Please pray for Godly leaders. Polygamy is accepted here and unfortunately something not easily given up! Please pray for this new generation to embrace the gospel and have courage to leave these practices behind.
Please continue to pray for our adolescent/youth age girls who still don’t have rights to study or marry whom they wish. Many are still forced/sold into marriage to much older men as a 2,3, or 4th wife! I do want to Praise the Lord for the slight changes we are seeing, some families are sending/allowing their daughters to study and the laws in Mozambique are starting to change in their favor!!! Please pray for the church to be a good example in these changes.
Diaspora in South America
The UPG’s we are working with are:
* Senegalese (Wolofs & Fulanis) – Pray that God will open more and more doors of relationship as they have a very strong Muslim community and very closed to relationships outside the community.
* Guinean – We are planning to work with Guinean Muslims in a city in northern Brazil where there is a university that has more than 600 Africans. Pray that the new DR members could move to that region soon.
* Muslims of different ethnicities – Brazil has become a place of migration for different Africans (Nigerians, Congolese, Sudanese, Egyptians, etc.), they are not part of large clusters, but in large centers today it is possible to find them. Pray for open doors for fruitful ministry amongst them.
Freedom
Freedom from fear and bondage
Ugandan missionaries Lawrence and Simple have been building relationships in 3 Tepeth communities. They have seen that witchcraft has a strong hold in people’s lives. Please pray that as Lawrence and Simple share the gospel, many will see that Jesus offers a better way, free from fear and bondage.
Hunger
We are currently in dry season, and food is scarce. Some people have migrated to neighbouring regions to try and find food. Please pray that the rains will come soon, and that this year will bring a good harvest. Please pray that God will provide for people’s needs, and that as he does, he may clearly be seen to be the provider.
Diaspora in Canada
* We were saddened at Christmas that our Somali friends M & A, who over 2 summers sent their kids to our MAC camp, have separated. When M refused to renounce his faith in Christ, A demanded that he vacate their condo. She is now trying to turn their 3 kids against their dad. The good news is that M’s faith has become even stronger, and he is anxious to share the Gospel with other Somalis in the Capital Region and beyond.
* Shortly after a ski day in January, my Nigerian Muslim university grad friend J got word that he was hired for his first job in Toronto. I helped him move 5 hours down the highway to Toronto. All that time together strengthened the trust level so that now we have a weekly Sunday afternoon Bible study.
* Our Chinese Christian neighbor has asked J. and me to help her lead a Christianity Explored series for neighbors in our 2 town house buildings. Pray for the right timing to start the dinner-and-video series and that our invitations will be accepted by neighbor’s around us—nominal Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim.
Marriage
Please join us in praying for Cecelia and Angelo. Cecelia is the lovely young woman that we knew from Ikotos as a little girl, and who has been living with us for the last 5 years. She is truly like a daughter to us. Angelo is the young man who has been an integral part of the Laarim team. He has stated his desire to marry Cecelia, and she has returned the sentiment. We are thrilled! It is wonderful to see two strong Christians with a heart for ministry seeking a righteous path towards marriage. But in this context, it’s also really hard! There will be “negotiations” between the two families over the dowry, which to us can seem like insurmountable demands. Pray the Lord will make the way for these two to come together in marriage, setting an example for the church and believers.
No show in class …
We have various classes taking place as a way of connecting with these friends. For one reason or another, they have stopped attending! Surprisingly, they all do not turnup. Main reasons they give is that they are busy with other courses, … which is true.
Please pray with us that God will give us other ways to connect and network with these friends and that we will use every opportunity to share the love of Christ, either by words or by our lifestyle.
May salvation come
I have friends I love very much, but still their spirits are not open to accept the Gospel, please help me pray for them:
1. Salim
2. Random
3. Seleani
4. Selemani
Our community center preschool is still doing well. This term we have 66 students enrolled. Pray for the children and their parents to believe on the One whom God has sent for their salvation.
Diaspora in Canada
In Winnipeg, we work with newcomers to Canada from a variety of backgrounds such as South Sudanese, Eritrean, Somali and Iranian. We need prayer for how to minister to each person individually and find ways of connecting so they don’t feel so isolated and alone. We are expecting more refugees in the coming months.
