Please continue to pray for the churches in the South Horr Valley. Churches in South Horr are, according to reports, not doing well, with in many cases, only a very small percentage of adults (both men and women, but mostly women) attending. There are many more children in attendance. Apparently the PCEA is the only exception with about 40 adults in attendance.
Thanking the Lord
We can thank the Lord for a former short term missionary, who came back with his friend for many years to train and disciple the young men they led to Jesus while volunteering at a boys’ school in South Horr, the neighbouring town to Kurungu. In God’s providence, after just over a year of full-time discipleship ministry in South Horr, he was suddenly in need of new accommodation. He is now safely installed on the property outside Kurungu. Which means, that on top of continuing with his ministry to the young men and others in South Horr, he is also able to play a more active role in the church in Kurungu.
Praise for the arrival of team members in Tsumkwe
Praise be to God for the arrival of 3 out of 8 team members in Tsumkwe! We are trusting the Lord for the remaining 5 visas so that we can have the whole team. 2Cor 5v7- Zeka-team leader for San Team
Pray for the San TIMO Team
The San TIMO team started on October 15. Three members were given visas and so could arrive on time to join Zeka & Anita and their family. The remaining 8 adults and three children are still waiting for official approval before they can enter Namibia. Please pray they will receive this soon.
Pray against the enemy
Please keep praying with us against the enemy’s desire to tear down the witness and ministry of reaching the unreached in our village, and for the spiritual maturation of those who claim to know Him here.
Pray for the Sandawe Churches
Sometimes there are difficulties between believers who are trying to reach the unreached with the gospel. We know these are typical schemes of the enemy to prevent the Lord’s work from going forward. Through prayer we can stand with these brothers and sisters, asking for help to walk in victory over Satan’s troublemaking. “Lord, please fill the Sandawe churches with your Spirit. Let humility richly abound. Let sin be confessed, cleansed and stripped of its power to bind. Instead, let the Holy Spirit flow freely in and through Your people with supernatural power, grace and love. Heal any divisions by deepening each person’s relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, that as Your people abide in Him, there will be rich unity. May compassion for the lost, the priority of the gospel, and the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ be the compelling motives in each person’s heart. Please send more workers into that harvest. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.”
Pray for Somalis all over the world
As Ramadan begins, pray for the millions of Somalis living all over the world to encounter believers who will share the good news that we can be forgiven and know God’s favor in Jesus.
Update on The Rendille of Kenya
The Rendille in their poverty, will often not take a sick person to hospital, because it will cost money. The result is that the person then sometimes gets seriously ill. Then the relatives will use traditional medicines, often with very harmful effects. Cutting out the epiglottis with a razor blade is often done for a sore throat. So is cow dung on a burn. Pray that they will learn to trust the Lord for health, for finances and for all of their lives!
Pray for the Kenyan South Asians
Please pray that the Kenyan South Asians that are Hindu would come to understand Christ’s captivating holiness and that He is not “one among many” but unique in His Divinity.
For the Kenyan South Asians of a MusIim faith, please pray that they would see Christ as not just an upstanding Prophet, but as he truly is, the divine Son of God.
Prayer for the hearts of the South Asians
Ask God to remove the veil that covers the hearts of South Asians, that they might believe in the One whom He has sent to save them.
5 prayer requests for the Swahili
1. Pray for more workers for the harvest among the Swahili people. 2. Pray that efforts by many groups to share the gospel would bear fruit. 3. Pray that the Swahili people who have received copies of the Bible in their language would read and be led to Jesus as Savior. 4. Pray for Swahili believers to stand firm in their faith and share with others. 5. Pray for “Epaphrases” among the Swahili who will plant multiple churches among their people.
Praising God for a church planted amongst the Tanala in Ambalagoavy
We praise the Lord for a new church plant in the village of Ambalagoavy, amongst the Tanala. Pray for Pastor Ravola and his mission team as they embrace cross cultural work in the rain forests. They have no road access to the outside world apart from helicopter. Pray for good health for the team( especially Pastor Ravola’s son) as well as supernatural ability to bridge cultural gaps and language barriers.
