Maria, who had been injured in an attack some months ago, is back in Kimatong after taking a few months to heal and rest in Juba. (It was determined that she had suffered a concussion from the blow to her head and would not be able to rest properly unless she got away from her duties in the village.) Pray that the Lord’s care and provision for her throughout this ordeal will help to strengthen her faith and witness now that she is back in the village.
Break spiritual bondage
We have been praying for a long time that the spiritual bondage on the Island of Nosy Mitsio would be broken. Last month every week a different person came asking about the Bible and God’s word. There is interest! but it comes with fear that the elders in the area will be against worshiping Jesus. Pray for courage and pray that the stronghold would be broken down and pushed back like the rising sun brings light to a new day.
Retired chief
A retired chief and his wife spent 5 days staying in our home for his medical needs and follow up. We took many opportunities to share the Good News – pray that they will receive Jesus as Savior and lead their family and community into God’s grace in all of its truth.
Refusing to recant.
A young man was condemned to death Sept 18, 2022 for leaving Islam. He has been imprisoned since 2019 for following Jesus and has refused to recant. The execution date passed but there has been no news of either his death or his release. Asking that he will stand firm and that believers will not be afraid but instead encouraged by his faith.
Two new churches!
1. We praise God that 2 churches are being born among Bara!
The village of Matsinzo ( Bara Tevondro) received us and the evangelist we sponsor to be there. Pray for people to believe the message and be saved.
2. We visited the village of Bekisoly on Saturday 24/09 and preached the Gospel.
Sunday, 86 Bara Tevondro people came to the “house church” of the evangelist Zoromana that we sponsor and said that they wanted to learn how to pray to God-Jesus. Pray they grow strong in the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Fishers of Men
Pray that God will raise up a whole new wave of harvest laborers both locally and assigned to this region from other areas. Pray all serving in the church will have a heart and mind to be fishers of men among those yet needing to hear God’s Word. Pray they would not be discouraged to go into the harder to reach areas, including literally leaving the taste of fresh fish behind. Pray for God’s provision for those sent. Ask God to remove any fears and stereotypes which would cause stumbling blocks in sharing the Message of Truth.
Baptism
May the Lord Jesus be praised! The other day, I baptized four Muslims who had accepted Christ. Pray for them to grow and be established in the faith. Please continue to pray for the Lord’s work here.
Stay strong
Please pray for two local brothers Z and C who have had the police come looking for them at the house several times this week. Word got to the authorities that they (and others) are following Jesus, but each time they have come to the house a friend in the police has warned them. Pray that the Holy Spirit would enable these men to live free of fear and stay strong in their faith.
Shelter of the Almighty
One brother has felt released from the paralyzing fear of being found out and has been really boldly sharing with 3 friends. 2 seem to be following the Way now! But the enemy came at him with lies and fears this week. Ask that he would be renewed in his trust that he is in the shelter of the Almighty.
Christian Wedding
A couple weeks ago our team organized a wedding celebration in a nearby village. One of the believers there had gotten married elsewhere earlier this month, so as a church we put together a service and meal to share with the community. It was a special time of celebrating and outreach to the Muslim neighbours who joined us. Please pray that the message shared and the witness of a Christian wedding would make an impact on all who attended; for some it was the first Christian event they had ever experienced.
Needing courage
Father is using the internet to draw people in North Africa to Himself. They google a question about Jesus and are led to a site where they ask questions. They are invited to study the Word and, if they complete the study, are invited to be connected with a believer in the area they live. However, taking that leap to meet face to face is frightening and often logistically hard for these seekers. Please ask that Father would give these seekers the courage to meet and talk with other believers, who can encourage and walk with them. Pray that gatherings of believers would result. He will build His Church!
Blessed to be a blessing
A new young Kenyan couple are joining our team early October for the next 2 years (and hopefully more). There has been opposition from the closest neighbors to their proposed housing. Pray for these neighbors to be drawn to Jesus! Pray that God will give our team and Don & Linda wisdom, grace and discernment for all details and decisions and that Don & Linda will be blessed to be a blessing in our communities and will abide deeply and bear much lasting fruit!
