Pray that the new government will be favorable towards the local believers who are already known and still live here in their country. Pray for their protection and encouragement and the the Lord would add to their number!
Week of prayer and fasting
Pray that the Spirit of God will guide the body as they take one week of prayer and fasting. We pray that broken marriages within the body of Christ will be restored and the parties involved will understand the true meaning of Biblical Marriage. Recently one of the daughters of a follower who we also knew was a follower was married to a ‘cousin’. Pray for this family, that they will understand the true meaning of love, forgiveness and identity in Christ.
Spiritual conversations
Pray that the relationships established from our ministries will be bridges for spiritual conversations. Ask God to bring seeking friends to us.
Bear much fruit
Diaspora in Washington DC: Please continue to pray for new Christians, for their deepening faith in Jesus, that they will bear much fruit. Pray that they will choose to spend time in God’s word and with God’s people.
Faith and Persecution
Pray for the seeds of the Gospel to germinate among the Bara. In the region of Analamary, we have seen 8 churches born. Pray that God will move to other regions and more Bara will come to Christ.
Pray for the Bara who are converting to Jesus. For the first time we are starting to see some kind of persecution against the Christians. Pray for strength, faith and boldness to stand for Christ.
Survey
We are starting this year with a survey into the fourteen communities in Shuwaia-land. We feel this will give us a better understanding of the entire region and to see what God is doing there.
So far we have been able to visit two of these communities. Thank God that we have been warmly welcomed. Pray for provision so we can visit the other communities.
Pray God will help us see what He wants us to see and to labour in love.
One of the communities we visited shared the need for a school to help their children.
Pray God will help us to see how we can respond to this need and for others to serve well for His name’s sake.
There seems to be an open door in the entire Shuwaia area now. Pray we all key in to what He is doing right now and join Him in building His church.
Transformation and blessing
Pray for transformation among our youth. May the Lord renew their minds and break strongholds.
Pray for the women ministry, for spiritual growth and blessing on their families.
SLM gathering- travel dangers
Pray for SLM annual strategic meeting to held on 19-24th Jan 2025 in Northern Kenyan for our teams from Darfur Refugees, TNJ, Torit, Central Equitoria, Ethiopia, Eastern Congo, Uganda and Kenya and urban missions; about 50 leaders are gathering. Pray as we evaluate 2024 and plan for 2025. Our goal is still to see 700 churches planted.
News Flash: Our team is traveling from various locations to attend the gathering in Northern Kenya. We ask for your urgent prayers, especially for the Sudanese team traveling from Juba, led by Majir. There has been unrest and incidents of revenge in their area since yesterday, creating significant challenges. Please pray for:
• Protection over all team members as they journey.
• Peace and safety in Juba and all along the travel routes.
• God’s presence and guidance during this time of uncertainty.
Rachel update
Pray for our island sister ‘Rachel’ as she continues to face opposition to her faith in her village. One man is frequently insulting Rachel and Jesus over the mosque loudspeaker in the evenings. Remarkably, Rachel isn’t bothered by this, but she prays for this man and others in her village to have a change of heart toward Jesus. May this man and Rachel’s entire village have dreams and visions that lead them to Truth.
Evangelistic retreat
Please pray for an evangelistic retreat that we are having this weekend. We have 40 people confirmed and 20 are nonbelievers (culturally Catholic, Muslims, Buddhist/undefined). We know the Lord wants to work in a mighty way and the enemy does not want that. Please pray specifically for a Saharawi friend and her two daughters who will be joining us. Please pray the Holy Spirit works in their hearts and they can receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
If you’d like to sign up to pray for a prayer slot during the retreat, please follow link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E2rEyzmKNXoud2_VeAH9bh9WjV-TnMAL2C3qNfR1HDo/edit?tab=t.0
Sweep away fear
Pray that each believer would be ‘alert and keep on praying and that words would be given them to fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.’ Pray especially for those who are afraid to tell their closest family members, that their transformed lives would open opportunities and fear would be swept away.
Curiosity grow
Several different groups gathered (mix of followers and seekers) to read the creation to Christ stories over the holiday season. Pray for these truths to be recalled and considered by these seekers. May their curiosity about Jesus grow.
Pray for the Toposa Church
We are witnessing great things among the disciple leaders as they walk in obedience to the Lord. Recently, the Toposa Apostolic team planted 14 new churches in closed areas. God is moving powerfully through this team as they share the Jesus Film, strengthen existing churches, baptize new believers, and encourage the body of Christ to live in obedience. Please pray for them.
