Barako has become the first AIC licensed Gabra pastor! Rejoice with us! And pray for him.
Bara Testimonies
Pray for the more than 570 Villages that have already watched the JESUS Film and the testimonies of converted BARA believers. It is not just a movie presentation, but it is the Gospel in action. The Jesus film brings the reality of who we are as human since the Fall, and what God in Jesus did to save us on the Cross. The testimonies of the Bara believers show that the Gospel has real power, in the lives of real people, here and now, to change us. If you wish, watch some of the testimonies here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmr0YTVqqs ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQSL0kgqV08 This has really been powerful for the Bara to watch. Pray for more of these testimonies to come out!
Healing and growth
Pray for local believer Sharon’s healing and growth in faith as she interacts with God’s word.
Rains
We are praising the Lord that the rains have been enough for the gardens, and the crops are growing well. The birds are also less than last year, so people are anticipating a good harvest. We are praying that the birds will remain far away and the rains will remain steady to bring all the gardens to maturity. Please pray the Lord would sustain the community and give our team and the Church wisdom on how to respond to the needs and requests that come our way. With the rains also come malaria. My teammate and I have just recovered from a bout. Pray for the Lord’s mercy on others in the community.
And most importantly, we are praying that the Lord would fix our minds on Him and that He would be glorified in all that we think, say and do.
Outreach and Camps
Diaspora in Germany: Pray for Brother Mokhtar and his team as they minister to women and families in the refugee camps. Pray that hearts will be open to receive the message of hope and that many will experience God’s love during these gatherings.
Pray for the Summer Camp the end of August that Brother Mokhtar will host with the Yemeni team. Pray for safety, unity, and the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout the event. Pray especially for the women and children who will gather at the end of the month, that they may be strengthened and encouraged.
Good Harvest
Pray that the people will have a better crop yield this year in order to have enough
food that can sustain many homes with many family members. And pray for a bountiful harvest amongst those we are sharing truth with.
Kids camp
Diaspora in Quebec: We have 37 kids signed up from our community for our Impact Kids day camp. 13 are from North African homes. Pray for them!
Pray for the camp August 18th-22nd, we are partnering with a team from a local Church. We are asking the Lord for two more North African families. Pray especially for the Muslim families, that God would give the parents peace as their children learn from the Bible, and that he would prepare the children to hear the gospel message through the stories of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Kingdom of darkness
Pray for Mzee P. and his family, who had taken in a teenage girl to live with them. She just died under unknown circumstances. The people here say that she was killed as a sacrifice by her own father, who is a known witch doctor, and was “taken to the kingdom of darkness.” The spiritual darkness around here is strong and real; please pray for God’s light and hope to shine all the more brighter.
Two new students
Diaspora in France: Pray for hearts open to the gospel among our students and refugees. We’ve made new connections with two different students, a young woman from Morocco and a young man from Algeria. Both students expressed interest in possibly joining in our student events starting up again in September!
Pray also for churches in Europe to be more open to mission and that some would partner with us.
Rema’s story
Pray for the work of Rema, an ex-cattle thief who was converted in 2012 and until today is a faithful servant of Christ. He works with the Betroka team as an evangelist and this year, he was given land to built the church. After 5 years working in the region of Mora-rano, there are about 70 Bara believers, and they are preparing the bricks to build the church. Pray for strength and the power of the Spirit of Christ to empower them in this great work and to continue to walk with Him.
See here Rema’s testimony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQSL0kgqV08
Vision of sharing
Pray for fruit that will last among the people we are sharing with.
Pray for the community of believers to get the vision of sharing with their own people and the courage and wisdom to do that.
Sown Seeds
Diaspora in Wales: Praise God that a Muslim woman found the Sewing class because she got lost and just happened to walk past our church with the brochure displayed in the window. In one class she told a team member, ’I have never been to a class so welcoming and caring like this one!’ which led to follow-up spiritual conversations. Pray that these sown Seeds would result in her acceptance of Christ and bear a 100-fold harvest.
Thank God for the opportunity to connect women from English classes who are relocating from Wales with Christians in their new locations (2 back to their home country, 1 remains in U.K.). Pray that these women will follow up with these Christian connections and accept Jesus as their Saviour very soon.
Ask us questions
Pray for me to have an opportunity to encourage leaders to look out for the mentally ill and epileptics in the community who are not coming for treatment. (Given the prevalence of these diseases, there must be many who are suffering untreated). Pray that I can speak to them clearly and that they will be active in searching out such patients. Pray also for more opportunities for us ladies to share the good news with local people. Pray for patients and neighbors to ask us questions about our faith.
