PRAY FOR THE COLLEGE MINISTRY at University of Tulsa & other universities & colleges
1) Pray for wisdom in starting a Sunday Morning College Bible Study
2) Pray for the students who have been coming to Springs to be further integrated into the life of the church.
3) Pray for the students of our church who are leading and involved in other Bible studies on campus.
4) Pray for an upcoming Spring Outreach on Campus at TU.

PRAY FOR INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY AT TU
1) Our international ministry at TU has a new director, Jerry Lillard. Please pray that as he takes the lead in this ministry, that this ministry would grow, disciples of the nations would be made, and that we would all be an enormous blessing to each other.

2) Please pray for the Chinese community on campus. 3 years ago, there were 50 Chinese students at TU, and this year there are 300. At the beginning of the fall semester, we met 2 students from China who became followers of Christ just before they got off the plane. Their names are Alex & Sunday. These guys have been really excited to see their fellow Chinese classmates meet Christ. Please pray that we may see more of these Chinese students know Christ. There is talk of a Christian Chinese Association being born on the TU campus. Please pray for that.

3) There are around 30 Iranians on the campus of TU. Most of them come from Muslim background, and most of them have rejected that background for Atheism or Universalism. I believe these guys are the most receptive to having discussion, they are curious, they want to discuss, they want to learn, and their hearts are open. We have seen some amazing things this year with these people, and God is really working. Please pray for him to continue to work with these people.

4) Please pray for the American Student side of the international ministry. To be a campus ministry at TU, you need to have at least 2 students representing the ministry to the TU Student Association. We have 2. Please pray that our Father would bring in workers excited about reaching the nations at their doorstep.

5) Please pray for the students at TU from overseas that have never stepped into an American home, who need to have friendship here in the United States, who need to learn how to drive, who need to learn how to get furniture, who need to properly welcomed to our land who haven’t. Please pray for workers, willing people have the time to connect, the patience to communicate, and the heart to share our hope in Christ that brings life.

6) Pray for the International Lunch that our church will be hosting in late February

7) Please pray for the students from Oman (it’s next to Saudi Arabia). The school is now welcoming 50 more students from Oman.

8) Please pray for the students from Saudi Arabia (mostly engineering students) who have never met an American who follows Christ. These are the hardest students to engage not being a student. Please pray for opportunities.

9) Please pray for the exchange students from Europe. One girl from Germany gave her life to Christ last year through the international ministry at TU. She recently sent us a letter saying that she was concerned that when she went home, she wouldn’t be able to find believers to share in her faith, but she has. She couldn’t be more excited. Please rejoice with us in that.

10) Please pray for the American students who have been served in this ministry at TU who have now given their lives to overseas service. We have 1 girl serving in Wycliffe, we have a guy leaving with Wycliffe soon, we have another girl serving Saudi’s in Houston, we have another girl serving refugees in Atlanta, and many more. Please pray that this ministry would continue to train students who have a heart for the nations to go.

11) Please pray for a ministry that Alan & I partner with called ‘Welcomers International’. It is led by a lady named ‘Kara Culp’. It is a ministry that does English Clubs in American homes in Tulsa for: international students, refugees, immigrants, etc. This ministry has seen much fruit in the last few years with amazing works of God. Please pray for that to continue.

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

Pray for FACES FOR HOPE in TANZANIA
Pray for Jim & Marie McCarty in Southern Mexico with the Mixe People
Pray for Andy & Rebekah Hamilton and their ministry in China
Pray for the Mowery Family in China
Pray for Matt & Leanne Wilkinson in India

