Years ago, Finishing the Task featured a giant world floor map. They asked us to stand or kneel on a part of the world about which we cared (or would like to change). It was moving. More recently, Achieve Alliance Vision Weekend did the same – and this time, for some reason, it impacted me even more. So we set about to make a floor map that we could take with us on the road, so to speak. We’ve used it at a Perspectives class, a Day of Prayer and Fasting at Team Expansion’s home office, and for a Home School cooperative — and, in each case, it has impacted the participants deeply. So how would you do it? Click “Read more” to find out how.
First, decide on your graphic. You want a vector graphic (look for file extensions like VG, AI, EPS, PDF, CDR, WMF, EMF, and DXF) — not a low resolution jpg or gif file. Vector graphics will “scale” for the large-map experience.
Second, feature the data or the “look” that you want to emphasize. If you’re going for a classic world map of countries, try something like https://www.vectorworldmap.com/ . (Make sure you choose a format like AI or EPS. In this case, “AI” doesn’t stand for something CHATGPT gave you. In this case, it stands for Adobe Illustrator format.) Pay attention to the “Projection.” Remember, if you choose Mercator or Miller, it will accentuate Europe at the expense of other lands. Robinson format is designed to balance reality with projection.
Next, you need to look for a large format printing house. Unless you have a favorite, you might as well go with Commerce Color in St. Louis ( https://www.commercecolor.com/ ). They’re fast – and they ship anywhere. Just email Marsha at ma****@***********or.com . Turn-around time is one week. We suggest sizing your map to be roughly 28 feet wide. They’ll default to a high quality vinyl that will be durable and colorful (as long as you never wear shoes on it). Tell your participants that you can only use “sock feet.”
Cost will vary – but expect the price to come in around $625 or so including shipping it to you. Weight will be 35 pounds or so (easily shipped).
When you organize prayer meetings with your map, play some “soaking instrumental worship music” in the background. (Search for this on YouTube, for example.) Give them some kind of prayer guide – depending on what you want to emphasize. You could collect your own prayer requests – or use a resource like Operation World ( https://operationworld.org/prayer-resources/countries-alphabetically/ ).
If you decide to try to print a map like this, please comment below regarding your own experience. Let us know which map file you choose, which printing house you use, and how you guided your pray-ers. Good luck praying for the world!
Doug and Tina
Floor maps are brilliant!! We have been using them for about 12 years and have maps for different regions of the world, 1040 window, SE Asia, Arabian Peninsula, Near East, Maldives etc etc. We use Commercial Colour and Marsha- they are always so helpful! We came across the idea when we joined with a House of Prayer in Malta during a 12 day 24/7 prayer focus for the nations around the Mediterranean. How much easier it was to pray for countries when there was a great visual on the floor in front of you!
We have enjoyed running prayer events in schools and colleges using these maps- prayer cannot every be boring when you have these visual aids!
Having lived in Asia for 30-odd years, I’ve observed that in many countries it’s very uncultural (even strongly offensive) to point your feet at somebody. I would think that standing on a map of somebody’s country could potentially be seen as a real insult.
For that reason, I’d rather see a large map on the wall that people can lay their hands on (or cut-outs of countries that people can hold, and build together like a jigsaw as they learn about particular regions). In addition, as an older person with mobility challenges, reaching down to the floor to touch the map with my hand would be really difficult.