Three local men are being very helpful and are eager to make a difference among their own people. Pray that they continue to be faithful to the Lord and that their neighbors see the changes these men have made for Christ’s love and will seek to follow their examples. Pray for more local workers.
Blessings on the evangelists!
Please pray for A, S and M as they visit the 7 discipleship groups over the next few days to encourage the new believers and assess how they are doing. Pray that the Lord would continue to raise up M disciple-makers that would catalyze a movement throughout the M hills and beyond.
Elections
Pray for the presidential elections this weekend. Pray for a free and fair election, and for peace during the voting and announcement of results later in the week. Pray God would have mercy on these islands and draw many to Himself.
Diaspora in Detroit
Tomorrow March 23rd we are hosting a tea for Moms. Pray we can clearly share love and proclaim the good news. Pray these Moms would receive our love and the love of the Savior!
Diaspora in Philadelphia
Please pray as we consider a cultural exchange “homestay” involving cousin families in our area and a church in the suburbs, planned loosely for July. Pray for TH as he meets with M, initially for cultural exchange and discussion, but hopefully also for spiritual discussions. Pray also for their family to find good ways to connect with a Moroccan family.
Two team members are starting new jobs in the next several weeks. Praise God for this, and please ask for them to both find chances to share with non-believers through their jobs.
A Christian School’s Inspection
From a Rangi evangelist: “Please pray for a school inspection that I will be having. The government leaders have promised to come and have a look at the state of the school to see if it has met the requirements. If so, they could register the school, if not they will remove it from the list. Also I have a vision to get a Compassion International center on some church land, to continue that ministry. Please also pray in general for the ministry of the school and the church.” Pray for Rangi Muslims to come to faith in Christ through these efforts.
Training project
There’s a wonderful mobilization among the ladies for community development. God has placed a beautiful sense of unity among them. A sewing project is being developed and it will start in April. Please pray for the ladies who are volunteering to come and start the project, pray for the local Gabbra lady who’s currently learning sewing to assist the volunteers with language and culture. Pray that this ministry will be an amazing opportunity to share the Gospel through words, love and actions.
Discipleship materials
In January, expat and local believers in Karamoja received book resources to disciple believers through SEAN (Study by Extension for All Nations) ministry. Please pray that many Bible studies result and that a foundation of God’s Word will be laid like an immovable rock under the faith of Kjong believers. Please pray that knowledge and understanding of God’s Word will spread exponentially through Karamoja.
Harvest by His Power.
In the Village of Marolima, southern Madagascar, in the middle of the mountains, many have turned their backs on their religious beliefs and have become followers of Jesus Christ!
One man’s wife and son became sick. His wife was possessed by demons. They did everything the witchdoctor said. They gave many cows in sacrifice to one of the evil spirits that command their village. Nothing happened. So he went to a doctor in town. Nothing happened. He thought “The last chance is the church”. But he was Bara. Bara don’t pray to the god of the white people. At last he ends up in the church in Betroka and asks for help. The pastor prayed. His wife was set free from the demons and was healed!
They became Christians and another 100 followed them! The church of Jesus Christ is being built in this village. Praise God!
Diaspora in France
Praise for new contact made on the street with K, a Moroccan lady who invited me and my colleague for a meal and further visits. During the visits some written portions of the word have been given and discussed, but the conversation tends to be more with her husband, since she doesn’t read well in Arabic or know French well. Pray for wisdom and clarity of communication in further connections.
Women
The Lopit church, which is small and in the infant stages, have almost no women believers. Pray that the Spirit would move the hearts of these mothers, wives and daughters to know Him and love Him. Pray especially for the wives of believing men to come to the Lord. Ask the Lord to show these men how to be an example of Christ’s love to their wives and children, especially in a culture where women are often not valued.
New workers in the harvest!
The first new members of the Mwani outreach team have arrived in Northern Mozambique. Please pray for them as they find housing, connect with neighbors, and begin to learn language and culture- that they will trust and rest in the One who has called them. Pray the Lord will open many Mwani hearts and grant ears to hear the gospel message.
Christian Samburu men reaching out to Samburu
This weekend seven Samburu pastors and elders, from our churches near Maralal, will be visiting Lchakwai and a neighboring community. They will visit in homes and participate in our Sunday service. It has been difficult to reach out to the men in this area. Samburu men do not attend church in Lchakwai. Pray that this weekend may bring a breakthrough as men here see and talk with Samburu Christian men who love Jesus. May they see that church and listening to God’s Word, is something Samburu men can do. May they desire to know more about Jesus.
Songs of worship
Praise! The Worship workshop has finished well and God has had His hand on it. Musicians from several churches have participated and many new worship songs have been written and recorded in the local dialect. A final concert took place where the community in Ambilobe was invited to hear the music and listen to testimony. New relationships are being built in the local churches. Pray the new worship songs will be used to sing praises to God in the local language and many will turn to Him!
Cast their cares
Praise God for the good discussions with Somali ladies in our weekly Bible studies. Pray that they would grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Pray also for perseverance in their different situations of life and that they would learn to cast their cares on Jesus who cares for them
Diaspora in Canada
Please pray for a Christian family trying to keep the Muslim father of their grandchildren, several of whom are disabled, from taking the kids back to a Somali region of Kenya. There will be very poor care available for them in Kenya. None of the five kids wish to accompany him. Please pray for wisdom regarding legal proceedings.
