“Prayer is an expression of who we are - we are a living incompleteness. We are a gap, an emptiness that calls for fulfillment.” - Thomas Merton

FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Development

I have always had a passion for the least of these. I recently heard that “passion” (Latin verb patere) means to “suffer greatly for something.” My heart suffers greatly for the poor and vulnerable. Perhaps that is the case for you too. Whether or not He has given you a passion for the least of these, using a passion like sports as a catalyst to reach those who do not know Him, is God-given. He has instilled in you passions and talents to glorify Him and to reach the world. Your passion for sports flows over to your next door neighbor who you talk sports with weekly, to those you attend games with, and can overflow globally. My five and seven year old love sports. It provides an opportunity to talk about Truth in our community and to tie in what the Bible says about rules, fairness, and attitude. 

My role at Uttermost is to channel some of your passion for sports financially, inviting you to impact the nations. Our office facilitates reaching the lost. Without it, those that serve the lost lose their validity and platform. I invite you to join us in reaching the lost. Either by going to the hard places and using that passion to access the gospel, reaching the lost, or by financially supporting what we do, so we can keep the doors open for THE Door to be open. Join the 300 Members who financially support what we do. Gather your small group, family, or co-workers and together pool to be a 300 Member. My hope in 2015 is to have individuals, organizations, corporations, and businesses be 300 Members.

The 300 Member campaign is making an impact right now by girls learning and understanding their value, playing sports for the first time, and giving representatives the ability to stay long term in areas where previously, no one has been able to. Sport is presenting an unprecedented way to access hard-to-reach areas and people groups. Join us and be a part of changing communities and generations for Truth in an unprecedented way today.

For the Win[Dow],

Christy G., DOD

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Hosea 6:1-3

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn, he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: CHAD

Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest and Niger to the west. It is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area.

Chad is divided into multiple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second-largest in Africa. N'Djamena, the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.

Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979,the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Since 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.

While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most inhabitants live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003, crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. (Wikipedia)

http://prayercast.com/chad.html

http://joshuaproject.net/languages/kxj

PRAYER REQUESTS:

  • Pray for the Church to be both burdened and equipped for evangelism among an increasing Muslim majority.
  • Pray for pioneer missionaries to persevere in difficult places in order to reach the unreached.
  • Pray for integrity and honesty to rule the nation and displace government corruption.
  • Pray for Uttermost Reps on the field.
  • Pray for the Uttermost US office.