Just before Christmas, our local church got to celebrate the baptism of six believers. We’ve had several individuals go through baptism over the course of the last year, but then fall away since then. Please be praying for this group of believers to remain strong in the face of difficulty and pushback from loved ones and the community. Please also pray for us as the local church and leadership, for wisdom on how to explain well the mystery of Christ and the cost of following Him; that we may equip new believers well and help them grow in faithfulness.
New sister
Praise Jesus that in this new year we have a brand new island sister! She has been searching and has interacted with different believers over the years, but only fully understood and made a decision to follow last week. Pray for her that she would grow in understanding and see her heart and life changed by the Spirit. Pray also for her friends and family. We hear that she has others that she wants to hear the good news. May she be the first of a new group!
Meeting with a Sheikh
Please pray for me as I have a meeting this afternoon with Sheikh Ab**.
Pray for God to guide my conversation and give me wisdom to share what He will place in my heart.
Also pray for my protection from the schemes and plans of the enemy. Please pray for God to soften the heart of this friend and make it fertile ground for the seed of the gospel.
Lukua
Pray for Lukua, who at one point made a confession of faith, to truly experience the newness of life in Christ.
God’s Word go forward
Pray that the Holy Spirit will empower each one on our team, and the several new believers, that through us God’s Word may go forward in 2023 with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction!
Diaspora in Toronto
Pray for ongoing fruitful contacts to be made at local men’s venues among our favorite people group. I have a variety of calendars, parable booklets, and scripture portions I give as gifts when visiting. Pray for hearts to be open to receive these items, and to seek Jesus as a result.
Following Jesus
Zipporah has started following Jesus and we are meeting with her weekly to study Creation to Christ to help her understand God’s meta-narrative. Her hunger for God’s word is incredible and her understanding humbling. Her prayer request this week is about her relationship with God: that she would settle on daily practices and routines that facilitate her relationship with God. Her family situation is very sad and she often feels rejected and alone. She is asking that as her relationship with God grows she would feel fully content in being a child of God. Pray she will grow in the fullness of God and will find others who share her testimony.
New believers
Pray for Z, a newer believer who came to faith through some fellow workers here. He has a few other friends he meets with and it seems that some of them have come to faith also! They have recently been learning about baptism, pray that the Spirit would give them the heart of the Ethiopian in Acts 8 when he said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
Dental students
Pray for two believers who have finished dentist training in Bitkine and are now trying to build a business. Pray for their protection and blessing. Pray for good clients, networks, and acceptance in the community.
Outreach
Thank you for your many prayers that we needed for this week’s ministry. We were in the thick of it for sure. On the second evening we were praying over a lady that was demon possessed. After about 10 minutes, she jumped up, grabbed me, looked right in my eyes and told me to go to hell in perfect English. So the battle rages on. We continued praying for her for another 10 minutes or so before she was released. This lady is a traditional Mtumbi person and does not know any English. This village is very very dark. Please pray for Light to come.
Diaspora in Florida
Pray for my Imam friends S. and H. who we recently shared the gospel with. Pray for grace to believe.
And pray for my new friend from Kenya, S, who is excited about getting together.
Diaspora in Hong Kong
Pray for Om D to put her Quran aside and focus on God’s word only. Pray she will go to church as well.
Healing from Fear
Pray for Y. He was called in several times to the intelligence offices and asked questions and was afraid and sent me a text denying Jesus and saying that he was going back to Islam. A few days before Christmas, he came over to our house in repentance asking for forgiveness. Pray for deliverance from fear. Rose also denied Jesus when she was pulled in and questioned. She is now alone and disappointed with the other local believers for not helping her. Elizabeth and Zechariah and kids cut off contact after Rose turned names of local believers into the intelligence officers. Their primary fear is that their children will be taken from them. Please pray for healing from fear and that they would disciple their children and worship Jesus as a family at home.
Diaspora in Minneapolis MN
Pray for deep connections with a new Somali family that arrived in town recently.
Apukay
Please pray for Apukay, a Lopit believer that Marlene and Andrea P. discipled when they lived in Iboni. She has remained faithful to trusting in Jesus as her Savior, even when so many others who made such commitments have fallen away. However, as an illiterate woman in a village that has no church or other believers, it is hard to grow as a Christian. God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3) – pray the Lord will empower Apukay to live a godly life for Him.
Diaspora in France
Many of our international friends want to meet together in January. Pray that we would be able to finally reconnect deeply with these friends, and that God would guide our conversations for His glory! We have talked about spiritual things with them before. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to Jesus!
The community café reopens after a Christmas break, and both of us plan to volunteer there. Pray for God-given connections with the people He wants us to get to know.
Unbelievable Love
Praise God for his unbelievable love- may many Alagwa truly understand this year that the God who made them loves them unconditionally and wants a relationship with them.
Please pray for the Kwa Madebe church- may all of us grow in love for God, for one another and for those who don’t know Jesus yet. Please pray that as a church we would strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind and live in peace (2 Corinthians 13 v 11).
Diaspora in Long Beach
Praise God for several activities with International Students in December. The gospel was presented during each one. Pray for the message to be stirring in the hearts of the students.
Pray for a skiing trip planned for Jan 6-8—for fun, safety and clear presentation of the gospel.
