Praying in the Storm
By Andrew McChesney
A fierce thunderstorm broke out on the first night that 19 South Korean teenage missionaries spent on a Philippine island.
The teens, ages 14 to 17, had not signed up for a thunderstorm when they joined a one-year mission training program called Academy Missionary Movement. Part of the program required them to participate in an international mission trip, and they had come to the remote island to assist with evangelistic meetings under the guidance of a South Korean pastor, who would preach. But the storm that greeted them on their first night threatened to spoil their plans.
Eleven boys were sleeping in tents set up on the concrete floor of a partially constructed church building located on a sandy beach. Eight girls were sleeping in a thatched house nearby.
The night was pitch-black except for sharp flashes of lightning. Rain poured down, and the wind howled. The church building had no doors or windows, and the tents sheltering the boys trembled violently. Then the South Korean pastor began to wake up the boys.
“The situation is serious,” he told two boys in one tent. “We need to get up and pray.”
He asked the boys to rouse the boys in the next tent and tell them to pass on the word until everyone had assembled to pray in the thatched house. Meanwhile, the mission program director woke up the girls in the thatched house with similar instructions.
Before long, the teens had gathered in the thatched house. The building’s walls shook against the blast of the storm.
None of the teens or adults had seen such a bad rainstorm. It was 4 a.m.
Everyone knelt down and prayed for God to stop the storm. For two hours, the missionaries prayed as the wind howled, the lightning flashed, and the rain fell. The pastor asked God to forgive the sins of everyone in the group. The teens sang worship songs. Each person took time for personal prayer. The pastor also gave a short sermon about God being a refuge in the storm. By 6 a.m., the storm started to die down.
The pastor told the teens to go to bed. Seeing that it was their first night on the island, he didn’t want them to be too exhausted on their first full day.
The sun was shining brightly in the blue sky when everyone woke up two hours later.
The storm set the scene for the rest of the week. The mission trip became a season of prayer. Whenever it rained, everyone knelt and prayed. Whenever a teen faced a challenge, like inviting people to attend the evening meetings, everyone knelt and prayed. The teens realized that they were fighting for the salvation of souls. Sometimes they knelt in pairs and prayed for someone whom they had just met in a nearby village.
Every evening, the teens gathered near the unfinished church building to read the Bible, discuss the day, and thank God for life, food, and good weather.
At the end of the trip, seven people were baptized in the ocean. They had taken Bible studies with local church members and made the decision to get baptized during the evangelistic meetings.
The teens rejoiced that seven people had given their hearts to Jesus. They returned to South Korea, expressing an eagerness to be lifelong missionaries for Jesus.
Andrew McChesney is the editor for Adventist Mission.
World Church Prayer Requests
For the month of July 2024
- Pray for the special 24-hour United Prayer call themed “1Heart4Jesus” that is taking place this coming weekend. Pray that we as a church would truly have an undivided heart for Jesus. To learn more visit: https://247unitedprayer.org
- Caribbean: Pray for those in the path of the recent Hurricane Beryl. Pray for provision for the needs of those suffering, and for strength to rebuild what has been destroyed. Pray for the faith and courage our church members there.
- Romania: Pray for the growth of United Prayer, in person, in the six conferences of Romania. Pray for Oltenia, Muntenia, Moldova, Northern Transylvania, Southern Transylvania, and Banat. Pray Holy Spirit power in training leaders, as well as the youth. Pray for a united prayer department in the Romanian Union.
- United States: Please pray for a health emphasis week that the Baton Rouge Seventh-day Adventist Church will host July 11-13. They will culminate the week with the free AMEN Clinic which will also be held at the church on July 14. Pray for this medical missionary work and that the Holy Spirit will lead this church family, each volunteer, and each patient to the foot of the cross!
- South Africa: Please pray for the Anerley SDA church of the South Coast of South Africa. Please pray for an evangelistic campaign taking place from the 19th to 31st of August. Pray for the speaker Pastor Gideon Reyneke.
- Papua New Guinea: Please pray for the Gordon’s Seventh-day Adventist Church in Port Moresby. The church has seen an influx of new church members following the recent "PNG FOR CHRIST" reaping campaign program conducted throughout the country in April and May. Please pray that the church can, with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, provide and adopt effective nurturing methods to keep these new precious souls faithful in the church until Jesus returns.
- South Africa: Pray for the Kaalfontein SDA church. Pray for the planned distribution of Voice of Prophecy lessons in the community. Pray for South Africa 2025.
- Ethiopia: Please pray for the Jordan SDA church. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out and that the faith of church members will be strengthened. Pray for the Holy Spirit to light a fire of blessings that will not be put out.
- United Kingdom: Please pray for a revival for church members in Edmonton. They lost a few members during the pandemic. Pray also for the members who have stopped attending church, that they will return. The field is great, but the laborers are few. Please pray for Edmonton SDA Church in England.
- Botswana: Pray for the Hopefountain SDA Church located in Central Gaborone, Botswana. Pray that they can find a permanent place of worship. For more than two decades members have been struggling to find a place to purchase or find a suitable place of worship. Pray for a miracle as they raise funds, engage with various landlords, and municipality authorities.
- Canada: Pray for the Calgary Bridgeland SDA Church in Canada. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out and that lost members would return. Pray for the youth of the church to find in the church a loving supportive place where they can grow in Jesus.
- Zimbabwe: Pray for the Newstart Children’s Home in Zimbabwe. Pray for wisdom in taking care of the many children’s spiritual and emotional needs.
- Burkina Faso: Pray for the country of Burkina Faso struggling with terrorist attacks. Pray for Seventh-Day Adventist church members who are leaving their homes and church because of terrorist actions. Pray for a new Adventist community of Zagtouli. They would like to build a church to worship.
- Jamaica: Pray for the Halfway Tree SDA Church. Please pray for the Door of Hope Campaign now in session. Pray for the speaker and Medical Missionary.
- Fiji: Pray for the Waila SDA Church in the Fiji Islands. Pray as they are raising funds to build a church and acquire a title for the land.