Reading Bible and Quran
Diaspora in Minnesota: One of the ladies I teach, with whom I’ve had many spiritual conversations, is open to reading the Bible and the Quran together. Pray that we can start reading together tomorrow. I’ve never done this before, so pray that God would be leading our reading and conversation.
Another student has expressed a lot of curiosity about Christianity. Pray that I would know how to answer her questions, and that God would open her eyes to the truth and draw her to Himself.
Bearing fruit
Give thanks to God with me that the Bible study with children is bearing fruit and the number of children is growing, even though some are forbidden to come by their parents. Please pray for those families and their salvation.
Wrapping up
Diaspora in Alberta: Pray for my Monday Bible study and the Hub English classes as they wrap up for the summer. Pray for good connections with students in these last weeks.
Gatherings and Camps
There will be big church gatherings and camps in Mandritsara this month. Please pray for the church to grow in strength and unity, especially considering the trials it has been going through with difficulties in leadership. Pray that the Tsimihety Christians would not be lead astray by false teachers.
Hard times
Please pray with us for the spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional health of Pastors Mateus, Vancelho, Isaac, and Joaquim along with their families and all the congregations they look after. Times are very hard, please pray for perseverance and provision for the needs of the communities struggling with hunger.
Outreach week
Diaspora in England: The fifth Outreach Week will take place Aug 4-8. Please pray that we will see a spiritual breakthrough among the local community most of whom are from UPGs. This year for the first time, there will be a drop-in for men in the afternoons at the church (Monday to Friday). This will be aimed at single men, particularly those living in local asylum seeker accommodation. Please pray that this will lead to good conversations and opportunities for local Christians to build relationships with those who come.
Spiritual battle
A young Saharawi boy has been regularly watching episodes of an animated Bible story show before bed. Please pray these seeds bear much fruit. He has heard the gospel clearly during Sunday school as we have studied Jesus as our Good Shepherd and as the Bread of Life. He asked to borrow a Quran in Arabic from a Muslim friend and sometimes reads it in the worker’s home. Please pray for the spiritual battle for his heart and mind.
Receive and extend forgiveness
Pray for ‘Hadassah’, who is meeting regularly with team leader M. She says she is sharing with her mom and asks lots of questions. She does seem to be reading and trying to understand. Pray for her to be able to forgive those whom she feels have mistreated her in the past – that she would see how in Jesus she can have forgiveness herself, the power to forgive others, and the great freedom that comes from both of these things!
Bible study
My S** language teacher who I consider open and a seeker agreed to study the Bible and study material when I am away for a few weeks. Please pray for him that God will open his eyes to see the Light and his heart to be convicted. Pray for many questions that I will be able to answer when we meet up.
Gathering growing
Those who attend the weekly gathering on Nosy Mitsio has grown. We have 2 new men and 3 women. Some walk from 6km away. One young man has been sick for many months and we are praying for healing for him. They are eager to learn and be close to God. Pray for them.
In September a retired pastor from Ambilobe will come to Nosy Mitsio for 2 weeks to Disciple and teach those who come to the Sunday gathering. Pray for much fruit from this.
Church outreach
This week, a group of 15 from our Tanzania church are heading to 2 villages for 7 days for Outreach with Jesus film etc. Please pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit and open hearts to receive the Word. We want to see Jesus lifted high and worshipped among the nations. Our scripture is PS 46:10-11. So far the first half of the Outreach 10 plus have prayed to receive Jesus as savior. PTL. A small local church has been established there in the village with an evangelist named Yohana. Do keep praying for Yohana.
Armor in place
As the new seeds of more new believers grow – it seems the efforts to strengthen Islam in our communities are emphasized more and more. Pray for God‘s light to shine brightly, and that all of our team and the new believers will keep our full armor in place as we seek to advance the kingdom of God in this spiritual warfare battle.
Disciples sharing
Pray for the disciples who are going out to villages to share their faith, despite persecution. Pray for receptive hearts as they share oral Bible stories and Jesus film in the local language.
Pray for these disciples to meet together regularly to encourage and support one another. Pray for growing maturity and reliance on the Lord.
Pray for needed water and medication for the communities, and for rains for the farms- drought has killed the first plantings.
Open their eyes
Pray for Mama F. and a youth named A., both of whom are helping our team learn the tribal language, Kirangi. They both spend a lot of time in class with the missionaries. Pray their hearts and eyes would be opened to Christ’s love and salvation.
