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Thursday 23 February 2017

Lent challenge: A World of Prayer (updated for Lent 2022)



I wonder what you have decided to give up/take up for Lent this year? Perhaps it's chocolate or Facebook (giving up, not taking up I hope). Or perhaps you've decided to add a daily devotional or Bible reading to your weekly schedule.

I've decided to spend this Lent (starting of course on March 2nd) praying specifically for the Salvation Army and wider Church around the world, using the 5 International Zones in which the Salvation Army's worldwide work is organised as a guide and focus.

These Zones are:
•Africa
•Americas & Caribbean
•Europe
•South Asia
•South Pacific & East Asia

I thought maybe this idea might appeal to someone else, so I'm posting it here in case someone else feels led to spend Lent praying for The Salvation Army and wider Church around the world.

If my calculations are correct, then praying specifically for one Zone a day would mean that each one would be prayed for eight times. So it struck me that splitting Lent into eight, five day sections would give me the chance to specifically focus on eight different areas of ministry for each Zone:

•Leadership
•Discipleship
•Vision
•Mission
•Fellowship
•Troubled Communities and national challenges.
•Individual Territories and commands
•Social Services

So the idea would be to, for example spend the first five days praying for Leadership (development, Calling, active Officers/ministers etc) taking one Zone a day, the following five days; discipleship, then Mission and so on. I've Included weekends in this plan which (again assuming calculations are correct) means that the plan would actually finish on the Sunday before easter

It's not just about praying for these places in a vague way, but specifically getting to know these Zones and Territories, that might be quite unfamiliar to many of us. It will take a little research, perhaps asking questions, and trying to understand what the issues, problems, challenges etc are for each of these Zones in the above ministry focus areas, I'm hoping that on a personal level this Lent challenge connects me to the wider Salvation Army and Church and helps me understand what's going on around the world, and also of course that we would be connected better to each other, heart, mind and soul. 

The following Salvation Army Facebook Groups may be quite helpful for information and to open dialogue, I'm a member of each of them & will post this and subsequent posts on these groups. I would suppose that these groups contain representatives from most if not all Zones, who would be happy to answer any questions they can:





I've also included the website for the Salvation Army International Headquarters which provides lots of helpful information, including a breakdown of Territories and Commands within each Zone:


And of course the new Salvation Army Yearbook which is available to buy now; including in eBook format.

For my Part I'll try and add a blog post at the beginning of each 5 day period discussing briefly each ministry focus area.

I've also included on here a schedule breakdown of the prayer focus for each day; feel free to copy, paste, write down, download or whatever format makes it easier to follow.

March
2nd - Leadership: Africa
3rd - Leadership: Americas & Caribbean
4th - Leadership: Europe
5th - Leadership: South Asia
6th - Leadership: South Pacific & East Asia
7th - Discipleship: Africa
8th - Discipleship: Americas & Caribbean
9th - Discipleship: Europe
10th - Discipleship: South Asia
11th - Discipleship: South Pacific & East Asia
12th - Vision: Africa
13th - Vision: Americas & Caribbean
14th - Vision: Europe
15th - Vision: South Asia
16th - Vision: South Pacific & East Asia
17th - Mission: Africa
18th - Mission: Americas & Caribbean
19th - Mission: Europe
20th - Mission: South Asia
21st - Mission: South Pacific & East Asia
22nd - Fellowship: Africa
23rd - Fellowship: Americas & Caribbean
24th - Fellowship: Europe
25th - Fellowship: South Asia
26th - Fellowship: South Pacific & East Asia
27th - National Challenges: Africa
28th - National Challenges: Americas & Caribbean
29th - National Challenges: Europe
30th - National Challenges: South Asia
31st - National Challenges: South Pacific & East Asia

April
1st - Individual Territories and Commands: Africa
2nd - Individual Territories and Commands: Americas & Caribbean
3rd - Individual Territories and Commands: Europe
4th - Individual Territories and Commands: South Asia
5th - Individual Territories and Commands: South Pacific & East Asia
6th - Social Services: Africa
7th - Social Services: Americas & Caribbean
8th- Social Services: Europe
9th - Social Services: South Asia
10th - Social Services: South Pacific & East Asia

Holy Week
Monday: Africa
Tuesday: Americas and Carribbean
Wednesday: Europe
Thursday: South Asia
Friday: South Pacific and East Asia

If anybody is interested in this Lent prayer focus idea, and needs additional information or help, feel free to contact via my Facebook page (details below) or comment either here or in whichever group you see this post.
Look out for additional posts during Lent with more specific guidance on each Ministry Focus area and the respective Zones, and a more focused post(s) for Holy Week itself. To avoid missing a post you may want to sign up to this blog with your email address (see below).









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Twitter: @Inspiredfaith88



Disclaimer: Although this blog is written from the perspective of a member of the Salvation Army, the views, comments, opinions etc may not necessarily represent the views, policies etc of the wider Salvation Army.

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