We can praise God that I had an opportunity to present the gospel to our soccer team, which that day had 9 Somalis participating. Pray for the family of some of these boys, as we continue to develop relationships with them. Pray that they will be able to come to our home for Thanksgiving as they have committed to doing.
Pray that I can find refugee families to connect with some of our volunteers.
Witch doctor came to church!
Jean Baptiste reported that he was very surprised last Sunday to see the witch doctor in the village coming to church with his family. People said one of the reasons is that the witch doctor sees the transformation in Jean Baptiste. He saw how Jean Baptiste stayed calm in the midst of trouble, not turning back when he had the opportunity to do so. Praise the Lord for this testimony and pray that the witch doctor will come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Jean Baptiste is not well and under treatment for tiredness. Please pray for the return of his strength and health.
Growth is Happening!
Pray for continued growth in leadership and discipleship of our 2 Sakalava churches in Nosy Be.
And pray for the evangelistic outreach and Bible studies in Andrafia and Andimakabo villages.
Diaspora in Washington
We praise Jesus! At a recent English language learning outreach, I was sharing the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. One of the students interrupted and said “the king believed in the God of Daniel.” That same student almost immediately downloaded the Bible app in their language. Pray with us that God reaches this family through His word in their heart language. (Luke 24:32)
We praise Jesus! One of our students sought prayer about bad dreams after a recent lesson about Jacob, Pharaoh, and Joseph. Join us in praying for relief from the disturbing dreams and an invasion of the King of Glory into her dreams. (Psalm 24:7)
Pray that God sends us more and more African UPG’s to the ESL classes and outreaches. Pray that they come with a hungering for the good news of Jesus.
Diaspora in Portland
Please pray for A. from Algeria that he would grow in his love and knowledge of the Lord.
Please pray for S. from Somalia that her eyes would be opened to the truth of the Good News.
Please pray for D. from Gambia that he would be able to attend our Sunday fellowship. Please pray that God would open his eyes to the truth.
Please pray for safety and health for all of our students and teachers as we continue to hold English classes each week at PH.
Please pray for fearful hearts among our diaspora friends to turn to the one who can bring healing.
Pray for Breakthrough amongst the Ndau
Pray that the strongholds of tradition, ancestral worship, and the dependence on witchcraft will be broken in the name of Jesus.
Ask the Lord to bring up a new generation sold out for Him.
Diaspora in Brazil
Pray for the relationships that our teams are making with Muslims refugees.
Pray for the Portuguese classes that are starting up again in Passo Fundo and Tabejara.
Pray for the contacts and visits that we are resuming with our partner churches and that are interested in our refugee outreach training.
Keep praying for the health and safety of all our members, even though the situation of Covid-19 is much better, we still have many cases and everyone needs to take care.
Lord have mercy
Two Ugandan missionaries in Karamoja (Timothy and Mark) report that for many days they have been hearing from their house villagers dancing all night long to worship and appease spirits. The witchcraft in their district of Kaabong runs much deeper than they had anticipated. Please pray for a breakthrough in this district! Please pray for two church plants situated in this district in the villages of Lotim and Narogos! Please pray for the Bible studies being conducted! Please pray for the healing of Mark who is down with typhoid right now. Please pray for the strengthening and encouragement of both missionaries and local believers!
Reconciled
“All this is from God who reconciled us to himself in Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Pray for the believers to passionately abide in God, who has reconciled them to himself. Pray that they would know too that they are ministers of reconciliation in their families and communities and help others also be reconciled to God.
Diaspora in South Carolina
This month I will begin making home visits to members of the diaspora community with chronic health issues and both expectant and new moms. Pray for opportunities to both demonstrate and proclaim the love and hope of Christ.
Learning
Pray for Simon Lokualong, a Laarim man who has recently heard the whole message of the gospel. He shared that “he had not heard God’s Word before, but he was learning.” Pray that he will continue to be open to hearing and receiving the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Diaspora in Portland
Continue to pray for the Sunday Zoom class of Ethiopian youth who for the last 4 months have followed God’s Story through the OT. Nov 8 we pick up the Story in the NT. May the truths of salvation through faith in Messiah Jesus’ sacrifice now become real to their hearts!
Praise God that little things are sometimes surprisingly caught, just through life on life. Last week our Ethiopian evangelist friend shared how he was “storying” Acts 12 in segments to his family in the evenings, and they were loving it!
Diaspora in Philadelphia
Continue to pray for GROW ESL classes and attendance on ZOOM. Pray for wisdom when to have in-person classes. Pray for relationships to grow during COVID.
