Please pray that the Zigua will recognise that the unity of the Christians among them is very different from the ways of the world, and that they will see the love of God for His Son, and of the Son for His people. Pray that the Zigua will enter into the love and joy of being born again into the family of God.
Translation work
Pray for those working on translation of the Word, that the sweet, rich truth would continue to transform their hearts even as they make it clear and available to others.
New light among the Laarim
K keenly wanted the Jesus film brought to his home, which was done last week. Early this week K came to tell us he wants to follow Jesus. As we talked and prayed together, he reported a changed heart, away from quarreling and drinking alcohol (a common past-time) towards wanting to have a clear mind to hear and follow God’s word. He has asked that we bring God’s word to his compound for him and his family (one wife and multiple children). Praise God for a new life and light among the Laarim!
“What must I do to be saved?”
Praise God for a man coming like Nicodemus to meet and ask, “What must I do to be saved?” That day the angels rejoiced as he placed his trust in Jesus. Pray for regular follow-up and nurturing in his new found faith. Pray for further opportunities to share the Gospel Message within Nyamwezi villages throughout the month of December. Pray that they may be in awe of the signs related to the birth of Jesus. Pray especially that people will understand the truth that Jesus is the Promised Savior about whom the prophets foretold who came to save all.
Keep Praying for the Five
We are swiftly approaching the end of December and the end of 2017. Since January we have been praying that five Samburu men would follow Jesus by the end of this year. Thank you to all who have been praying with us and asking God for these men. We have had a lot of contact with men this year. A number of men have received a “Treasure” (solar-powered MP3 player with Bible stories, scripture, and Christian songs). We cannot measure how much God’s spirit has been working in hearts of men we know. Until now, we have not seen those five men make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray with us for those Samburu men as this year ends and 2018 begins. God is sovereign and He will answer our prayers in His time.
Reading Aloud
Please pray that Borana Christians will spend more time reading their Bibles aloud to friends and relatives who can’t read for themselves, and that faith will come from hearing the word of Christ.
Boldly Proclaim
Please pray that the Alagwa Christians will boldly proclaim their faith in Christ during the Christmas season, and that others will take courage from their example.
Earthly and Heavenly Clothes
Pray that as people seek to buy new clothes for Christmas that they would look inside themselves and seek to know the Savior that can wash their sins away and clothe them in righteousness. Pray for hearts and lives to be changed as the Jesus film is shown out in communities each week.
Peace among the neighbors
Pray for peace between the Nyang’atom and their neighbours. Due to years of cattle raiding between tribes, tensions are high, but peace can reign.
Christmas opportunities for the Ik
As Christmas quickly approaches, there are many opportunities for conversation about Jesus, and his birth. Some team members have been organizing the Ik in a Christmas drama which has provided a great way to disciple the actors when they practice. Others have invited people to their home to share the Christmas story. The Ik tend to view Christmas solely as the time they get new clothes and eat meat so please pray that God opens the eyes of the Ik to see Christmas in a new way. That as they hear the Christmas story, the Ik may see their sin in a new light, realize their need for a Savior, and turn and repent to follow Jesus.
Testimony
A young woman (who came to Jesus in January) is planning to share her testimony on Dec 24 at a Christmas celebration. Pray for courage for her and that each will see how mighty Jesus is to save!
Crops bring food and troubles
With a good crop of maize people have much to eat. They also have plenty of maize to brew and there is much drunkenness. Please pray that people would see the damage being done and cease brewing and selling their brew. Pray that they would seek fulfillment in their Savior and not the things of the earth.
A Strategic Party
Please pray for two S. Asian families who have been invited to attend a Christmas party. May the Lord bring those whose hearts have already been prepared to respond to the gospel. May He protect the evening from any attacks of the enemy, and remove the veil of blindness that lies over their hearts. May they also be so full of joy and courage that they confess openly that they believe in Christ.
Filled with the Spirit
Please pray that the old men among the Dorobo will be protected and strengthened to resist the temptation to be drunk during the Christmas season. Instead, pray they will be filled with the Holy Spirit to lead others to faith in Christ.
Traditional Christmas Feast
Our Christian nonprofit will be hosting a Christmas party to thank God for His awesome enablement and provision throughout this past year. We will have a traditional feast followed by the Jesus film. Some of our local crew have come to faith directly and indirectly in the past 2 years through the ministry of our nonprofit and others are searching. We see this party as another opportunity to openly celebrate and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all their families. Please pray the Lord will miraculously move to glorify Himself in and through this celebration. Before this, the only attempt to ever show the Jesus film in our village resulted in the stoning of the equipment and the missionaries being chased out of the village. Never before have Christians been able to serve long term in this village and we are thankful for the open door God has given us the past 3 years! Please pray!
