A report in late September identified prayer and responding to local needs as two of the most important factors in seeing youth mis-sional objectives met.
The study found that prayer makes a significant difference to a mission’s success, identifying clear links between teams that met their mission objectives and those who dedicated time to prayer for the work. Alongside the obvious benefits of God answering prayers, respondents also reported the positive psychological impact of knowing others were supportive of the work. Prayer was also cited as an effective way of increasing support for the mission, providing involvement opportunities for those who couldn’t help practically.
Local sensitivity
The research also discovered that mission initiatives sensitive to specific local issues were usually most successful, which presents a challenge to many well-established programmes that adopt a more generic approach to youth work.