Pray for plans to invite several Muslim friends to a Thanksgiving meal. Pray for good conversations with each of those who attend.
Initiative to grow
Praise God for the gathering of believers in Torit to pray for the Latuko and Lopit last month. This is a new initiative among the Christians to meet once a month for early morning prayers. Pray that those who have committed to this will be faithful, and that nothing will hinder them from meeting. Please pray for this initiative to gain momentum and grow!
Using local language
Pray for the awareness among pastors of the importance of preaching in the local dialect. We have finished 41 stories in the Antanala dialect, but pastors still think they should preach from the official Bible.
Glory
Pray that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ will shine in the hearts of S. Asians so they will recognize who Jesus is and come to the Father through Him.
Drawing natural leaders.
Pray for H and his sister Z. They are both natural leaders in the O communities. They both have serious health concerns, high BP, diabetes and strokes in their recent past. Pray that God would use these stressful concerns to draw them to himself, that they would repent from following I$lam, and lead their families and community in following Jesus, and making disciples.
New church!
Praise God for the launch of a brand new church plant through AIC Korr! Amos, a recent Rendille graduate of NBTC (Marsabit Bible college) is planting a church in Farakoren, which is about an hour outside of Korr. We praise God for a successful launching weekend as a group from AIC Korr went to Farakoren and traveled village by village introducing Amos as the pastor of the new AIC church. We had our first church Sunday service under an acacia tree! Our group left Farakoren with agreements on where the church plot will be and now plans are being made to build a house for Amos and supply his monthly needs so he can begin. Please pray for Amos and the new church out there.
Rise to the challenge
Please pray for the church as the pastor and his wife (AICT) leave next week to lead a team elsewhere. Pray for the evangelist (AICT) as he shoulders many responsibilities and the Alagwa elders of the church to rise to the challenge and continue growing and stepping out in boldness.
Growing
Kenyan missionary, John Wanyoni, tells this story: “I remember when I was sent to South Sudan about 14 years ago, I tried to reach the Toposa, whom I believed God had sent me to evangelize, but I couldn’t. I knew God’s Word, but this was a totally different culture. They needed God’s Word, but my approach was wrong…We have learned simple reproducible tools that have helped the ministry here grow. As the days go, we are seeing the Gospel spread even faster in all three counties of Toposaland. I was so encouraged when Abraham Namono from Kamee shared with me how he is reaching Morunyan villages and how they had sent Isaiah, a twelve-year-old, to survey a new village and found a group of believers already there. The group had been started by one girl!” Pray for God’s Word to be firmly established all over Toposaland, and to keep growing.
Guitar lessons and gospel talks
After going through a leadership class with some students, one of them came to the class when I was alone and asked whether we could learn to play the guitar together from YouTube. I gladly accepted. My prayer request is that God will speak to us as we learn the various chords and tunes together. May God speak through me as opportunities arise that would enable me to share His love for all who call on the Name of Jesus. This student is generally open and ready to discuss any challenging life question.
Faithfully attending
Pray for the head teacher in Imuluha, that he (and others) will faithfully attend the teacher training and Bible sharing that I have planned for the teachers of that school. Pray that the Lord would use these teachers to be a light for Him in the schools, and that the light would penetrate every home through the children who are receiving the Gospel message at school.
Lord grant faith
Pray for Mama Sugar, my next door neighbor. She has been coming over almost every night asking for prayer for healing in her foot. She knows I pray in Jesus’ name and I have been sharing the gospel while praying and she still keeps coming over for prayer. Please pray that constant hearing of the gospel will reach her heart. And pray the Lord would heal her foot.
Working together
Please pray for growth in relationships between the Didinga team, the Evangelical Free Church, and the AIC church leaders in Nagishot. Pray that God would open doors for them to work closely together in the Didinga hills to reach more people with the gospel of Christ. Pray the believers will “stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose [them]” (Philippians 1:27-28). Pray also for more translators to help in the outreach.
Encouraged
We are continuing to use the Jesus Film to expose the Laarim in our village to the Gospel story. We are encouraged by how the people stay engaged with the two-hour long film, despite competition from the loud hum of the bugs! Pray for Chief Angelo and those on his compound who are meeting regularly for Bible study since showing the Jesus Film at his house several weeks ago. Pray especially for Lokwanang who is coming consistently and engaging well with the stories. Pray that he and others attending the Bible study will be drawn to come to Jesus and choose to follow Him.
