Rejoicing about a recent Nyamwezi BMB who was baptized earlier this month. For years, he has sat outside the church under a tree, listening to the church services, not willing to enter the church, and not accepting the message of salvation through Jesus. Then a visiting evangelist shared the Gospel with him and the seeds planted over the years grew into belief. He was baptized with 13 other people from three different local churches. After the baptisms, many of those baptized asked for their photo to be taken by the baptismal. It really touched my heart to see that when his church group gathered, mostly from one family clan, they looked over and called the Nyamwezi man to join them in the church group photo, saying, “We are all one family now!” Praise God for this visual demonstration of this village church welcoming in a BMB, forever joining the family of God!
Only source of lasting peace
Please pray for peace to continue after lots of clashes in Dukana and North Horr this week. Four killed, one injured and many homes burned to the ground. Now the police have several people in custody and have asked everyone in the town to come together to rebuild the lives of those who have lost everything. Some have started to help including our church but still tempers run high from factions in town that want to chase away the smaller clan. Please pray that the Gospel would go forth and many will come to faith in Jesus Christ who is the only true source of lasting peace.
Listen and respond
Pray for ‘Hadassah’, the friend of a former teammate, who has been meeting with other team members recently. She has had many dreams about Jesus but never committed to studying the word. But last week teammate M was able to give her a book and a link to our Gospel of Luke app. Please ask that she would read or listen and respond in faith.
Unity
Pray for the unity of the local brothers and sisters. Pray that those struggling in their walk with the Lord will get the right discipleship.
Church building
Praise God for the new church building that has recently gone up in Kimatong! The believers have come together with some help from the missionary team to erect a simple structure for their worship services. Pray that the church would grow in depth of love and knowledge, unity and commitment to peace.
Hunger to grow
Pray that the young believers who profess to follow Jesus really hunger to grow in faith, in the word of God and abiding in Christ. Pray for them and our team: for protection from all the schemes of our enemy the devil!
Stronghold
The stronghold of Islam and animism is strong in the Rangi people. Without God’s intervention, it is impenetrable. Pray for the Lord to reveal Himself to the people here through miracles, visions, and dreams, and for Him to soften hearts and open doors.
Eid-al-Adha
Pray for the country as they are feeling restless about not being allowed to sacrifice a sheep this upcoming Eid (June 6), when Muslims commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son. (There is a severe shortage of sheep due to drought.) Ask that from that anxiety they will look to the ultimate sacrifice for their sins.
Leadership meeting local believers
Please pray for our first ever meeting with our ministry church partners this coming Sunday. This is the first time local church leadership are coming to meet with local Fulani believers since our ministry started here. Pray for a fruitful meeting and deeper relationship.
Women’s English Club
Pray that women will continue to attend and invite others.
Ask that it would be a place of encouragement, connection, and spiritual opportunity.
Pray for those leading to have creativity, joy, and sensitivity to each woman’s needs.
Need for a savior
Pray for those who have been engaged with and have some knowledge of the gospel. Pray that the LORD will grant them light and revelation and make them aware of their need for a Savior.
Killed a water buffalo
Praise God for my fruitful time helping a UPG lady in the Nile Delta with her C section, living with the family in the village, and serving them during her recovery last month. The head of the household named the baby after me and held a celebration in the village where they killed a water buffalo and invited us to be part of the village! Pray that the people in this village will come to know the Lord as we serve them.
New Believers
Please pray for the new Matumbi believers who have left Islam to follow Christ over the last year. Pray for their protection, that they would experience Jesus daily and boldly share how He has changed their lives with others.
Open hearts
Pray for our students as we continue using Bible stories with our level 6 class. Ask God to open their hearts and minds to understand and believe the message.
New group!
Pray for the new fellowship group down in the south of the island that both team families are part of. They often have new people coming every week! Pray for God to build His church!