Prayer for Gabriel
Gabriel and Nestine, along with Pastor Ravelo and his son were placed in Ambalagoavy on November 7th. Pray for this family as they begin to build relationships with local Tanala people and share the name of Christ with them.
Praying for rain – to baptise!
The International Mission Board (IMB) reports that they are praying for rain so that they may have water to baptise the several new believers who have come to faith in the remote areas around the church plants south of Tulear.
Three Churches Planted
We praise God that the International Mission Board (IMB) has seen three churches planted, and leaders equipped to plant other churches, south of Tulear, Madagascar.
Pray for provision of food for the Toposa
As in the whole of South Sudan, there is great numbers of people suffering with hunger. The predictions for this country for starvation are alarming. Please pray for the Toposa to not only be able to get enough food, but that they would humble themselves, as the Lord says in 2Chronicles 7:14 So that the Lord would hear and forgive their sins and heal the land.
Pray for rain for the Toposa
The dry season has been particularly tough this year, the heat, dust and dryness causing much hardship. Please pray that the life giving rains would start soon and be a good rainy season. But more importantly that they would turn to the One who can give water that will cause them to never be thirsty again.
Hunger a growing problem among Lopit
AIM Central Region leader and South Sudan leaders recently visited the Lopit area where the TIMO team were located to see how they were doing. The leaders were distressed to see and hear of worse hunger this year than in many years past. With some of the previous TIMO members about to return, they are going to struggle to minister back in the area with such wide spread hunger and lack of food. Please pray for them to have great wisdom and inner strength to handle this growing problem. May they present Christ into the situation in relevant and sensitive ways.
Team members preparing to return to Lopit ministry
Three of the TIMO team members are preparing their return after their home assignment. Please pray for them as they prepare, raise their support, and look forward to their return. Pray that they would find those whom they had ministered to would be standing strong in he Lord. Their return date is unsure making it difficult for each of them, please pray that Gods timing would be known by all concerned.
Unrest in South Sudan
The area around where these people live has become increasingly unstable as the civil and tribal war has spread. Hunger affects so many of the people too. So with the senseless fighting, comes more and more attacks on the roads, on the villages and people. Please pray for peace to return to this troubled area. Pray that they would be able to concentrate on planting and cultivating crops, not on fighting, and be able to feed themselves once again.
Pray for the Tuareg
Pray that the Lord would turn the hearts of these fierce warriors and make them mighty men of God.
Pray for Rain
The long and particularly hot dry season this year has brought many to the point of starvation in this country of South Sudan, and this includes people in the region where the Lokwar live. Please pray that rain would come soon. It has been teasing and building for some time, but not raining yet. Pray that the Lokwar would want to know the One who brings the rain, not an ancestor who they believe has the power to bring it.
Pray for the Zaramo
Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to the Zaramo people their sinfulness and complete lostness, and then pray that the greatness and power of the Savior will be revealed as their only hope.
Pray for a Paramo elementary school class
Pray for an elementary school class of 4th and 5th graders who observed a classmate delivered from demonic oppression when their Christian teachers prayed in Jesus’ name. Pray that as these students meet for prayer in the teachers’ home, they will clearly understand the gospel and put their faith in Christ for salvation. Pray also for the salvation of their parents, who allow the children to attend the meetings. Pray that as they come to faith in Christ and grow, the children will stand publicly for Jesus all their lives.
Kenyan Borana purchasing Bibles for Ethiopian Borana
A group of Borana Christians {about 24 people because there are 24 Bibles in one box} from different churches put aside 20/= kenyan schillings a day [this is equal to about $.20] for a whole month so they could each buy one Borana Bible to give to other Borana Christians up in Ethiopia who do not have a Borana Bible. They originally did it for only one month, but have continued and others have joined them!
