“One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.” Proverbs 21 v 22.
Please pray for wisdom in pulling down the spiritual strongholds in which the Alagwa have mistakenly put their trust. May these strongholds, which have gripped many Alagwa hearts and held them captive for so long, be pulled down! May many Alagwa find life and freedom in the saving grace of Jesus.
The kingdom is growing on the islands, the word is being translated and taught, and the gospel is being shared. Our teams are strong and determined. And yet, we long for breakthroughs, and for strong, stable churches to be planted and multiply.
Believers are plagued by false teaching and division. Ask the Lord to destroy false teaching and drive false teachers away. Ask for true repentance and truth!
The team has translated Mark and a draft of Acts through chapter 26. They have finished the advisor check through Mark 14, and hope to complete the remaining 2 chapters in the next few days. (While in Koi, I was intrigued to observe the thorough process of interacting about word choices, how to accurately convey intended meaning, etc. as they painstakingly checked the draft, phrase by phrase, verse by verse.)
Please continue to pray for John’s health. Overall, it seems to have improved over the last number of months. He does find the heat of Koi to be draining, and tends to use his O2 concentrator more. He also finds the cold in Addis to be difficult, and his being so thin doesn’t help! About 2 weeks ago, his coughing increased and his chest pain returned. He was given a different medication this week, which has eased these symptoms. Please pray.
G is back home and we PTL for healing from the acute medication reaction, and a solid diagnosis to help us with her long term treatment. Pray that her young and timid faith will keep growing and spread to her mom, grandma, uncle, grandpa and her whole extended family as a catalyst for our community to respond to Jesus’ invitation to come and follow Him!
I have started to visit a new small village. For this I have made some changes in the creation story I share: I emphasize how beautiful God created us, our initial role in creation and the fact that we are made in God’s image. We have noticed that people don’t value life as a gift of God (they are very fatalistic). By emphasising this part, I hope they will understand that being restored and saved by Christ means that they can take their place as God’s ambassadors on earth. That is totally beyond their world-view now. Pray God will open their eyes to this beautiful truth.
Katy is a young Lopit woman Marlene has been discipling over the years. Pray for her as she starts her studies in Juba, that she would make the most of the opportunity and be able to switch to the School of Medicine after this semester (after being placed in Veterinary Science instead of her study of choice). Pray also that she will find godly friends and a good church family while in Juba, and that this may be a time of spiritual, not just intellectual, growth.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.
Please pray that God may grant many Karimojong the grace and understanding to know him, and to reflect his kindness, justice and righteousness to those around them.
Pray for all the ESL students we are involved with. Pray for wisdom and anointing as I share the Gospel with students, some of whom are Muslim.
Prayer of protection for us as we go out to open-air preach in Toronto. Pray for hearts to be
convicted. Prayer for wisdom as we interact with Muslims and others from various world religions on the street.
Please pray for one seeker who is under pressure to go back to Islamic classes with the ladies in her community. They have threatened to turn their back on her and exclude her if she doesn’t attend the mosque with them. Last time she gave in to this, she struggled for months with demonic attack as a direct result. Please stand with her, that she might also find the strength in Jesus to stand firm this time.
Pray for Evangelist Imma and his wife Mama Prisca, who were serving the church plant in Ukombozi village. They’ve been re-assigned to lead the ‘mother church’ in Wairo now, since Pastor Ndaki was moved to Lindi. Pray for wisdom and joy in serving and feeding the flock of believers there.
Mark and Lorna Keter are Kenyan missionaries among the Toposa of South Sudan. Pray that Mark, Lorna, and their team will “make known among the nations what [the Lord] has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted” (Isaiah 12:4). May God keep drawing Toposa to Himself.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3, 17
Please pray for an Alagwa believer who is step by step being released from many hurts in the past which left deep scars and ways for Satan to continue to oppress her. Praise God for the freedom she already has and for the way she is more secure now in her identity in Jesus. Pray that she would know the gospel in increasingly deeper ways and that she will cling to Jesus when pain, lies and fear threaten to overwhelm her. May she know that God, who called her, will never let her go.
Praise God for our brother Abdi, his faith in Jesus Christ is growing, he is considering baptism before leaving Kenya. He will probably be leaving by the middle of next year! Pray that he can make this important decision before that time. Also, pray for his boldness for sharing his testimony with his family members.
