March 2008 Pacific Rim Prayer Emphasis:
TOPS* - A Last Frontier People Group

“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.” John 10:10, NASB.

TOPS are the poorest of the poor. Life for these people is even more difficult than the rest of their third-world nation. By almost any measure, TOPS territory has the poorest human development outcomes among all the regions of the nation. A child born in this region has very limited prospects.

TOPS children have a substantially higher chance of being born into a functionally illiterate family, sharing a below average income and of living in a home without access to safe water or a sanitary toilet. They have higher chances of dying as an infant. If they do survive the first year they will likely suffer from chronic under-nutrition and anemia. Their chances of enrolling in primary school are low, and those percentages are even worse for secondary school. And if they happen to be female, and live to become a mother themselves, their chances of having an unwanted pregnancy or of dying in childbirth will be far higher than the national average.

Unrest is the major reason for the poor development and extreme poverty of TOPS communities. Chronic armed conflict with outsiders, neighbors, as well as their own country’s government forces has resulted in fear and mistrust between the TOPS and the people who live around them.

Of the more than one million TOPS, less than two-tenths of one percent claim to follow Jesus. To be TOPS is to be a follower of a major world religion which encourages faithful obedience to several tenets in hopes of gaining favor with God and entrance into paradise.

*The name and location of this people group has been omitted for security reasons.

Pray that:

• The very nature of the TOPS would be changed into a peace-loving people who bear the name of Christ (Rom. 9:25-26).
• God will remove the veil and open blinded eyes among the TOPS (2 Cor. 4:3-4).
• The fear that has caused near-culture believers to avoid sharing their faith with TOPS will be removed, and God will burden their hearts with the desperate physical and spiritual needs of the TOPS (Matt. 9:37-38).
• Believers will have boldness backed by miraculous signs and wonders performed by the Living God, and that those in opposition to the Gospel will be silenced by what they see (Acts 4:29-30).
• Local workers among the TOPS will experience God’s leading and protection (Rev. 12:11).
• Workers will have wisdom to develop a project to meet some of the extreme physical needs, while pointing TOPS to the One who can change them from the inside out. Jesus often touched people at the point of their physical needs and then used the opportunity to show them their even deeper spiritual need.
• Translation of a media version of The Story into the TOPS language will be completed quickly and accurately. Pray that many hearts will be opened to the truth as they see the hand of God through history to the sending of His Son (Isaiah 55:11).

Download March Requests from Around the Rim.
Download the March Monthly Prayer Calendar.