Ancestor worship and witchcraft is an ever present concept in the lives of the Tanala people. It brings poverty and fear. However, they dare not leave this way of life, in fear of the witchdoctors and the ancestor spirits. It is a heavy obstacle when it comes to preaching the Gospel. Many say that they would like to follow Jesus but the spiritual powers are pressing hard on them. Please join us in this cosmic battle field. Pray that the people will embrace the Gospel and they will fully adhere to it.
Diaspora in Portland
Please pray that God will open up the hearts and eyes of our Muslim students to hear, taste and see the Lord is good.
Please pray for JC as she interacts with a Saudi lady who has come back to Portland to have her baby. She is due anytime and is relying on JC for all her needs. Ask the Lord to open her eyes to the goodness of God.
Please pray for MC to be a witness to his Egyptian friend as he goes to help him out in Cairo during the month of October. Please pray for his safety with the recent riots. Ask God to reveal His goodness to this man and his family.
Diaspora in Canada
Continue to pray for follow up with kids from their summer camps. Please pray that the spiritual conversations would come to mind and that the Lord would continue to be working in their hearts. Pray that the parents would also be touched and find refuge in Him.
Spirit come
Pray for the little church in Nagishot with so few adults & so many children to grow in maturity & to learn to love the Word.
Ask the Lord to send His Holy Spirit to hover over the Didinga hills, as He hovered over the earth during creation, to form a desire in people’s hearts for truth & to draw them to Jesus (John 6:44).
Completely On Her Own Initiative
Praise God for two “secret” believers in one village, both of whom have recently called their friends to join them in studying God word. One did this completely on her own initiative. May they all continue to hear God’s truth together and apply it to their lives.
Connecting in the classroom
Pray for the new English classes starting this month. Pray for those teaching , that they would show love and friendship to the students and for sweet and long lasting relationships to be born as result. Pray that the connections would grow, so that Light can be shared in an appropriate and relevant way.
Coastal Peoples Coming to Christ
Praise God over 20 people are now attending the weekly Sunday services lead by local believers from our church in the outreach village where 11 people gave their lives to Jesus a few weeks ago. Praise God the new believers are persevering in their faith and gathering together despite persecution! Continue to pray for wisdom and discernment for our church as they disciple these young believers. Pray this would continue to multiply, with local believers spreading the gospel and discipling the Swahili all along the coast!
Diaspora in Brazil
Continue praying for our team in Passo Fundo as they have had many opportunities to get involved with the Senegal community. Pray for more people to join them in reaching out to this Muslim community with the Gospel.
Hard Times
Please pray for a Rendille pastor who is a sign language Bible translator. He has been sick for a long time now, and not seeming to improve. Please lift up his family, and the church as this is a very hard time for the community. Also, there seems to be a mumps outbreak at the Christian school. Almost an entire primary class has it. Please pray for healing and protection over those not infected.
Opposition
There is strong spiritual warfare and opposition happening on the coast where we’re seeking to expand the work. Our Opposer has his grip on that place and those people. Asking that the strongman be bound and for the Almighty One to have His way.
All Follow Together
Please join an Alagwa believer who is praying for her husband and children to know Jesus too. They all listen to God’s word on audio players and some are really drawn by the beauty of God’s word. May the family all follow God together.
Diaspora in USA
Please pray we would be bold as we share God’s Word to the International Students we meet with each week. Pray that their hearts would be soften and that seeds be planted deeply and to take root. We are seeking for those students that the Lord has been speaking to already as well.
From the mouth of babes
Almost 300 children have come to our Bara children program. Many of them are Bara. Pray that Jesus will convert these children and use them to witness in their villages and families about the great love of Jesus.
Bible stories for women
Recordings of Bible stories for women have recently been completed. Pray for those that receive the stories to be transformed by the Gospel.
consequences
Pray for a local brother who has been meeting with other locals and telling them about Jesus. He was discovered sharing and was kicked out of his village, and told he may not return. Praise God that this has not stopped his faith, but fueled it and now this group is continuing to study together in a different village. Pray for help and grace for this group.
Great Commission
This week the Lutherans are having a conference in Betroka about Mathew 28:18-20; could you pray that the Great Commission mandate of Christ will get deep into the heart of believers and they will really engage in evangelism to the Bara?
