Rome (MNN) — Operation Mobilization is celebrating 50 wonderful years of ministry with their all-new Transform 2011 conference in Rome this month. This conference is partnered with Operation Mobilization's Pray4MuslimPeoples, a year-long prayer initiative.
A prayer baton will start in Rome at the Transform 2011 conference, where a Transform prayer team will spend time in worship and prayer for the Muslim people of the Mediterranean. They will pray for two weeks and then pass the prayer baton to another team with Operation Mobilization for a week.
The prayer baton will be passed among teams from week-to-week up until the Transform 2012 conference next July. Various weeks will feature different Muslim people groups so that all may be covered with prayer.
This drive to celebrate their anniversary through prayer is fitting, considering Operation Mobilization was birthed after the fervent prayers of a young college student. God gave founder George Verwer a vision for missions when he was still attending Moody Bible Institute in the 1950s.
In October 1961, Operation Mobilization started its first Muslim outreach ministry in Turkey. Since then, it has grown to over 1,000 workers stationed in 50 different countries. And it all started with the power of prayer!
July 4-10 is dedicated to prayer for the Muslims in Turkey. In their prayer newsletter, Operation Mobilization states, "To be a Turk is to be a Muslim." Apparently the majority of Turkish provinces are still unreached with the Gospel, and they come with this presupposition that Islam is the only way.
Also, over 40% of the Turkish population is under the age of 21. Even with this statistic, there is still little effort to reach the youth in Turkey.
To join Operation Mobilization for a specific week of focused prayer, please pray that God would remove these pre-conceived ideas that a Turk must be a Muslim. Also pray that missionaries would rise up to reach the young people of Turkey and that they, in turn, could witness to their families.
For upcoming weeks of prayer this month, the areas of focus will be Lebanon, Egypt, and Qatar. Eventually, the Muslim people in the more than 20 countries of the Mediterranean region will be covered with the prayers of believers. 450 million people live in these countries, but too few know the message of redemption through Jesus Christ.
Besides prayer, Transform team members are gathering this week to prepare to go on several mission trips, starting this Saturday. 30 teams will travel to 17 different countries to minister to Muslims in those regions. They will preach the Gospel through sports ministries, drama, puppet shows, skits, and dance.
To join Operation Mobilization in Pray4MuslimPeoples, you can go to their Web site and sign up for a week to pray. You can also follow their Twitter or RSS feed to pray throughout the year in their mission. Please join them as they strive to impact the Muslim community for the glory of Christ.
