Intercessory missionaries are those who have committed to prayer and fasting as their first work of ministry. Together, their primary function is to maintain a spirit of prayer literally night and day, which dynamically shifts the atmosphere over cities and increases the effectiveness of outreach for the Church. Intercessory missionaries raise support through partner development (click to donate).
We are all familiar with missionaries who focus on preaching or mercy deeds (providing food, medical care, etc), but the Lord is also calling forth a different kind of missionary who is also essential to completing the Great Commission. The foundational example of this type of missionary is found in the Book of Luke:
"Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." (Luke 2:36-38)
Anna earnestly prayed night and day in the temple, fasting for over sixty years just prior to Jesus' lowly First Advent. Anna was also the first evangelist that we see in the New Testament - she knew with clarity the identity of the Messiah at the beginning of His life and proclaimed His coming. Likewise, before Jesus' glorious Second Advent, the Holy Spirit is raising up ministers like Anna to pray, fast, and preach the gospel in a much greater way. This "Anna Calling" transcends gender and age, where men and women young and old live as intercessory missionaries laboring for the fullness of the Great Harvest.
God promises to release speedy justice into the earth to both avenge and bless His elect through their persistent prayers. An intercessory missionary is one who has been divinely "set on the wall" of intercession to give the Lord no rest until His will is fully manifested into every sphere of life. In His grace, this missionary lifestyle operates as a selfless posture before God and others, embracing the call to Jesus' prophetic plan for the Church in the last days.