Pray for bold proclamation of the Gospel through Christ-centered, reproducing, culturally appropriate churches. Praise God for village believers who have begun two new churches planted around the Tabora area. These outreach points are places where new believers may come to join others in fellowship with the family of God. Pray for the vision for the visible church to be not only in Tabora, but physically present and active in every village surrounding Tabora, too. Pray for increasing ways for the Good News to be broadcast into communities through radio, preaching, discipleship, visitations, love and care, teaching, etc. Pray that those who are seeking to know Jesus will see clearly where God is at work in and through his visible church.
Remain close to God
Pray for S, a young Rangi girl who accepted Christ a few months ago. She went back to the village for school and is so thirsty to learn more but there’s no one in the village to teach her. Pray she will remain close in God and pray earnestly. Pray also as she hopes to tell her father about her conversion, pray he will receive it well and that the Lord would even miraculously work in his heart through his daughter.
Difficult to reach
The San people believe in a creator god, but they are not considered religious. Despite there being a couple of San churches, they are largely unreached. This could be due to living in remote/inaccessible areas, a nomadic lifestyle, and a unique and difficult to learn mother tongue. Pray that San believers, and other close-culture Christians, would commit to bringing the Gospel to the lost. Pray for work to be done in bringing oral translations of the Bible in the San language, bringing the beautiful Good News to those who are perishing.
Things get in the way
Mama Fae is a seeker, who’s studied our first story set. She is not yet convinced that Jesus is the one way to the Father, but wants to keep studying. I’ve been trying to meet with her to study John, but many things get in the way – work, family illness, children’s behaviour. Please ask for protection over her family and work, wisdom to find a good time to study, and most importantly an open heart to receive Jesus as Lord.
Gems
The churches we’ve visited seem to show the characteristics of a people “cast down but not destroyed, persecuted but not forsaken” (2 Cor 4:8). Within these churches we meet many gems, small groups of people dedicated to prayer and the battle to raise godly children. Praise God for slow but solid growth within the ministries across this region. Three Makwe men are now faithfully running the radio station, reaching many with the Gospel over the airwaves. Pray for one MBB called Bwana; he faithfully and boldly goes out to share the word of Christ, and more of the believers are wanting to join him. Pray that the Lord will provide all of their needs according to his riches in glory and bring many more Makwe to faith in Jesus!
Translation work
Many years ago a small team of mother tongue translators translated the book of Matthew. The Sakalava people began to listen to the word of God in their mother tongue. A local Sakalava (secular) band became friends of the team created songs made up of the translated Bible verses. Later they themselves became Christians, and many Sakalava people came to faith. One of our missionaries, Rosina—a Sakalava herself—writes, “I have been invited by an organization called Spoken to lead a team of mother-tongue translators. They are partnering with AIM and I will be based in Nosy Be, my home.” Pray that the translation work in Sakalava will bring the Bread of Life to the hungry, the Living Water to the thirsty; pray that the funding and resources needed would be generously provided; pray for those who will make up this team of Sakalava believers, that they would be committed and hard-working, all for the glory of God.
Purify your church
Come Holy Jesus and purify the church by your blood. Remove the hatred and unforgiveness. Let each one live at peace as far as it depends on them. May your children long to gather and fellowship and praise God together.
Good connections
Praise God that a new missionary family will soon be moving to Madagascar, and reaching out to the Karana-Gujarati people there. Pray for strength and energy, for clear minds and wisdom, for good connections with K-G people through the local church; ask the Lord to provide divine appointments with those who need salvation and freedom from Islam. Pray for the local church to put aside prejudices against this people group, and instead have the compassion and love of Christ to share the treasure they hold in jars of clay.
Come out in the open
We are now part of Som** Prayer Network. This groups is made up of MBB’s and missionaries from other organisations. We seek the Lord’s guidance as we passionately seek His face as we move forward as joint labourers’ in His vineyard. In the last meeting, an MBB requested that we pray that they will no longer be seen as a secret (home) church but come out in the open and boldly declare that they are part of the Church of Christ that is lighting the world. Please pray with us for that.
Lost found
Praise the Lord for a large team working amongst the Mwani people, serving him by bringing the Good News to the lost! This team is an intercultural team: please lift them up to the King of Kings as they navigate working together and serving one another “…so that (they) may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…” Col. 1:10. Pray that as team members interact with Mwani friends, neighbors, shopkeepers, etc., that the Lord would use them as instruments of his peace, love and truth, and that many lost will be found and brought into the Kingdom of God.
Burning coals
While praying through Rev 2 a believer received a picture of small candles trying to get charcoal going… one white hot spot directly above the candle… but until the whole chunk turns white hot… it doesn’t affect the ones around it. And if you take it out by itself… it burns out. But once the whole chunk is white hot those around it also burn… and you can pour lots of new charcoal on top and it will still burn.
