Please pray with us for the translation project and the big printing we are expecting to do. Pray for good communication among the people involved and the unit. Also praise God for everyone who is going to engage with the word in the local language, for all those who are going to learn about Jesus from the printing and for all the brothers and sisters who are going to grow in their relationship with the Father because of it.
Good progress
We continue to make good progress on the discipleship training center. Please pray for the remaining work to be completed well and in a good time. Also please pray for the M guys working on the project with us. It’s been an amazing opportunity to dive deep in daily Bible study with them. Pray the Lord would continue to work in their hearts and lives and draw them to Himself.
December camp
Pray for the final preparations and provision for the Annual Camp next month.
Pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of the Campers to encounter Him in powerful ways.
Follow-ups
The disappointing news is that the big airport meeting was postponed again! Now they’re not even naming a new date. The county commissioner is due for a transfer, and we will soon be gone for a week for our annual spiritual life conference – so pray that God works out the timing to include all who are needed and again for His plans and purposes to be fulfilled.
Some good news: for the baby girl who was breech and her mom who had lost three prior breech delivery babies. Thankfully, the parents heeded our God provided wisdom to go early and stay near the county hospital where they could get a C-section if necessary. The baby was born safely, by C-section the day after they arrived there! We praise the Lord that all is well and they are so thankful, and Jesus gets all the glory for this NB family.
Sink holes!
Please pray for the AICT Lahoda church in Usandawe. They’ve had to relocate because of sink holes and geothermal activity near the original church building. Pray for opportunities to share Christ even while the Village deals with this change in the terrain.
Illnesses
Various illnesses are working their way through the Laarim community. Thankfully the cholera outbreak is over, however, there are still many cases of malaria, open skin sores, sinus and respiratory infections, and GI ailments. We would appreciate prayers for faith and peace in the Lord amid these physical afflictions, and that the Lord would bring healing.
The community has lost several people recently to drunken fights and suicide. Please pray for the families that are mourning the loss of loved ones, and for the Church to know how to approach the topic of alcohol and depression in a God honoring way.
Christmas planning
Pray that the men’s gathering in the capital would restart now that team member T is back. Pray as planning for Christmas starts: that the local believers could plan an event that encourages and unites them.
Spreading like fire in hay!
Praise Jesus for gospel videos in ShilHa from creation to the resurrection… prophet stories that teach of Jesus. According to one brother, they are ‘spreading like fire in hay’ throughout the countryside. People who have already seen the videos, come to him asking about Jesus. He keeps praying, ‘May the Word be planted in my heart so I can share clearly by the Spirit.’
Asking deeper questions
Pray for a young man named K. He has been asking deeper questions about God and has shown interest in learning more. Please pray for the Lord to draw him to His throne and His Truth.
Dedication of children
What a joy it was to have two children of an MBB being dedicated with other children on Sunday. For obvious reasons, the dedication of the two was performed in private.
Pray that the children will grow to know and love Jesus as Lord and Saviour. May they mature to serve Jesus all their lives.
Continue watering
We are relocating to another location due to security reasons. Pray for this transition. We praise the Lord for a wonderful relationship we have had with our local partners. Pray for the Evangelist who was brought in a few days ago to work with the local church members. Praise the Lord that they have a plan to continue watering the seeds we have planted in our two locations since we arrived here. Pray for those seeds to grow!
Riots and protests
Tanzania has experienced major rioting and protests with the recent election and many people were killed. There was complete lock down in most major cities, all transportation was stopped for days, and the internet was shut down country-wide for days. When there is major unrest, even for only a few days, all places begin to suffer. Though there was no protesting happening in the M area, many village shops began to run out of food and other supplies due to transportation being shutdown. We are hearing that there is more protesting scheduled to happen on Dec 9. Please pray these would be peaceful and that the gov. would choose a good way to listen and work with those protesting that would not result in more death and destruction. Please pray for God’s will to be done here in Tanzania and that whatever happens, His people would shine with His love ready to share the hope that they have in Christ.
Ramping up
Our teammates, Pastor G&E are again being threatened and persecuted in their village. They’ve had 4 come into God’s kingdom of light since they returned (after a year away due to severe persecutions) in March – the powers of darkness don’t like it! After R’s recent visit there and sharing the Gospel with a prior home guard on his deathbed, the I$lamic leaders started complaining, threatening and actually announced over the Friday mosque loudspeaker that the Christians should just be beheaded and finished once and for all. Pray for God‘s protection, peace, fruit to grow out of persecution, and wisdom to know how to move forward. Much of the village stands with Pastor G&E – but they fear that leadership, and many are very anti-Christ.
