The production for the new edition of Operation World is now ready to begin. Operation World is an encyclopaedic prayer manual which sets a year-round prayer schedule for every country around the world along with detailed information about the background of that country and current challenges in the propagation of the Gospel.
Operation World was initiated by the UK-based international mission agency Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (WEC) in collaboration with Global Mapping International, an inter-denominational missionary research agency dedicated in serving evangelical mission ministry leaders in the developing world.
The publication of Operation World is a massive project specialising in global mission research which supports strategic prayer. The last edition was published in 2001 with both a print-copy and CD-Rom version. The entire book has been also published in portions on its official website (www.operationworld.org).
Currently, there are a lack of team members to work on the new edition of Operation World. Only one member, Jason Mandryk of WEC, from the team of six that completed the 2001 edition will move onto this new edition with Patrick Johnstone, the originator of the project. Many other IT gurus, web designers and programmers, readers, filers, administrators are urgently needed in order for the team to work efficiently.
In a recent WEC newsletter, Jason Mandryk said, "Few people are aware that this remarkable prayer guide for every nation on earth is a WEC production and has been since the late 1970s..."
Cumulatively, in all of its editions, over 2 million copies of Operation World have been printed in 10 languages. Mandryk pointed out that "the proliferation of news on the Internet and a prevalence of an up-to-the-minute attitude regarding information may lead to the question the need for a book that is published only once every 7-8 years."
Mandryk explained the importance and vision of the book, "My response is that there are two approaches in praying for the nations. We can pray responsively, ‘at’ or ‘about’ specific situations. This is important, but responsive prayers can become ‘band-aid’ prayers. The other way is directively, ‘towards’ God’s kingdom being manifest long-term. This is strategic praying or, as some might say, prophetic praying."
Operation World contains plenty of information for specific praying and therefore is a very good resource for supporting strategic prayer directed towards the advancement of the Kingdom of God. The whole picture of global mission can also be traced from the book.
Mandryk said, "...it takes years of painstakingly gathering information and building up contacts around the globe to gain a long-term perspective and genuine breadth of knowledge. The combination of statistics, news and the valued insights of long-term workers and national Christian leaders in every nation, are all factors which make Operation World a unique and authoritative repository of information to guide intercessors around the globe."
Another inestimable value of Operation World is that few others are monitoring the global missionary movement and the growth (and in some cases, decline) of the global church, according to Mandryk. This is also why Mandryk said "WEC is one of the best-kept secrets in the world of missions."
Don Carson, Professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, says "For those interested in praying for the cause of Christ all around the world, there is no resource to be compared to this!"
WEC is now recruiting team members for the new edition of Operation World. For those who are interested, please contact Jason Mandryk at jason@operationworld.org.
