Praise the Lord for recent baptized believers – pray for their continued growth.
Pray for our discipleship program – that God will transform lives.
Pray for the women- for strength to overcome difficult situations and keep going in faith.
Pray for families- for protection against attacks from the evil one.
Gospel conversations
Praise that S mom and daughter are back in Spain after an extended time in North Africa. Pray for fruitful gospel conversations with them.
Opening to the gospel
Thank God more villages are opening to the gospel and asking for Bible studies to start. Pray for many to respond to the Gospel! Also, praise God for good rains this year which has lifted hearts, after several years of failed rains lead to many livestock deaths.
Needing help
Pray for Frieda. She is trying to find enough work to cover rent and food for her and her family, while her husband is in a psychiatric hospital. Pray for the Lord to provide for her and to open her heart to spiritual conversations.
Meeting together
Pray for direction and wisdom in how best to move forward with local body meetings. There isn’t a lot of interest for the majority of followers in meeting together. The team plans on engaging more with islanders who have been seeking out our island sister, Rachel. She says there are islanders interested in studying, but she has been reluctant to invite them to the bi-monthly believers’ meetings because of the fear of new people among the longstanding believers. However, the older believers aren’t coming, so maybe it’s time to invite new people. We ask for wisdom in moving forward.
Wives of new believers
Our worker team and the lead O shepherd, Timothy, realize the truth more and more of the four soils parable. Pray with us for God‘s provision of more O hearts who will be good soil and produce that 30, 60 and 100 fold harvest!
Specifically pray for the wives of these NBs! Pray for wisdom and courage in how to gather all the NBs for teaching, worship and fellowship. Pray for much growth!
Bible stories
Diaspora in England: Give thanks for a lady who now helps me share Bible stories at a local English school on Mondays. Pray for wisdom for us as we choose stories for the summer term. Pray for open ears and hearts to listen well and believe the stories.
Wind of the Spirit
Pray for the established Karana families of Toliara (city in the Southwest) that God will move in their lives that they will begin to seek Him and seek Him with their whole heart. Pray for their relationships with believers in Toliara to begin to bear fruit.
Pray that as the south wind sweeps through the town, the wind of the Holy Spirit will capture and captivate hearts and lives of the Karana and all the inhabitants of Toliara.
Pray life and blessing over the town of Toliara.
New legal attack
Please continue to pray for the Lord’s protection over the Bible translation work. The translator who has been causing so many issues for us launched a new legal attack this week. Although it seems that her case has died before it even really got started due to lack of any legitimate grounds, it reminds us that this battle and opposition are still not over.
Spiritual conversations
Diaspora in Scotland: Praise God for good connections and conversations with many refugees in my Parish Nursing role and as I volunteer at the English Conversation Cafe. Please pray for E, S and for A as I spend time with them. Please pray for spiritual conversations and open hearts.
Oral Bible project
We’re encouraged to report that the Oral Bible Translation project is progressing well. Pray for Amoni and his team as they diligently work to make God’s Word accessible in the local heart language.
New village
Alongside our team of pastor-evangelists, we visit at least two Bara villages every week. And yesterday, we went! It was a 4-hour motorcycle ride on dusty, rugged paths, crossing savannas and brush, all the way to a remote village called Atsely. When we arrived, only a few people were there. But as soon as the sound of the motorcycles echoed across the savanna… they came! Over 150 Bara people appeared from the bush, eyes wide, hearts open, ready to hear about Jesus.
They watched the testimonies of other Bara who have already surrendered their lives to Christ — stories recorded through our GNPI – Nomad Madagascar project. To see the Word touching hearts… there are no words to describe the joy. Pray for the new believers and others who are close to the kingdom to continue their faith journey.
Teacher
Pray for M., an elementary school teacher here who started having strange and severe health issues which caused him to stop teaching . Pray for his healing and also for wisdom for the school administrators, who are looking for another teacher to replace him.
Senegalese friends
Diaspora in Brazil: Praise God for the Senegalese people I have contact with playing soccer. Ask that God will continue to grow these relationships and open up spiritual conversations.
My wife requests prayer for Marie, a Senegalese woman she has recently become friends with. Pray for opportunities to be a blessing.
Very kind to me
Diaspora in Texas: When I was visiting folks at an immigrant/refugee apartment complex, I met a Som man named H. and his family of 10. They invited me and some world relief volunteers in and were very kind. The adults in the family need jobs. Pray for wisdom on how to develop an authentic relationship with this family. And pray they can get jobs.