Prisoners still
Please remember the prisoners in Libya. Pray they would be of good courage by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for their families missing them dearly, children growing up without them. Pray the Lord would intervene and cause the authorities to change their minds and let them go.
Fruitfulness
Ask for fruitfulness among the locals brothers. Pray that God will bless the works of their hands as they share with others the good things God has done for them.
Firm in their faith!
The team is so encouraged by the local believers who are firm in their faith and beginning to step up to lead. Recently, leaders from seven churches came together to be trained in preaching skills and church structure, led by one of the local believers. Pray for the believers to use the gifts they’ve been given to build up and strengthen the church.
Grow strong and deep
Pray that Timothy and all the new believers will grow strong and deep in their love and relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior. Pray for wisdom as we seek the best ways forward to gather them to worship and study, and that all fear will be gone. Pray for protection, wisdom & boldness for each one – to love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.
Expanding relationships
Diaspora in Minnesota: Pray for the women we teach English to. Yesterday, we got to meet a part of the family we did not know before and we are thankful for expanding relationships.
Local testimonies
We have recorded 6 testimonies of local Bara believers. Pray as we show these, along with the Jesus Film, that the Bara people will be touched by the power of the Gospel to change lives- even their lives. Ask the Holy Spirit to open eyes and hearts to the Gospel.
Grow in grace
Please pray for our community relationships, where we seek opportunities to have spiritual conversations with our Muslim friends. Pray the Lord would open ears and hearts to the truth.
Pray for the Bible studies we have with our new brothers in the faith. As a team, we have invested time in discipling children, teenagers, women and men, seeking to help them grow in the grace and knowledge of God. Pray for the Spirit to renew their minds and deepen their faith.
Bearing fruit
We want to thank God for the many S* contacts we have who are bearing fruit. Some are believers, some are seekers, and the majority are open minded. Pray for us as we seek God’s wisdom to get the word to their hearts and that it will be well received and accepted as the true word of God.
God has connected us with a S* organisation that is spreading peace, unity and justice and are ready to listen and work with other people who are of different beliefs, colour and nationality. They provide a platform for peace in which people’s differences and misunderstandings can be dealt with non-violently through dialogue and meaningful discussions. Pray that The Lord will guide us to use this platform to share the Good News.
Talked about prayer
Diaspora in Scotland: Praise God for an incredible conversation I had with a young woman last week as we had coffee together. For a whole hour we talked about prayer. Pray for continued spiritual conversations.
Keep Praying for MBBs
Please continue lifting up our Sudanese MBB brothers and sisters in prayer, especially those in the refugee camps and difficult regions we are engaging. Persecution is very real. One of our disciples was shot while reading his Bible. Two women were killed in the Nuba Mountains when it was discovered they were Christians. Most recently, in Juba, a believer was scalded with hot water after her faith was revealed. These dear ones are paying a high price for following Jesus. May we stand with them in prayer!.
Students coming to faith!
Diaspora in Alberta: We praise God 6 ESL students came to faith over Easter weekend!
Many students continue to attend both my Monday Bible study and our colleague’s Tuesday Bible study! I was able to explain the Gospel to my Bible study and briefly to my English class. Pray for students to ask questions and seek the Truth!
Urgent prayer for translation team
The Matumbi New Testament has just been completed and our team is helping our translator partners get a good audio recording of it. There is a team from Faith Comes by Hearing who are coming to the area the next two days to meet with potential voice actors. The rains have made the only road in very bad. Please pray the team can make it and be able to meet with the right people for this project.
Needing God to heal
Diaspora in Ontario: Pray for God to reunite fractured Christian families from a UPG where there are kids wandering from the faith, sibling hatred, disowning of family members, and a lot of mental health issues. Pray for us to be good agents of Christ’s healing to our friends.
Think about truth
Pray for Mama Latifa to be open to more conversations about Jesus and hope. For her to be bold in asking more questions and to think continually on the truth she’s heard.
