April 2015
Dear Intercessor,
My heart is filled with gratitude for your faithfulness in praying with us this month for women living in extreme poverty.
It’s been said that women are the least valued, least fed and least educated people across much of the planet. And as for contact with the Gospel, missiologist John Fain tells us, “Women are the largest unreached people group in the world.” No wonder in most cultures they are the poorest of the poor.
Jesus inaugurated his earthly ministry with the prophetic words of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” And you and I are called to do the same.
Yes, not everyone can preach or teach the Gospel – but everyone can pray! As we pray, we enter the spiritual realms where the battle for the human heart and mind rages. We proclaim God’s eternal plan “to prosper, to give us a hope and a future.” As we pray, we empower our teams worldwide to deliver this transformational good news. Poverty was never intended by God. Poverty is an expression of evil, of human degradation, of brokenness, and of social injustice.
Since I was a little girl in Brazil, I have seen poverty’s ugly effects. It kills people’s dreams. It locks people – women especially – in a vicious cycle of malnutrition, ignorance, and indignity caused by their oppressors’ greed, lust, and selfishness.
However, there is an antidote to material and spiritual poverty; and that’s prayer! God has given us prayer because Jesus gave us the mission to “proclaim His good news,” which lifts these struggling people way above their circumstances. It changes them! It redefines women. No more powerlessness. No more being paralyzed by fear; instead, being ready to face life in the power of God! No longer being poor and weak; instead, being rich and powerful in the Lord.
And there is more. As we pray, we become world changers even without leaving our homes! Project Hannah’s prayer calendar helps us pray intelligently, specifically, corporately. Sometimes it is hard to read the horrific statistics and information in it. But it helps us to know the Prince of Darkness’ schemes in order to fight him effectively. We become beacons of light where material, psychological, and spiritual poverty and darkness prevail.
May God use our bold and faith-filled prayers to bring redemption and restoration to these dear women.
Believing with you,
Marli Spieker
Global Ministry Director/Founder
Project Hannah
TWR