Three Important Questions
Pray for wide use of three important questions a missionary has been teaching Borana believers to ask others…(1) Who is Jesus? (2) Why did he come? (3) What does he want me to do? Pray for Muslim Boranas to learn these answers: (1) He is the Messiah and King. (2) He came to suffer & die for our sins. (3) He wants me to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow him.
Prayer for Karimojong believers
Asking for prayer for Karimojong who say they are believers in Christ, to understand 1 Thes. 4;11-12 “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live and you will not need to depend on others.” The cycle of dependency in Karamoja cripples this society, and is endemic in the thinking of most all Kjong people.
Intercession for the Karimojong
Ephesians 6:12 For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood {contending only with physical opponents}, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against {the master spirits who are} the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere. We would request intercession for the Karimojong and those who are discipling them with this truth in mind. The opposition to truth here appears oppressively overwhelming at times.
Continued Prayer for the Kachipo
As little news reaches us from among the Kachipo tribe, may we nevertheless pray for them. Pray that in the quiet times, God will be clearly seen, causing the people to long to know our amazing Creator God, whom we love and serve in the area of prayer.
Easter
Easter has just passed where many individuals must have heard the wonderful message of Salvation only in Jesus. Please pray for them. Pray that their hearts would welcome that tremendous message.
Ramadan on the Islands
The month of Ramadan has started and it brings with it its strange dichotomy of abstention and excess – during the day (sun-up to sun-down) there is no drinking, eating, smoking, medicine, or “relations”. But sunset heralds the feast and many islanders will consume much more oil, meat, and sugar than normal and eat two or three times in the night. For the wealthy the month can be a party – rich foods and social time with family, and the excuse to do very little in the day. For the poor it can be an extra burden – working harder than normal while weakened by thirst and hunger to earn more to meet the expectations of the family for meat on the table, and new clothes for all the children at the end of the month. The spiritual dynamic of Ramadan is double-edged as well… On the one side people feel good – fortified by all the efforts they put in this month, for others it rings hollow – is this change in routine really earning them a place in paradise?
Pray that many islanders would come to the realisation that they can never work their way to God and that in the midst of that dark truth God would reveal them that He has already come to them!
Prayer for Islanders to meet Christian doctors
Medical facilities are less than ideal on the islands; incompetence, old equipment, and lack of basics like reliable electricity are all part of everyday life here. This means at times of serious illness islanders will try every means possible to send their loved ones overseas for treatment. Pray that God would use these trials to bring people to the end of themselves so that they would cry out to him. Pray that those islanders being treated overseas would meet Christian doctors and nurses and hear his truth and experience his love. Pray that we would see people healed here on the islands when prayed for in the name of Jesus.
Update on The Rangi of Tanzania
Plain old material poverty. Inability to feed your family well. No money for school fees. Fields producing little/nothing. No money to pay debts. Broken and hurting and sick bodies. Some of this is due to poor decision making, some to lack of education, some to environmental reasons, some to sickness… and it can be overwhelming. What is the solution to all of this? Some of these needs may have solutions, but nothing is for sure. The only thing for sure is this: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-18) So pray that the Lord would meet their material needs, but even more, that he would meet their spiritual needs, and would fill them with joy, stamina, and faith even in poverty situations. Specifically, for A and for Mama J, who are both in somewhat dire straits.
Update on The Rangi of Tanzania
A Rangi elder in the village of Mwi–was seeking to hear more of God’s word. Upon visiting his village this past Easter we found that he had passed away. His family was in its 40th day of his funeral. Mwi– is a village that is known for witchcraft. When people are in trouble, they travel far to this village seeking a witchdoctor. The local Catholic priests won’t go there because of fear. There is also a popular Islamic training school there, which influences all the surrounding villages. That elder was an open door, and now he’s passed away. ! Pray for other open doors and new workers to share about Christ there.
