OPERATION WORLD: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation

By Jason Mandryk, Downers Grove Illinois: Intervarsity Press 2010, 978 pages Reviewed by Carolyn Sue Fitton

Where in the world is Andorra, Faeroe Islands, Kiribati, and Vanuatu? I do not know! This book review is quite different from our usual type of book. Nonetheless, the content is valuable in many respects.

As a Christian, the world has taken on new meaning. Listening to the news, hearing reports of people around the world, the political upheaval, the horrific weather issues, heartache and despair; etc., then wondering “Where in the world is that located or happening?”

Operation World is a resource aimed at informing people, primarily Christians, about every country in the world in order to encourage the church to pray and engage in Christian mission. The book, all 978 pages, has maps, geographic information, people groups, economical facts, political background, history, religious makeup, daily prayer calendar, answers to prayer, challenges to prayer, persecution index and more!

The composition of Operation World is a tremendous resource to have available and refer to, especially when one wants to know, really know, about… Andorra, Faeroe Islands, Kiribati, and Vanuatu. The book is a great addition to your personal-family library and correctly identified as a definitive prayer guide!

Love of Family

By Julia Tillman

February always makes us think of Valentine’s Day and the ones we love. Of all the kinds of love, family love is the basis of it all. Family love is of God, who created man so that He could have a family of His own. We are blessed to have the families we are born into and the ones we join. I love the family that I joined through marriage, but my story of family love is about the one I was born into.

I came from humble beginnings in a large family as the twelfth of sixteen children. There was always plenty of love in our home. My father and mother were hard workers tending to their small farm, which consisted of vegetables, chickens, cows etc. We all worked hard, but my parents still showed us many examples of family love. My mom showed us love when it was cold at night by heating up bottles of hot water, wrapping them, and putting them in our beds. For Christmas, she would make us Christmas boxes of apples, oranges, raisins, and pecans in a shoebox. On Fridays, my Dad would show us love by always buying peanuts and parching them in the stove. We would have peanuts and RC Cola. It was such a treat! After working all day in the fields, my Dad would often take the young boys out hunting at night. I have countless childhood memories of being shown family love.

As an adult, my thoughts of family love center around the annual family reunions of my mother’s family held late in July. It has been held in Atlanta, Georgia where my grandfather, Henry Echols and my aunt and uncles lived, as well as down in the country at Watkins Mills Spring in Oglethorpe, Georgia. We have even traveled to other states such as New Jersey, the Carolinas and Tennessee. traveling by charter buses, RV’S, trains, planes and caravans. Even as we lose older members of the family, the Echols Family Reunion has continued to be a tradition of family love for over 120 years. Our motto is “a family that prays together stays together. It is like Christmas vacation when we meet up with 300 to 500 or more of our family members, a truly happy time. The love for family that God has placed in our hearts, we share with one another.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, the Echols Family Reunion was canceled for the first time. The family was devastated, and some wanted it to happen anyway, but because of the love we have for family we did not come together. Thanks to the assistance of technology, however, we were able to meet with a virtual family reunion. It was not the same, but because we love each other, we will continue to share our family love in whatever ways we can.

JULIA TILLMAN has been the church secretary for Freewill Holiness Church in Daytona Beach since 2013. She is the wife of the administrative pastor, Levester Tillman, for 25 years. Julia and her husband live in Daytona Beach and have five adult daughters.

25 Years of Holy Nudges

By Dr. Joan Singley Schrysen

What is a nudge? Less than a shove but more than a tap, it prods gently to draw one’s attention to something. Living Waters has had a number of holy nudges over the past quarter century.

In 1994 we initially planned monthly gettogethers of sharing, Bible study, and prayer for Christian educators. Before long our first nudge pointed out that we were producing more guilt than encouragement. Teachers just didn’t have the time or energy for another meeting, no matter how worthy. Responding to the nudge, the Board adopted the present format of monthly Board meetings to pray for the entire educational community and specific requests.

Another nudge put our president in contact with a retired colleague Gloria Wilson who shared her church’s prayer letters. We adopted the practice, tailoring the letter to our situation. Some years later, in 2011, another nudge refined this format when Debbie Keith accepted the position of Prayer Chair. Since then she has searched out contacts in individual schools to submit prayer requests. In recent years she also compiles our monthly prayer lists and writes the monthly prayer letter. She and Susan Joy address and mail out the letters each month.

