68
Around the World in 80 Minutes
Grab
Your appetite
Money
Car keys
Go
Today you’re going to travel around the world! Well, at least your taste buds are. Drive to a nearby Asian restaurant and order an egg roll, wontons, or a couple of dumplings. Enjoy the snack, and then take a moment to pray for the nation that the restaurant represents. For example, “Dear Lord, thank you for our Christian brothers and sisters in China. Please protect them and keep them close to you. Please give them the freedom to worship you, and may their witness lead many to salvation. Amen.”
Continue visiting a variety of restaurants with international fare. Grab a burrito from a Mexican restaurant, for example, or find a French baguette or croissant, some Indian naan bread, American potato chips, a slice of pizza or Italian gelato, a dish of German potato salad, a slice of Swiss cheese, or Chilean grapes. Briefly pray for the salvation and freedom of worship for the citizens of each country you “taste.”
Grow
We are so blessed to have the freedom to worship God. So many people around the world don’t have the freedom we experience every day. Would it be hard if we had to keep our faith in God a secret? What would it be like if we weren’t allowed to have a Bible at home? Can you imagine not being allowed to go to church on Sunday?
It is exciting to imagine that wonderful day in the future when Jesus will bring all of his people to heaven to be with him. He says that:
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:10–11)
What an incredible moment it will be when every believer in the world, from every tribe and nation, will gather in one place to praise God together!
Dear God,
Thank you for the hope we have of being in heaven with you. Please protect our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who follow you no matter how dangerous it might be. Give us the courage to stand up for you no matter what. Thank you that someday we can worship you with all of the believers in the world in total freedom. Come soon! Amen.