Radical
Pray for young Somali men. As they grow, they are susceptible to radical ideas that lead them to become hostile to Christians and the gospel. Please pray that those young men who are in their teens and early twenties right now will instead put their faith in Jesus the Messiah and become zealous for Him.
Diaspora in Minnesota
Praise for a new family that began tutoring this week and had a good connection with their Somali family. May the Lord do His work in this family! Please continue to pray for the rest of the tutors to be a light among the darkness and to have opportunities to boldly proclaim the gospel with clarity. Ask the Lord to go before them and open many hearts to hear and believe the Gospel.
Connecting with the Chaplain
Pray for a family of Somali refugees in Uganda, for an opportunity to connect more with our chaplain so they can hear and believe the gospel.
Jesus cares for them
Praise God for the good discussions with the Somali ladies in our weekly Bible studies. Pray that they would grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Pray also for perseverance in their different situations of life and that they would learn to cast their cares on Jesus who cares for them.
Pray for More Refugees to Come
Please pray for doors to be opened for more refugees to come for medical help. We’ve noticed that the flow of Somali refugees has decreased since the beginning of the year. We assume the cut in funding for medical expenses in the refugee camps means the patients cannot afford to come.
Connecting Again
Please pray for a Somali man named Ali. Pray for opportunities to connect more with the missionary he met and had friendly talks with. Pray for his salvation.
Sent one
Pray that God might raise up a “sent one” from this city to go to another people and so transform the hearts of all local followers to think first of others and of His Name among all nations.
Lord, do a new thing!
This week we focus our prayers on the Somali people. Pray the Lord would ‘bind the strong man and plunder the house of Islam’ particularly the room of Somali (Mark 3:27). O Lord, do a new thing among the Somali people. Have mercy on those who have committed acts of violence. May they repent and find forgiveness and shalom in Jesus. Have mercy on those who have suffered persecution, would you strengthen weak knees and give grace to stand firm in the faith. Have mercy on those who are weary of war and feel hopeless. May they find hope in Jesus.
He Hid Under a Blanket
Please pray for Abdulaha, a Somali patient. He got an infection after surgery. He was witnessed to and agreed to be given more literature, but at the next visit he hid under the blanket pretending to sleep. Pray that he will see the glory of God, that his infection stops, and that a door to his heart is opened.
Diaspora in USA
Let’s pray this week for the unreached Somali communities across the USA and beyond. There have been people working and persevering for years among them. Let’s pray boldly and expectantly for a movement of God’s Spirit among them. Pray that our Diaspora workers and their partners will be strengthened and renewed for the task. Pray for new Diaspora members and partnerships to work among the Somalis.
Harvest is ready!
There is a lot of interest in the village of Antsahabe. It is only in this past year that missionaries have gone there regularly to share the gospel, but already there are believers and several of them are interested in being baptized. Praise God for this! Also pray that these new believers would be grounded in their faith and excited to tell others of the hope they have found.
Holy Spirit work
Please pray that the Holy Spirit would work in all the hearts of those we are spending time with and sharing the Good News with, and that the Father would grant them faith in Jesus. Lift us up (the team) as we disciple believers- that they will be true disciples of Jesus.
Needing help
Yesterday another strong wind devastated 44 houses in Hurri Hills! Please pray for all the families that will need to rebuild. May love and hospitality be shown to those in need and the name of Jesus be glorified!
Diaspora in Wisconsin
Pray that a family picnic, which took place on Sunday March 3, would have lasting effects. Pray for church partners and Somali families that attended. Pray that bridges of trust and relationship would continue to be built.
Leaning forward
As the final foreign workers pull back, the all-Mozambican outreach team leans forward, takes on leadership and moves with confidence, trusting that God, who has called them is faithful. Please pray for this team of Mozambican men and women that they would reach out boldly and with courage as they seek to see the unreached of Northern Mozambique come to Jesus.
Protect O Lord!
This morning some of our teammates found what appears to be witchcraft outside of their house as well as the houses of their neighbors. Pray for protection for our team and our neighbors from forces of evil. Pray for the people practicing the witchcraft to be convicted of sin and for Jesus to move powerfully in their lives.
May faith grow deep
Pray for F who recently heard the Good News. Pray that a true faith might replace the daily round of rituals and that she might find true peace in knowing our Lord despite difficult family circumstances.
Needing freedom
Pray for those who were once regular at Bible study but have not been coming these last couple of months. Pray for people to see that the god they worship through their traditional religion and sacrifices is not the God of the universe who is revealed in the Bible. Pray that they would be set free from the spirits that have deceived them and they would truly repent and put their faith in the true God and salvation through Jesus.
Godly leader needed +
Pray that the Spirit will raise up a leader among the brothers. A servant leader with a teachable spirit, who delights in the law of the Lord and who will lead with humility and love.
And pray against the schemes of the enemy that try to keep the sisters from meeting together to read and grow. Pray that they will be hungry for the Word and the Spirit.
Music seminar
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).
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.