A young believing girl has been trying to leave the country for a while… but from all we see, she has a loving family. She wants more freedom and says she is suffering. She disappeared yesterday and her mom has been frantically calling. (Over 15 times in 2 days.) We have talked to all our connections but can’t find her. Pray for her and her family.
The AIC church raised awareness and money for missions on Mission Sunday last month. Bags of food and supplies were purchased for Luka and Umjuma. It is exciting to witness the church stepping up as senders! Pray they will have wisdom as they continue to move in faith to send and to go. Pray for Luka and Umjuma as there is no team out there for a few months, and remember them as they carry on with the work in Iboni. God is with them; we are never alone.
Cal is a young O believer who we’ve prayed for in the past. He’s been stagnant in his faith after marrying a Muslim wife, but recently he told us he’s been sharing with her and she’s also become a follower. He’s also been faithful in 3 recent Bible studies, and encouraged his wife to follow up with us as well as studying with him. Pray that their faith grows strong and deep, and spreads among their extended family too.
Praise God for the connections between non Christians, baby Christians and strong Christian friends this past month. Please pray for them to grow in understanding of who Jesus is and for these new relationships to deepen.
The team in Kimatong feel the pain and burden of the senseless loss that seems so much a part of life among the Laarim. There is the death of young men in cattle raids, fights that break out at dances that lead to one boy dead and two girls shot in the leg, death from preventable and treatable diseases…sometimes it’s overwhelmingly hard to live in such darkness. Pray for the day when the Laarim “…will delight in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:3) and “they will neither harm nor destroy…for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (11:9). And please pray God’s special grace over this team as they minister in this place.
Pray for one young man whom I’ve shared with, who has started being discipled weekly by a Christian leader. This young man has even started attending church. He is a young man that gave me much insight into the Digo worldview and I am excited that he recently reached out again and wants to seek Jesus.
• My student N.’s family has attended worship with the church the past 5 consecutive weeks! May the
Lord continue to reveal himself to these dear friends!
• We are preparing for several upcoming holiday student events. Please pray God opens many ears, eyes, and hearts and empowers us through His Holy Spirit to speak, listen, share, and teach in those moments together.
We are currently seeking to translate some discipleship materials into Ngakarimojong. Please pray for the three young men who are involved in the translation, and for wisdom in who to ask to review the materials. Please pray that these materials will be a means for growth for many.
In the Pandemic year, with little resources, God has grown our children’s ministry to over 700 children who come every Saturday and Wednesday. We were afraid of not having enough support, but God proved Himself faithful, and, by His grace, He has provided for us. We estimate that between 15 to 20% of the children are Bara.
Pray that the children will have their hearts open to the Gospel and become a new generation of believers among their people.
Our church is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for International Students on Nov. 20. Pray for 50 students to attend and for their hearts to be open to hearing the gospel message that will be presented.
Many people come to us for advise and help concerning their health. We are not doctors, but we can help them pretty often. We have been able to help young mothers with breast infections, young children with severe worm infection and Malaria. This was not the first thing we were thinking about when we came to Madagascar, but apparently the Lord decided differently. A good thing too! Because the people usually have difficulty trusting foreigners, but they trust us. This makes it so much easier for us to share the Gospel. Praise God and pray that many will put their trust in the Lord Jesus.
I have an older friend who is returning to Morocco for an extended stay. Please pray for her heart to
“grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge” (Eph 3:18) and for wisdom to continue to share this message with her. May God do a mighty work in her heart. We have shared with her many times.
We are planning to have our next door neighbor and adult daughters over for coffee sometime
during the week. Please pray for good connections, and that God will use this time to soften their hearts toward Jesus. The mother is a very influential woman in the Muslim community and at times has warned people to be careful of those Jesus followers.
Please keep Gabbra land in prayer. Tribal conflict in the midst of severe drought has left us in worse condition than usual. Grazing is gone so animals are hardly surviving and raiders have been steeling what is left which has caused revenge and road attacks, which is also causing traders to refuse to travel because fear, resulting in communities without food even if they have money to buy it. The food relief project managers have not been able to find food to buy to feed the hungry masses.
We desperately need prayers for rain, peace, provision for the poor, wisdom as we spread the word of God and especially that people humble themselves to the Almighty Power of Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Please pray for a mini survey trip we are taking this week. An Alagwa seeker has asked us a number of times to come and build a church in his village because he-and some other believers/church goers there- walk a long way to attend services on Sundays. (He is thinking about a physical building; we are focusing on a body of believers being established there.) We are hoping to go with an Alagwa Christian who has just finished a bible college course and has a vision to church plant. May God give us wisdom and good connections with both the Alagwa seeker and the believers where he is. May that seeker surrender his whole life to Jesus and lead the rest of his extended family to Jesus too.
