On Tuesday evenings Jacob has a time in the Word and prayer together with a few of the believers from the area. It is a time where they read a passage in Laarim together and then talk about what it teaches them. Jacob often gives direction with the discussion, but loves how the others willingly participate and share their thoughts and questions that they then look to answer together. They also share their difficulties and pray for one another, along with other needs. Please pray for these Laarim youth to grow in zeal and knowledge!
Discuss God’s word
Diaspora in Washington DC:
Pray with us for students and volunteers to establish good relationships before summer so that they can stay in contact and continue to discuss God’s word over the break from English classes.
Tabernacling Among the Unreached
Pray for a pastor’s family who have resided in a Nyamwezi village for the last five years. They faithfully share the Gospel and there are new thriving churches they are responsible for in surrounding villages, but their village and neighbors remain hardened to the Gospel. Pray for their children in the local schools as they shine for Jesus. Pray for villagers to have a hunger and thirst for the truth, that eyes will be open to see the lies and false hopes in Islam. Pray that this family will not grow weary in doing good and will be refreshed and encouraged by fellow believers who see their efforts and will join with them in praying for people to come to faith. May the Lord gather and protect His flock from among the hard rocks and thorns.
Meeting
Praise for a meeting that was called last week, gathering representatives from all the different believer groups both expat and islander. There was sharing, discussion, and prayer. It was encouraging that areas of disunity were addressed. The hope is to start doing these meetings quarterly. Pray that these meetings might lead to greater unity and encouraging one another in the good news and work of the kingdom.
In Prison for Christ
Please ask God to give courage and peace to several believers who are in prison for choosing to follow Jesus and also to the foreigners who are also being held for teaching of Jesus. May the believers who are not imprisoned yet forgive those who revealed their names and be bold to identify with Jesus and their brethren as they pray for those in chains.
May fear not paralyze or cripple the children of God. May the church be strengthened (Phil 1) and may the lost recognize that no longer can they deny that there are Christians in this land. May each see that they are not born into any religion but that Jesus is calling them to recognize his call and take up the cross and follow him.
Open hearts
Diaspora in Wales:
Ask God to bring more international ladies who have never had the opportunity to go to school so they can participate in the literacy class in our Women’s English classes.
Pray for all our students and their families to have open hearts and minds to His salvation through Jesus Christ.
Men missing
Pray for the small village churches, pray for more men to come to faith and lead their families to the Lord. Currently many women lead and children are participating but the men are missing.
Double Dunking
We have a new brother! Praising the Father! ‘Asher’ was helped to get a copy of the Word at Christmas and has been reading it since. In the last week or so he expressed a desire to ‘enter’ the kingdom. He just met with a local brother who explained things in more depth and Asher wants to be baptized. AND a new media contact who turns out has actually been a follower for a few months also wants to be baptized… a double dunking is being planned! Father is amazing!
Impressive and encouraging
My colleague J, and two Fulani brothers from here, are still in East Africa sharing the gospel with other Fulani. The news we receive is impressive and encouraging. For the past two days they have been in a village where community had been waiting for them since morning because they heard that Fulani people from West Africa were coming to visit them. It’s interesting to hear that these Fulani have a similar culture to those here and share the same dialect! It is the first time in their lives that they are hearing the gospel. This evening the village chief and some religious leaders came to see them to hear more. Let’s continue to pray that the wind of the Spirit will blow mightily over this place.
Testimony
Praise God for a wonderful visit to a Saharawi family where Jamal was able to share his testimony with them in Hassaniya – their heart language, in direct response to their question, “Are you a Muslim?”. Praise God that they were interested and receptive to all he said. Pray these seeds would not be snatched away, but would take root and grow into faith.
Sorcery and death
With the Laarim, if a person dies from a cause other than old age, it is often believed that a sorcerer caused the death, and this is sometimes followed with people then identifying, accusing, and killing another person whom they believe caused the death through sorcery. This has been a problem for many years and the team would hear of the occasional lynching of a person which had followed the death an individual, but it was only occasional. This year, though, there has been an extraordinary number of lynching related deaths in these past months following deaths from sickness or killing by neighboring people groups. Please pray for an end to this wicked practice that only adds death upon death. Pray for wisdom and courage for the believers over what their role should be in addressing this. “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble” (Proverbs 4:19).
