Throughout 2023, North Carolina Baptists have repeated opportunities to pray specifically for unreached people groups across the state, N.C. Baptist missionaries and church planters.

The yearlong “Praying for the Nations” initiative is two-fold. The first 30 days of the prayer emphasis – from Jan. 16 to Feb. 14 – will focus on praying for 30 unreached people groups in North Carolina. Unreached people groups share the same ethnicity and language and claim a home country that is less than 2% evangelical Christian. These groups include Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, Japanese and more. 

The remainder of the year – from Feb. 15 to Dec. 31 – will focus on praying for N.C. Baptist missionaries and church planters. A prayer guide for the year categorizes missionaries and church planters according to the regions in which they serve, including North Carolina, the United States and Canada, the Americas, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and the Asia Pacific Rim.

“Prayer is our primary strategy, and we believe the local church is God’s ‘plan A’ for taking the gospel to the unreached,” said Todd Unzicker, N.C. Baptist executive director-treasurer. “Praying for the nations gives N.C. Baptists opportunities throughout all of 2023 to live this out.

“This is about members of local churches praying for the nations that God has brought right into our communities and for the people we’ve sent out to plant churches and to serve across the state, the country and around the globe.”

N.C. Baptists can sign up for weekly emails that will include additional links and resources. The prayer guide will include descriptions of each people group, missionary and their family, as well as specific prayer points to guide people through a year of prayer. It is designed for participants to follow at their own pace, as they focus their hearts on the nations.

Individuals and churches can also download resources, including digital prayer cards and slides, for Sunday worship services.

To commit to praying for the nations in 2023, sign up at PrayNC.org, or text “PrayNC” to (919) 925-6525. Individuals may also download the N.C. Baptist mobile app and follow @ncbaptist on social media to keep up with weekly prayer prompts and more information.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – This article originally appeared in the December issue of the Biblical Recorder magazine.)