Worship in spirit and truth
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” Acts 17 v 22-3 May the Alagwa know Jesus, the fulfillment of all their spiritual hunger and hopes. Bring an awakening amongst them as a people Oh Lord! May they know they were made to worship God in spirit and truth!
Lots of Jesus, lots of rice.
And in this way the Gospel has spread among the Bara.
The cross in the center, Jesus Christ the only Way, and the good deeds to prove God’s love for them in times of distress.Today was “rice day”. 400 children from our program will have a good meal for 4 days at least.
Open and free
A challenge we have are lack of literature, including Bibles, for new believers. It is too expensive for them to buy. Additionally hymn books and books for discipleship and spiritual growth for new believers.
The state of the Gospel now among the Zaramo is that they are now openly, freely coming to Christ. The gospel is no longer a secret for the Zaramo. One can freely carry his Bible without harassment or public disturbance, unlike before. The Zaramo are coming to the Lord at a greater speed!
Pastors
Please pray for our three local pastors and their families. They have been tried and tested in so many ways. Please pray that Mateus (Isabela), Joaquim (Julieta), and Isaac (Lauvness) will continue to persevere in their faith and continue to be lights of Christ among the Ndau. Please pray for Cecilia and I and the ministries we have been given amongst the Ndau; and for more workers to be sent into the harvest!
Peace and comfort
A tragic accident
On Thursday last week, there was an accident in Kotido and a young girl passed away. Pray that God may comfort her family and that his peace may fill their hearts, even though though they don’t understand what happened. The family are neighbours to my language helper. Please pray that, God willing, I may have the opportunity to visit the family, have time with them, and that God may give me the right words to share with them.
Seek the peace
Jeremiah 29:7. Pray for peace in the region. There are frequent cattle raids among the different Karimojong clans. When this happens, revenge is common, and as a result several deaths have occurred. Furthermore there is an ongoing disarmament process. We know that Jesus is the only one who can bring true peace, so please pray for peace in the region and that the Karimojong people may experience true peace.
Fara Sika
Fara Sika is a small village in the southern territory of the Laarim community. Jacinta has been a missionary there since 2005, together with James who joined her in 2007. They are both from Kenya. It is a joy to see how God is growing His church in Fara Sika after the many years that Jacinta and James have been investing in there. We thank God for these faithful servants! Pray for them, that they will continue to “live holy and godly lives as [they] look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11).
Seeds
Please pray for a neighbor woman, A, who I have shared the Gospel with and has been asking a few questions. Pray that God would soften her heart and that these seeds would be planted in her heart.
New church!
There is a new church plant in the village of Handa. The Magambua medical team ran monthly outreach clinics there for several years. This is a wonderful answer to prayer! Immanuel and Janeti are a Sandawe couple who are overseeing that new church. Please pray for them as they serve in this remote location.
Way forward?
After Luka’s death and others leaving, we are really asking the Lord what AIM ministry in Lopit looks like now and in the future. We are hopeful about Robert and Carol’s return after their studies (at least a year from now), Landi joining the Lopit ministry later this year and Andrea’s return, however right now there are more questions than answers as we think and pray about Lopit ministry. Pray we will have the wisdom and understanding to see what God is doing to reach the Lopit with His salvation, for He says: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23).
Generous Gifts
Praise God for the generosity of a Muslim Nyamwezi village leader who has given his land for a church. The fellowship of believers have build a temporary shelter of thatch while they construct a permanent building. The generous village leader frequently sits just outside the church on Sundays and listens to the sermons. Recently he offered another larger piece of land nearby for a church clinic. He says before he dies he wants to help his community in every way he can. Pray that he will come to Christ and not stay in the shadows, but receive the invitation of Christ to follow Him and join the fellowship of believers.
Stand firm
Ambohitsara is a very small village with maybe about 300 habitants.
There is a small church there with faithful Christians.
Please pray for Zaely and Norizy. These are two women (sisters-in-law actually) who are the pillars of the church. Zaely’s husband became a Christian about 2 years ago.
He was following the regional training for village church leaders in the hope that he would become the future leader of the church but he has had a lot of opposition from his family and is not in church every Sunday. Please pray for this couple.
Please pray for Zaely, Norizy and the other faithful Christians, that they stand firm in their faith.
