There is an elder in a village that A, E & S have been reaching out to who consistently comes for Bible sharing and prayers. Often he says he has forgotten what he heard, or doesn’t seem to understand well. However, earlier this week after S shared about what it means to be born again, he said, “Now I know why I have been coming all this time. It was so I would understand that I need to be born again.” Praise God for this wonderful encouragement and pray for this elder to grow in his relationship with Christ.
Courage to follow
Pray against fear for many who have heard truth or have scripture sd cards and even Bibles. May the word not return void. May people recognize the Truth and have courage to follow.
Truth about Easter
Diaspora in Florida: Pray for the International student night tomorrow March 23rd for many to come and hear the truth about Easter.
Turned her back
Pray for Mama S., who used to be very involved at a local church but has since turned her back on the church and her faith. We still see a heart for God in her and pray she would turn back to the One True God.
Submit to God
Our hearts desire and prayer to God for the O is that they will be saved! We testify about the O that many of them are zealous for God – but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they do not know the righteousness of God (through Jesus), they seek to establish their own, and so they do not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the fulfillment of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
(Paraphrased from Rom. 10:1-4). Pray that many O will submit to their need for God’s Gift of Salvation and Righteousness through Jesus our Lord!
Oral Bible
A team of local translators are working on orally translating the Bible for Sakalava and other northern tribes. This is in the form of audio recordings. Pray that the team would have wisdom, unity, and perseverance as they translate. Pray that God’s word would go forth to reach many, many people.
Recently translated, recorded, and being used!
One team member is getting to share with a group of men in his village regularly. He has been able to use recently translated and recorded scripture as he meets with them. Praise Him for this opportunity, and also for the newly created resources that are being used. May their hearts respond.
Planting seeds
Traditionally, the Gabbra are pastoralists. During the last drought, many of their animals died. Some of the Gabbra are now planting crops to provide for their family. Praise God for good rains to water their crops over this last year. Pray for the Gabbra as they continue to learn about planting and harvesting, and preparing the land for the next rainy season. Pray for the Gabbra Christians, that just as they plant seeds in the ground, they would be sharing about God and planting seeds in the hearts of their neighbours.
New believers
Diaspora in Ontario: Please pray for new Iranian believers Rush*, Deddy* and wife Abby* to grow in their faith following Jesus and as they share the gospel with their friends and family back in Iran.
Respond to Gospel
Pray that every person of South Asian origin in Tana- Muslim or Hindu- will have the opportunity to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pray for one of two believers in Tana we know of, from South Asian background. Pray that her husband would respond to the Gospel message of Hope . Pray for daily encouragement and growth in the faith.
Hope
Please continue to pray for the believers in jail for their faith. Pray that the God hope fills them with all joy and peace as they trust in Him, so that they may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13) And pray they will be delivered!
Audio Bible distribution
Distribution of a partial audio Bible in the local dialect has started. SD memory cards are loaded with that and some Malagasy worship music and the Jesus film. Pray that those who received it will listen regularly and that true word of God will take hold in their hearts.
Studying together
Pray for an Alagwa secret believer who is beginning to study the Word together with some of his relatives and friends. Pray for him to facilitate a group coming to Christ together.
TEE
Robert is now leading eight Lopit men in four different villages in TEE (Theological Education by Extension). Remember these men in your prayers, “asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give [them] the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that [they] may know him better” (Ephesians 1:17). Pray for Clement, a Lopit believer, who has agreed to lead two young men through the TEE classes in his village of Ibahore. Pray that God will continue to raise up Lopit believers to lead His church amongst their own people!
Ramadan
Pray for the women I meet with, some won’t want to study the Bible until Ramadan is over. Pray that God may reveal himself to them.
Seek and find
Pray for the Muslim community here as Ramadan has started this week. Pray that many Muslims, as they fast and pray for the forgiveness of their sins, would seek and find the True God.
