Week of Prayer for International Missions Unites Churches November 29–December 6

The 2026 Week of Prayer for International Missions will bring Southern Baptist churches and households together from November 29 through December 6 for eight days of focused intercession. The International Mission Board’s official event page describes the observance as a response to the spiritual need of people who have not heard the gospel and an opportunity to pray for missionaries serving in each region. The national schedule can be used in Sunday worship, small groups, missions teams, family devotions, or personal prayer, giving congregations with different calendars and capacities a common framework. Each day introduces a missionary family or ministry context and provides a specific geographic focus. The published sequence moves through Peru, ministry among Deaf peoples, the Horn of Africa, Poland, South Asia, England, Central Asia, and Kenya. That structure helps participants move beyond a vague request to bless missionaries by learning about particular places, communities, challenges, and gospel opportunities. The downloadable prayer guide combines short field stories with daily prompts, while an email option can place a prayer request in a participant’s inbox each morning. A dated October 1 announcement from the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention confirms the November 29–December 6 schedule and connects the week with the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. The event is nationwide in scope because churches across Southern Baptist life can participate wherever they gather, while the official materials also make it accessible online to people who cannot attend an in-person meeting. No travel is required; the essential commitment is to make room each day to pray with informed attention for missionaries, local believers, people with little gospel access, and the advance of Christ’s church.

Church leaders can use the Week of Prayer as more than a seasonal announcement by preparing a simple plan that connects worship, discipleship, and missions generosity. A congregation might introduce the week during the November 29 service, place the official guide in adult and student classes, assign one daily story to each small group, and invite families to pray at home. Mission teams can connect the featured requests with workers they already support, while pastors can explain how prayer and giving serve the same Great Commission purpose without reducing either to a fundraising technique. The IMB states that 100 percent of gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering directly support overseas missionaries, and the official resources encourage believers to pray before they give. That order is pastorally important: prayer centers attention on God’s work, the needs of people, and the calling of the church before financial goals enter the conversation. The event can also widen a congregation’s imagination by introducing ministry among Deaf communities and regions that rarely appear in ordinary news coverage. Participants should take care not to treat the featured missionaries or peoples as distant curiosities; the goal is informed, humble intercession and partnership in the gospel. Let the Nations Be Glad!: The Supremacy of God in Missions by John Piper, in its 30th anniversary edition, is a fitting companion because it grounds Christian mission in worship, Scripture, prayer, suffering, and the glory of God. A practical way to attend is to download the guide in advance, choose a regular daily prayer time, involve every age group, and conclude the week by recording what the congregation learned and how it will continue praying. The Week of Prayer offers a disciplined national rhythm for churches to remember that global missions depends on God and belongs to the whole body of Christ.