Disciple-Making Archives - King's Arms Church

Meet Joy Summers, the author of today’s eFocus! Joy currently works as an ESOL tutor at HopeWorks and has been a part of King’s Arms for 20 years. She’s passionate about travel, literature and wildlife.

Let’s be honest, it’s hard to muster the enthusiasm to keep praying for situations that are far from us or don’t impact our day-to-day. I don’t say this to make us feel bad about ourselves. We are in the company of the disciples in Gethsemane and Moses at the battle of the Amalekites. We need those who will keep us awake in Gethsemane and who will hold up our arms at Rephidim (Exodus 17:12). He knows we are dust but that is a reason for our weakness, not a justification for giving up.

Not surprisingly, I want to encourage you to pray for places beyond where you are likely to go or know. My ideas are not exclusive to praying cross-culturally but as you read on, please leave a space in your heart for the places most people aren’t spending much time for in prayer.

Here are a number of practical ways in which we can stay awake and prop up our arms in prayer:

1. PRAY FOR A WILLING HEART

Pray for a willing heart and to avoid compassion fatigue. He is our Father who loves to give good gifts and if we lack anything we can ask for it. There is no shame in telling God that you want to pray more but struggle because of disinterest. Think about that song, “break my heart for what breaks Yours” (Hosanna, Hillsong UNITED) and ask Him to lay someone or somewhere on your heart so that you can pray from love not duty.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Prayer is a discipline and takes hard work but if you are bashing out prayers about something without having a heart connection it may be that God wants to give you a yoke that will be a delight to carry. You can’t carry the whole world but you can find what God wants you to care about and be faithful to that while always leaving room for new things to spark in your spirit.

2. SET YOURSELF SHORT-TERM GOALS

Set yourself multiple short-term prayer commitments. There will always be life-long prayers for situations that touch our heart deeply but to avoid becoming overly focused on just the immediate and near, why not set yourself some short-term prayer goals? They can broaden your horizons for a season without you feeling that you are failing when you move on to other areas in your prayer life.

They can also be catalysts for discovering new passions that enrich your life. Why not spin a globe and pray for the country your finger lands on for the next month? Or, commit to pray once a week, for a month, for people in prison around the globe? You will have opened the door to God broadening your compassion and intercession.

3. CHANGE THINGS UP, TRY SOMETHING NEW

It’s the new year so why not resolve to pray when you meet up with your believing friends at the end of a catch up? Come to the prayer meetings. Be brave and pray out loud in your life groups. Ask someone at the end of a church service if you can pray with them briefly.

Small efforts can have big effects. You may discover some courage you didn’t think you had. New practices can remind your heart of its purpose.

If you have kids at home why not create three jars for prayer labelled ‘country’, ‘demographic’ and one containing scripture verses. It will take some prep but each dinner time you can pull out three slips of paper and find yourself praying psalms and scriptures over the women of Afghanistan, the children of Brazil, the police officers of Algeria or the elderly in Estonia.

4. IMAGINE YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES

When I was much younger, I remember asking my Dad why he wanted to listen to the news so regularly when none of it was good news. I’ll never forget his response: “So I know how to pray.”

You can use also use the news and conduct the following thought experiment: What on the news moves you? How can you turn it into prayer? Take a few moments to mentally sit in the place of those in the middle of that news item. What are their emotions? What action would you want to take in their situation? What would your anger / fear / sense of injustice in that situation make you ask God for? Can you do that on their behalf?

A two-minute reflection as you imagine yourself experiencing that headline can invite the Holy Spirit to stir something in your heart for those in conflicts that are not your own.

5. BECOME A DETECTIVE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Look around. Remember those eye-spy books you had as a kid? Next time you’re in town take notice of how many different languages you can see or hear and thank God that Bedford has become a home for so many. When you pass a shop with Arabic script, pray that they would meet believers who will share truth with them. When you see an Indian restaurant, ask God to send more workers into His harvest field in the Asian sub-continent.

What a privilege and responsibility we have since God has brought the world to our doorstep.

6. BE PROACTIVE, GET INFORMED

Find people in the church who are working in areas you don’t know much about and ask for their prayer points. Sign up for a newsletter of someone who works overseas. Send Paula in Mexico an email asking how you can pray for her this week. Learn what Catalyst is doing in the nations. Download the Joshua Project app to be given short daily prayer points for places in the world that may be new to you.