Launch of after school class
Diaspora in Wales: Thank God for the questions that were asked during the English Class coffee/tea time and the Sewing Class snack time about the Easter presentation. Pray for receptive hearts and follow-up conversations in this final term.
Pray for a successful launch of the after-school Young Women’s English Literacy Class (beginning the week of May 12th). Pray it would be a blessing!
Medical work
Community health teams continue to go out to remote villages and show films, give talks and encourage any believers as well as do basic health care. Pray for their ministry.
The new maternity and baby ward is open and new staff are receiving training.
The radio transmitter has broken, pray for a way to repair or replace it. The new radio building is progressing well.
Dentistry has a new (possible?) way to make an arrangement with the government to allow foreign dentists to work. There are meetings this month. Please pray for a way forward as it’s frustrating to have set up a dental surgery, have trained staff and huge need but be unable to work.
Praying for 6 groups
For the next 6 months our team will be praying intentionally for a multiplication of groups of people studying God’s Word. We are praying that within the next 6 months the Lord would organize 6 groups of men and/or women, believers and/or non believers (seekers) studying the Word of God daily and that these groups would multiply on their own. Please pray with us!
The true God
Praise Jesus for the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit even between brothers who have never met. Believers are laboring in prayer for those in prison for the gospel in other countries. Pray for not-yet-believers who are seeing this love and the way God speaks. One woman said, ‘Maybe their God really is the true God’
Bible students
We have a group of Malagasy Bible students coming to our village on the 19th of May. They are being trained to become evangelists/missionaries among their own people.
They will stay in our house. The local Christian leaders are willing to help them to get around. They will go two by two to the surrounding villages to preach the Gospel. A local Christian will guide them and introduce them.
A second group is planned around the end of June.
Pray the Lord will open a door for fruitful ministry and many will be saved!
Take a firm stand
Please pray for the H family, who I have been discipling for years, and who have come under various spiritual attacks these past months. Pray that they would take a firm and clear stand for Jesus and make a clean break with all other power sources. Pray also that Jesus would empower them and teach them how to forgive and love people who not only have harmed them, but continually seek to harm them.
Open his heart
Diaspora in England: Pray for a new S contact, A, who we met online and is now willing to meet in person. Pray the Lord will open his heart and bless our relationship.
scripture apps
The translation team is working to get some social media advertising going again for the local Scripture Apps. Pray for success in this endeavor and pray for engagement with the Scripture Apps. May His Word not return void. May it pierce hearts and bring conviction and an awareness of the need for a Savior.
Partnership
We thank God for a partnership with a S* organisation whose vision is to promote co-existence among societies regardless of religion, ethnicity, race or colour, and its mission is to provide a platform for peace in which people’s differences and misunderstanding can be dealt with non-violently through dialogue and meaningful discussions. We will get an opportunity to share our faith in their meetings and promote peaceful dialogue.
Pray for God to open doors for us to do greater things with our presence and through His power and in His Name to these people.
Touched by the Gospel
Diaspora in France: Praise God for the Easter camp in the Alps. God was present. Praise for the 4 non-Christian students and 1 Indian family with their 2 children who opened their hearts to the Gospel. Praise for their desire to continue relationships with team members. Praise for S, a Muslim student from an island in the Indian Ocean and S, an Indian (Hindu) who were particularly touched by the Gospel and plan to go to the ‘camp of the Ascension’ to learn more.
Praise for M, a North African student from last year who has shown a real desire to understand the Gospel and wants to attend the ‘camp of the Ascension’ in Switzerland, 25 May – 1 June.
Pray for the salvation of the other 3 students, especially at the Ascension camp.
Partnership
Please pray that new partnership being developed between our office and a Nairobi Church would be fruitful in reaching the Digo in Dima, Kwale County. The church has had a station at Dima since 2014. Their clinic offers medical services to the community and the centre built around the clinic engages children and youth in schools and the community. They also have engagement with pastors in many churches in the area. Pray for God to send workers, and for spiritual fruit among the Digo people.