Be set free
Please continue to pray for the gospel to be made known amongst the Ndau people who are still trapped in bondage through witchcraft and ancestral worship. Pray that they would encounter and turn their lives over to Christ Jesus and be set free from ancestral/traditional fear which enslaves them.
Please pray for the churches that do exist would grow in Christ and not in religion. Like so many church problems around the world, being transformed by Christ is not popular but doing “churchy” things that look good is easy and attractive. Please pray for spiritual growth and maturity.
Khalifah
Pray for Khalifah who now has the responsibility of leading the small flock of God in Chauwa. Pray that the Holy Spirit will empower him in that responsibility. Noblesse hopes to continue encouraging Khalifha through periodic phone calls while he is in Rwanda. There are very few spots in Kimatong where the network picks up cell phone signals, so pray that these men will be able to coordinate these times to talk, and that it will be an encouragement to them both.
Outreach
Full Gospel Church Moroto is in the middle of a two week outreach to different areas of Moroto town. Please pray that the gospel message will be shared clearly, that God’s Spirit will touch people’s hearts, and that many will come to know Christ.
Three Ugandan missionaries have just arrived in a village called Lotirir. They will be serving in the church health centre for one year. Please pray for them as they settle in, build relationships, learn language and seek to serve the community, showing Christ’s love in word and deed.
Update from TZ evangelist
Praise be to the Lord Jesus! I greatly praise God for the ministry He has called me here to the Zaramo people.
1. We continue to do the work of the Gospel to reach people with the word of truth spiritually and physically:
Spiritually – we go from house to house sharing the gospel. We also pray for them and for the sick and needy.
Physically – we do manual labor such as farming and animal husbandry to help the community realize the greatness of Christ Jesus through the work of our hands.
2. One of the ministry difficulties we face here is that we are not working with a particular denomination. Rather we are growing house churches, which is a good system. But sometimes when Zaramo are saved, they want to join a church with a building with many people – believing this is the real church. Sometimes this results in them joining a church that does not disciple them to maturity (non-spiritual churches).
Living among them
Please pray for Kenyan missionary Eliah Korobe serving among the Jiye, South Sudan with Seeking the Lost. He has typhoid and is undergoing treatment in Kapoeta. Eliah has been the front runner for this for work among the Jiye. We are now seeing over 1,000 disciples, with 9 churches and several discovery groups. The Jiye have encountered a lot of persecution and so Eliah moved residentially among them two weeks ago. Eliah will live among them for a season to model discipleship and train up leaders. This is a huge step of faith as the Jiye do not even have a secure water source, they are very remote and impoverished.
Transformation
Pray for a great harvest in Madagascar: for all those who are reaching out to islanders to see a great transformation in the hearts of the islanders they love. Pray for many islanders to come to know the Lord.
Quiet
Our classes in English and Computer have gone quiet. Students have been engaged in many other classes and have little time to attend our lessons.
Pray that God may release them to give priority to our classes. Please also pray with us for more students for new classes that we plan to have for French, Leadership, and Piano/Organ. A few students are interested.
Praise the Lord for joyful times we are having engaging with them in outings. Anything to get them out of their ‘lockdown’ in this congested suburb where they all live is always attractive to them.
Pray for God’s wisdom and direction on how to engage them when we are all together having fun.
prayer time
We have just started to meet with the Christian mamas in our neighborhood for a time of prayer and fellowship and an encouragement to reach out to their Muslim neighbors. Please pray this time of prayer will be fruitful and that those who they invite will show up, be excited and feel encouraged to share God’s love with others.
Need rain!
It seems the only remaining well in Nwayapack has broken causing everyone to migrate, people are fainting and collapsing along the way. They have been forced to Namurupth which is the next closest well where there is now fighting. Some even walk 80km to Naliel to find water. The situation is very bad. There are many boreholes that need to be repaired, we are a long way from the rainy season at the end of May if it comes on time. Please pray.
Now we believe
This past Friday we showed the Jesus Film in a Gabbra community where we are establishing new relationships and there is only one Christian family. It was a beautiful moment of fellowship. After the film, one of the elders declared, “It was very good you shared this story with us, for before we had only heard of Jesus, now that we have seen we can believe in Him.”
