Worldwide Prayer Meeting December 28, 2023
Prayer Focus: Our Worldwide Salvation Army
Praise God for 2023. For some of us this has been a remarkable year of great blessing and achievement. For others, it has been a difficult year of loss and struggle. For most, it has been a mixture of both. But whatever you have faced, if you are reading this it means that God has brought you to this point. As you look back you will only be able to see a tiny portion of His mercies, the smallest crumbs of His blessings. Only eternity can reveal how many times He shared unknown mercies with us because of His great love for us.
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for this past year. When I started the year I knew some of the things that were going to happen but honestly, there were a whole lot of surprises along the way. Some of those were really, really good. Some of them were hard. There were people that I thought would still be here with me but are gone now and I miss them. Others have come into my life and that has led to some interesting twists and turns. But through it all You have been my constant Companion, my unchanging Friend. When it seemed like the ground beneath me kept moving, You did not move. When it felt like the winds might blow me over, You held me tight. Dear Lord, I hope You find that my love for You is as steadfast as Your love is for me. Let me be firm in my commitment to You, someone who stands for You and for Your people. As the year ends, and as a new one is coming, I thank You for all You have been to me and bow now to commit myself to You again knowing that there is nothing better than being Your child. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
As we think of our international Army, we couldn’t think of doing so without including a number from the incomparable International Staff Songsters. And this beautiful song of praise is a perfect way to end 2023.
Background of the World
A snapshot of our world by six top 10 lists:
The Top 10 Countries by Population
India 1,428,627,663
China 1,425,671,352
United States 339,996,563
Indonesia 277,534,122
Pakistan 240,485,658
Nigeria 223,804,632
Brazil 216,422,446
Bangladesh 172,954,319
Russia 144,444,359
Mexico 128,455,567
The Top 10 Cities by Population
Tokyo 37,194,105
Delhi 32,941,309
Shanghai 29,210,808
Dhaka 23,209,616
Sao Paulo 22,619,736
Mexico City 22,281,201
Cairo 22,183,201
Beijing 21,766,214
Mumbai 21,766,214
Osaka 21,296,517
Top 10 Most Densely Populated Countries in the World
(per square km)
Macau 21,403
Monaco 18,149
Singapore 8,377
Hong Kong 7,135
Gibraltar 4,807
Bahrain 1,892
Maldives 1,737
Malta 1,672
Bangladesh 1,329
Sint Maarten 1,301
Top 10 Religions in the World
Christianity 2.382 billion
Islam 1.907 billion
Atheist/Agnostic 1.193 billion
Hindu 1.161 billion
Buddhist 506 million
Chinese traditional 394 million
Ethnic religions 300 million
African traditional 100 million
Sikh 26 million
Spiritism 15 million
Top 10 Poorest Countries in the World Per Capita Annual Income (US$)
Burundi $ 309
Sierra Leone 472
Malawi 483
Central Africa Republic 516
Madagascar 540
Somalia 562
South Sudan 570
Niger 574
Mozambique 579
Eritrea 700
Top 10 Wealthiest Countries in the World Per Capita Income (US$)
Luxembourg $128,820
Ireland 106,998
Switzerland 94,835
Qatar 89,417
Norway 88,749
Singapore 84,501
United States 78,422
Iceland 77,961
Australia 68,024
Denmark 66,394
Facts, Stats and Leadership of
The Salvation Army Internationally
Statistics (according to 2023 Salvation Army Year Book)
- Total population with which to fish and disciple: 6,830,003,489 (population of countries where The Salvation Army currently operates. Current world population is 8.1 billion)
- Total countries: 133
- 16,346 officers, 489 auxiliary captains, 1.049 envoys, 797 cadets, 101,352 employees
- 9,770 retired officers
- 14,703 corps, outposts, societies, etc.
- 1,250,413 senior soldiers
- 172,748 adherents
- 412,346 junior soldiers
Leadership
- General: Lyndon Buckingham
- Chief of the Staff: Commissioner Edward Hill
- International President of Women’s Ministries: Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham
Prayer Requests for
The Salvation Army
We praise God
- For the election of a new General this past year and the appointment of a new Chief of the Staff. We pray God’s blessing upon them as well as the World International President and International Secretary of Women’s Ministries.