Prayed together
Diaspora in Hong Kong:
Praise God that for the very first time we held hands and prayed together for the healing power of Jesus with Y who is married to a nearly blind Malian Muslim. Please pray for this Muslim family that they may experience more about Jesus‘ healing grace. As asylum seekers, they are not allowed to work but depend on the government’s limited support. With recent policy changes, they may face deportation anytime. Pray for Y that salvation would come to this family through her open heart to learn more about Jesus.
Repented
Please pray for N, a baptised believer who had stepped away from Jesus and gotten involved in some dodgy things. Pastor Edward and I had the joy of spending time with him and seeing him repent and recommit himself to Jesus on Wednesday. Please pray for him to continue to fix his eyes on Jesus and know His love and grace (Phil 1:6).
Good day
Praise God for a wonderful time breaking the fast with some local believers last week. We met in the morning with one group (at their invitation) to pray together – a first, and it was good! Then some of them came in the evening to eat together. Before we ate we dedicated & shared an app with 9 translated scripture books in it – this was also a first. Some newer believers sang a new song they had written (People of God, be not afraid). There was confession and testimonies shared, and a lot of food eaten! It was a good day! Pray for more!
Rural villages
Today marks the start of an exciting new ministry for the our team in reaching out to surrounding rural villages where, as far as we know, no outreach is being done. Each week two of them will visit a nearby village to initially pray over that area – walking through streets, and asking the HS to soften hearts and stir people’s interest in hearing the Truth. Then the second and third visits to that village they will be looking for opportunities to share the Word, hopefully get invited to people’s homes, etc.
Please ask for discernment from the HS, protection, courage, and especially that they’d be lead to people who are ready to hear about Jesus.
Progress
Diaspora in Georgia:
Praise the Lord for the spiritual progress I see in our ESL students. We have now reached John 18 in our daily devotions and they are engaged. Pray as we finish the gospel of John by the end of the school year and watch the movie together. Pray they will all accept the Lord as their Savior.
Reconnect
Pray that God may reconnect us with some MBB sisters and brothers that we met at a prayer retreat. They live in the outskirts of the city and we may have to be travelling weekly to meet them for building relationships, mentorship and discipleship. Pray for a safe place to meet and God’s wisdom.
Healing hand
A Fulani woman has seen the healing hand of God in her body and has been coming for over a month to listen to the stories of the Word. Pray for her so she doesn’t get discouraged in the face of people’s critical comments.
Gospels of Luke
We have received 100 gospels of Luke in the Antakarana dialect to distribute. Pray that these would bring 100 people to the knowledge of God and growth in Christ!
Remind them
Pray that the Holy Spirit reminds the people in Bara villages who have already watched the Jesus film about the Son of God and his unique sacrifice on the cross.
Pray that the Bara continue to open the doors of their villages so the gospel can enter and change their lives.
Mother’s day party
Diaspora in Michigan:
Pray for a Mother’s Day party, May 5, we are hosting. We are hoping for 20-30 moms and their kids to come. Pray for the Lord to open hearts as we communicate a clear Biblical message.
Key couple
Keep praying for ’Guyo and Mari’, a key MBB couple for sharing about the Kingdom of Light and discipling other herdsmen and wives. Pray they will stand firm in Christ amidst all the schemes of the enemy and the persecutions bound to come.
Forgiveness
Diaspora in Canada:
Praise God for a young S seeker who stopped by our sharing shack yesterday and was intrigued by our little book on forgiveness in her first language. Pray she will keep her promise to come back and talk about it with us.
Translation project
Menja and I are finishing translating the book of Acts in Antanala.
There is a lot of interest in the translated work. It turns out that many along the east-coast prefer the translated work over the official language.
Menja would like to continue translation of Genesis. That is a huge book to translate, but many have already asked for it.
Restoration
Praise God for a wonderful conference focused on restoration of families, relationships, and ministry. Pray for practical application of the truths learned.
Continue to pray for our pastors: Ribeiro, Mateus, Joaquim, Isaac, and Inarcio to shepherd their flocks with wisdom and grace.
Cry out
Pray that the Antandroy have the “eyes of their hearts” open to the reality of their life and that their ways are not right before God. Pray they will cry out to God for forgiveness of sins and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
Stand firm!
One of our strongest MBBs, Mike, has had so many troubles with his wife, who keeps going back-and-forth between Jesus and her all Islamic family. Currently, she is really struggling and even considering separation and divorce from Mike. Pray that the love of Jesus will overwhelm her so completely that the acceptance of her family will no longer have a pull on her. Pray for her and Mike and their six children to be able to have a strong home built on the solid foundation of Jesus!