Nuba Mountain partnerships
We are at our GNAC conference in Yida, South Sudan. This year’s conference offers a unique opportunity to witness what God is doing through His Church in the Nuba Mountains and to foster deeper collaboration in both gospel action and proclamation. We are focused on seeing the transformation of the Nuba Mountains through the gospel, education, capacity building, and relief work. Mainly focused on reaching UPG’s.
Pray for local missionaries, laboring in hard places, to be refreshed and encouraged and to leave the gathering knowing that they are not alone. We have a lot of new partners this year, pray everyone leaves with a sense of how they fit into the overall vision and practical next steps.
On Saturday, a small group of us will travel up into the Nuba mountains visiting a Bible translation center, which is working on 30 unreached people group languages, and then on to Kauda to visit an agricultural project and a possible location for a leadership development course. Pray for God’s blessings on these projects.
Difficult times
Recently several believers and a couple of workers were arrested for promoting our faith. All have since been released. The workers were deported. Pray for the believers to remain steadfast, to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves as they navigate difficult times and persecution. Pray the Lord will strengthen and encourage them and continue to build His church.
Major accident!
Urgent: Please pray! We just heard that 27 students from the Heiben area of Nuba Mts on their way to take exams in another location (they have to travel far) were in a major accident and were injured. Please pray for help, healing, and ability to still make their exams.
Surgery tomorrow!
A Somali girl is in Kenya for a life saving vascular surgery. She will have the operation tomorrow. It’s a complicated surgery- pray for wisdom for the surgeons. And pray for the impact on her family- for them to really know the love of Christ. Christians have paid for her transport to Kenya, her stay the last couple of months, and for her surgery. Many “cousins” are following her story.
Peace in Troubled Times
Pray for peace and safety in Tanzania following the Oct 29 elections which were marked with protests, internet blockages, and underlying uncertainty. There seems to be mostly calm contentment within in the region of the Nyamwezi. Pray for Christian believers across the country, especially among youth, to seek God’s leading in all they do and say, and to trust that God’s hand is in control. Pray for those in the church who lead within the community and sit among the leaders of the land. Pray for boldness to preach truth and for God’s guidance in all conduct.
Giving thanks
We give thanks that:
- Our translation work is starting to spread. Many pastors want to use it to reach the people deeper in the forests.
- the Malagasy church among the Antanala is growing. In our area we see already three new local churches and many are joining the existing churches.
- Several groups from other regions have been welcomed in our area. Under guidance of local Christians, they have preached the Gospel even deeper in the area.
- We see the different denominations starting to work together. This is mostly on the deacon level (the pastors are still a little cautious).
Ask God to continue blessing this work and building His Church.
Bible study
Diaspora in England: Pray that many of our English students will stay after class for Bible study and that the Lord would speak to them in His word.
Neem project
Trying to bring church and local people into contact, we organised a training on how to make liquid soap with some instruction about treating and avoiding diarrhea (having had cholera locally). There was good attendance, and we could read some of Proverbs also. We hope to repeat this for others who couldn’t attend because of several funerals that day. Pray that this will truly encourage relationships between the southerners who attend church and the local muslim ladies and help them to understand that the Bible has good words in it. Pray for this pre-evangelism outreach.
airport meeting
The big important airstrip/airport meeting is scheduled for Wed, the 19th. Pray that the county commissioner and all those who should be here will come and everything would be resolved and formally minuted once and for all against an airport being built here (which would force us from our AIC homes, clinic, and all ministry property.) Pray against any schemes of our enemy the devil succeeding, and against any corruption or insecurity in the days leading up to the meeting. Also pray for protection in every way, and against further postponement (travel in the rainy season is always uncertain and these leaders schedules are always packed). May God‘s will be done!
Pray for their salvation
Diaspora in Georgia: Pray for Maria, Yesenia, Jennifer, Iryna, Lieu, Niafo, Uzma, Zohra and Barathi to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Pray also for two Muslim women and three Buddhist monks who come to our ESL classes to be saved.
A friend from church and I hope to connect Christian moms who want gospel outreach, with immigrants who want American friends. Pray that these friendships will draw immigrants and new believers into our church.
Tidikelt Tamzight Amazigh
The Tidikelt Tamzight Amazigh are a small tribe found only in Algeria. They live in the south, primarily in the Salah area and Tidikelt region.
They speak Tidikelt Tamazight, a language which has two dialects and is classified as a severely endangered language
Pray for the speakers of the endangered language of Tidikelt Tamazight to know the love of Christ never ends.
Ask the Lord to send messengers of His love to the Tidikelt Tamzight. Ask God to send laborers of Christ’s love into the harvest among the Tidikelt Tamzight, though little is known about this small tribe and few strategies exist to reach them.
Ask the Lord to raise up believers from near cultures with a burden to bravely go and share the Gospel with the Tidikelt Tamzight.