North Korea

The following was originally posted on the Secret Church blog.
Christian North Koreans, on the whole, experience the worst persecution in the world. They have been number one on Open Doors’ World Watch List (which ranks countries according to the level of Christian persecution present) for the past ten years. North Korea’s former leader, Kim Jong-Il, was known for his injustice, brutality, disregard for human life, hatred, and unpredictability. According to a recent Open Doors press release, the first year of successor Kim Jong-Un’s rule has not improved the plight of North Korea’s people, especially for the estimated 200,000-400,000 Christians living there.
Yet throughout the horrible oppression of North Koreans over the last decade, there has been one secret snapshot of deliverance. An underground railroad, similar to that of America’s antebellum, slave-holding south, has been established. For some, it has brought freedom, ushering them through China to safety. The facilitators within this vast network of safe homes consist mostly of Christ-followers, brave brothers and sisters of ours who are risking it all to help those in need find safety and freedom. And for thousands, this is just what they have found.
Now, North Korean refugees who escaped through the underground railroad are removing the shroud of mystery and secrecy in which North Korea has worked so hard to wrap itself. Simultaneously, and probably most importantly to them, these new refugees are finding ways to get information into North Korea to communicate with their families behind the veil.
All this is discussed in Melanie Kirkpatirck’s new book, Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad. You can find interviews with Kirkpatrick online through FrontPage Magazine and NPR (where you can also read an excerpt from the book). Kirkpatrick’s website also houses a number of interviews and other great information.
NPR Interview with Melanie Kirkpatrick
There are glimmers of hope with between 24,000 and 25,000 success stories using this railroad. However, there are also 25 million North Koreans still living in this nightmare, including many believers—our brothers and sisters. They need our prayers. Recently, this has been secretly expressed by North Korean Christians to Open Doors. These “secret letters from North Korean Christians express how much they appreciate our prayers and practical support. One church leader wrote, ‘Without you we would not be able to function as Christians.’ Along with their gratitude, several secret church leaders related specific prayer requests.” To read these requests, click here. To download a more comprehensive list that Open Doors has provided, click here.
Pray that God would show Himself strong to the people of North Korea and that they would take refuge in Him.
“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” (Psalm 46:1-3)

Unreached
By Jonathan Lenning

Jat, Sikh of India

Population: 11,025,000
Language: Punjabi, Western
Religion: Other/small
%Christian/%Evangelical: 0.01%/unknown
Persecution Rank: 32
About: Today, the Jats are located all over India and some surrounding countries. The largest concentration is in the Punjab Region, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They are immersed in several ethnic groups who retain an identity often based on occupation and heritage. They arrived in the sub-continent as invaders, yet did not establish ruling dynasties. They were presumably Indo-Iranian, but in the course of time, they mixed with other invaders and older Indian inhabitants. A popular occupation among them is farming. A small percentage are traders and laborers. They eat unleavened bread (roti) and curry, seasonal vegetables, ghee and milk. Girls are tattooed before marriage. Women are fond of jewelry and wear bangles made of ivory, lac (a resinous material), or clay, but never glass.

A man cannot take a wife from his own section. For a wedding, a square enclosure is made known as Chaonari and a fire sacrifice is performed. The couple walk seven times around the Chaonari with their right hand inward. Widow remarriage is allowed but cannot marry her younger brother-in-law or near relatives of her deceased husband. The dead are cremated except children under seven, who are buried.
When a man dies, his widow goes around his body seven times in the reverse direction of the one during marriage, indicating the undoing of marriage and breaks a few of her bangles. An important occasion for display among them is a ceremony which is done among wealthy families when the head of the family or his wife dies, or when a daughter is married. The person who does the ceremony is highly respected and his opinion is given weight in caste disputes. The Jats also have special ceremonies during the Dussera and Baisakhi festivals.
Prayer Points
• Ask the Lord to graciously call people to go to India and share Christ with the Jats.
• Pray that the Holy Spirit will soften their hearts towards the gospel.
• Ask God to raise up faithful prayer warriors and intercessors to pray for the Sikh Jats of India and the people reaching out to them.
• Ask the Lord to raise up a triumphant church among the Jat for the glory of His name!
“Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!”
Psalm 67