Fear of God
Pray for the cattle thieves that they will fear God and stop stealing. Pray that the fear of God falls on them and on all the Bara people, so like the Ninevites humbled themselves to the Lord, the Bara will also humble themselves to the King of Kings.
Update
Praise God for the rain that has finally come after nearly 5 years of drought. We are praying that God would use the rain to bring more people to Himself.
Tirrim is in need of English teachers. Please pray that the Lord would send the right people at the right time to work in Tirrim who grasp the mission and the vision of the school.
Please pray for peace in Marsabit. There have been killings the last few days.
Religion vs relationship
Praise God for an opportunity to share iftar meal with a Saharawi friend and her family. Please pray for the Lord to work in their hearts as they consider the difference between religion and a relationship with God.
Meet together
There is just a handful of believers who meet regularly for church, so pray that all the believers would start gathering regularly and the church would be established. Pray for Laarim Christians to “rid [themselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it [they] may grow up in [their] salvation, now that [they] have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:1-3). Pray for a church that is led by the Holy Spirit, founded on the Word of God, and a light that reaches into the darkest parts of the community.
Seminar
We will have another training seminar this week. Pray for wisdom in selecting the day, time, and location. Pray there be good attendance and deep desire for more growth and learning.
Cease fire ending
Please be praying for Sudan as the 72 hour cease fire ends at midnight Sudan time today. Pray especially for Darfur, where the Fongoro live. Some say they believe the current violence could degenerate into targeted ethnic violence, particularly in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State. Pray for those in Darfur and Khartoum as they prepare for more destruction. Pray for relief efforts, congestion at borders, and the dwindling resources such as clean water, food and secure locations. Pray for the families and communities of those who have lost their lives.
Set free
Pray that the Mahafaly will be set free from bondage of ancestor worship and witchcraft. Please pray that God will open hearts to the truth of the Gospel and the glory of Jesus.
Pray for Servant Leaders Readied
As new churches are formed, some are already reaching out to neighboring villages. Pray that when believers start new churches, they ask the Lord to raise up a faithful leader to lead the new flock. Pray for wisdom in identifying, training, and equipping emerging leaders. Pray for leaders willing to go and serve anywhere. Pray for servant leaders who will be generously supported by larger churches, or have means to sustain their families financially while engaged in church planting. Ask the Lord of the harvest for new believers among the Nyamwezi, and for leaders, including Nyamwezi believers, to lead His flock.
Sharing the good news
My colleague J is currently traveling with two Fulani brothers. They are invited to share the good news with Fulani living in the bush of the South Sudan! Pray the Lord would anoint their ministry and they would see much fruit.
Answer to prayer!
Praise: this last Sunday we had 3 new people worshipping with us. One was a woman who has wanted to come but was nervous her husband would be angry. So this is an answer to prayer and keep praying!
Preparing to go
Many Antanala live in very remote areas. They hardly ever come down to the bigger cities and thus have no access to the Gospel. More and more missionaries (nationals and foreigners) are starting to focus on the Antanala and have asked me to help orient them. It is wonderful to see that God is preparing others to go. Pray many will go and find people ready to hear the good news.
Lonely
Joy, a local sister meets with 2 of our colleagues regularly for fellowship, study, and praying together. Her younger son sometimes sits in and has started to read the word and is hungry for more. Please pray with us for protection over them and for continued growth in their faith and understanding of the Son. Joy is very lonely for local sisters to fellowship with. Would you please ask that Father would bring women to himself? Also, ask that His Spirit would fill Joy’s heart and she would be overflowing with the peace and love that characterize her life with God, the God of all comfort!
Now a child of God
Praise God for H, a woman who lives in a village south of mine. She is the sister-in-law of one of the Lord’s disciples. She has been attending a Bible study for about 4 years. For a very long time we had the impression that H didn’t really understand what she was hearing. We were sometimes discouraged by the slow progress. Often she simply repeated words she heard from the MP3 player but did not seem to understand the meaning. Then, little by little, the Holy Spirit worked in her life and opened up her understanding. We can truly attest now that she is a child of God. Her faith grows stronger week by week and she stands firm in the face of the remarks and mockery she hears from neighbors. She now asks deep questions related to her faith. We praise God for His work. She would like to be baptized soon.
