Operation World

This is a book idea.  Operation World by Patrick Johnstone is a day by day guide to praying for the world.  It gives you statistics for all of the countries of the world so that you can be better informed in praying for them.  You start in January by praying for the whole world and then move to country by country, so that today March 31, we are praying for China, specifically the Church in China.  They talk about the TSPM, which I find out is the Three Self Patriotic Movement.  It seems this is a tool of the government to gain control over the Church.

I really like the idea of praying for the world, and even though I don't mind statistics, I am rarely moved by them.  Sorry.  But I wonder could someone come up with a less stastistical approach to praying for the world through the year.  Could there be one based more on pictures and stories than facts and figures?  Hmmm.  Maybe it has already been thought up.  I just found out that Jill Johnstone wrote a book called You Can Change The World, which is basically a Operation World for Kids.  I don't have this book but I think it could be a great resource for families.  Operation World is updated every decade or so, and ours is the 1993 version.
Maybe praying for the whole world is overwhelming.  In our family we pray for the Karen people of Burma a lot, because they are facing extreme hostility from their own government.  You could pray for Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, etc.  Many of the nations that make the news because what their life is like is so horrible - often war.  So maybe adopt a country as a family.  Learn about that country and pray for them.  People live there.  People like you and me.