“A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD…’” (Isaiah 40:3‑5).

Preparing the way of the Lord is critical if the Gospel is to penetrate regions still unreached with the Good News. The influence of evil has been entrenched in many places for generations. When disciples of Jesus are few or non-existent, Global Disciples affirms sending Groundbreaking Prayer Teams onsite to “prepare the way of the Lord.”

This is not a new approach. In Luke 10, Jesus commissioned teams to go before Him and prepare regions for His ministry. These teams were called to pray—asking the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers—and to be a living demonstration of God’s kingdom and power where He had not yet been revealed. At the end of their assignment, Jesus described the impact of their ministry in the spiritual realm, saying, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).

As we pray—with feet on the ground—we gain a heightened awareness of the nature and extent of the spiritual strongholds that blind and capture people’s spirits. Onsite prayer releases a deposit of faith in Jesus Christ into the land and the atmosphere of the area. This past year, Global Disciples prayer leaders, program directors, and local intercessors undertook groundbreaking prayer in places like Indonesia, India, Mexico, Brazil, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Cameroon. Other trips included regions of Nigeria, Tanzania, and Myanmar.

When a prayer team in east Nepal conducted a regional Groundbreaking Prayer Trip, they prayed at a place known as Suicide Point. A tall tree overhangs a high cliff and many people have taken their lives by jumping from that spot. The intercessors prayed that this spirit of death would be replaced by life, and for salvation for the families grieving their lost loved ones.

From this high place, the prayer team could see surrounding villages. Our Global Disciples Program Director from the area pointed out that none of those villages had a church yet or even a small fellowship of believers.

The next day, the program director led a smaller team to one of the villages, to walk and pray and prepare the way for Jesus. “They met a lady called Rupa who was demonized,” our Regional Prayer Leader for Nepal reported. “The intercessors prayed and the demon left her. She gave her life to Christ. The Director and his team are meeting with her regularly.” Perhaps Rupa is the beginning of a new church in that unreached village!

Global Disciples currently has thirteen prayer leaders around the world, working to increase prayer groups and nurture movements in their region. The focus of these prayer groups is to give all people an opportunity to hear of the love and truth of Jesus.

Groundbreaking Prayer is one strategy for which they are equipping prayer teams. Our Nepali leader said, “Please pray that all our prayer teams will organize Groundbreaking Prayer Trips locally.”

–Barry Stoner, Global Prayer Leader