- That The Salvation Army has in the past year opened in Guinea, Bulgaria and Thailand with hopes to continue to expand into more countries in the future.
- That The Salvation Army has more junior and senior soldiers than at any point of its history.
- That there has been progress made toward self-support in the developing world even as many of the territories face significant challenges in trying to move toward this goal.
We ask for prayer
- There are of officers all over the world. Pray that people in all stages of life would heed God’s call to officership even if it involves personal sacrifice to do so.
- Many of our places still are under resourced forcing officers to forego their allowances, programs to be cut severely and needed expansion to be pushed back. Pray that God would supply our financial needs so that His work can be fully supplied.
- Many governments are passing laws that make it increasingly difficult for us to conduct our work or to resource it. Pray that God would give us grace in the sight of government officials so that we can accomplish His mission for His people.
- Pray for revival to sweep through our ranks, especially where it seems that love has grown cold or where compromise has crept in.
- Pray for our local officers, corps officers, divisional, territorial and international leaders that God would guide and give them wisdom as they seek His face to ensure that the Army continues to serve Him as it should.
USA Southern Territory Prayer Requests
- Lt. Colonel Carolee Israel, Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development
- Lt. Colonel James Seiler, Territorial Secretary for Business Administration
- TradeSouth
- Cheryl Stephens, Human Resources Administrator/Trainer, Human Resources
- Mike Sutton, Director of Office of Investments, Administration
- Rene Jarvis, Executive Administrative Assistant, Personnel
- Major Carey Richmond, Director of Personnel, EBC
- Cadet Ryan Thorson
- Captain Elyse Doborwicz, Divisional Candidates’ Secretary, Arkansas/Oklahoma Division
- Lt. Colonel Margaret Davis, National Secretary for Social Service and Public Policy, NHQ
- Lt. Colonels Art & Ann Penhale, officers, soldiers, employees and volunteers of the Texas Division
- Feeding Programs
Something to Consider
I walked into my first Salvation Army building on a summer’s night in a small Pennsylvania town. Accustomed to entering a worship service with quiet reverence, it was anything but that. The somewhat dilapidated building was noisy as people greeted each other until things finally settled down for the meeting to start. No pipe organ here but an old piano played by the Mrs. Captain who enjoyed a laugh if she missed a key or two along the way. I was shocked when hands were clapped on the chorus and then later even more shocked when between the verses people stood and shared testimonies. I had never heard anyone speak of their faith, and then to hear kids my age get up and talk about what God was doing in their lives – it left me speechless. But I hadn’t seen anything yet.
The captain had a colorful past. A former US Marine drill sergeant, he had driven a beer truck for a while before God got ahold of him. I was used to quiet sermons delivered in sonorous tones, his dynamic presentation captured my attention as he went from one side of the platform to the other. But then came the climax. As he spoke about sin and something else I can’t remember, he pulled back the sleeves of his tunic to reveal matching tattoos of two young bikini clad beauties. By manipulating his hands he made them dance! I had never seen anything like that in church before! Never!
As the meeting drew to a close, people were invited to an altar that had written on it, “Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” People responded by kneeling. I was puzzled by this but fascinated as well.
When the meeting ended I was stunned. I didn’t know whether I loved or hated The Salvation Army. But within a couple of weeks I knelt at that altar and I found the Savior that captain was talking about.
I knew nothing about a worldwide mission of The Salvation Army or that God intended me to serve the rest of my life in its ranks. I only knew that it was His instrument for my salvation. As it is today all over the world in large places and in small. May it ever be so.
Benediction
May God anoint The Salvation Army with the Holy Spirit’s power and in so doing, His purity so that it can serve Him. And may He anoint you as His servant so you can be what He needs you to be for this moment. Amen.
We close with “Fire in the Blood” performed by the International Staff Band when they were in concert at Bolton Citadel earlier this year.