Prisoners’ verdict prayer time
After almost 2 years in prison (from March/April 2023), we were recently told the verdict for the believers jailed for their faith will be given February 4th. Please join us in praying for their release. Here is the link to invite you to join us in praying/fasting Feb 2-4 for the believers imprisoned in Libya. Feel free to pass this on to others who you know will pray with us. We will be turning to Jesus as our Advocate, our Intercessor, and our Deliverer.
https://pray4libya.pray4movement.org/
Building community
Diaspora in Finland: We are seeking to build a multicultural Gospel -centered community. We ask prayers that the Lord will continue to guide us. Pray for deepened relationships among Christians who have been coming. Pray for open hearts for non-Christians who have been coming, and also prayer that they will continue to come. And pray for wisdom to connect and build relationships with new people who we then could invite to this community.
Lies be broken
Pray for « Dwayne » who loves to debate the Quran and the Bible. He consistently and aggressively attacks the Bible and the deity of Jesus. While at the same time, he sees no fault in the Quran. Please pray for Dwayne to have an encounter with Jesus through a dream or a vision. Pray for the bonds and lies of Islam in Dwayne’s life to be broken in Jesus’s name.
Faith journey
Diaspora in Hong Kong: Pray for L’s faith; she acknowledges that Christ is within her, but she insists that faith is something personal and belongs to her alone. Pray for God’s guidance in her faith journey, that she may gain more confidence in following Jesus and share her faith with others.
Spiritual Formation
Pray for those believers in Kaabong district who are being discipled as lay leaders. Some recently participated in training at Lotim. The first year students are learning about spiritual formation through spiritual disciplines. Pray that they will grow in their faith and be able to help others to grow in their faith, and to lead people to Jesus.
New people and new believers
Praise God for new people our teammate has been introduced to and that we are sharing with at the hospital – Ab’, Mu’ and Ma’.
Pray for the new believing family – S and A, her sister M and S’s sister. Pray for deeper understanding. S needs more surgery on his leg but has a shortage of money – pray God provides for him.
Pray for other contacts we have as a team – pray that God leads them to the truth.
Breakthrough
Diaspora in Oregon: Praise God for opportunities to share traditions and celebrate Christmas with our new neighbor friends. And what a great time to share the hope we have in Jesus. Pray that the seeds planted will grow in the hearts of those who heard. Many of our friends and teammates are currently in the midst of a 3 day prayer and fasting for our refugee community here in Oregon. Praying for a breakthrough in the lives of many who are struggling. Please join us in prayer.
Praying for persecutors
Please pray for the believers in Imu’ village, just next to us. We thank God for their faith and that their lives are reflecting that they worship God above all else. However that has come at a cost. At first it was threatening, then “fining” them saucepans, clothes, and chickens but twice recently they have been beaten. Their main offense has been refusing to go collect bamboo for the landlord and refusing some of the ceremonies associated with their age group (all cultural practices that don’t honor God). They respond with compassion to their persecutors asking God to, “Forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing”, and they pray their persecutors, like Saul/Paul, will also encounter Christ. Pray that people would see Christ in our brothers! Pray that these faithful brothers would heal from their injuries and their hearts would be strengthened.
Scripture calendars
Diaspora in England: Praise that we were able to distribute 50 Scripture calendars to our Muslim contacts in the city. Pray the Word would speak to many and draw them to the Savior.
Pray for a positive start to the new term as classes have just started. Pray for open hearts and students wanting to explore Truth.
Projects
Keep praying for the Jiye church that the Lord will sustain them and guide them in obedience. We have seen much fruit recently. The government is currently working on a large dam project at Lopeat. Meanwhile, the translation team, led by Amoni, has completed the book of Jonah and the book of Mark, and they are now working on the book of Luke. They are also preparing for the Jesus Film. Keep praying for the team, the disciples, and the leaders- Loumwa and Amoni. Your prayers are greatly appreciated for Jiye people.
Visits
Diaspora in Ontario: Pray for us as we make some annual reconnection visits with S. families and friends who’ve moved away or moved on since we first met them. Pray that these visits will be fruitful.
God’s work
Pray for God’s work in students’ lives as they begin the Superior 2 (NT) class.
Pray for women to come to the upper-level English Club and wisdom and creative ideas for how to use the time together.
Christmas camp follow-up
Diaspora in France: Our Swiss Christmas Camp from Dec. 22-Dec. 27 was a wonderful time of getting to know the students and sharing how Christmas is our grateful celebration of all that God did when He sent Jesus to live with us on earth! God answered so many prayers and kept everyone safe and healthy throughout the week! The Lord blessed us with many fruitful conversations with students, and many seeds were planted. Some of the students had never heard anything about God or Jesus or Christmas! Thank you for your prayers, we saw the Lord moving!