New witness and new opportunities
As we enter a new year pray that the Lord will grow the Church among the Lopit. Pray for open hearts to receive His word and faithful witness of church leaders. Also pray for new ministry opportunities among the Lopit so that more people will be exposed to the Gospel.
Steadily Abiding
Please pray that the people who attended the seminar for M disciple-makers will continue to spend time reading God’s Word and praying each day, deepening their own relationship with Christ.
Response
Culturally appropriate songs which share God’s Word and Good News are being composed and worked on by a few O people. Pray that God’s Word will spread with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction – bringing RESPONSE from many O to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord! Pray that 5 O ‘Men of Peace’ will receive God’s grace in all of it’s truth – and become committed disciples of Jesus who are enthusiastic and willing to give their all to spread the Gospel to their loved ones and communities!
Drinking and Living Water
Water is often a challenge for the Nyang’atom, they have few wells for the dry season and no way to preserve water during rainy season. Pray that more wells will be dug and that they will turn to the Living Water.
Leaders and Multiplication
Pray for God to call more Toposa Christian leaders to strengthen and cause growth in churches in villages that will result in multiplication. Pray for unity among Toposa church leaders in unreached villages in remote areas.
Displaying Bold Unity and Confidence
Praise God that the body of Christ boldly displayed their generous unity in committing all the funds needed to send Ndugu S, a fairly new Swahili believer, to a carpentry & discipleship training school. He desires to grow in his faith and be trained in this skill so he can return to our village able to support himself and bear Christ’s witness to his neighbors through this vocation. Pray the Lord would continue to meet Ndugu S’ needs.
Proclaiming the truth of His gift
Pray for the Lopit communities during this Christmas season that the Word of the the Lord and the truth of His gift to us might be boldly proclaimed and accepted. Pray that the usual distractions of food, new clothes and alcohol will not interfere with the Truth taught at the church services.
Free Indeed
Several S. Asian women seem to want to trust both the Quran and the Bible for their salvation and daily living. They are terrified to consider leaving their religion or its doctrines. Yet they keep wanting to read and hear the Bible, and to pray with their Christian friends. Please pray for a breakthrough, that they will be set free indeed by the Son of God as they put all their trust in Him.
Rapid Progress
Pray for the Bible translation among the Alagwa to progress. That the word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified.
Pray for good shepherds
Ezekiel 34 speaks about shepherds and verse 8 talks about the shepherds neglecting the sheep- they were taking care of themselves and not the sheep. In v. 11 the Lord says He Himself will look for His sheep and take care of them.
Evangelism happens here and people raise their hands to accept Jesus, and then the people holding the crusades leave, and leave the baby sheep to fend for themselves. Please pray for the few Christ-followers among the Kjong to have the Father’s heart for their fellow sheep.
His love to shine this season
Praise God that the wheat crop is growing well this year. Pray that hearts would be moved towards the Son this Christmas. Pray that the little church in Nagishot would show His love in a meaningful way this Christmas season. Pray for more workers to come to the Didinga Hills to share the Good News!
Strength for young believers
Please pray for young Lopit believers. We have noticed an increase in spiritual attack and community persecution through antagonism and physical abuse particularly through Catholic influence on the community. Please pray for strength, boldness, and perseverance as the new believers in the Iboni and Ohilang communities face these challenges. Pray for a strengthening of their faith as they rely on the Lord during these trials.
Destruction and Restoration
Towns and villages in CAR continue to be destroyed by Muslim militants. Sadly much of the destruction is being attributed to the “Mbororo”. Of course there are many types of Mbororo and these are likely the warring group, however it only deepens the fear and distrust of the local people who have been the victims. Pray that peace will be restored and the local people will be able to forgive and reach out to the Mbororo with the Gospel.
Returning home
Pray that as the Toposa students return home during the holidays that they would be a strong witness for the gospel and that they would continue to share the gospel even while facing persecution.
By Many Or By Few
My friend had the sobering experience of attending a graduation ceremony at a Muslim school where one of our S. Asian friends teaches young children. She was the only Christian in attendance. It was a place of darkness, with over 100 parents listening as their children recited by rote all the rules of their religion. Rules is all they have. They do not have a mighty Saviour. Our hearts break over their blindness and captivity. December is the season to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, and we plan to invite our friends over for celebrations of joy. Please pray for God to open their ears, their hearts, their minds. Pray for them to be very disillusioned with their religion and come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Pray that nothing will hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.
