Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Praying for the Nations in Alcora



One of Jesus’ final commands before ascending to heaven was to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.”  Earlier this year I went by the town hall here in Alcora to request some demographic information on the makeup of the town, and it turns out that many of the nations have come to us here!  There are some 37 distinct nationalities represented in Alcora, which makes it more diverse than we anticipated (though it’s not nearly as diverse as other towns nearer to the coast).  Here is a basic summary of the nationalities represented in Alcora:

Spaniards:                90% (9,852)
Romanians:              4.75% (519)
Moroccans:               3% (335) (some 379 total from Muslim African countries)
Hispanics:                0.8% (89)
Other Europeans:    0.7% (78)
Chinese:                   0.16% (17)
Israelis:                     0.04% (4)

With these statistics in mind, here is a suggestion for how you can pray for the nations in Alcora:

That their minds and hearts will awaken to their need for God.
  • Joel 3:12:  “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

That they will be blessed with the Good News through us (the spiritual children of Abraham):
  • Galatians 3:8:  Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

That they will find the true, full healing that is found only in Jesus:
  • Revelation 22:1-2:  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Thanks for continuing to pray for Alcora with us!!!