Pray with us that many will hear, believe, and become followers of Christ Jesus in this village.
Talks
Pray for upcoming talks about how to move forward with leadership training and development with local islander believers, leaders and co-workers. Pray for wisdom in and guidance to know when to do these meetings, when to start and who to invite to be a part of this training process.
Diaspora in UK
* Pray for Somalis and Sudanese – spiritual eyes to be opened to see their need for Jesus; there is no church in the Somali area of the city. Ask the Lord to build his church!
* Thanking God for the opportunities to serve in various ministries.
JF for Kanembu
The Jesus film is currently being translated into the language of the Kanembu. Please pray for the process of this translation. Ask that the voice actors and others involved in the project would be protected as they work, that they would remain faithful to do their tasks, that equipment and communication would work well and efficiently and that the translation would be true to the Word. May Jesus’ words and life come alive for the Kanembu people as they watch this film.
Diaspora in Portland
* Last year I joined the board of a local organization, Equipping Leaders for a Lifetime of Service (ELLS), committed to helping African church leaders get accessible Bible training. The ELLS board is eager to also make this available to Diaspora church leaders in the US. Pray for wisdom.
* I have been adapting and simplifying Berding’s Bible Fluency course for possible use with a couple of our close Diaspora families. Music, symbols, instruction, interaction, and other kinds of worship are used to help people feast and meditate on God’s Word. Pray the course would be a blessing to many.
Translation printed!
Praise God for the progress of the translation work- they’ve printed the first book in the local language of “Vanilla Island”. Prayer is needed for wisdom in how to distribute it without jeopardizing the work there.
A former Mus. coming to share
A MBB who was a very senior official in his former faith is coming to share with the locals.
Please pray with us for the training that he will give to the local Christians and the debates he will be engaging with the local people. Pray for ready hearts to receive the seed of the gospel and that God will prepare us to disciple the many new believers that will come to faith. We especially seek your prayers for safety for everyone during and after the meetings. We pray that plans for the visit will run smoothly and God will be glorified and we will be blessed with new believers.
Creation to Christ
Mama Moses and I have started a bible study with the neighbor women: Mama B, Mama Z, Mama H and Mama S. We are doing a six lesson study from creation to Christ. God is working so much! Please continue praying for these mamas as they learn more about Christ. Pray the seeds will fall on prepared soil. Things are happening and all we can do is trust God that these women will accept and follow Jesus. Mama B has privately said to me that she wants to follow Jesus. Pray that the walls of fear will be crushed.
Thank you for praying
We’ve now had two great meetings with groups of this family we asked you to pray for. Pray that God would work powerfully to draw them. This is the same group that after reading the story of Jesus healing the paralytic who was carried to him by his 4 faith filled friends and lowered before Jesus in the full house, the young man said, “I have learned a lesson from this story, Jesus is God!!“ Then the grandma piped in, “Why don’t we ask Jesus to heal Gail (granddaughter who was diagnosed with Lupus last year and has severe polyarthritis) completely, and we four who are sitting here will be Jesus’ witnesses!“
We prayed in the name, power and authority of Jesus. Pray with us for Gail’s complete healing! And the group’s salvation and witness! Gail is a bit better today – we had increased her steroid dose, and we continue to pray with perseverance for complete healing!
Diaspora in France
Pray for the Iranians, Afghans and South Americans who we are spending a lot of time with this year. Pray also for the many Africans who we are discipling either to equip them to evangelize or they are discovering Jesus for the very first time. Pray specifically for the period of transition where most of these students realize the cost of the decision they have to make. Pray that they will be bold enough to make it and pray that we as a church will be there as a strong support system.
Diaspora in Toronto, Canada
* Pray for peace and reconciliation among our Somali Christian brothers and sisters here, and for healing of the wounds of addiction and mental illness among them.
* For increased openness among our Muslim friends in our neighboring apartments, and for the time spent there in tutoring and teaching ESL to bear Gospel fruit.
* For some people committed to long term ministry to Somalis to come alongside us as we anticipate retirement.
Gospel coming
The Team Leaders for the new team to the Kanembu people will be moving to their new town soon. May the Lord soften hearts of their Kanembu neighbors and others they will meet. May the, “…gospel [come to the Kanembu], not only with words, but with power, and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
