Advent Prayer Guide: Seeking Hope for the Least-Reached
As we eagerly anticipate the joyous celebration of Jesus’ birth, over 3 billion people worldwide have few or no opportunities to hear that God sent His Son so they could know Him. More than 7,000 people groups are least-reached: without access to a church that preaches the gospel in their language and worships in a culturally relevant way.
In this season of joyful expectation, we invite you to join us in focused Advent prayer for those who haven’t yet heard the good news of Christ’s coming, and for those seeking to share the gift of God’s Son in least-reached communities.
Week One: Pray for Buddhists
- Over three-quarters of the over 600 Buddhist people groups worldwide are least-reached. Ask God to call believers to share the good news among these groups.
- Pray for wisdom for Christar workers as they seek to share the gospel with Buddhists in culturally relevant ways.
- Ask God to open the hearts of Buddhists to the good news and give them a desire to know Jesus.
- Ask God to break down obstacles that can make it difficult for Buddhists to accept the message of Christ.
- Pray that Buddhists who are considering Christ will follow Him regardless of the cost.
- Pray for courage for believers in Buddhist communities who are facing pressure from their families to participate in Buddhist practices.
- Lift up the Deaf living in Buddhist communities, asking God to send believers to them who can communicate the gospel in their heart language.
Week Two: Pray for Hindus
- The vast majority of the over 1.2 billion Hindus worldwide don’t have access to a church that proclaims the message of Christ in their language and worships in a way that’s relevant in their culture. Ask God to call more Christians to serve among them.
- Ask God to give wisdom to workers seeking to share the gospel in culturally relevant ways in Hindu communities.
- Pray that Hindus who’ve heard the gospel will accept Jesus as the way to God.
- Pray for courage for Hindus considering Christ, asking that they’ll take a step of faith.
- Ask God to call believers to share the gospel among the Deaf living amid Hindu communities.
- Lift up Hindu-background believers whose families oppose their faith. Pray they will walk closely with the Lord and lead others to Him.
- Ask God to build His church among Hindus of every caste.
Week Three: Pray for Muslims
- Nearly one in four people worldwide is a Muslim, and the majority have never heard the gospel. Ask God to raise up more believers to share the gospel in Muslim communities.
- Ask God to give Muslims a desire to know God personally and experience the hope and peace He offers.
- Pray for wisdom for Christar workers as they seek to share the gospel with Muslims in culturally relevant ways.
- Pray for perseverance for workers serving among Muslims when they don’t see visible fruit from their efforts.
- Ask God to open opportunities to share the good news among the Deaf living amid Muslim communities.
- Lift up Muslim-background believers, asking God to give them courage in sharing the gospel with their families.
- Pray that many Muslims will embrace Jesus as their risen Savior, who died and lives for them.
Week Four: Pray for Refugees
- Ask God to continue to open opportunities to share Him with least-reached people in the midst of the refugee crisis.
- Ask God to draw the hearts of refugees to the hope and eternal refuge that’s found only in Him.
- Ask God to use the generosity of believers around the world to meet the growing needs of refugees.
- Pray for wisdom for cross-cultural workers and local pastors as they seek to use their resources wisely to meet refugees’ needs.
- Ask God to heal the hearts of refugees who’ve endured tragedy, trauma and loss.
- Ask God to work through Christians who’ve been displaced to share the gospel where they resettle or back in their home countries.
- Pray that believers in the countries where refugees are resettling will reach out, demonstrating God’s love through compassion and service.
Related Projects
Help more workers reach the field so they can share the hope of the gospel.
Help workers in the Middle East run a language school and build relationships through which they can share the gospel.
Help us walk alongside our workers so that they can minister effectively in least-reached communities.
Provide Christian, English-medium education for disadvantaged children in South Asia.
Help a South Asian church finish constructing a building and increase its ability to reach out.
Help send South Asian workers to serve in least-reached communities throughout Asia.
Provide affordable Christian education that equips national and international students in South Asia.
Equip spiritual leaders for planting and strengthening churches in the Arab World.
Help meet the physical, psychological and spiritual needs of refugees and other marginalized people in the Middle East.
Help recruit and prepare workers from throughout the world outside of North America to serve in Muslim communities.
Help cultivate Christ-honoring transformation through medical care in Albania.
Equip Filipino believers to plant churches in their own country and beyond.
Provide refuge and counsel to Middle Eastern women and their children who are victims of abuse, and introduce them to Jesus.
Meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of refugees and those impacted by disaster.
Introduce people to Jesus Christ in places where there is little or no Christian witness.
Help Christar workers serve through educational programs in least-reached communities.
Help mobilize new workers and equip them to share the message of Christ.
Equip Christar workers to provide short-term assistance to those struggling in the wake of COVID-19, laying the foundation for future ministry.
Your gifts empower Christar Workers to share transforming hope
with communities around the world.
Help least-reached people in France hear the gospel and experience the love of Christ.
Enable a Persian to hear the gospel or help train Persian believers for ministry.
Equips South Asian believers to plant reproducing fellowships in small villages and support the ministries of their churches.
Help workers and local believers continue to serve and thrive in hard places.
In a community with no known believers, a new multipurpose building will provide opportunities to grow connections, meet needs and share Christ.
Help Middle Eastern followers of Christ learn how to apply and share biblical truth.
SESaMe disperses bite-sized pieces of the Word of God to least-reached people in a country with little access to this good news.
Related Stories
NorthRidge Church, Christar and the Richardsons beautifully illustrate the three-way partnership between the agency, the church and field workers.
Praise God with us for the blessings and answers to prayers that He has brought about through the Deaf Initiative!
After just a year, Christar workers saw a church form in a North African community that hadn't had one in a millennium. How did it happen?
Peggy* didn't go to the field to teach English. However, God would use this unlikely investment in a least-reached community!
Strategic and generous gifts from believers on the other side of the world have provided a staging ground for more coordinated ministry.
Though Hasan and other national believers grapple with massive loss, their hope in Christ propels them to minister to others impacted by earthquakes.
Amid unthinkable devastation in the aftermath of recent earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, local believers like Selin* are beacons of compassion.
On our own, we couldn’t mobilize Deaf believers to share the gospel with least-reached Deaf. But God is making it possible through His people.
Long before Afghan refugees Sayed and Zari heard the gospel from Christar workers in the U.S., God used the kindness of believers to prepare them.
Christar is praying for Deaf believers, who can readily connect with least-reached Deaf, to go on a second short-term trip to the Middle East.
Using the training she received at CHL Women’s Bible School, Teresa is investing in the lives of dozens of children who'd otherwise be on the streets.
In an overwhelmingly Muslim community, two young men are boldly teaching the Bible. Without a local church, how do they learn to share the good news?
A short-term trip to serve among the Persian Deaf laid a foundation for long-term ministry among these least-reached people.
Some cross-cultural workers serve overseas with their vocations. Alicia* is one of them, as she uses God-given skills to both work and minister.
A Christar worker shares about how his experience at RENEW supported and refreshed him and his wife to minister in the face of challenges.
RENEW debriefing retreats provide opportunities for cross-cultural workers to be refreshed, heard and encouraged.
The challenges and losses that displaced Deaf persons experience are even greater than what is faced by those who can hear.
God stepped in and forever altered our story. As we respond in love and obedience, we continue to experience His intervention.
Christar worker Elijah gives glimpses into his ministry in Central Asia and shares what he’s learned about becoming less for the sake of the gospel.
As one of the 14 projects featured in the 2021 Giving Catalog, JETS received significant funding, blessing students and faculty alike.