Steve and Gina were encouraged by the enthusiastic response from the participants at the Bible Storying Workshop last month. We thank God for the five different language groups that were represented (Juba Arabic, Latuko, Tennet, Pari and Didinga), and the groups of 3-4 men and women who worked faithfully all week long to practice putting Bible stories into their heart language. Pray for these men and women who expressed a strong desire to see stories from God’s Word put into the language of their people, to commit themselves to meeting together to create a story set that speaks to needs of their people. Pray that the stories they craft will be shared with the thousands of people from these tribes who have no other access to God’s Word.
Please pray for fruit from Odilo’s Luke Film ministry. He recently showed the Luke film in the village of Sanzawa this past weekend. Pray the Spirit will continue to speak to people as they think about the film.
* Pray for our ESL class that just started last week. Pray for sustainability and for good connections to be made within the immigrant community.
• Praise God we have had so many churches and people step up to volunteer with Afghan refugees who are coming to our city. Pray the Lord will open their hearts to the gospel.
• Continue to pray for Mr. A. Pray the Lord will speak to him as he reads the book about Jesus that he was given by the 95 year old man who attends our church and who prayed for him.
• Pray for increased connections and unique ways to connect with Somalis over the holiday season.
Yesterday after class, my partner was discussing the story of the flood and other stories with Far**, a Som** student. Using a Som.** Bible that she had, she was able to get Far.** to read the story for himself.
Today, my colleague was not in and I saw Far** searching for something in our bags. When I asked him what he was looking for, he said that my colleague had promised to leave that Book behind for him to read. I promised him that I would bring it for him tomorrow and ensure my colleague is in.
Please pray with us that God will open the heart of Far** as he searches through this treasure, and that he will want to continue reading it.
One of my village friends named Juma watched the Jesus film with his family a month ago. He told me that Jesus is the Savior, He is the only way to heaven! Please pray for him to thirst for Jesus and His words and find the Living Water.
Another Juma is a Kiswahili language teacher who checks the weekly Bible story. Please pray for him to know Jesus and accept Him as his Savior.
Pray for Y refugees in the Horn to become disillusioned with Islam and seek ‘people of the book’ to explain the way of righteousness. Pray many will find the Way.
A local deacon from a Lutheran church took some of the newly translated Luke booklets with him when he went to a big meeting about 4 hours drive south from us. There were many Malagasy from other tribes (mostly from southern regions) at the meeting. They recognised the language as Antanala right away. Still, they could understand this translation better than the official Malagasy language. They said that they will save money to buy the Luke booklets and use them in their churches, Bible study groups, and when they go to unreached areas!
Pray for Jie disciples to be obedient to Lord’s command.
Pray for Kasengor town to be accessible during the rainy season.
Thank God for peace between neighboring communities.
Ask God for motorcycle for disciples and solution to water problem.
Pray for group leaders to be faithful.
Pray for God to provide for health facilities in all Jie villages.
Pray for Bible translation project that is to start soon.
Recently, we gave A something to read. It is a personal account and comparison of Jesus and Mohamed in our two books. Ask that he will be challenged by what he reads and that the Holy Spirit would open his heart to the Truth.
• Please pray for our team as we prepare to host various Muslims during the Thanksgiving season.
• Please pray for a Saudi lady, a couple of Egyptian families, and a Libyan family we are engaged with that God will open up their hearts to his Good News.
Pray for the women who are grappling with what it might mean to be public about their faith. Pray that they would receive boldness and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. Please pray for their husbands to come to Jesus.
The drought continues – and gets more and more serious here as each day passes without rain! Animals are weak and dying. We pray from 2nd Chronicles 7:13-14 that people really would humble themselves and turn (repent) from their sin, especially that of not receiving God’s gift of grace through Jesus! May there be a spiritual breakthrough here, and may God have mercy to send the rain (physical and spiritual!) Our team is still in the midst of a second distribution of food and this has also brought many opportunities to share. May all the seeds sink in and find that good soil in many hearts!
Lift up ‘Nathaniel’ who I’ve not seen for some time. Pray he sees the benefit of fellowship with the body. May our Father reveal the hidden things to him.
“Heaven is full of answers to prayer for which no one ever bothered to ask!” b.graham