See their good deeds
Please pray for the Alagwa believers to stand strong. May they surrender to Jesus in every area of lives and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. May their lights shine in their communities so that people may see their good deeds and praise their Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16).
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke in the Antanala dialect continues to receive a lot of attention. Not only in our village but in the whole region people are eager to get a copy. Several Malagasy missionaries are looking into the possibility of using the booklets in their areas. Praise the Lord! Pray that many will believe the gospel message and be saved.
Reading the Word
Pray for all those who are reading or have read God’s word in the past. In the last month many people downloaded a text and audio app of the book of Exodus, and just today a worker on another team told me about a student who (in the midst of the teacher’s explanation about baptism to an English class), quoted John the Baptist’s words about how the one who would come after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire! He must be reading from the app. Pray that as seekers and believers read God’s word they would meet the Living Word and be transformed!
Women outreach
Pray for the women of Ubembeni. We have started meeting weekly to teach practical skills, like carpet making etc., to our Muslim and Christian neighbors. Pray for the Christians to desire to sit with their Muslim neighbors and build friendships. Pray for the Muslims to be open to a love they’ve never experienced before and ultimately see it comes from Jesus.
Drought and famine
We read in the Scriptures about tough times of drought and famine and sometimes these stories seems to be so far away from our reality and we even wonder how people survived. Well, it’s been a reality among the Gabbra people throughout their history and once again so many families nowadays are struggling with illness and loss, lack of water and food. Please pray that we’d see God’s mercy and favor and miracles during this season and that people open their hearts to seek for Him. Pray that God would send us rain that quench the thirsty in physical and spiritual ways.
Needing jobs
It’s is really difficult for our local brothers to find and/or keep jobs. One bother was recently offered a position but it was taken away at the last minute. Ask that they could find meaningful work so they can offer a meaningful contribution to the community.
Love would abound
Please pray for Lokwar, Locom, and Nyao, three young men Jacob is meeting with in Kimatong. They have been showing an eagerness to learn more of God’s Word and have a desire to walk closer with him. Pray for these young men, that as they meet with Jacob for regular fellowship and prayer, the Lord will draw them closer to Himself, and that their love would abound more and more for Him and for one another.
Self-righteousness
Oh Lord, humble those who still believe self-righteousness saves. Please rescue these rebellious ones. Let them see they are helpless. Only God is righteous; only Jesus redeems and cleanses us. Silence the lies of the evil one and let the lost hear the truth through your children and through your Spirit.
Christian funeral
We are grieving the sudden loss of our teammate from an apparent heart attack. The funeral is today. Pray for all the Muslims who attend the service to be touched by the testimony of this woman’s life who loved the Lord and her neighbors. The gospel will be shared. Pray for hearts to hear the good news clearly.
Spiritual attack
Jake & Sadie are O MBBs who have a powerful witness as part of our team. They’re under spiritual warfare attack with physical unexplained illness and symptoms. Pray that God’s full armor, and the weapons with divine power will demolish strongholds will protect them and break any of the enemies schemes through Jesus’ blood shed at the cross. Pray protection for their 2 kids! Pray that Jesus’ power and authority will be recognized in Jake and Sadie’s words & deeds and encouragement and for much lasting fruit.
Update: As of Wednesday Sadie was seriously ill and brought to Kijabe hospital where she is admitted- pray for a clear diagnosis and God’s blessings of grace for full healing and restoration!
Suffering
The people of our district still suffer greatly from the two cyclones that hit in February this year. There is still no clean drinking water in many places, and food prices have gone up. Pray for God’s mercy.
We have started with the project to train a local young man to do the healthcare job we did when we still lived in the village. Sambivele has arrived in the capital, where he is being trained in a hospital. Pray for him to adjust to city life and to do well in his training.
Spiritual attack
Please lift up the team ministering to the Alagwa, who have experienced particular spiritual attacks recently. Please pray for encouragement in difficult times and protection. May they sense Jesus walking especially close to them in these days. And may God’s glory be seen amongst the Alagwa.
Women’s meeting
Pray for the monthly women’s gathering set to happen this week. Pray for open hearts to learn and increasing growth in understanding of the Word.
