This week the local church in Ambilobe is going to be trained in writing scriptural music in the Antakarana dialect. Pray that there will be open hearts and talents used to create worship music that can be a vehicle for sharing the gospel to the Antakarana living in Northern Madagascar.
Read the Word
Missionaries have been selling Bibles to local Believers at a reduced rate for the past couple of years and have had to restock time and time again. People are eager to have Bibles in their hands. But other than in school, picking up a book to read just because you want to read, is not a usual practice. There simply aren’t books available to read for leisure and many Tanzanians only have a 3rd grade education. In a recent church service, the preacher was encouraging the Believers to read their Bibles. Yes, they bring them to church and read them during the service but please ask the LORD to give His people such a hunger for His Word, that they will read daily and that they will teach their children to do the same. His Word is alive and active! This would be a major shift in the current culture and one that will have life changing impact.
6 children baptized!
Praise the Lord for Jacob’s recent outreach in a village called Kerenge, where six children who professed faith in Jesus asked to be baptized. Pray for many others in all the villages in Kimatong region where the gospel has been proclaimed to “repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20).
Pray Lord of the Harvest
Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers into His harvest field among the Kanembu. They have been waiting a long time to hear the gospel and see it lived out among them. Please pray for team leaders and members.
Standing and kneeling
Pray for protection over new believers, that they might stand firm in the face of opposition.
And pray for fear to be broken among the many that know the truth, but are counting the cost. May they bow their knee to King Jesus.
How good and pleasant…
Pray for love to grow between the two main Ethne groups of followers in our country and for God to birth a vision for a ‘New Antioch’ church in the hearts of S and Y believers. Pray for hard hearts to soften and pride to be abolished so that brothers and sisters can dwell together in unity.
Brokenness
Pray for one village area where there is a lot of brokenness. Praise God that some people are beginning to recognize that brokenness and that they cannot fix themselves. May the Holy Spirit bring about godly repentance in hearts and a turning to Jesus. (2 Cor 7:10).
Please pray specifically for one man of peace in the community who is already taking steps to bring reconciliation and seek Jesus as the only one who can heal brokenness.
Being sent!
We give thanks for three Sandawe men who are being sent from one of the local congregations to give leadership to three other congregations. One of the recent prayer requests for the Sandawe was for leadership so this is an answer to that prayer! Praise the LORD. Funds are available for them to go to a short Bible school training course. Please pray that they will have an opportunity to attend this course which is divided into 2 three months sessions in a town on the other side of the country.
Captivate their Hearts
We were able to host a local friend, her little boy, and cousin over for dinner and watch the Jesus film. They had to leave early before finishing the movie, but we were able to finish the rest of the film with the friend at a later date. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would captivate these three locals hearts with this message of the Gospel truth and that the Father would draw them to His Son Jesus!
Broadminded
Pray for a S. Asian widow who clings to Islam but is broadminded enough to spend a lot of time with women of other cultures and religions. Pray that the Lord will cause her to have a deep spiritual hunger and thirst for righteousness, and that her hunger will be filled by Jesus Christ.
Press on
Please continue to pray for the church in Kwa Madebe, those who were trained in discipleship, and also for the more secret believers, that they would all continue to press on to know Christ (Phil 3: 10). May they share the good news of reconciliation with many in their communities.
Bold witness needs prayer
A woman known as Sally, who came to faith after fifteen years of faithful gospel witness, has been courageously and obediently proclaiming Christ amongst her people. She has suffered for following Christ- her husband divorced her, she’s been abandoned by family, beaten, locked up with her children, and refused food and water. However, she has had many opportunities to share the Gospel – before women’s groups at the mosque, before the local Islamic council, and in surrounding villages. She has prayed for healing and freedom from demonic possession in Jesus’ name and seen people healed and delivered – opening the doors to further proclaim Christ. Just several weeks ago, people from two surrounding villages who had heard of this woman decided to come together to hear for themselves what the message was that she was willing to suffer for. With the help of some workers, the J-Film was shown and Sally shared. We’ve heard over thirty people from those two villages have chosen to follow Christ!
In the midst of this, Sally’s case is being brought before the supreme Islamic Council of Chad in the capital city and they are to decide what to do with her. We need to pray for all that the Spirit is doing in Sally’s location as well as for God to intervene in her situation before the Islamic Council.
Measles
“This time of the year is the difficult one for people as the fields are still green and there’s no harvest. There’s been an outbreak of measles, which has caused much suffering as well. The situation is not yet under control. But vaccinations have been done in villages. Children have died in our village these last weeks and many others are sick. Please pray for God’s protection.”
