Brian C. Stiller - An Insiders Guide to Praying for the World: country-by-country prayer guide / inspiring faith stories / on-the-ground insights / up-to-date-maps

An Insider s Guide to Praying for the World is a journey to see what God is doing in people and places around the world. When I first began as Global Ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance, I landed in lawless Somalia. I shouldnt have been there, but after leaving, I wrote a report to our then Secretary General, Geoff Tunnicliffe, that found its way into many email boxes. That was the first story of what became dozens of dispatches.

My literary agent, Mark Sweeney (he had published my first book in 1983), saw these dispatches as a way to encourage people to pray. His rationale was this: In our Western countries, so much captures and holds our attention that we rarely think of, let alone pray for, other countries. Thus began this joyful adventure.

I can thank Janet Sweeney for helping me see that critical to each chapter is the travel that you and I are making together. I just happen to be the one on the ground in these many countriesseeing, hearing, and feeling the dynamics of human life in a myriad of circumstances. But this is a journey that we take together. As your eyes and ears, I listen to and observe the work of the gospel as it upends societies, transforms people, and calls the most unlikely into service. In seeing and listening, our hearts then are turned to our Father, and in our conversation of prayer, we intercede on behalf of peoples and nations, ministries and vocations, doing what the Lord himself asked us to do: Pray to the Lord of the harvest.

Most chapters are focused on an entire country. But as I prayed for the world, certain peoples, missions, and needs surfaced that fit within our global praying. Youll note a chapter that covers the beginnings of World Visiona window that provides a glimpse of ministries that care for children and communities. When I traveled with Ron Nikkel to prisons, I was reminded of Jesus prayer and our inclination to forget those in prison. Youll also see a couple of countries that I just couldnt keep to one chapter. Demographic information was drawn from a variety of sources, including Operation World, a marvelous resource on each country. The statistics presented here are not meant to be comprehensive, and in many cases they are estimates, which explains why a countrys religion percentages, for example, may not add up to 100 percent.

I encourage you not to rush through this book. Feel the texture of ideas, listen to the heartbeats of those God is using, and observe the societal struggles of so many different countries. Verses from the Bible will help to root you in the place or people weve just visited. Then, as we read the prayers together, allow the intensity of our requests to be felt. The Lord wants, and indeed invites, us to ask of him, so lets ask boldly. Lets put the needs before him with what the older Bible translations call importunity, meaning insistent solicitation and entreaty.