Unity
Lord, we cry out to you for unity in your body. Bring about reconciliation, forgiveness, healing, trust and love in the longstanding rift we see in your church here. Bring your unity into families too, we ask that struggling husbands and wives would, in your strength and power, forgive and learn to trust one another, to love each other as you love us. We pray for this unity in strained parent-child relationships and among siblings also. Jesus, unity was on your heart when you prayed for us on the night you were betrayed, and we pray that you would bring the unity you asked the Father for to our Plateau and across these islands.
Church meeting
Pray for the Fulani fellowship of believers that is meeting together every Sunday in D-town. Praise God for the unity of this group – pray that they would be faithful in meeting and that they would truly be the Body of Christ to one another. Pray that this fellowship would be a blessing and encouragement to the other MBB’s in D-town who still feel isolated. Pray that, if the Lord would so desire, this group becomes the foundation for a MBB church.
Local testimonies
We have started a new project this year, in partnership with GNPI (Good News Production International). A new tool to proclaim the Gospel. We are producing local testimonies, stories of faith, redemption, and transformation told by those local believers.
These testimonies have been broadcast in villages, followed by the Jesus Film. What a great strategy to reach the people. When locals stand up to testify about Christ, there is power, identification, and response.
We don’t trust in the strategy, but our hope is that God, will change hearts in listening to the Bara people testifying to the Bara about Christ.
Seeking advice
Diaspora in Brazil: We thank God for the students we have contact with, who seek us for advice and mentoring, please pray for their growth and for God’s provision for their needs.
Pray for new Muslim students to come and be open to talk with us.
Bible MP3
We are walking the villages, meeting with Muslims and giving them MP3 Bible recordings. Instead of just handing them out, we want to initiate more conversation. Like this: “Do you not find that no matter how much you go to Mosque, fast, and pray, you still do that which you know Allah has forbidden you?” They all say, “Yes that is so!” The Christian will often answer in the same way BUT will often also say, “but it is not as bad as it used to be.” Prov. 4:18 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” The difference between the Muslim and Christian is there is the daily renewing hope of the cross. So the trajectory of the Christian is different to that of the world, slowly but surely the body of death is losing the battle. Interesting that the people here say, Muslims and Christians both sin but the Christians less so. Pray for our conversations to bring light.
Stateless
Pray for the Karana across Madagascar who are stateless because their forefathers
came from different parts of the world without the correct documents.
There are about 10 million people in the world who do not possess citizenship of
any country. Pray that this group will become citizens of the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Pray that God will open doors for the church to share the Gospel and their lives with
the small Karana community in Fianarantsoa.
Sharing about our hope
Diaspora in Wales: Pray for opportunities to share about our Hope in Jesus and for receptive hearts (especially during Coffee/Tea time, Conversation Class, Sewing Class Devotional followed by Snack Time). Pray for curious and open hearts to respond well.
Experience God
Pray for the Ndengereko people to experience God powerfully at work in their lives that they would not fear rejection from their community and that they would come under His Lordship. Ask for God to raise up bold Christian witnesses among the Ndengereko so that many would know His love for them and that He is the true Way. Pray for an AIM outreach team slated to begin among them this spring.
Easter Sunday
Tomorrow the International Church is planning an Easter celebration for all believers on i1, locals and expats. There is history and division between fellowship groups. We pray that this may be an opportunity for all of us to come together as one body and set aside past disagreements. We ask for humble hearts and a spirit of forgiveness that will lead us to unity and bring glory to our Lord, and a joyful celebration of our risen Lord!
Church grow in faith and zeal
Pray for the church in Tuum town that they will grow in their faith and love for the Lord and that they will want to speak of the gospel to the Neem people. (The church is entirely people from southern tribes and there is often little friendship with Muslims because of antagonism in the past and because the local Muslims may often treat southerners unjustly, e.g. charging them more in the market than they charge locals.)
Training center
The discipleship training center building is under way, and we hope to have the construction finished by August and begin trainings in September. Pray for blessing on this project- both the practical building of the center and its use to be a blessing to the entire people group and beyond! Praise God the Matumbi translation of the New Testament has also just been finished by PBT and we are planning to have the dedication ceremony at the new training center in October!
Pray for restoration and revival
Thank you for your prayers for the church in Jiye. We’re grateful to God that Elia and Akileo were able to divert their route to support the local leaders and the church community in Kassengor, Jiye, following their evacuation from the recent attack in Blue Nile, Sudan. We also extend our deep appreciation to AIM Air for facilitating their safe evacuation.
Please join us in praying that the Holy Spirit would move powerfully through Elia and Akileo to bring healing, restoration, and revival to the Jiye church. There remain significant challenges within the community, and we trust God for deep transformation.
Easter outreach
Diaspora in Michigan: Pray for the Easter outreach the 19th in partnership with a local church. May the good news be heard and accepted by many!