New Year Overnight
The overnight was a very encouraging and exciting time! Many people came from surrounding villages and gathered to watch the Jesus film, pray and worship. Please pray that those who came will continue to reflect on, and be impacted by, all they saw, heard and experienced.
Namalia
Tessa gives thanks to God for the beginning of real friendships with several young ladies and women in the community. She has started to connect in particular with an older girl named Namalia who has been patient and willing to come alongside Tessa as she learns language and builds relationships among the Laarim. As she spends time with Namalia and the other young ladies on that compound, and shares the truth of God’s Word with these girls, pray they would desire to know Christ and the depth of His love, not just have fun socializing with a kawaja (foreigner).
Breakthrough
Praise God that a young believer, Uf, has been talking with his friends about his newfound faith. Another young couple professes to have also taken the gift, and another young man as well! Pray that each of these would become strong disciples who will also make more disciples! Pray that Uf and the others would keep growing and sharing!
New students
Pray for interviews happening Jan 3 to accept new students to our Superior 1 classes. Pray that God would bring the students who are ripe for the harvest and ready to hear.
Luke
J and Z and their team walked around the university to share some sweets with the islanders for Christmas. They were able to share the good news with many and handed out gospel of Luke booklets to 3 different students. Please pray for these students to engage with Scripture and be touched by the truth.
Young seeker
Pray for a young seeker in Masenya and the brother who is encouraging and discipling him. His family is not happy with him, so pray for growth, protection, and wisdom to know how to follow Christ in that situation.
Emmanuel
Please pray that the Saharawi people in Jerez would see Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, and would worship Him as Lord.
Christmas story
Pray for all who have had the opportunity and will continue to have the opportunity in the coming days to hear about Christmas and the One whose birth we celebrate. Pray for an understanding of the story and may it bring joy and an a desire to share the story with others. Pray for all the believers here on this little island (islanders, team, expats) to be continually emboldened to share about the hope we have in Jesus. May islanders’ hearts be softened toward the Lord and may His light shine into their lives this Christmas season.
Overnight
An overnight of prayer and worship to welcome in the new year will be taking place in a village where there is a new church plant. Please pray that all who come will be touched by the Good News, and grow in their relationship with Jesus. Please pray for safety and protection over this time.
Outreach
December has been a month of evangelism! Various activities have been planned for some villages in the north of the island (that is a section of the island that has been allotted to our church). The other churches will be handling the other sections of the island. Please pray for these activities that they will have a mighty impact on our desperately needy island. Once again violence has broken out with school buses being stoned, houses and shops being burned. Pray the Lord will use the unrest and the frustration fueling it to show people another way.
Outreach opposition
I would appreciate your prayers for the coming 4 days as we head to a village called Masaninga. There’s no church yet, but the FPCT would like to start discipleship and worship together there. I feel in my spirit much opposition from the evil one. Please pray for boldness and confidence in Christ.
Stand strong
Pray for the Datooga believers to stand strong in the Lord and share the good things God has done for them with others.
Identity in Christ
The Ik are a marginalized people in Uganda. Pray for the small groups of believers to relish their identity in Christ and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
The Name glorified
Pray for the Gospel to continue to spread throughout M-land and beyond to other tribes that the Name of Jesus would be glorified among the peoples of Tanzania.
Seekers
Pray for people who were once seekers to seek again, those who once read the Word to read again, those who once met together to study to meet again. Ask the Lord to stir hearts to seek Him.
outreach
Please pray for the outreach that J&Z continue to initiate weekly, that many doors continue to open as they try to find people of peace. Pray for the good news to be shared and for opportunities to love and serve islanders here in Madagascar.
Emmanuel
Please pray for a breakthrough among Somali that many would believe that Jesus is Emmanuel.
Fall on your knees
As we continue our celebration of Christmas this weekend, pray that many in our city would fall on their knees and receive the gift of Heaven. Please pray for the many seeds that are sown to find good soil and bear much fruit.
Christmas
Pray that the Christmas cards, gift baskets, and other gifts and invitations would be well received and good conversations would ensue. As we celebrate the Light of the World, may many see the Light and be drawn to Him.
Diaspora in Florida
· Pray for good connections with North Africans in the Florida area. That hearts would be receptive and that we would connect with “a man or woman of peace” that will enable us to meet those with soft hearts.
New team for Neem
Give thanks for the arrival of three new workers (plus two children) to work amongst the Neem. Pray for them as they learn language and culture and settle in. Pray for much fruit from their presence here. A fifth person will be with us, we hope, in the new year. He is learning French (needed to work alongside the church here.)
Pray that we can use this Christmas season wisely to talk of the special gift of God in a way which attracts many to want to know more.
needing reconciliation
Please pray for M, an elderly man who has frequently come around looking for work or to sell things to feed himself. More recently he has enjoyed the Gospel of John and several books by Christian apologists and comes with questions such as “Why do Christians say that Jesus is God?” or “Why do Christians celebrate Jesus’ death?” Last month he tried to deceive us and when confronted acknowledged what he had done and promised to make it right. Now he seems somewhat embarrassed to come around to visit. Pray for him – that our relationship would be restored, but more importantly, that he would be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus.
