Praise Jesus for the gathering of over 350 Fulani believers and for the 3 who traveled far to join them and then returned to their own village changed. Continue to pray that these men would share what they are learning and faithfully disciple new believers.
Ladies conference
On the 13th September the annual Ladies Conference will start in Chimoio and finish on the 17th. From our area there will be 60 ladies attending and we will be hiring a truck to take them to and back from Chimoio. I am super excited as we have never had so many go and I think that it will be of great benefit to them. They learn so much at these conferences and the topics addressed are pertinent to their lives and lifestyle. Can I ask you to please pray with us for the travelling, conference itself and for those bringing the studies?
The Lamb of God
Pray for many opportunities to share the story of Abraham’s sacrifice this month. This story is remembered and celebrated during the Eid festival happening this week. Pray that the story would prompt questions about the character of God, and their own relationship with him. Pray for the desire to hear more stories.
May he believe
An Arab man is married to a new Berber believer. He is open to the gospel and asked to meet with another believer last night for coffee. He asked many questions, listened to the gospel, and accepted prayer, but he is not yet ready to surrender. Pray he would bow his knee and be given faith to receive Christ’s gift of life! Ask for the salvation of his family… including all 5 children.
She’s found Hope!
A young woman sent pictures of the passages of scripture she has been reading and texted, “I have found hope and life and forgiveness in Jesus. God has called me to tell all who will hear of His Way of Light.” She has been reading the Word to her two sisters and their children and to her Arab friend and her children and asked to be sent verses daily. Ask for continued hunger, zeal, and proclamation.
Sovereign Serendipity
Sovereign Serendipity! They BOTH came! Both Mama F (who recently professed Christ as her Savior) & Mama S (who has come for prayer & God’s Story) joined the Christian ladies’ prayer group in my home this week! They risked the exposure of being seen gathering with local believers. They arrived just in time to hear our pastor’s wife narrate the story of Ruth. BOTH wholeheartedly participated in the discussion and prayer afterwards. What an awesome God we serve! Pray for their spiritual and physical protection & for the salvation of their whole families!
A Day At the Hospital
An all-day visit to a mission hospital with a father and mother who were worried about their precious 21 year old daughter provided opportunities to discuss prominently displayed Scripture, share the gospel, pray together, and receive blessings through the kind, helpful behaviour of the Christian medical personnel. Please pray that this very Muslim family will continue to grow more and more open to knowing the one true God through Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
A Radio Studio and A Church Building
Pray that a radio studio and church building can be completed soon. Pray that many people will become believers through hearing the radio programs and through hearing the Word of God taught in the church.
New family member!
Rejoice with us and the angels! We have a new brother in the family! Pray for him to have grace and strength to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and to share his experience with others.
He Has Broken Off Contact
Please pray for Saidi, a Sandawe Muslim background believer for whom we have prayed before. He has broken off contact with the evangelist who was discipling him. We are not sure what is going on and if he might be questioning his new found faith. He does not have much support from any church or believers in his home area.
Good news from the islands!
Baba S has been our go-to person to help write Bible stories and gospel presentations. He loves to record and memorise them, and he recently asked us if he could play them to his whole family! Pray that as they listen they will be transformed by them. Mama Bey is elderly and house-bound. She always asks to hear stories about Jesus, and recently told us that she now follows Him! Angel is a young mum who is married to a strong believer, they are both illegal immigrants. She has been soaking up the Word and recently decided to follow Jesus and be baptised!
Prayers for the Dead
Pray for witnessing opportunities with friends who don’t share our faith- they will gather together this afternoon in their individual homesteads to say prayers over their dead.
May they find Living Water
The water table seems to have shifted way lower – and it’s been a challenge finding a good water source here. Pray that God will provide good and abundant water – and that many conversations surrounding the search for water will be advancing His Kingdom.
Cholera!
Several people are sick with Cholera in a Laarim village. Pray for the medical personnel and team members treating the sick and educating the village about prevention. Pray the Lord would heal the sick and open hearts to spiritual healing as well.
Biblical Manhood
Our teammate was invited by his friend to the cashew forest to witness his 8 year old son’s circumcision. By the time he arrived the Islamic ritual had already taken place and the bewildered boy bravely sat trying to hold back the tears streaming down his face as he sat on the blood stained mat. This is the rite of becoming a “man” in this culture that will soon be followed by a tribal celebration over several days. On the walk back the boy’s father gathered various roots that he explained would be used to ward off any spirits that may come to attack his vulnerable son. May the Swahili come to know the Savior – the Son of our Father God who restores true Biblical manhood.
Conviction of sin
Pray for conviction of sin among the unsaved Ndau and that it will encourage them to seek the peace and deliverence found only in Christ. There are so many still living in darkness.
