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Reactions to 9/11 have ranged from a call for deeper understanding of the Arab world to severe anger, and from relativistic dialogues between Islam and Christianity to further calls for holy war by both sides. In the face of attacks, rising anxiety and religious alternatives, Christian ministries in the Arab world are crying out for believers everywhere to pray with persistent and passionate prayer for those without the good news.

Many Christians working in the Arabian Peninsula (AP) are partnering in Praying Through the Arabian Peninsula (PTAP) to call the church to pray as the primary response to 9/11. PTAP was developed by the Arabian Peninsula Partnership, a group of more than twelve ministries working in the region. Together they desire to see God open the hearts of local Arab Muslims and establish www.CharismaChrist-ward movements among them.

PTAP is a means of equipping churches, families and individuals for informed prayer using a twelve month prayer guide, a video with background on the region and mission work there, and a weekly e-mail update for prayer.One Christian worker in the region writes, “The Arabian Peninsula is one of the ‘Last Frontiers’ where the gospel has not yet penetrated and produced a multiplying church among the local Arab population. There is only one publicly known fellowship among locals in the whole region, including the countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Oman and Yemen-one church to reach a population of nearly fifty million Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula! Prayer is needed to break the fallow ground.”

Prayer movements yield results. Recent prayer movements have yielded significant results. In 1998, Awake Tunisia saw a fourfold growth in the number of believers. In 2002, Arise Shine Morocco has seen an increase in believers, unity among the faithful and greater visibility for the church. Prayer in and for Turkey prepared the way for enhanced unity among believers, responsiveness among the local people and the distribution of over twenty thousand Bible portions in 2000. The biannual Praying Through the Window and annual Thirty Days of Prayer for Muslims initiatives over the past decade have resulted in increased spiritual openness in the Arabian Peninsula.

A missionary with the Southern Baptists stimulated the APP to move proactively in calling the church to pray. One missionary with Operation Mobilization in the region recently wrote, “The world is not shy in giving high profile to their weapons strategy. The prayer of God’s people has proven to be a much more effective strategy. It is amazing that it is not used more often.”

A Christian and Missionary Alliance missionary recently wrote, “The proportion of locals to Christian workers is less than one worker to every 100,000 locals in the Arabian Peninsula. But the Lord seems to be saying to the church, ‘Test me in this …and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it'” (Mal.3:10).

Global Ripple Effects. Before hearing of the APP’s call to pray, a youth pastor learned how the good news was spreading among the Indonesian peoples and began to wonder, “What would happen if a similar move of God were to happen in the Arabian Peninsula?” Dr. Iman Santoso, director of an Indonesian national prayer network called LINK, indicated that prayer for the Arabian Peninsula would affect the rest of the world. Other participants agreed, noting that most Islamic radicals in Indonesia were linked to Arabia. Today that youth pastor is serving as the North American coordinator of PTAP.

Believers’ Responses Vary. The PTAP highlights Jesus’ teaching to “love your ‘enemies’ and to pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44).

A recent concert of prayer in the US included praying for a number of suspected terrorists from the Arabian Peninsula. After the event, one layman who took the PTAP prayer guide stated that he was a military man and that prayer was definitely not his first response. “But when I looked at what the Bible says, I had to think again,” he said. “I confessed what was wrong with my heart. I’ll be praying for them.”

Responses to PTAP vary. At a September 11th memorial, one man was offered material to help him pray thru the Arabian Peninsula. He said simply, “Pray? Not pray!” indicating that he preferred a different response.

In light of current hostilities, the North American coordinator noted, “Conflict is to be expected, but the Apostle Paul, who often faced situations that could produce anxiety, reminded the Philippians that prayer and thanksgiving are the keys to peace in every situation-not just understanding the source of a conflict and planning an appropriate response.”

Multi-Level Cooperation. Most of the material in the twelve month PTAP prayer booklet was written by workers on the field from every part of the Peninsula. The material was then compiled, edited and published in Colorado. Video footage was cautiously shot in the Peninsula and then edited at Caleb Project studios. The sending ministries participating include AWM, Campus Crusade for Christ, Christar, the Christian & Missionary Alliance, Frontiers, International Teams, Interserve, MECO, OM, Southern Baptists, Strategic Resource Group, TEAM, WEC and YWAM.

The challenge to actively seek international, multi-language involvement is paying off. Volunteers have translated the booklet into Korean, Chinese, German and Indonesian. One of the translators for Chinese plans to distribute copies inside China through house church networks. The Czech translation is posted on the Web. The Melanesian World Missions Association has begun translation into Tok Pisin, the national language of Papua New Guinea. The APP also plans to partner with Indian national ministries for translation into three Indian languages since there are also more than a million Indians in the Arabian Peninsula.

Through prayer, God is presently protecting one woman in the U.A.E. from her husband, as her Christian friends pray for her. Though her husband has beaten her, threatened to divorce her and take her children, and has locked her in her home, she has finally reached out to Jesus in prayer to protect and comfort her.

Join in prayer for this woman and all those living in the Arabian Peninsula.

Mert Hershberger is the North American coordinator for PTAP. To translate the PTAP materials into your language, to assist in making materials available internationally, or for more information, contact the PTAP team at or e-mail PTAP@srginc. org.