Islanders in Europe
Pray for the distribution of both French and local language calendars. Ask that islanders would read them and that they would lead to fruitful conversations, discussions, and searching!
Training and outreach
From a Rangi evangelist: “Praise the Lord, and pray for me. I am attending a seminar (Global Disciples) this week starting Thursday through Sunday and also I’ll be doing door to door evangelism. Join with me to pray for this work of God. Be blessed.”
Pray for Kw
Please lift up D and Ab and Ar as they talk with Kw. Ask for light to shine in her heart, true repentance, truth and work of the Holy Spirit. She took a megavoice recorder and asked what we had read in the morning. We listened to the passage together and shared with her about what we had shared in our morning meeting. Despite many different things, she said she enjoyed it. I think she will continue to come and it is good to continue visiting and encouraging her.
Bless B
Pray for B, who was involved in translating the God Story film when he was a student in Madagascar. He is back home now and finding it hard to find regular fellowship. Pray he would be bold in seeking out other believers, and that he’d continue to read the Word. Ask Father that he would remember his first love and not fall into fear or distractions.
No Longer Afraid
We praise Jesus that S, a fearful neighbor we told you about in July, is continuing to visit with us in our home and has begun hosting us in his home as well. He is no longer fearful of visiting! Recently he was talking about Jesus and the prophet of Islam in our home with some other neighbors. He was accused of “haram” (sin) repeatedly by one of the neighbors. S continued to adamantly defend his beliefs of mixing the two religions, which includes Jesus as the Savior. We praise Jesus for the boldness of S and the deep hunger he has for God’s Word. We pray that he would choose Jesus completely and boldly proclaim that Jesus is the only Savior!
Ministries starting again.
All the ministries will be starting up again this week-children, youth, men & ladies. Please pray for the folks leading the ministries, and that the folks attending will be committed for the year. Too often they start off well and then fade away to only a handful. We also pray that the Lord will bring those forward who will be future leaders in the Church.
A Big Move
Tirrim Secondary School is moving it’s location for second term, April 29th. This site gives us many benefits such as a better water supply, closer to the villages, and far from town so students won’t be distracted. We have come a long way with the building site and we are so thankful. But we have a long way to go. We are praying that God sends someone to Korr to be the project manager. Please pray with us that someone will come and the school will be ready for our students!
Outreach Among Students
A young S. Asian Christian is joining with her university Bible study for an evening of outreach to Muslim students. Please pray for good attendance, that the gospel will be presented clearly, and for the salvation of many young adults who need Jesus.
Kindness to soften hearts
Relief supplies destined for refugees, were shared last month with the Mbororo and other Muslim residents who have caused so much suffering to the Zande people of CAR. Pray that this act of kindness will soften their hearts and turn them to God in repentance and faith.
Diaspora in Wisconsin
We would appreciate prayers for the February 24th indoor family get-together we are planning with the various WELL volunteers’ families with their Som. contacts’ families. We had one like this as a picnic in the park last September which brought together about 100 people, about half of each groups. We are praying that our contacts come and we can enjoy a pleasant time together, and that deeper friendships and good conversations would come from it. We long to see our friends know Jesus.
Transforming Work of the Holy Spirit
Pray for the transforming work of the Holy Spirit for those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus, that they would be growing in the knowledge and obedience of the Word. Pray for release from evil strongholds in the areas of sexual immorality and divination. Pray that new believers would be drawn to group fellowship where they may learn the Word and grow together in Christ.
Locked in her Beliefs
Mama N is one of those neighbors who has heard the gospel over and over, but is locked in her beliefs. She swung by yesterday and the Lord opened yet another conversation with Mama N about how I have assurance of my salvation by the grace of God through faith in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross for my sins. My husband had a similar conversation at a ceremony sitting next to the local Muslim secondary school headmaster. Please pray for their salvation and the salvation of their whole families!
Pressure
Recently the church leaders told a story of the village elders visiting and threatening to close the church because the church leaders refuse to take part in cultural ceremonies which contradict their faith. We are thankful that the issue seems to have died down for now, but please pray for the church and the leaders. Pray for discernment and strength to say no and how to do this in a way which points people to Christ. Give thanks for their boldness and courage as they face these pressures on a daily basis.
Persecuted Brothers
And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.”
Matthew 10:36
Please keep praying for two brothers. One of them has left the village. His father and other village elders have their minds fixed to bring him harm. Pray that this young believer will surround himself with Godly people who will continually point him to Jesus. May this time out of the village be God-ordained and part of the overall plan for the Alagwa to come into the Kingdom.