Praying for each disciple to be baptized with the Spirit and fire, for first love to not grow cold, for strong deep roots and bold proclamation.
Hard times
The body of believers have had a rough couple of weeks. One had a young cousin who passed away suddenly. Another is facing a difficult situation with her children. One couple is struggling to have children. Please pray for these precious brothers and sisters as they walk through the trials of life. May they know that Jesus is with them in the grief and sorrow, know His love and comfort, and continue to trust Him even when things seem so broken. Pray for wisdom for us as a team to know how to encourage and support the local followers during these difficult times.
Walking with Jesus
Heidi and Lucy continue to walk with Jesus. They spent the morning today walking and praying in the park. They are growing and reading Scripture daily. Zohar, their sister, is afraid to surrender fully to Jesus, but continues to join us when we read Scripture together. Elise is boldly sharing the gospel online and rejoices with two brothers choosing to follow Jesus. Please pray for these precious ones.
Hunger and thirst
Pray for “Ruth, Jane, and Faye” that they will thirst to know God and his word better. Ruth already seems to want this; Jane has just returned from the fields to live at home and knows very much less. Pray that Faye will seek opportunities to listen and reflect.
Needing discipling
Praise God for a group of new believers in Mbate. They have asked Yohana, the evangelist in Ruhatwe 10 km away, to come and disciple them and lead worship services in their village. Pray for Yohana. He is trying to go there every other week. Pray these new believers would grow strong in their faith and share with others.
Hope in Jesus
Please pray for our neighbors, Bibi M & her husband. She had expressed interest in watching the Jesus film some time ago, but it never seemed to work out. Recently we showed the Jesus film in the market nearby and she said that some people on the path prevented her from coming. Her husband has had a stroke recently and is housebound. He joked about us carrying him to watch the film. We have offered to come and bring it to their house. Some of the family are trying to say that he’s not strong enough, but he really wants us to come. Pray that we would be able to find a time to watch this film with them and to talk about the hope we have in Jesus.
Next training
We plan to have the 4th training day for local followers on Thursday January 26th. So far, there are 4 who are committed to participating each month. We will be following up with them about daily abiding and prayer, and challenging them to ask the Lord to lead them to a small group of people in their neighborhood interested in doing a Bible study. Please pray for courage for the followers as they step out in faith and ask others to join them in studying God’s Word. Pray for new pockets of believers to grow in each neighborhood.
God has gathered his children.
God has strengthened the men to keep gathering faithfully and reaching out to invite the others to join them. Paul, Andrew, Jimmy, Mayor, and Fraz study the word of God and pray for each other, give to the poor, enjoy fellowship together. Also, Meryl meets at the same time with Kathy and her two girls to read Scripture and pray together. These believers are growing in faith and love. Praise God for these faithful ones.
Heard the gospel
At Christmas time we had several new visitors to our church celebration, as well as a event organized at the home of a few of our team members later that week, where several people heard a presentation of the gospel for the first time. Please pray that these interactions may be seeds planted in good soil, and that they would generate more interest and questions from the people in our communities, and ultimately lead to locals coming to know the saving love of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Younger generation
Pray for the younger generation of Saharawi who may have questions about Islam and are seeking answers. Pray also for those who may be apathetic – that the Lord would give them a spiritual hunger to know what is true.
Still a cousin
Alan (who we have been praying for for over 12 years) is now a senior government official. He still identifies as a “cousin” but in the past, through a Muslim Background Believer (MBB) who he worked with, has encountered Jesus and knows about his saving grace. Pray that Alan chooses to follow Jesus unswervingly & grows stronger in the knowledge and love of God.
Light
In Matthew 5:14-16, speaking to His disciples, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” His light is in every one of His followers. Please ask that every follower, whether a local or foreigner, would let their light shine brightly, in word and in deed, so that those lost in darkness in North Africa would see the light and be drawn to the “true Light” (John 1:9).
Wanting to get married
There are several unmarried brothers who really want to get married. We are pleading with them to not marry unbelievers but they feel like their options are so limited. We long to see God establish marriages where both know Him and can be heirs together in the grace of Jesus.
Praise the Lord
In church we had a good time of sharing the good news during in the Christmas celebration. Our neighbors came to join us and see what Christmas is all about. More than 100 people celebrated with us in Likawage, among them were six new believers.
Strong believers
David and Tessa have been blessed by their times with Khalifa and Nateote, both strong believers who love Jesus! Pray for Nateote to grow in her understanding of the Word as Tessa does Discovery Bible Studies with her. And pray that as Nateote and Khalifa grow in their knowledge of the Word, they would “become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which [they] shine as stars in the universe as [they] hold out the Word of life” (Philippians 2:15-16), and for many more in Cauwa to become true followers of Jesus.