No fellowship
A brother invited several other brothers (who are the only believers in their family and alone) to meet together to read the Word and pray. Then right before they met, he cancelled. Pray for these ones who have no fellowship with other local believers. May the spirit of fear be silenced and may these children of God walk in the fearless victory of faith.
Backsliders.
Pray for O backsliders who at one time proclaimed that they believed and received Jesus as Savior, but then due to community persecutions and pressures they turned back to I$lam. Pray that they wholeheartedly come back to follow Jesus, embrace persecution and become mighty tools in making more disciples of Jesus.
Baptism
Please pray for the two believers getting baptised this Saturday. Please pray for another believer who might get baptised too- he is standing firm in Jesus and it would be wonderful to see him take the step of baptism.
New Opportunities
Training to empower young believers and sending them out with the Gospel is now underway as well as a new Bible study group with some Mwani women. We will also be starting sustainability training for some refugee families which will cover how to start small businesses that will help them earn an income. Pray for God’s hand upon each of these opportunities!
Being mentored
Please pray for 3 young Karimojong men who are spending 2 weeks in a different district of Karamoja with Ugandan missionaries, being discipled and learning about missions. Pray for much fruit in the lives of all involved!
Holy Spirit Move
Praise God for giving me an opportunity to share the good news and discuss our beliefs with my language helper during the lesson. Mo is a strong believer in Islam. Many co-workers have shared the good news with him a long time ago however his heart is still very hard.
Today, I discussed The Holy Bible and Quran with him, who Jesus is, and who the true God is. Thank God that Mo has promised to open his mind and heart to pray to the true God. May Jesus speak to him directly through his dreams and show him the visions. May the Holy Spirit move his heart.
Outreach to Mangasta
I just got word that Pastor Msekangale and his Pastorate are planning an outreach to the village of Mangasta from October 30th to November 8th. As part of the outreach, they are hoping to partner with Odilo to show the Luke Film in Kisandawe. Let’s lift up their whole Tanzanian team as they take the gospel to this village in the heartland of Usandawe. Mangasta is 100% Sandawe, with a lot of M@slim influence over recent years.
Translation work
Pray that the translation of Luke & Acts may progress. We wanted to finish the Gospel of Luke this year but Covid interrupted the work. Our friend has started on Acts.
Akhwesu
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ez 35, 26-7.
Please keep praying for spiritual breakthrough amongst the Alagwa. Pray for eyes to be open to see that they need to know and rely on the love God has for them; that they need God to give them a heart of flesh. May the Holy Spirit help them to go beyond their world view expectations of religion and find deep ‘akhwesu’ -fellowship- with God.
new leaders trained
A couple weeks ago Steve reported a successful Bible teaching seminar in Magambua among the Sandawe. 47 people attended, and these would be pastors and evangelists from all over, even beyond Usandawe, but many leaders should have come from the recent church plants. Pray these men and women will be equipped to lead and nourish these new flocks of believers in Usandawe.
Meeting together
Marlene asks for prayer for Grace, her long-time Lopit friend in Iboni. Upon Marlene’s return to Iboni last month, Grace immediately asked her to meet on a specified day and time each week for Bible study. Pray for wisdom for Marlene, and for Grace to have a growing understanding of the Word and a closer relationship with the Lord.
Missionaries sent
Pray for Pastor Emma Shilikale as he works to help establish three new church plants in Datooga areas. Two people are going to Morogoro and one church in Igunga is going to plant a Datooga church. He just got home from Morogoro, where he was helping to setup and settle the two girls who are starting their Datooga ministry.
Disciples making disciples
Pray for the young men Jacob has discipled, specifically Lokolong, and the others on the team and in the community whom he encourages in their ministries—former police chief Marino and the blind evangelist Logwe.
And please intercede for the renewal of faith and revival in the lives of Mary Marko and Mary Paulo, both of whom had been following the ways of God.
Zealous
Mark Keter, a Kenyan missionary working among the Toposa, reported last month that churches are under attack in Naliel (Toposaland). He said the Nabois church was burned down by some youth, and other churches threatened with the same. Please pray for the Toposa believers to remain firm in their faith, resisting the attacks of the evil one. Pray against this evil spirit among the youth, that their hearts of violence would be transformed by the gospel, and they would become zealous for the works of God.
Sunday story-telling
Please pray for the Sunday story-telling times in the compounds of several families in Nagishot. The team goes out two by two and shares stories from the Old and New Testaments that are related to the gospel narrative. Pray for those who sit and listen in Charles’, Julietta’s, Margareta’s and Lino’s compounds – pray for good listening, understanding and interaction to deepen their understanding. And pray that more families will want the team to share in their compounds.
