International (MNN) — This Sunday, May 23, marks the Day of Pentecost – an annual Christian holiday observed by believers worldwide. The International Day for the Unreached also falls on Sunday, as well as a brand new 33-day prayer campaign.
“The Day of Pentecost takes us back to Acts 1 and 2. Jesus promises to His disciples that they should go to Jerusalem and wait [because] He’s going to send the Holy Spirit, which will empower them to bring His message to the whole world,” York Aspacher with the Alliance for the Unreached says.
Two thousand years later, the Gospel remains out of reach for a third of humanity.
“Three billion people in the world today are without access to the good news of Jesus. Many Christians just don’t realize that.”
You can help change this on the International Day for the Unreached. Learn more here. “We hope the people who come to the live event on Facebook and connect with us will then turn around and share that in an ongoing way,” Aspacher says.
The 1:11 Prayer Challenge kicks off on Sunday, too. You can register here.
Starting at 1:11 pm Eastern Time, Aspacher will lead short prayer sessions on Facebook Live for the world’s unreached people groups. “We will meet for 11 minutes. I’m going to walk people through a few introductory comments, we’re going to look at an [unreached] community, and then we’ll spend a few minutes praying together for that group,” Aspacher says.
(Graphic courtesy of A Third of Us)
“We’ll [meet at 1:11 pm in] each different timezone – Central Time, Mountain, and then Pacific – [and] we’ll introduce a different ethnic people group that we’re going to pray for at that time.”
Can’t make it? Don’t worry – you can still be part of the movement. “[The 1:11 Prayer Challenge will] last for 33 days from whenever anybody starts it, but we’re hoping many people will [begin] on the day of Pentecost, this coming Sunday,” Aspacher says.
“Set your alarm. Stop at 1:11 [pm] every day for a few minutes, learn something about people who need the Gospel, and pray for them.”
Ask the Lord how He wants you to respond. Then, find your place in the story!
“We live in this environment where many of us go to church every week, many of us live in a community with other believers – which is wonderful – but so many people around the world do not have access to that,” Aspacher says.
“If there really are 3 billion people in this world right now, today, who do not have access to Jesus, that’s a huge problem. And now that I know about it, it’s incumbent upon me to do something.”
Sunday, May 23, is the International Day for the Unreached. Join Francis Chan and many others who are praying and bringing awareness to the third of the world who are still denied access to the Gospel. Draw the three lines and start the conversation. (Photo, caption courtesy of A Third of Us)