Watching TV
Pray that we will be able to implement more authentic Christian programs on hospital TV (patients have a lot of time on their hands!) in local languages, and that the Holy Spirit would catch their attention. Pray for Somalis to be saved as they and their families come for treatment to this Christian hospital.
God’s intervention needed
Pray for O, one of a few Neem believers, who is increasingly severely sick with heart failure despite every medicine possible. Pray that the peace which passes all understanding will fill his heart and will be a witness to his family, friends, and neighbours. Pray that God would intervene and heal him.
In December you prayed that the checking of the Genesis translation into Neem might restart. It had been apparently “forever blocked”. O has been the Neem person who used to work on it. This last week, another man, Ib was finally found to help. A few hours of work were possible before the person leading the translation had to leave for other responsibilities. She returns early April. Praise God the translation did restart, pray that it will continue when she returns in April and that O will be fit enough to take part. There is something very strange in the way the translation hasn’t moved forward, but it is difficult to get to the bottom of it. Pray against the forces of evil working against progress amongst these people.
New leadership
Pray for the group of believers in the capital as they look for a new leader. Pray they would be united as they seek the Father’s will together and that He would provide the person of His choosing. Pray the Lord would bless them and fill them with His Spirit and give them boldness to share His love and truth with others.
Pray for Esther
Just saw Evangelist Ndaki today from Wairo. He told me they recently had a Muslim Sandawe woman from Madandaa (where the new church plant is) come running to the Wairo church one week ago to ask for help to be delivered from demons. They prayed for her, the Lord drove out the demons and she was delivered, and accepted Christ as her Savior and Lord, praise Jesus! She stayed with Ndaki’s family for discipleship and was baptized yesterday along with 10 other new believers. Her new name is Esther. Pray for Esther as she returns home to her husband who is not saved, but thrilled that his wife has recovered. Pray this would be huge witness for the gospel in Madandaa. Pray for protection from the Muslim leaders who are not happy that she left Islam. Pray for her growth as she studies God’s word via both a Swahili Bible and Megavoice player with six books of the Bible translated in to Kisandawe.
Heart of stone
Most weeks Saa. M comes to our teammates’ house to debate about our different religions. He is against seeing Jesus as anything but a servant of God. Many weeks he stays for hours trying to convince us of our being mistaken. Pray for God to take his heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh. Pray Jesus would make Himself undeniable to Saa M.
One Young Believer Sharing
Continue to pray that the Datooga Christians who are cooperating to craft and record Bible stories will not only complete the set they are working on, but will also continue to teach Scripture this way. Pray that the recordings will be widely spread throughout this nomadic tribe, and that many will put their faith in the Good Shepherd as they listen to them while herding their sheep. We now have one young believer who has already shared the stories amongst his family and neighbours and has had some positive response to their content.
A New Believer
Praise the Lord one of our brand new Tanzanian interns led a local man to Jesus as they were farming together in the field this week! Today the man joined us at church and confessed his faith in Jesus Christ before us all, to our great joy! Pray for his spiritual & physical protection & for the body of Christ to know how to best enfold him into our family of God!
Baptisms
Praise the Lord for seven Rangi baptized in the past year, especially those from Muslim backgrounds. Please pray for their growth in the Lord and that many others will follow their faith and example. Pray for many Rangi to come to faith in Christ through a Christian school in Pahi.
Women Learning to Teach God’s Word
Two women have been coming to learn how to create and lead a Bible study from a missionary. They’ve done this two weeks in a row now. They come to her house on Tuesday and lesson plan together, then they teach Friday. Both times the women say, ” I have never done this before!” But both have done well! Pray for them to persevere and pray for their groups to grow deep in the word and obey what it says.
Making Friends
A Muslim S. Asian family spent Sunday afternoon with a Christian one. They spent time discussing life and getting to know one another. Please pray for the friendship to flourish and that the S. Asian family would come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Disappointed
Two very intelligent Somali ladies were witnessed to multiple times, but instead of accepting the Good News threw themselves into Islamic studies. Please pray they will be disappointed by what they find, and their hearts will want Jesus.
Dry Season
As this season of rest comes to the Lopit communities, ask our Father to bless them and protect them from associated distractions such as drinking. Pray that the Spirit would move people to desire Him above all else and to use the extra time to meet together to hear His word. May they enter into true rest in Jesus Christ.
Growing Interest
Please pray that the Datooga will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. Pray that many will hear the recordings of His stories and that it will become part of Datooga culture to tell them over and over at night as these nomadic shepherds rest. Over the last year more Datooga are expressing an interest in hearing more about Jesus and some have made a profession of faith. Pray they continue to grow in their faith and have courage to share what they have heard with others in their communities.