Be awakened to God
Dry season in Kimatong means village life has quieted down. Many have migrated with their cattle to a more viable source of water and grazeable land. Other Laarim have gone to the trading center of Loryok, a four-hour walk from the village. Due to the poor harvest, food is not always easy to find. Life is hard for these people! Please pray for the needs of the Laarim to be met. And pray that such need would awaken many to turn to God and recognize their deeper needs, so that they come to know what they were truly created for.
St Patrick’s Day
Diaspora in California: Pray for the St Patrick’s day dinner (March 15) and the Easter picnic (March 30) with the International students. Pray for students to come and for the gospel to be clearly presented and received.
Quiet them with His love
‘He will quiet you with his love’. This is a particularly testing month for local believers as they come under extra scrutiny and pressure to conform. Many are isolated from one another and walk a lonely path. Pray that the additional pressure would only serve to press them ever closer to Jesus, and that He would quiet them with his love.
Bible study
Diaspora in France: Pray for a Bible study we have started with 3 students. Praise for the encouragement of how the Lord is working in their lives. Pray nothing will interfere with meeting regularly.
School for children
We have started a school and children’s ministry in the ‘forest village’. I want to see a new generation from this village—a generation who knows the true God in their heart language, a generation educated from an early age that we hope, in God’s providence, will help them in their future lives.
Last Christmas, before the school break, we organized a small party for the kids. I was so moved to see one little boy volunteering to pray. He prays to the true God in his own language. I trust God is in all of this. Please pray for these children and their school.
Gabbra pastors
Please pray for 3 Gabbra men who are serving as pastors in different villages. Each of these men have been discipled by missionaries and have completed formal Bible training. Requests have been submitted for each of them to receive a pastor’s license, but the process is being delayed. Pray that these three men would continue to grow in their faith as they teach others, and that they would all be granted licenses to be formal pastors.
Mr. M.
Pray for Mr M, may God open his heart. Pray for him to trust God with his financial problems.
Pray for the salvation of all Karana people of Madagascar, may the Lord help them to seek Him.
Publicly identified with Jesus
Pray for many of the secret believers and seekers who are trying to decide if they should fast Ramadan or not this year. Pray for courage to be publicly identified with Jesus.
Need a savior
For those who have been seeking and reading Truth, the month of Ramadan is often a time of renewed fervor for Islam. We pray for dreams and visions to disrupt their confidence. We pray that all the rituals and practices of this month will give them no assurances, no satisfaction, no hope. We pray for the hearts and minds of seekers to ultimately recognize how empty and powerless they are and how much they need a Savior.
Severe drought
Please pray for the drought affecting all our districts. The Ndau are subsistence farmers, and we are in a very severe drought. Beloved brothers and sisters in 5 areas have lost all their crops due to no rain! Please pray with us in faith for God’s provision in this new year- everything from last year is gone.
Bread
Since our school began in 2019, the World Food Program have been promising a feeding program for the students. We praise God that they have responded and now provide a meal for our children in school among the Toposa. Pray these children will also feast on the Bread of Life and share Him with their families.
Demonstrate compassion
Pray for the local believers in Nuba Mountains to respond to the needs of the communities and demonstrate compassion.
Pray for our partners on the ground in developing a strategy plan and be equipped to serve the affected communities.
Pray that these internally displaced persons (IDPs) will be catered to and ministered to according to their needs.
Healed in Jesus’ name
Praise the Lord for some wonderful opportunities to share Truth with people in the community. We have an initiative of going out three times a week in pairs and looking for opportunities to share Truth with people. We’ve had some encouraging conversations and prayed for people in the name of Jesus. We had one particularly exciting incident in which a young woman was healed, and she later was quick to attribute it to the prayer in Jesus’ name. Pray for her and many others to follow Jesus.
Resources in local languages
Pray for the social media accounts that have been created to share verses and songs in the local language. Let’s pray that God uses this channel to reach many people. Pray for all the resources in local languages to be widely shared and thoughtfully read.
