Pray for the small groups of believers that are meeting. Pray that these groups would be places where believers would come to understand more and more their new identity in Jesus. And where they are equipped to do the good works that God has prepared them to do. Pray that their meetings would be characterised by worship, love for one another and joy.
May they come to know the Shepherd
Pray the Didinga would know Him who “tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11).
Abide in the word
Ask that new believers would hold tightly to the Word of God and be discipled in the truth. Ask for those in the diaspora and those in-country to humbly abide in the Word… and know the truth that sets them free.
New believers
Pray for the new believers who are youth. Three young men were baptized this past week, and ten more youth will be studying the discipleship lesson on baptism this week. One who was recently baptized with his family members is an unschooled youth with definite spiritual insight. Pray for the believers’ boldness and courage to share their testimony and all that they are learning with others.
Mobilizing
Today on the bus, I met a young man from Kilwa who is a believer and wants to get involved in outreach. His name is Mwekwa. Pray for the right connections to get him trained and plugged in. Pray for many more local believers to reach out to their Muslim neighbors.
Captivity
Recently the sorghum gardens, which were looking great, were attacked by stalk borer. As the Lopit people continue to walk as captives of this world and the deceptions of the evil one, they sought the ‘land lord’ to perform a ceremony in order to remove this plague. Pray for the hearts of the people to turn to the Creator of the world, rather than His creation as they seek solutions to the daily challenges of life in this harsh land. Pray for release from fear and that they may receive freedom in a knowledge of our loving heavenly Father and His care and provision for us.
Lord have mercy
This past week a Mzee was seen exiting a local mosque, it was suprising because for the past 20 years this Digo man has been following Jesus. He said he is going because he knows what the Bible teaches about Jesus but he never learned what the Quran says. Even with the little time he’s spent at the mosque, it’s evident how quickly Satan works to turn people’s minds against God. Please pray that through conversations with missionaries and encounters with other Digo Christians this man would recognize the lies he is being told, and return to Jesus.
May they meet together
Pray that believers would be motivated to meet together. Pray against all that might keep them apart whether it be busyness, fear, lack of trust or something else. Pray that love might grow and that they would begin to see each other as family.
Translation work progressing
During the last two weeks I have been teaching the Suri (Kacipo-Balesi) team (five young men) an introductory course in the principles of Bible Translation. This week we are working intensively on the writing skills and on the orthography of the Suri (Kacipo-Balesi). In the coming weeks we start the translation of Mark. Praise God for this!!!
Praise also that we have found suitable office space and rooms for the future translators to live in Aman, Ethiopia. Pray that they will adapt to the place and working environment soon.
Pray for good team work, for protection (spiritually and physically), and also for enough finances (until now, we have only initial funding and no full long term coverage).
Love your neighbors
In the after school program on Mondays and Fridays, the children have been memorizing Matthew 5:44 in their local language, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This is very difficult for the Ik as nearly every night lately the neighboring tribe from Kenya, the Turkana, have been raiding the surrounding villages. Fortunately, no one has been hurt recently. Please pray that the Ik can take this verse to heart, and that they can reach out, pray for, and even care for both the Turkana and the Karimojong. Pray that the children continue reciting this verse in their homes and that their friends and families can hear it too.
New leaders!
Praise God for the new leadership now in place in the church planted amongst the Alagwa in one village. There are two elders and two deacons. Of the four of them, two are Alagwa and two are not Alagwa but have come in to the area as teachers at local schools. Pray for these men, that they will continue to grow in the love of God and in their leadership.
Pray for the church pastor as he mentors these men in their leadership roles.
Sharing across borders
Pray that the Christians among the Nyang’atom living in Ethiopia will use what they have to share the Gospel with their family and friends, especially those living across the international border in South Sudan.
Praise report from outreach
We give praise for the 3 ladies that gave their lives to the Lord this past week. Two of them brought their paraphernalia from the the witchdoctors to be burnt and the other is going to bring hers as her house was far away. Please pray for them to stand strong and for Joachim & Matteus as they disciple them. Another 3 gained for the Kingdom and lost to Satan! Pray for their protection from Satan as he will try and get them back. We also pray that they will be shining lights in the darkness.
