Prayer Focus-USA

I am thinking I would like to do a post each Saturday for a prayer focus, highlighting some particular area of need either here in the USA or in a foreign country. Our missions focus sometimes within the church fails to look at or minister to needs right here in our own country. Anyone who knows me is well aware of my interest in foreign missions over the years. But at this time the need here in our own nation is so great that I believe more of a home mission focus is needed within the church. We need to be ministering to the needs across the street as well as those across the globe.

When I was a missions director in a church, in Burlington, MA, a little over 10 years ago, I read an article that said that at that time the USA was only nation in the world where Christianity was losing ground and that Islam was the fastest growing religion in the USA. I don't know what those stats are now. But I can't imagine they are any better.

Here is the title of an article by the Barna Group that I consider alarming: "Unchurched Population Nears 100 Million in the U.S." That means 33% of the population fits in that category. According to this 2007 article this statistic has stayed relatively unchanged since 1994. In the early nineties about 20% were unchurched. So we see that we are not making any progress here at this time. I realize going to church does not make a person a Christian. But I still believe this trend needs to stop. We need to pray for the USA. (To find this article do a search for Barna Grouop and the article title.)

When Jesus commissioned the disciples just before His ascension, he told them to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. You notice that they were to start where they were, in Jerusalem. We need to start where we are.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.