Musa
Earlier this month, Musa was on a trip to the city where he was in the final stages of planning to move there to serve on a team sharing the gospel with Somali people. He was killed in a tragic car accident on the road along the way. He leaves a wife and family mourning his death, along with many others whom he has influenced and impacted through years of ministry.
My cry is this: that in Musa’s place, God would raise up 10, 20, or 100 more men and women who would follow in Musa’s footsteps, to go to places where unless someone goes, lost people will continue to live and die without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray the Lord comforts Musa’s family and at the same time raises up a harvest of passionate, compassionate, and transformed workers who will go and share the love of Christ and the power of the gospel among those who are living and dying without knowing Jesus.
Want to spend time together
Diaspora in Georgia: Pray for two Muslim ladies who I’ve begun developing friendships with. Pray that they would be tender and open to the Gospel while seeing God’s love shining through interactions they have with Christians. Pray that they would reach out and want to spend time together. Also, one of them, Z, is recovering from a herniated disc, so also pray for her healing.
Aslan
Diaspora in Canada: Pray for two dear cousins who are struggling academically, firmly committed to their Muslim faith, to be open to stories of God’s love and grace in Jesus. One is reading and watching the Narnia Chronicles and has been very interested in the role of Aslan, especially at the stone table. Pray that our discussion of the sacrifice of Aslan and the sacrifice of Jesus may bear fruit.
Oral Bible Translation
It is one year now since we started the Oral Bible Translation (with Spoken Worldwide) into the Northern Sakalava language. We have finished the books of Ruth and Mark and they have been released to the public through radio broadcasting, and to individuals’ phones. We are about to finish the book of Genesis—God willing this will be released this month.
The impact of the translation is great as people come to understand the word of God in their heart language. One of my friends in Ambilobe wrote to me: “So we went and taught using the audio of Ruth. They enjoyed listening and were very interested in discussing the meaning. After that two people decided to follow Jesus even before we asked anything! They said the story showed them they want to follow Him. I don’t know how God does it, but He did! Praise Jesus!”
Traveling
Wanyonyi, Claudio, and Nelson plan to go to Boma on Wednesday and travel for 10 days with Benjamin Challo and other Jie leaders. Getting Petrol for motorcycles has
been challenging. Pray for safe travels and fruitful ministry.
It’s a pretty dangerous time to travel in SS. The Lango are really causing trouble. Pray that this team remains safe.
Exploring reason for Easter
Diaspora in Wales: Pray for the women’s literacy and sewing classes. In the weeks leading up to Easter:
Pray for the teachers and students as we explore the reason for Easter.
Ramadan starts Mar 10th which brings a heightened spiritual awareness but class attendance tends to decline.
Need more teachers
Pray for 4 teachers that a local elementary school is looking to hire to help with the overwhelming student to teacher ratio (800 students:8 teachers). Pray the Lord would bring Christian teachers that would be strong in their faith and a light to the community!
Pursue truth
Pray for progress in evangelism: that those whom team members are regularly sharing with would join Bible studies and seriously pursue truth and understanding.
Innovation
Throughout these years, the Lord has provided us with various strategies to reach the Bara people and, more recently, the Mahafaly people.
However, we realize the need to INNOVATE our approach, as Technology has finally reached Betroka. Yes, Facebook and all media have reached us.
Last week, in partnership with GNPI (Good News Productions International), the NOMAD Academy (National Outreach using Media And Discipleship) offered us valuable training on producing biblical stories, short films, testimonies, as well as media editing and assembly.
Our primary goal is to create material for projectors that weekly proclaim the message of Jesus in various places in southern Madagascar. Additionally, we aim to develop contextualized content for discipleship and missionary mobilization among local churches, using videos, interviews, and other resources.
By all possible means, we want the Name of Jesus to be known, as we truly are co-workers with Him.
Evangelists
The missionaries in Hurri Hills are starting to prepare for a home assignment, which will leave the local evangelists working on their own. Please pray for all of the details to be sorted out so that the evangelists can continue on well during the missionaries’ absence. Pray for provision and fruitful ministry for the evangelists.
