Many communities where Pioneer Bible missionaries serve are led by elders. These leaders, respected for their age and experience, oversee their communities’ social and spiritual lives. People listen to them, accept their decisions, and follow the examples they set. Significant changes rarely happen in their communities without their blessing.
You can read one example of an elder-led people group — the Kawah — in the blog article “The Elder Knows a Roasted Peanut.”
Today we invite you to pray for elder-led communities like the Kawah:
Pray for the leaders:
- That they will be willing to read and discuss God’s Word and that their hearts will be open to embracing its message.
- That multiple leaders in a community will decide to follow Jesus at the same time so they can support and encourage each other.
- That leaders who do not choose Jesus will not oppose or persecute those who do.
Pray for the people in elder-led communities:
- That they will have courage to study and obey God’s Word.
That those who choose to believe in Jesus will support and strengthen each other. - That they will live at peace with their leaders and with others in their communities, even as they make choices that do not fit community norms.
Pray for the Christ-followers:
- That people who decide to follow Jesus will come together to encourage and support each other and to make more disciples.
- That believers will be united in shining Jesus’ light in spiritually dark places.
- That the ways they take care of their own people and meet the needs of others will glorify God and draw others to Him.
Pray for the missionaries:
- That they will find favor in the sight of community leaders as they seek their permission to live and serve in their midst.
- That they will live as Christ’s ambassadors in their host communities, respecting the leaders without sacrificing the integrity of the message they are there to proclaim.
- That they will have wisdom and grace in their interactions with others.