7. FIND CREATIVE WAYS TO PRAY

I love having something visible and tangible to prompt me to pray. Get creative and do what it takes to remind you to pray for people and places beyond your regular list. Fill a notebook with places, people and issues written in the centre of each page then circle it each time you pray. Link your prayers for a new topic with a daily activity as an aide-memoir such as remembering those involved in trafficking on your drive to work, praying for the unreached in the Muslim world when you brush your teeth and asking God to speed Bible translation when you do the dishes.

8. TRY TAXI EVANGELISM!

Become a ‘taxi anthropologist’ and ask God for opportunities to meet people outside of your normal routine – you may be surprised at the paths you cross! Notice the flag or prayer beads in the taxi you’re in and show an interest. If you hear another language being spoken, it’s natural to pass a comment, most people won’t be offended by you asking with a smile what language they are speaking and if they will teach you how to say ‘have a nice day’.

Ramadan starts in February and your Muslim taxi driver, neighbour or shop worker will not be offended if you ask how you can pray for them during their holy month.

We have just celebrated the greatest cross-cultural mission event in history: Christmas. When Immortal became mortal, Perfect became sin and the Worshipped became despised. To what end, but that we might become like Him: having a future glory and a present humility.

Go and use your prayer as service to the Lord and remember that you are sowing into a kingdom that will last for eternity.

Much love,
Joy Summers

A few weeks ago, I returned from an incredible time serving churches across East Africa at their apostolic conference and, as I’ve been processing and reflecting, I want to share some lessons these remarkable leaders taught me:

1. God is Working in the Most Unexpected Places

Imagine sitting in a room, hearing report after report of God’s movement across East Africa. Salvations and healings weren’t just occasional testimonies — they were pouring in from every nation represented. Churches are being planted by the hundreds (including in some nations I can’t name for security reasons). The Gospel is even reaching pygmy communities who had never heard of Jesus before.

It’s humbling to realise that while we sometimes wonder if God can change the seemingly Gospel-resistant people around us, He’s doing extraordinary things in some of the toughest places on earth.

2. Lack of Resources is No Excuse for Disobedience

This hit me hard. In some regions, every single worker is a volunteer. No salaries. No support structures. Yet, these leaders are faithfully planting churches and reaching the lost with whatever they have.

It made me question how often I’ve allowed “lack of resources” to become my excuse for not stepping out in faith.

3. The Gospel Challenges Every Culture

We often talk about our cultural battles in the West, but my eyes were opened to very different challenges these churches face:

FGM (Female G Mutilation) – a heartbreaking reality where young girls are brutally harmed in the name of cultural “purity”
Polygamy – imagine the complexity of discipling community leaders who have three or four wives when they come to faith

What struck me most was this truth: while every culture tempts us to compromise, God’s Word provides wisdom and grace for standing firm — no matter how difficult the situation.

4. Courage Grows Best in Team

The stories of persecution were sobering. They shared about imprisonments and street beatings. One leader shared how most of his pastors have machete scars on their faces and bodies where they have been chased by tribesman driving them out of their villages.

But, here’s what amazed me: they weren’t facing it alone. These teams stood together, drawing strength from each other in ways that reminded me of the early church in Acts.

It made me want to stir up some fresh courage buddies for the mission that I’m on.

5. The Future Belongs to Entrepreneurial Ministry

So many leaders I met were also entrepreneurs by necessity. They’re running fruit tree farms, pig businesses, and taxi services — not just to survive, but to support their church and the local community.

It confirmed my conviction that “tent-making” is going to be the future of church leadership if we want to raise enough leaders to reach our nations.

6. The Power of Praying Together

There’s something profound about praying in the same room with people you’ve only prayed for from a distance. It reminded me that we truly are one family in Christ, regardless of our nationalities or circumstances.

I’ve added several leaders to my prayer calendar so that I can continue to stand with them.

As I continue to process these lessons, I’m asking myself (and now you):

Which of these lessons challenges you the most?
How might God be calling you to step out in faith, even with limited resources?
What would it look like for you to stand firm in your cultural context?

Much love,
Simon Holley and the eFocus team