Truth declared
Pray for opportunities to share the Truth declared at the Queen’s funeral with locals this week. Everyone knows about the funeral here so its an easy conversation starter.
Today I visited Abigail and we discussed how the Queen was a person of service… and how JC came to be a Servant in order to mend our relationship to the Father. Please ask that Abigail would think deeply about this important characteristic of JC.
Imprisoned
We still have a brother and a sister in jail serving 3 and 5 year sentences. So far the advocacy groups have not had any success. Pray for the Lord’s mercy and sustaining grace.
Needing healing
Mzee Mjeja attended church with Jared last Sunday. The man was in need of seeing a doctor so Jared’s choir took up an offering amongst themselves to pay for him to see a doctor. Pray this act of kindness will show that those who follow Christ are internally much different than those who don’t. Pray for healing for Mzee Mjeja both physically and spiritually.
Spiritual rain
The rains have been good this season. Everyone is very happy with the growth of crops and anticipating a bountiful harvest. Pray that the Lord would send spiritual rain to this spiritually dry place bringing a plentiful harvest.
Leaders’ training
Pray for some lay leaders from Usandawe who are attending the Indigenous Leaders’ Training this week in Magambua, led by Pastor Emma Shilikale.
Diaspora in UK
Ask God to open hearts and provide opportunities to demonstrate and speak of His love to the international ladies, children and young adults we work with, many of whom have experienced trauma as they seek asylum in the U.K.
Work as a team
Our church is hosting a dinner towards the end of this month for about 30 MBB’s. Please pray that God will help us start working together as a team in His vineyard; that we will celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness for bringing us this far. Pray that God will show us how to work as a team to bring in more Somalis to His Kingdom.
Ask for healing
Pray for our friend Adam who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Ask for healing in the name of Jesus. We have shared the good news many times with this family and they are open to prayer. They love the person of Jesus, but do not believe in His death and resurrection.
See who Jesus is
Please pray for S and her daughter N who were open to prayer. Pray for continued spiritual conversations and for them to be willing to read the Gospels and to see who Jesus is.
Saturday Bible study
Saturday morning Bible study in the village of Kerengea: We usually start off with prayer and then go into a time of worship. One of the young boys will often use an empty jerry can as a drum as we sing one of the 33 worship songs in the Laarim language. This is followed by prayer – first a prayer thanking God for the many blessings He’s given us and then we move on to prayer requests. After this, Lolimo, a young teenage boy, reads a Bible story and verse. We then proceed to talk about the story and the lessons we can learn from it. Then we close in prayer and sing the song that marks the end of a church meeting.” Pray for this Bible study to continue, for leaders to rise up from within, and for a church to be firmly established in this village.
Diaspora in Minnesota
Pray for the group of Somali grandmothers as they learn English and we teach them how to drive. Praise for all the opportunities to share the Gospel news to those that I am teaching to drive. Pray for my Afghan friend, that he will continue to seek the truth found in Jesus.
Diaspora in Canada
We ran Camp Rhino Manitoba from August 21-26. We had 18 kids from 6 different nations. Praise God that it ran smoothly, no major hiccups, or incidents. 5 of these kids made decisions to follow Jesus and make him Lord. We had several others respond to
putting Jesus first in their lives. Please pray for us as we plan follow up with our campers. Pray that they would remember their commitment and that the Holy Spirit would go with them and protect them as they go back to school in a week.
Jesus said, “Follow me!”
Praise God for the publishing of 2,000 copies of a discipleship course written specifically for new believers in Jesus from a Muslim background, now translated into Swahili. Ask the Lord to raise up discipleship relationships and spiritual growth between believers and new believers as they study through these twenty lessons though the book 1 Peter together.
Have mercy
Joy’s father had taken a turn for the worse and he’s in hospital… maybe he won’t leave. Joy is desperate for him to meet Jesus before he passes. Would you pray with us for the Father’s mercy on Joy’s father? And comfort and peace for Joy.
Persecution
Pray for Toposa believers in Kauto, South Sudan, there is severe persecution going on so that some have run for their lives 100 km. The persecution occurred after the baptism of 100 people and sharing the Lord’s table with 400 believers.