Asking questions
Praise God for opportunities to share the Christmas story. Particularly pray for four men who came with many questions to an English club, so many that they ended up staying an extra 30 minutes to ask them all. Pray that their curiosity would grow not lessen and they would find answers in Jesus Christ.
Drought is dire
The drought in northern Kenya has been very hard for everyone to go through. Most of the families have lost their herds, many people are sick, some mothers passed away after giving birth from being so weak.
The missionaries are having to deal with several types of requests and it’s been overwhelming to all of us. Please pray that God gives us wisdom and grace to communicate how and when we can or cannot help.
Pray for rain, may our Lord be gracious to us and bring life back to this area.
Cleanse from fear
Please cleanse your children from fear. Let them each stand in the day of suffering and refuse to deny Jesus’ name. May they pray at all times on all occasions with thanksgiving and live in your indescribable peace.
New term
Praise God for a good turnout to interviews at the center. 18 new students were accepted. Currently, there are 13 men and 5 women in Superior 1 (Old Testament class) and 13 men in Superior 2 (NT class). Classes started this week. Pray specifically for the 13 men in the NT class who will hear many truths this term. Pray they will have their eyes opened to THE truth and that God would supply the courage and humility needed for them to follow him. Pray against the enemy snatching away any seeds. Pray for God to make hearts of good soil.
Miracle!
We have a new island brother! Our partners have been praying and sharing with this man for years. He recently had surgery and they went and prayed for him. During the night, he was awakened by a bright light. The next day, he was completely healed- body restored and even the incision marks were gone! He talked to brother D, who challenged him to give his life to Jesus. He did! But then he told D that he was worried what his family would think. Brother D told him, “Don’t worry. Your aunt [the new sister from last week] has also put her trust in Jesus. So you are together.”
How the Lord provides! May these two grow together and bring their whole family to the Lord.
Young family
Pray for energy, peace and joy as Don and Linda and their new baby return to their outreach ministry here among the O. It’s currently a challenging environment with the hot season, though many hearts seem to be warmed with an openness to the gospel. Pray for response to the gospel and much lasting fruit!
Diaspora in Florida
Pray for us to continue to meet and build new relationships with North Africans.
Regina
Pray for Regina, the third wife of Lukua. She has been a big help to Tessa in language learning because of their shared ability to speak Juba Arabic. Pray that as they spend time together, Regina would have a growing desire to follow the Lord. She has a knowledge of God but has yet to walk in the new life that is found in Him. Pray that the temptations of alcohol and tribal beliefs would not blind her to her need for a Savior, and she would be “redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to [her] from [her] forefathers” (1 Peter 1:18).
Diaspora in DC
Our friend S is seeking a job in the new year. Pray God will guide her steps and allow a schedule that allows us to begin a weekly Bible study like she has asked for. English Classes begin in late January. Please pray for wisdom in balancing childcare for our students and offering the classes that meet the majority of student needs…along with building deep relationships to explore and understand gospel truths together.
Huge Need
During a free morning, several of us went to survey another village called Mtoni. About 6000 people located right on the Ocean. Hard to get to for sure, but very, very needy for the Gospel. No church present or Outreach happening. Village leaders (Muslim) invited us to come and were ready to offer us land. My heart goes out to such places. Saw lots of kids running between the coconut palms and wondered when they would get the chance to hear about Jesus’s love for them. Please pray as the team here thinks what our response is to this huge need. We so lack laborers to go.
Diaspora in Atlanta
Pray in January the Lord will keep deepening relationships with our friends, and open further doors for ministry to them, especially Scripture engagement and connecting them to local churches.
Glory of Christ shown
The church is made of straw, but, in spite of the simplicity of the place, Christ’s Glory was shown today, when 5 old Bara ladies renounced their past ways and were baptized.
What a glorious moment in this remote rural area of south Madagascar.
New study
We are starting a book study with 1 follower, 1 new believer, 1 seeker. Ask that the words of 1Peter would be used to enrich, quicken, strengthen, convict, inspire, and draw these dear ones close.
Struggling with anxiety
Please pray for the believers who have been struggling- especially for Asha. May they not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present their requests before God. And may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4 v 6-7)
Diaspora in Cardiff, Wales
Join us in thanking God for the women’s English and Sewing class Christmas parties where one of the helpers (MBB) explained that Jesus is the answer to the daily Muslim prayer for a straight path. Pray that these women and their families will seek and find the Way, Truth and Life of Jesus Christ. In the restart of activities this month, we are asking God to turn our eyes upon Jesus. May this be a year of a spiritual hunger and harvest beyond what we can hope for and imagine!