Turning to the Witch Doctor
Because of the nurses’ strike we have many medical needs and ongoing health requests, and a number of Gabbra people are seeking to get healing from the ‘elgade ayana’ (shaman /witchdoctor). Please pray that God will step in and turn them from Satan to Jesus.
Children Ministry
Children are a great strategy for reaching out to people still unreached. We have in our Children Ministry more than 200 children that, every Saturday and Wednesday, come to listen to the Bible Stories. Please pray that those children will be changed by God, and serve as an instrument of sharing the gospel in their own villages and families.
Her Tests Came Back Clear
Praise God that a S. Asian woman who thought she needed surgery had all her tests come back clear. She is saying this is an answer to prayer. Praise God for her continuing interest in spiritual things and her desire that others in her family would learn about Jesus. Pray for regular scheduled times to continue reading the book of Luke together.
For The First Time*
Please be praying for a team of translators for the next two days. They’ve completed a draft of the book of Luke in the M language and have asked us to gather friends to read thru it together. They are also recruiting voices for the Jesus film. Praise God that these discipleship tools will be available soon. M people will be able to read the Word in their own language for the first time! Some friends we’ve invited are believers. Please pray for protection over our meetings, unity among all the believers and good understanding between working in 3 languages. The others we’ve invited to these meetings are seekers. Pray that even in these meetings, God’s word would move with power as He makes Himself known here. Pray that in these two days we would be walking in the Spirit and in His plans for our time. Pray that the Lord would raise up M disciple-makers that would catalyze a movement throughout the M Hills and beyond.
The Healer, Saviour Jesus
Hawa came to my door begging again. Her husband moved their family here from a far distant village. First her sons died, then her husband. On my porch I got to share the story of Eve (Hawa), and that through her God would bring the Savior of the world. I told her God sees her & sent His Son Jesus to save her. She smiled and said she believed Jesus is her Savior. And we rejoiced! The next day God woke me with an urgency to go see her. Hawa was lying in her bed shaking from a high fever. I immediately began to pray for her healing, and for the treatment she needed. A few days later I helped her from her bed to the front porch to get some fresh air and we talked again of the God who sees, loves and saves us. I hadn’t realised how the neighbors were watching and listening till I was visiting another new believer and a passerby told her that Hawa was doing much better since Jesus healed her. The new believer chimed in, “Of course Jesus heals through prayer – it’s not just the medicine!” Pray the Swahili will come to know their Healer, Savior Jesus!
Free but hurting
The young man who was in prison is now out, but under continued pressure from authorities. Please continue to pray that God will fill him with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom, that he will live a life worthy of the Lord bearing fruit, and that he will be strengthened. Col. 1
Unexplained Pain*
Please pray for a S. Asian young woman who has had unexplained pain in her right side for two weeks. All medical tests come back clear. Much prayer has been offered for her healing in Jesus’ name and she and her family are listening to the gospel with more openness and hunger than ever before. Pray for the salvation of the large entire Muslim family, and for the young woman’s healing.
Common Violence
Violence is common in the Ndengereko tribe, and security in some villages is minimal. Please pray that the gospel will spread rapidly among the Ndengereko people, and that the Prince of peace will change that culture from lawlessness to dignity and respect.
She Seems To Recognise the Difference
Thank you for continuing to pray for the Muslim widow who is reading Luke and “learning to love Jesus.” Recently she seemed to begin to understand that all other religions are basically about which good works should be done, but Christians are sharing a message that God came and provided salvation for us through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Pray for this truth to cause her to reject any system that promotes works-righteousness and declare that all her faith is in Jesus for her salvation.
Divine Appointments
When arriving at new believer Bibi C’s porch to tell God’s Story with her, God brought her searching sister (Mama M) there, along with a neighbor Mama N to hear His Story too. What a joy it was to share some of it as Bibi C chimed in with her remembrance of God’s Story too. This has happened twice! They seem interested to hear more of God’s Story – pray all of this will grow Bibi C in her faith & lead her sister & neighbor to the Savior! Praise God for His divine appointments with the Swahili & pray for more to come!
Malasos are still attacking!
The Malasos are Bara men that steal cattle. Armed with guns and ‘protections’ (witchcraft), they are still causing terror in Betroka and surroundings areas. Even the police are afraid of them. Their witchcraft is very powerfull.Just this week they stole more then 120 bulls, leaving behind sadness, anger, and people thirsty for revenge. Those who raised the livestock are getting more and more bitter.
Please pray for those Bara malasos – they are the very Bara we want to reach with the Gospel – that they can see the evil of their actions and feel the weight of sin, and also the beauty of Christ, who alone can change our lives. Pray that the church will engage in the evangelization of them and in the future, by God’s grace, we may see a huge harvest among these thieves.
Oh to be set free!
