Prayer guide
How to Pray for a Mission Team: A Seven-Day Guide
Seven days of prayer for a medical mission team — preparation, travel, the clinic, the vision table, the pastors, the Gospel, and the return home — with Scripture for each day and printable prayer cards.
Don Nichols puts prayer beside money, not behind it: "Just as important as financial support are your prayers." This guide walks a week of prayer for a mission team, one day for each stage of a trip, with a verse to pray and the specific things Don has asked people to pray for.
Use it for the Nichols team, or for any team your church sends. Print the cards, set the lock-screen wallpaper, and pray it through.
What Don asks people to pray for
“We ask you to pray for the safety of our team, for wisdom as medical decisions are made, for strength and encouragement for the pastors who faithfully serve their communities throughout the year, and most importantly, that every person we meet will experience the love of Christ and respond to the truth of the Gospel.”
Four requests: safety, wisdom, strength for the pastors, and salvation. Every day below points at one of them.
The seven days
The full guide — a focus, a verse, and prayer points for each day — is laid out below and on the printable cards. Day one is the months of preparation; day seven is the team coming home and the work that keeps going after they leave.
How to use this with a church
The seven days
Day 1
The preparation
Months before a team leaves, hundreds of items are purchased, sorted, inventoried, labeled, translated, packed and weighed. Pray for the unseen work.
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” Psalm 127:1
- For the supplies to be provided in full — every Bible, every kit, every pair of glasses.
- For the volunteers packing trunks and writing inventory sheets, that nothing is missed.
- For the team's health and their families in the weeks before departure.
Day 2
The journey
Trunks checked through the airline, flights, and customs officials who decide whether hundreds of pounds of supplies reach the villages. Pray for safe travel.
“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” Psalm 121:8
- For the safety of the team on every leg of the trip.
- For favor with airline staff and customs officers, and for every trunk to arrive.
- For rest on the first night in-country before the clinic opens.
Day 3
The clinic
Work begins early and often continues until the last patient has been seen. Providers evaluate, pharmacists dispense, volunteers register and assist. Pray for wisdom.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5
- For wisdom as medical decisions are made — Don's own request.
- For stamina in the heat, and patience when the line is long.
- For every patient to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect.
Day 4
The vision table
A sixty-cent pair of reading glasses lets someone read again, sew, study God's Word, complete paperwork, or keep earning a living. Pray for the small gifts.
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40
- For the right pair of glasses to be on the table for each person who comes.
- For hygiene kits and medications to meet real needs in the homes they go to.
- That the person who reads clearly again would read Scripture first.
Day 5
The pastors
The team leaves; the village pastor stays. Many serve with little formal training and few resources. Pray for their strength and encouragement.
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9
- For strength and encouragement for the pastors who serve their communities all year — Don's own request.
- For the study Bibles and practical gifts to be used for years.
- For the friendships between the team and local churches to deepen.
Day 6
The Gospel
While physical needs are met, the evangelism team prays with families, gives Bibles and shares Christ. Pray, most importantly, for salvation.
“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:15
- That every person the team meets will experience the love of Christ and respond to the truth of the Gospel — Don's most important request.
- For open doors in every conversation at the end of the line.
- For those baptized, that they would be discipled by the local church.
Day 7
Coming home
The clinic closes and the team flies home, but the Bibles stay in the homes, the glasses keep working, and the pastors keep preaching. Pray for what continues.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
- For safe travel home and for the team's families.
- For the Bibles, glasses and kits to keep serving long after the trip ends.
- For the next trip — the supplies, the team, and the people who will give.
Use it
Tools that go with this guide
Questions people ask
- What should I pray for a mission team?
- Don Nichols asks for four things: the safety of the team, wisdom as medical decisions are made, strength and encouragement for the local pastors, and that every person the team meets will experience the love of Christ and respond to the Gospel.
- How long is this prayer guide?
- Seven days — one for each stage of a trip, from preparation to the return home. Each day has a verse and three or four specific prayer points.
- Can I print it?
- Yes. The prayer cards tool prints all seven days on a single sheet, and there are phone wallpapers for each day's verse.
Everything on this page is given away free in Belize.
Somebody back home pays for it first. If this guide was useful, that is how you stand in it.
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More guides
Packing guide
What to Pack for a Medical Mission Trip: The Trunk System
Hygiene kit guide
How to Make a Hygiene Kit for a Mission Trip (About $3 Each)
Vision ministry
Reading Glasses on the Mission Field: The $0.60 Gift
All guides and tools live on the Resources page. Every fact about the mission on them comes from what Don has published at www.donandpatti.com.