Hard hearted
“They’re so hard hearted!” This is the observation from our recent 5 – week volunteer. “They listen well, but then they just don’t come. We need to pray that they remember what they hear, and that family groups would come to Jesus together!!” Please pray with us from Ezek 36:26, ‘May God give the O new hearts, and put a new spirit in them; Oh Lord, remove from them their hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh (which are soft and responsive)!’
New family members!
There is a new brother and sister in our family in H2H! We’re giving thanks for them and asking God to make them a blessing to the Y community and to draw many more to Himself. Please pray with us.
School ministry
Pray for the outreach ministry among the Rangi. Pray for the Lord’s provision for the school and other projects which bless the community. Pray that many will hear and believe the gospel!
Those who seek, find
The Holy Spirit is on the move in H2 among locals. Many people are coming with questions and with a hunger. People are eagerly seeking. ‘To those who seek, they will find.’ We’re asking for that promise to come to pass for these multitudes.
Pressing Further
Pray for the Mahafaly believers of southwest Madagascar as they press further into lost areas with the Gospel. In the last few months, one believer has traveled to a new town without groups meeting, gathered a group, and begun sharing Gospel stories with them. Pray for him as he continues to follow up, as well as for this group to trust in Christ and grow into a church.
Resolve the Issues, Lord
Lord, we continue to pray for open doors and opportunities to bring the
gospel to the village of Mangasta. The people there seem welcoming but
there have been political barriers. Please resolve these issues so that
Your light can shine in this place.
Scripture in heart language.
Pray for the ongoing work on translations. The work on the Gospel of Luke is well on its way. The complete Gospel has been translated and is currently being digitalised (and pre-tested). After that we will have to go through the book to make changes, choose what words to use and what not. While I (Jurgen) am working on that, our translator, Menja, is working on a draft translation of the book of Acts. Please pray for us to have discernment as we translate.
The Power of the Word
In the past few months we have given out 4 Bibles to people who are seeking. Every single person handled them with tenderness, gently opening the front cover and reading the first words of Genesis. We have seen the power of the Word in this place. Please pray that whether the Word of God goes out in written or spoken form that it will land on good soil. Pray for protection over the Bibles that are in unwelcoming homes. Pray and believe with us that God’s Word will not return void.
Needing courage to obey
Ask for a family who want to be baptized… that they would have courage to actually do it, and that they would hear the voice of the Spirit more clearly as they obey and walk in repentance.
Worldview shift
We have been invited to broadcast the Jesus film in many Bara villages. So please pray that God will use this very simple but powerful evangelism tool to change hearts and to make people think about their worldview.
English Students
Please pray for two students who are preparing for English exams with the help of a Christian lady. Pray that through their times together, they will have opportunity to use Scripture to learn English and that they will come to faith in Christ.
Answered Prayer
God has heard and answered our prayers on behalf of the pregnant Samburu girl. The woman who had planned to organize the abortion has given up on that plan. After listening to my words, that it is very bad before God to kill the baby, she has decided not press for an abortion. That is a small miracle in itself! God convicted her heart and changed her mind! However, prayer is still needed. The girl will return to her parents’ home. It is quite likely that her parents may insist on an abortion. I told the woman to tell her parents that it is very bad to kill the child inside their daughter. She said she would. Pray with us that the girl’s parents will be convicted by God and that their minds will also be changed. Pray that they will allow the child to be born.
A New Evangelist Installed
We give thanks for a wonderful, God-honoring, gospel message service on
Sunday, September 23 in the village of Tumbelo, in which Kristofa was
officially installed as evangelist. There is a small congregation which
has been meeting under trees or a tarp for a couple of years during
which time Kristofa has been discipled by the local pastor. He also had
the opportunity to attend a 6 month Bible course. He is now living in a mostly complete
house in which the congregation can also meet during the rainy season.
Please continue to pray for Kristofa and for funds to complete his
house. There are no doors or windows, few furnishings and the rainy
season is just around the corner.
Literacy Classes
Literacy classes have been going well in Nacala, with three new students coming last week. A small team of workers are offering literacy classes, farming training, and a children’s class as they learn some of the Makhuwa language and seek to understand the culture better. Ask for good relationships and for trust to be built. Ask for seeds of truth to be communicated in a loving and sensitive way.