Update on The Rangi of Tanzania
Mama S and Mama M love hearing the stories of God and Man. They totally get into it, really hearing and listening and interacting. Recently when we heard the story of promises made regarding a king who would come with a kingdom with no end, Mama S (somewhat quieter, but clearly absorbing everything) piped in, “That’s God. He’s the only one with an unending kingdom.” Yes! Pray that she would hold on to that truth, and yet would be able to absorb the truth of God being born as man, as we continue in the stories. Please pray for a supernatural touch for these sister-wives.
One Woman’s Story
She was married at 15 years of age, and widowed with six children when her youngest set of twins was 6 months old. She married even before her older sister, primarily because of her unusual and coveted coloring…blonde hair and blue eyes. Being married as a teen in not unusual in her family. Her mother married at 14 years of age; her neighbor is a great-great grandmother and still living. (She has grandchildren of grandchildren!)
This has profoundly affected her view of marriage, children and life in general. Her relationship with her husband was more like that of a father with a child. She was disciplined for chewing gum in public and given rewards for good behavior.
When she first gave birth, she was still in her mid-teens, and went directly to her mother’s house and held on to her physically all the way to the hospital. After giving birth, she refused to hold or look at her children; her mother would care for them for the first several weeks. Several pregnancies later and with a husband ill and bed-ridden, she took pills that she hoped would abort the babies (twin girls.) God spared them, and she drove herself to her mother’s in the middle of the night in order to literally drag her mother to the hospital for the last time.
Now that her daughters are getting older, she doesn’t want them to be married young. She is looking for someone who is financially stable and fair in coloring to match her children. When she asked us what we were looking for in sons-in-laws for our daughters, she shook her head when we said wealth and nationality and looks were not at the top of our list. We were asking Jesus for men who love Him more than they love our daughters, who will love them as Christ loved the church and gave His life for her, who will lead their families as they follow Jesus.
Pray for young Berber girls who step into mother-hood so early. Pray that they will know how incredibly precious they are to Jesus, not because they are physically beautiful, but because they are made in His image. Pray for the children of these young brides, that they will know that they too are precious, even if they hear their mother speaking of trying to abort them. Pray that God, in His mercy, will bring them to believers…that they will see godly marriages that are a picture of Christ and the church, and that they will know the beauty of being loved by Jesus as their Bridegroom who treasures them and gave His life for them.
Ramadan Day 20
There are many Indo-Pakistani Mu$lim communities scattered around Africa. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers into this harvest field. “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I (Jesus) speak to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) Pray this Ramadan many Mu$lims would realize the flesh profits nothing and would hear Jesus’ words of life.
Pray for the Gujarati to be open to the gospel
Ramadan Day 4
The Gujarati of Madagascar (called Karana) have been in Madagascar for over 100 years and control much of the economy through their businesses. Despite having been in Madagascar so long and often being fluent in French and Malagasy, the Gujarati live very separately from most Malagasy. They retain much of their original culture including language, food and religion. Praise God the Lord has given a Malagasy pastor a burden to reach the Gujarati of Madagascar. Ask the Lord to give him wisdom as he investigates the best way to reach them. Pray the Lord would open Gujarati hearts to the gospel.
Praising God for a team placed among the Fulani
Praise God for a team of Christians who have recently settled among the Fulani in order to live and proclaim Jesus among them. Pray for quick adjustment, for the learning of the language and culture, for good team dynamics and that even early on, God will be leading the team to those who can be receivers and transmitters of Jesus’ love.
Pray for peace among the Fulani
There have been deadly clashes between Fulani nomads and farmers in Northern Nigeria for decades. Hundreds have been killed the past several months. The Nigerian military is meeting with representatives from the Fulani community today to find a solution to the violence. Please pray for God’s mercy and wisdom for those involved in the meeting, that a fair and lasting solution can be found. May they find true peace by bowing the knee to the Prince of Peace.
