Prayer is the fuel of global missions. No book, ministry, or resource has done more to mobilize God's people to pray than Operation World. And so, it is with great delight that I commend to you the ministry and the resources of Operation World. The tools that have developed will mobilize immeasurably more prayer, bringing the latest research to the global body of Christ. What a service they perform for the global church and for the least-reached peoples of the world.
Having translated several editions of Operation World into German and having used Operation World as a prayer companion in all kind of contexts over two decades, I know a lot even about small countries, things newspaper readers never will know, names of people groups in the tropic rain forest, names of languages in Indonesia, the real needs of the people and the condition of their churches. I always find the information in OW relevant and valid. If someone wants to stay in tune with what God is doing in the world and start praying for the ends of the world, OW is the best place to start.
I was first introduced to Operation World when I was in college, over thirty years ago. I am grateful that their mission has been to keep us mindful of the need for Christ globally. It is so easy to get fixated on our local problems and lose sight of the billions of people Christ commanded us to reach.
Operation World is one of the most important Christian books in the world because it mobilises the church to reliably informed intercession. As a long-haired student I kept a previous edition by my bedside and prayed through almost every nation. Today, I recommend Operation World wherever I go. Jason Mandryk and his team have done the Body of Christ a great service through years of research, analysis and impressive attention to detail. Just as Generals need military intelligence and doctors check the pulse, so pastors, missionaries and intercessors will want this latest edition of Operation World on their bookshelves. Or better still beside their beds.
Outside of the Bible, no book has had a greater practical impact on my personal prayer life than Operation World. God has used this book to open my eyes and the eyes of the church I pastor to the needs of the world and the greatness of the God who desires to make His glory known in the world. I eagerly welcome this new edition and wholeheartedly recommend it.
How grateful we are for Operation World for curating such massive data for the specific purpose of facilitating the Church to pray with a global vision! Operation World—along with the Bible—was a constant presence in our ministry’s formative years. Comprehensive yet laser-focused in its aim to foster informed and precise intercession, it has helped countless people and ministries to respond to God’s heart for the nations.
Operation World has been a significant tool to mobilize prayer among believers throughout the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world since its early years! I remember how at church meetings and gatherings of all kinds people would rush to the book tables to get their copies. It was used at small local church prayer meetings, and in large meetings. I believe it was the most important prayer mobilization tool for people and churches in our region ever.
The greatest contribution to effective intercession for the nations ever published is Operation World. This comprehensive guide is the first source our ministry goes to in gathering information for practical, focused, intercessory prayer for what God is doing globally. There is simply nothing comparable. To pray through this fact-filled guide annually is to become a true missionary of prayer to the nations of the world!
For years I have used Operation World to pray for people in every tongue, tribe and nation. Operation World is a time-honored and well-tested global manual of prayer which will provide for you everything you need to bring the nations of the world before the throne of God. It will expand your heart, vision and passion for the peoples of the world and God’s deep desire to reach those in the darkest corners with His help and hope.
I have been involved with this book for over 35 years as a part of my spiritual DNA. A few words come to mind, first of all ‘information’: a wealth of information. Secondly, ‘vision’: this book is going to help you increase your vision for the people of the world and for how God is working across the world. Third, ‘prayer’: it’s going to help you in your ministry of prayer. A lot of people have told me how this book has completely changed their viewpoint and their way of life through prayer. This is probably one of the most important missionary tools in the entire history of missions.
Only in heaven will be known the effect that prayer has had in speeding the work of world evangelisation. We may discover that it was the most powerful force exerted by the church in making a difference in this world. But to pray powerfully we must be informed. Throughout modern missions, innovative Christians have found ways to inform people praying for the world. Few have been as effective and useful as Operation World. I am so happy that a new edition is being released.
Operation World has remained a veritable source of mission information about the status of the remaining task and a tool that brings together in one volume detailed update that inspires passion for the unreached and stirs up hearts to intercede. There are also illustrations and stories which proffer transferable strategies and techniques for engaging the task as well as highlight strategic networking patterns. The previous editions have been both mission handbook and missiological compass which had contributed immensely in advancing the cause of missions especially in the global south. I am very much expectant about greater impact from this current edition and therefore strongly recommend it to the seriously minded mission community.
With its international network of ministries operating in every continent, Langham Partnership International has found Operation World to be an invaluable source of background information on every country we work in - and many where we don’t yet but hope to as God opens doors in the future. It has provided an objective platform of information that combines well with our own experiential perceptions in the task of strategic planning. We eagerly look forward to accessing the information in this updated version.
No other tool has impacted WEC as a mission agency more than Operation World. The data has guided our strategies and new advances and the prayers stimulated by this resource have been God’s tool to bring transformation into lives and people groups. God has truly used Operation World to shape us as a mission and to change the world.
