His heart, His hands, His voice - I am Southern Baptist missions | KARACHI

Week of Prayer:

His heart, His hands, His voice - I am Southern Baptist missions

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are part of the task to fulfill the Great Commission.  Paul says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus has commissioned us to be His heart, His hands, His voice. Through praying, giving, and going, Southern Baptists have fulfilled this legacy for more than 160 years.  Yet billions remain lost and time may be running out for them. We must pray more intentionally and give more sacrificially than ever before. Our churches must take direct responsibility for helping reach the nearly 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups that missionaries may never be able to get to.  And, since most unreached people groups likely are represented in the world's urban centers, we have unique challenges and opportunities to reach the world through the cities, as illustrated in this year’s week of prayer features.  What can you do, individually? Start by being “Southern Baptist missions” through your prayers to be an extension of His heart, hands, and voice through unprecedented giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®.

KARACHI

Aadam Channar* was only a boy when Baptist missionary Hu Addleton first brought the Gospel to his province in Pakistan. Today he is an evangelist trying to reach Pakistan’s largest city.

“Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan. When we arrived there [in 1956], it was 1 million population. Now it’s 17 to 18 million,” said Addleton, who retired after serving 34 years in Pakistan with his wife, Bettie. “It is a picture of the whole country, because you have every ethnic group living in Karachi.”

About 97 percent of Karachi follows Islam. Christians make up only about 2 percent of the city’s population, according to the US State Department.

Channar grew up in a tiny Hindu village very different from the bustling hub of Karachi, but that did not keep him from approaching the city with the intention of sharing the good news of Jesus among its many people groups.

“God gave me this vision: ‘Go [to] Karachi. Leave your home, area, village.’ So God sent me here,” Channar said. “That’s why I am in Karachi.”

Addleton, who discipled Channar, encourages Southern Baptists to continue giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

“We ought to continue to pray for [Pakistani Christians] and to challenge people to go,” Addleton said.

·        Please pray for Channar as he represents the Lord as His heart, His hands, His voice in the city of Karachi, and ask that more Pakistani Christians would respond to God’s call to do the same.

Further Resources on Week of Prayer can be found at
http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=5624&LanguageID=1709

Scripture to Claim:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"   Isaiah 6:8