Pray for the follow-up with some of the students who came to Camp and pray that the Lord would develop a hunger and thirst for His Truth in their hearts.
Prayer for Sudan
Father God, we cry out for peace in Sudan and an end to this conflict. May it not give extremists a renewed foothold in the country. Encourage believers at this time, particularly those who are despondent, weary and hurt. Pour fresh hope into their hearts. Be a place of refuge for Your children, meet their every need and strengthen their faith. During this time of uncertainty and unrest, help our brothers and sisters to be beacons of light that draw others to You. Amen. (Open Doors)
Openness to the Word
Diaspora in Michigan: Pray for continued openness and receptivity to the Word. Some good signs have been shown, and we would love to see a growing hunger and thirst from both Arabs and Afghans we interact with.
Pray for the re-start of the conversation café January 10th that it would be well attended and people would be open to discuss spiritual topics.
Hearing and sentencing
Thank you for praying with us.
*The hearing did take place.
*The lawyers presented the case.
*The defendants were all present.
These are actually quite big milestones. It has been a long road to even get to having people show up and hear the case, but the final result of the hearings was to declare that the verdict would be given on Feb 4, 2025.
Please pray for mercy and for all the prisoners imprisoned for their faith to be released unconditionally.
Come to know
Several of us are reading the Word with different locals. Praise Him for these opportunities and pray that many will come to know the true God.
CBS
Praise God for the recently completed course on how to lead Ccmmunity Bible Studies (CBS) in our churches. Twenty-one leaders (pastors and elders) came to the Malewa River campsite and received instruction on how to use CBS in their churches. Pray for the leaders who will be starting Bible studies in the new year. And pray for a follow up seminar that is being planned to teach this type of Bible study to adults who are not yet able to read.
Learn from God’s Word
The Didinga New Testament with the Old Testament books of Genesis, Exodus 1-24, Ruth and Jonah was dedicated in March of 2018. There are audio files for these books and the Jesus film. Pray for this people group to read and learn from God’s Word and be taught. May they see in the lives of true Christians the great light of God’s plan for how to live their lives and know his love.
Work continues
The translation of Genesis is still ongoing. Pray for God’s blessings on the process.
The new pastor in our area is very interested in using the translated work. Pray the scriptures would speak to many people.
Some mission schools are interested in sending students to our area to gain some field experience. Pray for some to be called to reach the Tanala!
Church to be one
Pray for believers to learn how to trust and be trustworthy, to speak the truth and believe others, to forgive when hurt and to ask for forgiveness quickly. We pray with Jesus for the Arab church to be one, to use the gifts given for the encouragement of the body, to gather faithfully.
Come to know Jesus
A new group of women have started their three-month training in raffia crafts. This is to help them produce an income outside of prostitution or for those who have come out of prison. Please pray for the trainers as they witness to these women daily, that they may come to know Jesus as Lord.
Helping new immigrants
Diaspora in Brazil: Praise God He continues to bring immigrant families to us. I meet so many recently arriving families and help them settle. Pray for opportunities to share Hope with them.
Pray for B for opportunities to connect with these women and create friendships. She has been able to walk with women through their prenatal care and labor and delivery.
Translation work
Pay that the church in Timu (among the IK) will stay together to see the word of God translated in their language. There’s an org that has already been active in starting the Bible translation into IK – pray that the church will come together to help the org continue.
Translation update
Thank God for enabling us to distribute the book of Mark and audio across the countries. South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Praying request:
1- We are now doing consultant check for the book of Luke to chapter 18. Please pray for that to be completed after Christmas.
2- Pray for the team’s motivation to complete New Testament.
3- Pray for the health of the team.
Grow in knowledge
We had a really encouraging visit with the wife of a New Bel. She said it was the first time she ever heard the Christmas story! She’s also making great progress with memory verses and praying together.
One of the other New Bel’s wife and stepsister came into the light this week. Our first follow up visit was ok, but with frequent disruptions from a crew of cute 3 year olds. Pray that each seeker and NBs will grow in knowledge and understanding and closeness with our Savior.
Draw many
Pray for short- termers and our hospital staff as we deal with severely sick patients this month- especially when they don’t get better. Help us to be Jesus to our patients and families. Help us to trust in God as He is sovereign in it all. Pray God would draw many patients and family members to Himself.