As a producer of reference works on global Christianity that usually are destined for library collections, I greatly anticipate the arrival of a new edition of Operation World. It provides an affordable, compact, and portable guide to the world while maintaining high standards for research and carefully-crafted analysis as a backdrop for prayer. Enthusiastically recommended!
Operation World is an ‘out of the stands and onto the playing field’ kind of book. Other than Scripture, Operation World has the potential to have the greatest impact on the life of a believer of any book ever published. It uniquely reveals the heart-throb of God for the world and His unfolding drama of redeeming followers of Jesus from every tribe, tongue, nation and people. Be prepared for a radical transformation in how you view the world and your Christian life!
The day after I became a Christian in the 1980s, the friend who led me to Christ took me to a bookstore and bought two books for me - The Bible and Operation World. The Scriptures helped me gain God’s heart for the nations, and Operation World helped focus my life on where and how I could strategically serve Him. Later we founded a ministry and have produced a number of books profiling Asia’s unreached people groups. The Body of Christ owes much to Jason and his team for their hard work. I am glad to endorse Operation World to all believers who are interested in seeing the Great Commission completed and the Name of Jesus glorified throughout the earth.
Operation World is incendiary. The information is solid and engaging. But what may surprise you is the sense of anticipation that God really is advancing and fulfilling His purposes in every people and place. That spark of hope makes it easy to escape the boredom of your own concerns and pray with sincerity and clarity for distant lands and peoples. It’s like building a fire with wood already soaked in gasoline.
Operation World continues to be the most informative, visionary prayer guide to missions throughout the world today. It helps believers everywhere to expand their vision and pray knowledgeably about the critical needs in every country. It is making a tremendous contribution to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Few documents combine the awesome effect of touching individuals, movements and nations. Operation World has also changed the way the Church in Africa, especially IFES students, prays for the world and its people. By facilitating global intercession Operation World has contributed immensely in provoking a global vision for the world-wide Church. This all-important fuel-for-prayer document has no doubt helped many, including my family and I, to pray for the world in an informed and innovative manner. Do not miss the opportunity to change the world through transformational prayer - OW provides an excellent road-map.
OW has became a very special most-used effective authentic encyclopedic referring tool for even the newly born first-generation churches to become World Christians. OW has conscientized, prompted all missional followers of Christ, drawing them out of parochialism to envision the world with a new passion and strategy to communicate the Gospel to the globalised lost world to follow Christ. OW birthed many mission movements by its passionate appeal and correct information. I warmly appreciate and recommend this new Operation World to move us forward with the Gospel afresh across the globe more than ever. May you be a changed person after using the new OW to proclaim the Good News of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Operation World changed our lives! In 1999, my wife and I began praying for a country each night in Operation World. God opened our hearts wide for lost people especially in the Middle East. Every night as we would read about Iran, Israel and other nations, our hearts were gripped with the need to reach these countries for Christ. Within two years, God called us to leave senior pastoring a local church in the Colorado Springs area and to go to the very places that we had been praying for! So as you pray through Operation World, just remember, God may radically change your world to reach His world.
For many years, Voice of the Martyrs has relied on Operation World’s meticulously researched information in our efforts to help persecuted believers and motivate Christians in America to pray. In our ministry, we are constantly urging our readers to pray, because we know the power of prayer. Operation World provides detailed, first-rate information that is not readily available elsewhere. This information is invaluable for understanding the circumstances of Christians around the world and for praying in a more focused manner for specific situations. I am grateful for people who pray for the nations. It is my privilege to recommend the 2010 edition of Operation World. I hope it will encourage you to continue praying for God’s work around the world.
Operation World, since its inception, has been a great gift to God’s global church. It offers a clear concise update on the state of each country in the world with some helpful prayer points. It is a wonderful resource which has been widely used among university students around the world and has been a great means of increasing their global awareness. I use it myself. It is an invaluable resource. It is one of the best resources I know to enable pastors and Christian leaders to help those in their care to become better informed and, as a result, engaged in contributing to taking the gospel to the ends of the earth by praying, supporting or going.
For decades, Operation World has been the most significant book in the global missions movement. This edition continues that unparalleled tradition. Read this volume with an open heart. You will learn spiritual intelligence on what God is doing around the globe. More than that, however, pray through this book. You will be a partner with the Lord in advancing his kingdom against all the powers of darkness.
Operation World grabs your heart and brings you to your knees on behalf of a world in need of Jesus. Meticulously researched, it represents one of the finest resources anywhere for those engaged in the Great Commission. Next to my Bible, it’s one of the first tools I reach for in mobilizing believers for mission - whether in Bulawayo or Boise. Let it expand your world...and inspire you to touch the nations!
This longstanding and trusted resource cuts through the fog to provide an up-to-date snap-shot of what in the world God is doing among the peoples. Operation World will become one of your most valuable books for understanding the nations and how to pray for them! Get it, but don’t shelve it. Use it!
Content taken or adapted from Operation World, 7th Edition (2010) and Pray for the World (2015). Both books are published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.