The last few weekends have been very LOUD in our village from the ceremonial Islamic circumcision ngoma (dance celebrations). The boys are brought out before the crowd, gifts are bestowed and the dancing begins all weekend long, with loud speakers blasting the thumping music. In the night the dancing becomes lewd acts and the lostness is vivid. There are often angry accusations among families and neighbors afterwards from the sinful actions that took place. Pray that one day the Swahili will be set free to dance to the beat of a different drummer for His Glory and their great joy in Him, with no regrets!
Strong Participants
Please continue praying for five men in the village of Lchakwai who will become faithful followers of Jesus and strong participants in the church.
Two Deaths in a Week
My Muslim S. Asian neighbours had another family member die Tuesday. That is two funerals in a week. I am begging the One who sees from His throne to use these griefs to soften their hearts, give them a deep fear of death, and make them dissatisfied with the explanations they hear. May He reveal which family members’ hearts are becoming more receptive, more willing to look elsewhere for answers to the questions of life and death. May they initiate conversations that show they are hungering and thirsting for His righteousness.
Tribal Clashes for Grazing Lands
Because of the severe drought in Northern Kenya, pastoralists like the Borana have been having clashes with other tribes who also want to graze their animals in areas where some grass still remains. Often, people are killed. Please pray that God will send rain to northern Kenya, and that those Christians among the Borana will refuse to be involved in tribal warfare but instead be agents of peace.
A Strategic Meeting Of Leaders
August 13th, five pastors and evangelists of four different denominations serving among the Rangi community met at our church to pray and strategize on how we can work together as a team to evangelize the Rangi people.
– Thank God that He is answering our prayers for the unity of purpose.
– Pray that God will help us to work together for him despite our differences.
Powerful Prayer for Unity
Before Christ left the earth, He prayed to His Father that believers would be “perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and that You loved them even as You loved Me.” Please pray that this supernatural unity would be evident among the Sandawe believers, and that many would be saved as they observe it.
She Confessed That She Believes
Mama & Baba F are our neighbors. You have been praying for almost a year now that they would respond to our witness of Christ’s salvation. They have seen healing in their young daughter, who is walking after prayer for her in Jesus name – when witchdoctors could do nothing. They have seen us cry out to Christ with other believers for our own healing and they have seen Him answer. They have come to us burdened from the broken relationships in their own family and community and we have shared with them the hope we have in Christ the restorer of our most important relationship with Father God. Finally, a few days ago, Mama F, hearing the salvation story yet again, responded for the first time that she believes that Jesus is not only her daughter’s Healer, but also the Savior of the world! REJOICE!!! Pray now for wisdom in how to enfold Mama F into the body of Christ here. Pray for the salvation of their whole family!
Through Her Adult Children
A widowed Muslim lady has great concern for her adult children who are secular and worldly. Recently she has begun reading the Bible. Now her son has told her that he read the Bible in school, as well as other religious books. Her daughter and grandchildren were recently spared in what could have a been a very serious traffic accident. Please pray that each of her children will also be seeking–and finding–the Lord while she does, and that as a family they may come to faith in Christ.
Praise God for curious women!
I was chatting with a couple women in a shop and when I mentioned Jesus, they immediately said: ‘We don’t know much about Jesus, will you tell us about him?’. And so I shared the big story of the Bible, building up for them a picture of why Jesus came. Her friend was in and out of the conversation, customers came and went but Karla was engaged and asking questions. Today I popped by her shop again and without any prompting she told me that I really needed to teach them more, and how her friend had said that they needed to gather others together and really learn about these things! Praise God for curious hearts! Pray that they would put their idea in action, and we would be able to meet together to study God’s word. Pray that as they discover more of who God is, their hearts will be captivated with a love for him.
Ups and Downs
Every people group has ups and downs. Every work has its ebb and flow. Please pray that those who have begun to seek Christ among the M will not retreat and lose interest, but will steadily pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
A Woman, A Man, and A Famine
First, I continue Bible discussions with Salamada, and she says she continues to love Jesus, so please join us in praying for her. Second, pray for Yusuph, who says he feels the call of God to serve Jesus and needs to now attend Bible school. Lastly, please pray for the Rangi as it is a time of great famine and the people of Busi are really suffering for lack of food. Pray for God to provide. Thank you, and may God bless you for praying.
Let us stand with our brother
A young man is now in prison because he chose to follow Jesus and speak the gospel. Pray that “because of his chains other brothers and sisters will speak the Word more courageously and fearlessly.” Pray that “through our prayers and the help of the Spirit this will turn out for his deliverance” and that he will “have sufficient courage so that Christ will be exalted in his body whether by life or by death.” Phil 1
Meeting in a Living Room
Praise God for many Gabbra people attending Sunday morning services in a missionary’s living room. Pray for each of them to come to personal faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and pray that a church building can soon be built for them.