Walk worthy
Praise Jesus for the boldness of a young believer who is reading with several seekers. Ask for perseverance and hope and continued courage. May she and the other new believers walk worthy of the calling they have received with all humility, gentleness, patience and love.
Training
There is residential training taking place over the next two weeks (16 July to 27 July) for Tsimihety village church leaders. Leaders of 80 village church groups have been invited. Please pray for lasting fruit as a result of this training.
New Church!
Pray for Pastor Joseph Mayagi as he follows up with a new Dorobo group in Ilkilorit on the Tanzania border in the Loita Hills. We did village visitation and outreach in Ilkilorit in November, speaking to many and showing the Jesus film at night. Joseph said he would follow up and start a church under a tree as interest grows.
Pray for courage from the Holy Spirit
Pray for my neighbour Mary Ann. I have ‘walked’ with her for the past 4 years following a late miscarriage (first baby had died at 7 months old) and then her desperate attempts to conceive again. She came to the Lord during this time along with her husband. They live in a large extended middle class muslim family house and family are very religious. The couple have been worshipping secretly and have not ‘come out’ in the open.
Amazingly she finally got pregnant last year and we prayed all the way through that she would keep the baby and she now has a son! They are still secret believers, reading their bibles and watching preachers on TV, but fearful of losing everything if they were to stand up. They need the power of the Spirit to set them free to live in integrity and transparency.
I am worried that now she has the miracle baby she may cool off and make decisions regarding his upbringing that compromise and jeopardise their fledgling faith.
Dorobo missionaries!
Pray for our Dorobo church leaders to be able to organize a time in the next six months to visit the B people on the coast, a Muslim group of hunter gatherers. Pray that they will understand the importance of reaching out with their faith to other tribes. Pray that their similar backgrounds of hunting and gathering might open a door of understanding. Pray that God will touch the hearts and call one or two Dorobo church leaders/ pastors to minister cross-culturally to the B.
Safe in the Ark
With so many Mwani in Northern Mozambique dying without Jesus, Momade has opened a ministry to save souls. In Kimwani, it is called “Safina” which means “ark.” Pray that God would be gracious to bring lost Mwanis through Safina’s doors, and that they would turn to Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
Bible distribution!
We have been praying for a good way for the new believers in this movement to get bibles and the Lord has answered! S and M went around to their different groups and took orders for those who wanted a bible. Each person was willing and able to pay the $2.50 that we paid. Pray for protection as S and M distribute these bibles this week. Please pray for these new believers who are receiving a bible for the first time that they will have a deep hunger to read it daily and for the Holy Spirit to open their minds to understand His Word.
Rangi Bible student!
Pray for Y. Eliakimu from Bu, a Rangi who has a call to serve God among his people. He is going to Bible College. Please pray that God will use him to reach many with His saving arm.
Stand firm and grow
Pray for Cal, a young O believer, who has struggled with lots of fear. His father is trying to arrange a wedding for him with a Muslim girl. He wants to wait for a Christian wife, but speaking up will bring lots of attention and persecution. Pray that he will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy, and be bold and even grow through any persecution or ostracism from the community – that he will realize that Jesus is worth it! Pray that God will provide a strong Christian wife in His time.
Prayers for believers
Pray for Ar that God will help him to remain above reproach and walk in the light. Pray that his family will be drawn to the gospel through his life and witness. Pray for Ab and Ci and Am, that they will live in harmony with one another and with their community, and continue to witness boldly.
Burning Villages
The Makwe are under threat with the presence of a militant, extremist group terrorizing their areas. Some have been killed, many houses have been burned and the Makwe are afraid. Many have left their villages in search of better protection in the larger towns. Pray that God would bring peace to the Makwe. Pray that these events would cause them to question their religious beliefs and seek truth. Pray that they would come to know the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Jesus at work
Please pray for S. He was sick with a cold and fever and came to seek prayer, even though previously he had been nervous and not wanted to even come in to our house. This time he did come in, and we prayed for his healing in Jesus’ name. And Jesus healed him! Since then he’s made multiple visits to share with our family. Yesterday he told us about similarities between what the Bible says about Jesus and what his faith says about Jesus. Please join our prayer that he will continue to see and seek these connections, and to tell others about what he is learning as Jesus works in him.