Boldness
Father, we ask for increased boldness for those who have been hiding for years. Thank you for the man who has followed you for 30 years and led his two sons to the Lord. Thank you for his recent courage since meeting with the new believer. May they continue to meet regularly to pray, and may they keep welcoming in those who are asking. Thank you for the group of men they met with last week who are sincerely listening. May they also believe.
Farming
We are grateful for all the good things God has done through the Farming God’s way initiative in Namiteka. May the Lord bring good results from that and blessings to the community around the local church.
Church gathered
We are praising the Lord that the Cholera outbreak has subsided and seems to be behind us. The frequency of cattle raids have also decreased, but they are always a point of concern for the Laarim community.
This week, the believers here got together in the church shelter we all are building and watched the Jesus film together. This was such a big testimony to how the Lord has been at work this year in the lives of the Believers individually and as a whole. Please be praying for our Laarim teammates (Logwe and Nacici ) as they continue to learn about leadership in ministry as well as tackling the challenges in their lives in a God honoring way.
Held together
Our imprisoned brothers are now being held together. Pray that this would be a time of encouragement and strengthening in the Lord. They are not allowed to have Bibles; ask that they each remember what they have learned and share it. May they be a witness where they are and also be prepared for the moment they are released to boldly share with family and friends.
Hearing the Gospel
Pray for more labourers to engage the small Islands off the Kenyan Coast that are unengaged and have no opportunity to hear the gospel.
Pray for open doors of sharing the gospel among the recently engaged Islands. Ask the Spirit to open many hearts to respond to the good news they are hearing.
Women’s conference
Please pray for the Women’s conference that will be held in one of the rural areas. Pray that the Holy Spirit would move amongst the Ndau women and raise up a Godly generation! Pray that this conference would also be a great tool of evangelism and see many come to Christ. The last we heard there is the possibility of 800 women who will participate! Pray for provision of enough water and food.
Trapped
Please pray for Hemi. He has recently decided to follow Christ but is in the midst of a difficult situation. He is married and prior to deciding to follow Christ had already planned to marry a different woman and divorce his current wife. He has repented and now wants to stay with his current wife and not marry this other woman, but the wedding day was already set and both his dad and the father of the other woman have already finalized everything. So for Hemi to actually follow through and cancel this wedding now is extremely difficult as it would bring shame on his father and his family. He feels trapped. The wedding is set for the 30th of this month. Please pray that he would look to Jesus and He would help Hemi out of this seemingly impossible situation.
Jesus is everything
We would really appreciate prayer for M, who came to my house recently wanting to study the Bible together. He called afterwards and said he couldn’t stop thinking about what we’d studied, and that “Jesus is everything.” Pray his hunger would be genuine and sustained, and that we would get more opportunities to disciple him.
Split
Recently we heard that some people from the local body were unhappy with the leadership and decided to break away and start a new group. We pray that the Father would give both groups wisdom to navigate this situation. We also pray for unity of the Spirit — that despite their differences, they may work together as one body, being guided by the same Head. May both groups be rooted in Jesus and live out a biblical experience of being part of the body.
Burden to reach
Pray for the burden to reach the Karana in Madagascar to grow among Malagasy believers.
Pray for the Church, that we will remain faithful in prayer and that the Karana network will grow.
Pray for the influx of new generation of Muslims coming into the country.
Pray for Mrs F’s family to receive Christ in their lives. Pray for her spiritual walk and discipleship journey.
Stand in the gap
The Tajakant are a Sahrawi tribe of Amazigh/Berber Sanhaja origins, primarily living in Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, and Mali.
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Stand in the gap before the Lord on behalf of the Tajakant. Pray and don’t be silent. Ask the Lord to draw the Tajakant to Himself that they may be counted among the Redeemed on the day He makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
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Pray for the younger generations that they may encounter the Word of God through media and be curious to learn more about the Messiah.
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Pray for the older generations to dream dreams and lead their families to discover Jesus.
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May the Tajakant be among those who stand before the throne, crying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Baptism and training
We praise God for those who converted to Jesus and were baptized recently. Please pray that they would grow strong in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and in their faith.
Thank God together with us for the training, Bible studies and other activities we were able to do during the 1st semester of the year. Pray that the believers would grow in the Spirit.
People listened
Praise God for one of our local churches who shared the gospel door to door last Sunday. They said that people listened and were receptive to the Good News. Please pray that these seeds would be watered and flourish to maturity!