A Narrow Path
One of our local women and dear friends recently had a dream where she saw herself coming out of a “gate” and walking on a “tight” path. She asked me if I knew what it meant and I was able to share the verses with her from Matthew 7 about the narrow path and narrow gate that leads to life. She had some amazing insights about the verses and her dream and is asking God to give her more clarity about what it all means. Please pray specifically that He will show her that Jesus Himself is the gate
Avenues for the Gospel
The Nyang’atom area is undeveloped – pray that health care centres and schools will be built and that these places will become avenues for the Gospel to spread in the communities.
Christ being formed in them
We have seen some Bara people coming to Christ in a miraculous way. Could you pray for them that they will grow in faith and in the desire to know more the Lord Jesus? Pray that the Holy Spirit will help them not fall into syncretism or some kind of misunderstanding of the Message of the Gospel.
God bless you
Two Men With Bibles
A few days ago a stranger turned up at our door looking for a pastor to pray for him. Things have not been going well for him in life and business for quite some time. He has donated much to the mosque all with no result. He has dabbled in witchcraft, which has only made things worse. Then he had a dream where he saw two men walking down a path with Bibles in hand. He believes God was telling him the way forward to knowing him is through the Bible. We prayed and then connected him to our national team member who was able to share some Bible passages with him and pray with and for him. At the end of their time together, this man “H” declared that he truly wants to know the one true God! He is scared though, scared of persecution and further bad luck in life. Please pray for his salvation.
Translation project
Our island is hosting a 2 week translation workshop, which started Monday. It is going well- the content and learning are excellent, but there are signs of fatigue and some sickness. Pray for the logistics of the workshop. Pray for the health, strength and capacity of the translation team. Pray for the translators’ families who have been deeply affected by their interactions with the Word. There will be a lot of hard work in the coming months but big returns as we hope to produce accurate Bible stories in the native island story-telling style. Pray for the Word of God to come to the islands with power!
Students away from home
Please pray for Toposa students that are studying in Torit. Pray that their hearts would be so impacted by the gospel, they would be compelled by the love of Christ to take the gospel back to their home village in the Toposa area called Mogos.
Radio project
A radio tower has been built and work has begun on a studio which will broadcast the Gospel, Christian music, Bible reading, and Bible-based teaching to the many unreached peoples living in the rugged remote region of Northern Kenya. Ask the Lord to provide $20,000 to complete the initial phase of work and begin broadcasting.
Wide Distribution of Treasures
In the last seven weeks more than a hundred “treasures” have been distributed among the Samburu in our area. A “treasure” is a solar powered MP3 player. These treasures have three sets of Bible stories, the gospel of Matthew, Paul’s and John’s letters, Christian songs, and the soundtrack of the Jesus film, all in Samburu! As most of the Samburu in our area are illiterate, these treasures give them the opportunity to hear the Word of God in their own language. Quite a number of Samburu men are eager to receive one of these players. Pray that God will speak to the hearts of many Samburu as they listen to His Word
A Nursery School Graduation and Two Wives
This week we need prayer for graduation here at Mwikalo Muuja nursery School. Join us to pray for a man named Zungu and his wives. We continue sharing the good news with them. Thank you for your prayers for us and God bless you all.
Effective Prayer as a Witness
Praise God for opportunities to share Christ’s witness with Mama N. She is a strong local leader among the women of our village. She seems entirely content with her many good works which she believes bring her favor from Allah. The other day she came by for a visit and God opened wide the door to share the gospel of grace with her again. She asked about the road and reservoir project. I shared with her how I was praising God for answering our prayers to delay the rains which were pouring down in all the areas around us so that we could complete the project in good time. She looked a bit startled and said, “Yes. Yes. Wow! Truly we all knew it would rain, but it hasn’t. Now I know why. God hears your prayers because you are a good person!” I said, “No! Mama N! I am a sinner! But my Savior Jesus is the Son of God who took away my sins, the sins of the world through His sacrifice of his body & blood on the cross! I am made Holy and now have a relationship with God Almighty because of Jesus! He is what makes me holy and good so that I can go to God for all my needs. God hears the prayers of all who trust in Jesus!” She listened thoughtfully. Pray for the Holy Spirit to draw her and her respected Swahili family to Christ!