Equipping the local church
An urban church has expressed interest in being involved in outreach to the Gujarati population in its community. There are many cultural barriers that the Malagasy church will have to overcome to make inroads with their Gujarati neighbors. We are praying for the right training opportunities and partnership possibilities with the Malagasy church. Please pray with us.
Asking God’s favor
This week the AICT Pastor will be asking the government leaders of our district permission to show the Jesus film publicly in several areas. Pray for God’s favor and wisdom in this direction. Ask the Lord to prepare many hearts to watch the film and believe in the One whom He has sent (John 6:29).
Safety during planting and cultivating
Insecurity has been growing on the outskirts of towns, and many are concerned for their safety as they go to their gardens to plant and cultivate. Pray for their protection as they go to farm in areas outside of town in order to feed their families. Pray they would know their Savior is the ultimate provider of safety and protection.
Sharing testimonies
While sharing her testimony during an English club recently, friends who know “A” now were astonished to hear what she had been like before she gave her life to Jesus. They loved hearing about what Jesus had done and wanted to hear more. So another team member told her story too. A few days later, some of these friends were together with a third team member and they asked for her story too. After hearing these, one woman said, “So, how do you know all these things? How do you learn more about God?” Team members offered to study God’s Word with her and they’ve been doing that regularly since. Ask for more to join this woman in studying God’s Word and for this woman’s eyes to be opened so she too can give her life to Jesus.
Diaspora in Philadelphia
Pray for GROW, an ESL outreach program the entire Philly team is involved in, as it goes through financial and structural changes. Please pray for increased finances, for student attrition to decrease, and for GROW to have a spiritual impact on those who attend classes. Pray for many seekers to enroll in classes.
Ending cattle raiding
Cattle raiding (stealing cattle from another group) is a frequent practice among the Toposa and their neighbours, and often this practice claims lives on both sides of the fight. Pray that the Gospel will come to those who have never heard it and that practices like cattle raiding will be ended.
Rain, Mosquitoes, Malaria
As the rains come, so do the mosquitoes. Pray for those who are vulnerable for serious cases of malaria, that God would heal them and they would be given opportunities to know the Gospel during their lifetime.
Another baptism
Nakai and Napir, two Laarim girls, were baptized this morning. Praise God for building His church among the Laarim! Pray for these two girls to grow strong in the Lord and share with others the good things God has done.
Trusting God to Provide
The Mahafaly of southwest Madagascar are in the midst of a three-year drought that has affected much of Eastern Africa. In this third winter of minimal harvest, many in the Mahafaly villages are going hungry. They say, “We’re at a loss. We don’t know what else to do.” Church leaders, all young believers, face incredible pressure to return to ancestor veneration, witch doctors, and charms to bring the rain their villages so desperately need. Pray for the Provider to provide this people with the sustenance they need. Pray also for the Mahafaly believers to stand strong in faith in Christ in the midst of incredible suffering. Pray for wisdom for the NGOs and Christian organizations seeking to alleviate this huge physical need.
Independence Day
South Sudan’s Independence Day is 9 July. Pray that all those who celebrate the anniversary of their country’s independence will personally come to know the freedom they can have in Christ. Pray also for the safety of all who celebrate the three day holiday.
Courage to share with their children
Ask that God fill his children with a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they know what God’s will is. Pray for husband and wife (who are believers) to share boldly with their children and have wisdom to know how to speak before grandparents who are against Jesus.
Rest and Peace in God
Pray that the believers among the Didinga would find their rest and peace in God and His love for them (Psalm 62).
Story Project
We are set to complete the first recordings of the 18 Bible stories in M this week! We will spend several weeks testing the recordings with different groups to see what revision needs to be made to make the stories clear. Pray that even as these Bible stories are tested, God would give people a hunger to know Him and His Word would move with power here.
Outreach
Pray for a 10-day outreach starting tomorrow. Pray for the Lord to prepare hearts to hear and receive the gospel. There will be children and youth outreach, Bible study for men and women, and showing of the Jesus film. Pray for much fruit.
Sisters seeking
Three sisters are all asking questions about Jesus; one wants to look at the Spirit throughout the Word. One wants proof and a sign. Pray for Jesus to reveal Himself personally to each one and for this family and other families to believe and follow the Lord Jesus.