Believers, Leaders and Children
Pray for all the believers in the Tsumkwe area. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help them to grow spiritually and to stand strong in the Lord. Pray for the gift of discernment so that they will accept and obey the pure, living Word. Pray that believers will answer the call of the Lord to become involved in His service.
Pray for the leaders in the area, chosen by their people to represent them in governmental matters.
Pray that the Lord will keep the children in his hands and protect them against abuse and that they will continue coming in great numbers to learn about the Lord and accept his love for them.
Baptisms!
From last Thursday to Saturday, we have been doing an amazing baptism of 1130 believers! A 3 day Baptism! Here is a testimony of how God changed the heart of a Toposa Elder: This man challenged us by how he has believed in Jesus and now he spreads the news of Jesus to his fellow elders. He said, “Thank you Jesus that I got this opportunity of salvation and baptism at my age before I die so that I will enter Paradise.”
Planting a Church This Week
Please pray for the new church plant at Kambi ya Simba, Lake Eyasi. The Jobaji local church (the AICT church near the Hadzabe), is planting a church this week. They began an Evangelism campaign since last Sunday and will continue till next Sunday. It’s been reported that 23 people have decided to follow Jesus so far! The people group in that area are Datooga and Iraqw. This outreach is a result of the Indigenous leaders’ training and Global Disciples. This will be now a third generation from the original Olpiro Church!
Pray for a Miracle
It is happening again! A Samburu girl is pregnant, and an abortion is planned! The Samburu believe that it is a very bad thing for an uncircumcised Samburu girl to give birth to a child. They say the child would be unwanted. They fear that because of its birth other children in the home may die. They believe the best solution is abortion. The way they practice abortion can be quite dangerous for the pregnant girl, even life threatening due to infection.
We have been aware of this happening several times in the six years we have lived among the Samburu. We have tried to reason with the people involved. We have tried to convince them that this practice is not pleasing to God. In fact, it is the greatest sin that Samburu recognize, a Samburu killing another Samburu. Yet the abortions have taken place and if nothing changes, they will continue to take place.
Please pray with us, that this one girl may be allowed to give birth to her baby. Pray that the baby will grow up loved and wanted. Pray that Christians and non-Christians will recognize that this practice is not good, indeed it is sin. Pray for a miracle. Pray for a change in this one aspect of Samburu culture.
Must hear it again
Pray for A and H. Seeing the Jesus film together, H said ‘we must hear this again to understand it well”. It wasn’t possible to watch it all because of a curfew here but I will give them the film on an SD card. Pray that they will watch it through and God will speak to them through it of their need for salvation through Jesus Christ.
A Bold and Vocal Man
Praise God for an Alagwa man who wants to study the Bible with some of the team weekly, and is planning to bring his friends too. He has already been seeking Jesus and praying and reading the Bible for some time. He is a bold and vocal man. Please pray that he would continue to respond to Jesus and that the Holy Spirit would use him to draw others too. The first Bible study is tonight!
But be filled with the Spirit
Pray for a thirst for righteousness rather than a longing for the alcohol they are all about to start brewing as they harvest their maize.
Chains Still Binding Them
Please pray with us for the Alagwa, that the chains that bind them and stop them making steps towards Jesus would be broken. Please also pray for a breakthrough, that the Holy Spirit would lead people to confess their sins to God and repent.
New believers!
Praise God! A man, from a distant coastal Swahili village where our church has been reaching out, travelled to our church to confess Jesus as his savior before our congregation and join the body of Chirst! The following weekend a group from our church travelled to this man’s village again to share the Gospel and show the Jesus film. 11 people from this unreached coastal Swahili village have repented from their sins and confessed Jesus as their Savior! Praise God! Now please pray for the protection and growth of these fledgling believers and for our church to know how to best disciple them there! Praise God!
plans for new team
In July/Aug 2020 we are trusting God for a group of 4-6 Malagasy men who desire to follow God in missions. They will come to Nosy Mitsio to be trained and to share the gospel in the villages here. Pray that God would call these men and that the many details to make this happen will come together. We call these teams “Harvest Teams”.