Exploring Christmas story
Diaspora in Wales: Pray for the spiritual discussions during the Tea/Coffee times of the English and Sewing classes as we will explore different components of the Christmas story this month. Pray that those who come will be spiritually hungry and see their need for a Saviour.
Gone viral!
Our new recording of a song in the traditional style of this island has ‘gone viral’ with over 13,000 views. We are so grateful. The track was even played in a restaurant! Pray that its message of finding hope in the good news would spread far and wide.
Great connections
Diaspora in Calgary: We’ve made some great connections through the New Canadian Hub already this semester. Pray for ongoing Gospel conversations and friendships.
Afghans
Diaspora in Michigan: There are many Afghans expressing interest in God and His Word. Please pray God would bring them together, which will eventually lead to an Afghan church.
Gym
Praise God for answering prayers for the gym, which now has many members! Many of these members are from the church, pray that we would be able to add some more Ms and pray for O and M, our two M members who have been hearing the gospel 4 times per week.
The real Jesus
Diaspora in Ontario: Please pray for FY, a long-time friend, to find affordable housing for her and her family. She lives in deplorable circumstances with a lot of challenges and is very lonely. Pray for us to have wisdom and insight on how best to help her. Pray that she will be open to God’s offer of salvation through the real Jesus, not her M one.
Open eyes
Pray for my language helper, who has begun repeating the scripture I share with her. Pray God will open her eyes to truth. Pray also for a young girl who has begun meeting with me to exchange language-learning and is willing to listen to the Word. Pray for God to open her eyes and for me to have creativity in sharing with her.
Pray for the men with whom Tam’ engages to understand and accept the Truth he shares. Praise God for the love He has given Tam’ for the Chadian people.
Parenting class
Diaspora in England: Pray for our current parenting class. We have 7 women attending, all Mslm. Pray for deep conversations about parenting to lead to deep spiritual conversations.
Breech baby
Ella, the wife of one of our NBs, has a BOH (bad obstetric history), and is now nearing the end of a pregnancy- breech baby ( and she’s lost 3 prior breech babies- she only has 1 little girl, who wasn’t breech). Pray for God’s timing for safe labor and delivery – (we are sending her to stay near our County hospital, where a C-section would be an option) and that she will grow in her knowing Jesus’ love and care for her and her family and follow him wholeheartedly!
Students
Diaspora in France: Praises for a great start to the new ministry year, building relationships with new students and further developing established relationships with former ones!
Pray for F, a new female student from Morocco. She is warm, open, and curious. Ask the Lord to open her heart with a desire to study his Word.
Pray for X & X, an Asian couple we’ve been working with the past year. In December they will leave for work in another country and we are asking the Lord for another clear opportunity to again present His Good News and answer more of their questions before they go. They seem as eager as we are to continue our friendship even after the move.
Leader
Pray for John*. He is a leader in the church on Nosy Mitsio and an example of trusting Jesus and giving Him glory. Pray for his spiritual protection and growth as a believer and a leader.
Bear lasting fruit
Diaspora in Brazil: Pray that the love of Christ may be revealed in our every action. May God grant us wisdom, sensitivity, and discernment to serve with excellence and compassion so that many may see Christ and believe in Him.
Praise God for the doors He has opened. Pray that these new opportunities will bear lasting fruit and transform lives.
Lord, speak to them
Superior 1 and Superior 2 have now completed all the stories! The students have gained a deeper understanding of who God is. Please continue to pray as they spend the next few weeks reviewing and preparing for their exams—that the Lord would speak to them through visions and dreams. We know He works in ways we can’t always understand, and we’re praying that these students would see Him clearly, turn from what they follow now, and choose to follow Christ. Graduation for Superior 2 is scheduled for November 15. Pray for their hearts.
Thanksgiving dinner
Diaspora in California: Pray for the activities with international students. Pray for the 2 new students from N. Africa who have joined our activities. This month we have a Thanksgiving Dinner Nov 15 which is a good opportunity to share our faith. Whatever we do, may all the students come to know God’s grace and salvation.
Audio recording
We are working on finishing up the audio recording for the book of Matthew. Pray that these final recording sessions are quiet and productive. Pray then for the final editing of the audio files to go smoothly and for the Matthew and Luke apps to be made before the end of the month. As always, pray for the hearts of islanders to be open to hearing from the Holy Spirit as they interact with God’s Word in all its forms here on Vanilla Island.
Needing peace
Diaspora in Washington DC: Praise God for a sister in Christ! May God grant her steady full time work so that she can develop financial stability and independence in her choices. May God allow her continued growth with her faith, and friends who will continue to build her up in the body of believers.
Pray for our young friend Ahmed, who is a cancer patient and who has been suffering seizures again recently. Pray against the attacks he feels and ask for God’s peace to comfort him and his family.
