar last year and Marriage Covenant Seminar three years ago. Others had accessed material on the website, still others had come across the many CD’s which we left behind. The result was that the turnout was greater than expected and stayed constant throughout. I was especially humbled by the number of pastors who attended.
Worship Service My message for the worship service Sunday was on the Marriage Covenant with an emphasis on the husband’s role. The key passage was Ephesians 5:24-26 “But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” GCI has an uncompromising commitment to the ministry of the church. Ephesians 1:22-23 “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
The Marriage Seminar – Day Two Following the morning worship service, the Marriage Covenant Seminar continued into the late afternoon. There were a number of high points beyond the enthusiastic reception of the lectures. First, throughout the conference, men played a key role, both in leadership and attendance. In fact, in all meetings there was an equal number of men and women and, in some, the men outnumbered the women. The cultural lie that African churches are filled with women and crying babies is nothing less than slanderous and I fight this stereotype whenever I have the opportunity. Meal times were especially fruitful—onetime a pastor and his wife, another time a young professional couple, then another a former missionary and his wife met with us. They all had many questions and we were humbled by their open and transparent lives.
Space does not permit a true understanding of how blessed your prayer ministry was this past week in South Africa and I do hope that you will visit our Facebook page and go through the various albums to see the fruit of your ministry of intercession.
I hope this gives you a little idea of how the ministry went in South Africa. It was a time greatly blessed of God and we know that it was your prayers which have empowered our ministry these past two weeks. One indication of the ministry we had is the fact that we were asked to schedule a return visit next year. This is very humbling. GCI does not “send” anyone but rather responds to Macedonian Calls. What an exciting time it is to be ministering God’s holy, eternal, inerrant Word and to be lifting up the resurrected Savior as we proclaim His word. By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Director – Grace Community Int. – Pretoria, South Africa
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