Does the title Operation World ring a bell? For some of you it may. It’s a prayer guide for the nations with statistics and prayer needs covering the globe. There have been seven editions since 1964 with the most recent published in 2010.
The other day I was reading the section pertaining to the area of the world I will call home for the next two years. I knew the need in that area of Asia is great and that our project is strategically placed, but reading the actual facts I sat stunned. According to the book, the state I will be in “probably represents the most intense concentration of unevangelized people and groups in the world, and thereby the greatest mission challenge.” There are 613 people groups just in that one specific state. At the time the 7th edition was published, 579 of those groups had no believers and 191 groups were “unengaged and unreached”. Unengaged means no known on-site, active church planting currently underway. Unreached means there is no access to the gospel among that people group.
Don’t misunderstand what I am about to say, missionaries and the gospel are needed everywhere, but I will be a part of a select few working amidst one of the (if not the) most spiritually dark places on the planet.
I sat on my bed overwhelmed and almost in tears at the thought that out of the billions of people on earth God was sending me to be a part of this task. One of the prayer points for this location was to “pray that there might be a major mobilization of prayer for this key state and that God may send the workers who will turn the tide for the gospel.” With over 2 million copies of the book sold, I can only imagine how many have prayed that prayer. What an honor to realize God is using me, my team, and my supporters as a means to help answer those prayers.
With this knowledge of how few “lights” there will actually be around me, PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY. The spiritual realm is a very real thing, and the enemy is not going to want to give up his territory without a fight.
--Celeste Evangelina
Maybe God knew what he was doing to give me a name that means “Heavenly Good News/Bearer of Good News” even if my mom thought my middle name came from an old Hoyt Axton song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTcZJtxPzk ;)
If you’d like to know more about Operation World or unreached people groups follow the links below:
http://www.operationworld.org/why-pray-nations