In the early years we were nudged to publish a short newsletter of inspiration and encouragement as a way to stay in contact with Christian educators. Kept purposefully brief to accommodate teachers’ time constraints, Jackie Sommerlad named it Waves. We tried publishing monthly but soon decided that three issues a year was more realistic.

Through the years, subsequent nudges put us in contact with many individuals who helped us learn the art of newsletter production. Kistler London and Mark Hawks gave Waves a more professional appearance and Ruth Bethea designed our logo.

During all these years, Connie Pryce has served as Editor, assuring that Waves articles were both readable and the appropriate length. In 2016 Dr. Peromnia Grant assumed the position of Publisher, laying out each issue and arranging the printing, folding, and envelope labeling. Following her own nudges, Peromnia had a website created and is working on an online edition of Waves.

None of this is possible without funds. Our longtime treasurer, the late Carol Abbott, developed a plan for an annual fund drive, and countless readers have followed their own nudges over the years, allowing us to publish and mail out Waves as well as our monthly prayer letters. Subsequent Treasurers Toni Jordan and Sue Fitton continue this practice.

In 2017 Dr. Carolyn Burhans took on the responsibility of President, allowing the founder to retire after 23 years of leading the group.

After a quarter century of holy nudges, the Living Waters Board awaits the next nudges, praying for the wisdom and discernment to follow them.

Be an Overcomer

By Dr. Carolyn Burhans

In her song, Overcomer, contemporary Christian vocalist Mandisa sings about the daily press and how things don’t always go the way we plan or desire. She reminds us that regardless of how down we feel or how weary we are, that we are not alone. How timely her words are for educators in the era of COVID-19 where learning curves and workplace stress are at an all time high! During discouraging times we sometimes need to recall biblical examples of people who overcame insurmountable challenges through reliance upon God. Here are a few to tickle your memory: 

• Joseph was left to die in a hole in the desert and later found by people who sold him into slavery; he eventually became the Prime Minister of a region of Egypt.

• Esther and all the Jewish people in King Xerxes’ kingdom almost lost their lives until she bravely orchestrated a plan to save them.

• Job lost everything, yet after an excruciating period, everything was returned to him double-fold.

• Daniel was thrown into a den of lions and walked away unscathed.

• Mary learned as a young teen that she was pregnant while not married, yet was chosen to birth the Savior of the world.

There are more examples of courageous people recorded in the Bible; perhaps you have some favorites that bring you encouragement. Maybe it will be helpful to re-read those stories and draw inspiration from them. The most important thing to remember is that God loves you and will never leave nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Are you not in a good place right now? Feeling overwhelmed? Having trouble finding joy? Hold onto this thought: Trying times come and go and are often followed by blessings. Recall those biblical examples. Don’t let current circumstances define your life. Hang onto God’s promises. Emerge victoriously from the rubble!

The chorus of that Mandisa song really puts things into perspective as she sings about remaining in the fight and relying on God to grip you with grace. You might want to add Overcomer to your playlist or watch the YouTube video or write down the lyrics and tape them to your mirror. Give yourself a daily shot of positivity and before long, the lyrics to that song will resound in your mind and drown out those other distracting thoughts.

Take good care, educator friends; God is using you mightily. Draw your strength, peace and perseverance from Him.

Why Keep Praying When You Don’t See Results

By Robert Morris

Nashville, Tennessee: Published by Thomas Nelson. 2015 Reviewed by Dr. Peromnia Grant

Robert Morris is the founding senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. Morris appears on a weekly television program The Blessed Life and is the bestselling author of twelve books, including From Dream to Destiny, The Blessed Life, The Power of Words, It is Written and Frequency. He focuses on teaching God’s Word and this is evident in how and what he writes.

In the book, Why Keep Praying, Robert Morris brings compelling biblical teaching on the topic of prayer. He encourages readers to keep praying. Many people give up praying because they don’t see results and feel discouraged or angry that their prayers apparently haven’t been heard. But Robert Morris reveals why it is so important not to stop—to give up. This book provides hope and evidence for readers that God does hear their prayers, cares about them personally, and intervenes in their lives in ways beyond their imaginations.

Morris shares that prayer is an open door into the presence of our God and creator, where we can praise Him for who He is, thank Him for His goodness, confess our sins and find forgiveness, and bring our deepest concerns, our silent fears, and our heartfelt desires to place before Him. Like many of Morris’ books it is an easy read yet extremely powerful. I will never think about prayer the same way. It is a compelling book and has made a profound change in my life. You will not be the same after reading Why Keep Praying When You Don’t See Results.