Ask the Lord for discernment and provision to help 13 newly arrived families in partnership with Samaritas. May they feel welcomed and loved.
Holy Week
During Holy Week, pray with us for opportunities to share the reason for the hope we have, and the wonderful truth of Easter. Many Muslims believe that Jesus did not die but was replaced on the Cross by someone else. Ask for us to have wisdom how to answer their questions. May the Cross not be a stumbling block but a sign of the perfect love and justice of God dealing with our sin.
Pray against fear in the local body. Pray for holiness and repentance that they might shine as lights in the midst of this culture. Pray for island believers to be filled with joy this week leading up to Easter. May they be unable to be silent about the hope they have found in Jesus.
Sentence
The prisoners were sentenced on Tuesday- the expat was given 15 years and the local men were given 8 years, and the woman was given 3 years. The 2 years they’ve already served are included in the sentences. We grieve the harsh sentence for these believers and their families. Please keep praying for our dear believers, for their families, and for the Libyan church to be fearless and faithful. Move Holy Spirit. Father, anoint your children with the resurrection power of Jesus and hope in His redemption.
People coming to faith
Pray for reliable motorcycle transport for Pastor John Kashu who has a Jesus Film backpack Kit and has been visiting villages in the Mau forest, and more recently some Dorobo groups along the Ewaso Nyiro River in the Samburu area. Praise God that wherever he visits and shows the film, there are people coming to faith in Christ.
Alagwa Pentecost
Father, give the Alagwa a new heart and put a new spirit in them; remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Jesus, bind and tear down the demonic strongholds of utilitarianism, pluralism, passivity, Islam, and group conformity; by the power of your broken body and poured out blood, bring these walls down. Spirit, breathe upon them and pour out an Alagwa Pentecost that these dead bones might live, that all the dead hopes, years of tears, and “No’s” of the Evil One may give birth to your greater “Yes”, your better resurrection, your bigger Passover! In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Fragile movement
God is pouring out his blessings of amazing rains in our village, may they be a sign of the abundance of his Holy Spirit being poured out to Grow and draw more and more to himself! The Ramadan season was tough, and 4 local followers seem to have lost interest. Pray they will come back! Our meeting with ‘Timothy’ last night was so encouraging! He reports a group of nine who met together for study and prayer just a couple nights ago, as well as being called to 2 farther away places to “come and teach us more!” Also one more brand new NB! How we need your prayers to continue and grow – that this fragile fragile movement may also continue and grow!
Verdict (again)
Please pray for the believers in jail for their faith to stand strong. Tomorrow is their scheduled verdict. Pray the Lord would prevail upon the judge to “Let My people go!” Pray for the unconditional release of all the believers.
Driving lessons
Diaspora in Minnesota: Pray for some new S relationships to develop well. Lib’, Han’ and Jih’ are all related and I am teaching them to drive. Pray that I find good ways to connect with them through driving and beyond.
Karana businesses
The community of Karana businesspeople in Tana, the capital, have a huge influence on the economy of Madagascar. Some say up to 60% of the economy is controlled by them. Pray that they will encounter the living God in whose image they are made, who loves them and desires them to be reconciled to Him.
Pray for Malagasy believers in their top & middle management to show Christ in their words, actions and work ethic. Pray that they will take every opportunity to point their employers to Christ.
A way in the desert
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Lord, please do a new thing and make streams in the desert where the Amazigh and Saharawi of North Africa can taste from the fount of Living Water, find that only you satisfy, and have peace for their souls. Bless our work in the diaspora, use us to be gracious hosts for these people, bring them to understand the Truth, and allow them to carry this life changing Truth back to their home communities.
end of conflict
Pray for an end to the conflicts in the Cape Delgado area, where most of the Mwanis live, and for the strengthening of believers in that region.
Spread along family lines
Diaspora in Georgia: Pray that those friends our team is meeting with will introduce us to all the members of their families, so that our friendships will multiply and spread along family lines. Praise the Lord for Lila and Aya’s clear profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Pray they will grow and their families will come to Christ as well.
Consultation
AA Consultation will take place from 16th to 20th April. We expect 100 participants: 70 indigenous missionaries working amongst the Muslim UPGs of East Africa Swahili Coast and 30 believers from Muslim background. The theme will be the theology of suffering. It is unfortunate the biggest struggle is to get enough finances for this workshop. Pray that God will provide and that suffering will be understood and embraced from the light of scripture. I thank God we have young missionaries, fully committed to the field, very teachable and passionate about outreach. However, they are under-supported; this may be part of ordained suffering. Pray for them.
