Pray 30 Days for 30 Unreached Peoples in North Carolina
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30 DAYS | 30 PEOPLES PRAY 30 DAYS FOR 30 UNREACHED PEOPLES IN NORTH CAROLINA Prayer Profiles Intro Welcome to the prayer guide for some of the unreached people groups (UPG) who have made their homes in North Carolina. It is our hope that as you read the profiles of each of these people groups, you will be moved to pray fervently that believers will take the gospel to them. An unreached people group is defined as a grouping of people who share the same ethnicity and language and whose home country is less than 2 percent evangelical Christian. Currently, at least 154 unreached people groups have been identified with sizeable populations here in North Carolina. Today, upwards of 15 percent of North Carolina’s population — that is 1.5 million people — are foreign-born or are the children of foreign-born immigrants. Almost all of these people have never heard the gospel clearly presented either in their home countries or since they planted their lives in North Carolina. While in Athens, the Apostle Paul declared, “And [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him” (Acts 17:26-27). It is our conviction that God has brought these peoples here in order that they might hear the gospel. Thank you for taking the time to pray that the gospel will come to these unreached people groups. font: Steelfish Bold peoplesnextdoornc.org [email protected] @pndnc Prayer lays hold of God’s plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. “ Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit’s prayer. — Elisabeth Elliot ” Vision For every one of the top 10 unreached people groups in each of the eight metro areas, we desire to identify and train at least 10 churches to adopt* those unreached people groups for prayer. *Adoption of a UPG as a prayer partner involves the corporate decision of a church to make a commitment to consistently, strategically and sacrificially pray for that UPG over an extended period of time, usually two to five years or longer. Next Steps 1. Prayer advocate training Come and discover how you can be a prayer advocate within your local church for an unreached people group. This training will help individuals understand the biblical basis of prayer, the key role of prayer in the strategy to reach the lost and practical tips for involving the entire church in praying for unreached peoples. Follow this link to register for prayer advocate training: https://ncbaptist.wufoo.com/forms/w140ihki0qssqqs/ 2. Develop a prayer strategy for your church Working with church leadership, begin to develop a strategic plan for your church to engage an unreached people group through prayer. You will be able to apply principles and information from the prayer advocate training. 3. Befriend a people group (discover, engage and disciple) Offer true friendship to your people group, show the love of Christ and share good news with them. Continue in prayer while also engaging them for the sake of new disciples within our kingdom family. The Hindi people are a South Asian people from India who speak Hindi. Hindi is the most widely spoken official language of India. There are an estimated 180 million Hindi speakers worldwide, with 607,000 and 25,000 living in the United States and North Carolina, respectively. The majority of Hindi speakers profess Hinduism. Their Hinduism is as much a lifestyle as a religion. : Hindi Hindu temples serve as a center of their social interaction with one another, reinforcing their people group identity. Many Hindi speakers have come to North Carolina to attend one of our state’s universities or to work as medical or information technology professionals. Day 1 Day They live primarily in the Triangle, Metro Charlotte, the Triad, Greenville and Fayetteville. Prayer Points • Pray that Christians will answer God’s call to live near the Hindi speakers and share Christ’s love with them. • Pray that evangelical churches will form prayer teams to intercede for the Hindi people, asking that their hearts and minds be receptive to a gospel witness. • Pray for effectiveness, as Christians use many different strategies to share Christ with the Hindi people. LEXINGTO• N Pray that evangelicalWV Hindi people will boldly and clearly communicate the message of Christ. KY VA Psalm 67:1-3 (ESV) TN May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; GA SC let all the peoples praise You! AUGUSTA Known for their resourcefulness and their good business sense, Gujaratis have successfully emigrated and prospered in many countries around the world. There are an estimated 47 million Gujaratis worldwide, with 355,000 and 14,000 living in the United States and North Carolina, respectively. Gujarat is a state in western India, and Gujarati is a generic term for the migrants from Gujarat who went to different parts of the country for employment, business and trade. It is also the name of the Indo-Aryan language they speak. Most of the Gujarati people (88 percent) are Hindus. The Muslim Gujarati make up 6.6 percent of the population. : Gujarati They live primarily in the Triangle, Metro Charlotte, Blue Ridge, Greenville and Fayetteville. Day 2 Day Prayer Points • Pray for churches to develop intentional church-planting strategies specifically focusing on the Gujarati speakers. • Pray for Christians who live and work among Gujarati people to begin loving friendships with them. • Pray against the spiritual principalities and powers that have kept the Gujarati bound for many generations. LEXINGTON WV KY VA Psalm 67:4-5 (ESV) TN Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God; GA SC let all the peoples praise You! AUGUSTA Urdu speakers are historically associated with the Muslims of South Asia. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and an official language of six Indian states. Hindi and Urdu are often described by linguists as one language — “Hindustani.” While Hindi and Urdu uses different written scripts, they sound virtually identical. The major vocabulary differences : Urdu between the two languages are religious, with Hindi catering to Hindus and Urdu to Muslims. There are an estimated 137 million Urdu speakers worldwide, with about 263,000 and 6,300 in the United States and North Carolina, respectively. Day 3 Day The majority of Urdu speakers adhere to Islam. The number of Islamic mosques being built by Urdu speakers will attest to the growing population of Urdu people in the metro areas. They live primarily in the Triangle, Metro Charlotte, the Triad, Fayetteville and Unifour. Prayer Points • Pray for churches to develop intentional church-planting strategies specifically focusing on the Urdu speakers. • Pray for Christians who live and work among Urdu people to begin loving friendships with them. LEXINGTO• N Pray for the Holy SpiritWV to begin revealing the true nature of God to Urdu people in powerful ways. KY VA Psalm 67:6-7 (ESV) TN The earth has yielded its increase. God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; GA SC let all the ends of the earth fear Him! AUGUSTA The Punjab is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India. The Punjabi people are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group originating from the Punjab region. There are an estimated 141 million Punjabi speakers worldwide, with about 228,000 and 12,000 in the United States and North Carolina, respectively. Traditional Punjab identity was primarily linguistic over religious affiliation or ethnic background. The Punjabi people cluster encompasses a wide range of ethnic and religious groups. Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism are all practiced by Punjabi people groups. : Punjabi They live primarily in the Triangle, Metro Charlotte, Blue Ridge and the Triad. Day 4 Day Prayer Points • Ask God to encourage the small number of Punjabi Christians. • Ask the Holy Spirit to soften their hearts toward the gospel message. • Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Punjabi. LEXINGTON WV KY VA Acts 10:34-35 (ESV) TN So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what GA SC is right is acceptable to Him.” AUGUSTA The Tamil people are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India, and the northeastern region of Sri Lanka. Tamil is a major Dravidian language of India, spoken primarily by the Tamil people in India and Sri Lanka. The Tamil people cluster encompasses numerous occupational castes that share the Tamil language. There are an estimated 68 million Tamil speakers worldwide, with about 103,000 and 3,500 in the : Tamil United States and North Carolina, respectively. Most Tamil people are Hindus, but a few Tamil subgroups follow either Christianity or Islam. They live primarily in Metro Charlotte and the Triangle. Day 5 Day Prayer Points • Pray that our churches and believers will develop loving relationships with the many Tamil speakers in our neighborhoods and offices. • Pray that God will raise up the Tamil Christians here in the United States to reach out to their Hindu and Muslim neighbors. • Pray that leaders will be raised up from the Tamil believers to start new churches for the growing Indian population.