Busy with preparing for Thanksgiving dinner? Ready to hit the stores so you can get a lot of shopping done before Pilgrimage?
   Think you cannot handle another thing on your plate? Take a breath. Breathe a prayer...for a missionary.
   Any missionary will tell you one of the most important things you can do for missions this season is pray for them.
   Here are some creative ways to remember them amidst our busy days suggested by the December 2011 issue of Missions Mosaic.
Pick up a missionary prayer guide at the
sanctuary doors or the church office. Cut up the lists and use a name or two a day.
Paper Chain Prayers- Cut construction paper strips for Christmas chains and challenge children to write or dictate prayers each day onto a loop for the focus missionary. Read the prayers aloud as you put them together.
Time Travel- Ask computer savvy teenagers to determine the correct time zone for the missionary of the day. Pray an appropriate prayer for “their” time whether it be while sleeping, preparing dinner, ministering or shopping.
Candle Prayers-Display eight candles. Place a missionary’s name beside each. Light a candle at your evening meal, praying for that missionary.
Singing Prayers-As you sing hymns or read psalms, dedicate the words to the focus missionary and their people groups.
   You may also want to journal your own private prayers or pray as you read more about the regions, ministries and people groups the missionaries work with using http://www.thefellowship.info/Missions/Pray or http://www.imb.org/main/pray/default.asp
May God bless our seasons of prayer.