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.
Update on The Islanders of the Indian Ocean
Pray for all those who heard the Easter story over the past few weeks; from a worker, a local believer or even a film on the tv. Pray that many would remember what they heard, and that their imaginations and hearts would be caught by a God who would suffer and die that they might be with him. Praise God for the satellite tv stations that broadcast programmes and films that share truth. Pray that islanders would be drawn to these programmes and it would prompt a thirst for more.
Update on The Antakarana of Madagascar
Several people in northern Nosy Mitsio have been possessed by spirits in the last month, causing them to experience violent sickness and forcing them to submit to ever-more-restrictive taboos. Many people acknowledge how the common practice of ancestral spirit possession “bothers” them and “disarrays” their lives. But they’re usually afraid to resist the spirits because of potential harmful consequences. Please pray that the TIMO team’s witness of a life lived without fear of evil spirits, because of our trust in and protection from God, would open up new possibilities for the Antakarana people. Pray that they would have faith and courage to accept the Holy Spirit who can protect them from any evil spirit that would attempt to possess them, and who has the power to expel those already possessing them.
Update on The Rangi of Tanzania
Pray for A, who has some physical problems and really is struggling to provide for her family, that the Lord will heal her and provide for her needs in such a way that her trust in Him grows. Pray for Mama J, a believer of a different tribe, who is struggling with the same. Please also lift up J, her teenage son, who seems to be making poor life choices right now. Pray that he will become Jesus’ obedient disciple.
Update on The Tanala of Madagascar
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.
Update on The Antandroy of Madagascar
Correction to previous comment: village name, Andalatanosy.( as opposed to Ambalagoavy)
Update on The Antandroy of Madagascar
Praise the Lord Jesus Family have reached out to 15 Antandroy villages. Several Antandroy have committed their lives to the Lord. Pray for the discipleship of new believers and the dynamics of church planting. In one village, Ambalagoavy, 60 people gave their lives to the Lord. A Jesus Family missionary is quoted saying, “His work is beyond ourselves because people just came to us with understanding.All the glory be to Him alone” May the harvested soon become the harvestors amongst the Antandroy.
Update on The Antandroy of Madagascar
Message
Update on The Rendille of Kenya
The central Rendille ceremony is called Soorriyo, where four times a year an animal without blemish is slaughtered in front of the hut. When we translated Romans 12 some of the believers came to understand that the sacrifice the Lord wants is ourselves, given to him in living surrender. This truth needs to spread further, that we can see believers entering in to this spiritual worship.
Update on The Samburu of Kenya
Lord, we pray that the Samburu will have the veil removed from their minds, that, as they are blinded by the god of this world, You will open their eyes and help them to see the glory of God in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray for the church amongst the Samburu.. especially for godly leadership, according to 1 Pet 5.. men who will shepherd the flock willingly, not for selfish gain, but eagerly, not under compulsion, but willingly. Please eliminate strife, corruption, and bring sacrificial love and integrity. We pray for revival amongst the Samburu believers. God, please raise up a Samburu-speaking pastor for the Kurungu church.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
Please pray for a Men’s Retreat, being organized for a few days in mid-April. It is for Alagwa men, and men from other people groups in the local community, who are following Jesus (either secretly or openly) or seeking Jesus. We are praying that these young men will be massively encouraged and find strength and boldness by being together. We are praying for God to meet these men in a powerful way over this time away together. Please also pray that God will help overcome any barriers to them actually attending, so that all of them go.
Update on The Mwani of Mozambique
The team among the Makwe will be going to surounding villages to share the word with the locals. Pray that God will give them men/women/families of peace in each of the villages. Pray for this witchdoctor whom the missionary challenged towards faith that he may continue listening to the word and believe
Update on The Mwani of Mozambique
Let us thank God for the Mwani believer B who had began to drink (whom we prayed for sometimes back). He has recovered from this problem and is now standing well in the faith. Now let us pray that he will take the same faith and start sharing with others.
Praise God for other Mwani believers who are turning to God through the ministry of several missionaries working among the Mwani. Pray too that each one of them will learn the art of becoming fishers of men.
Pray too that the Lord will give us people with open hearts to share the Gospel with this month. We are going out each day to share the Gospel with people.
Update on The Gabbra of Kenya
There is a deep desire in our hearts to see the African churches engaged in supporting and sending their own missionaries to unreached people groups. We’ve been encouraging some African leaders to pray about taking a step of faith to fulfill the task of the Great Commission. Join us in praying that this becomes reality soon: More local laborers being supported by African churches, and the faster spread of the Gospel among unreached people groups.
Update on The O of East Africa
The O. New Testament! will be dedicated on the 10th of April. ***Pray that these Scriptures in O. will be fully accepted & honoured, and that they will be a blessing of much needed light and truth as they pierce the hearts! May many O be drawn into God’s eternal Kingdom through reading and hearing them.
Update on The Borana of Kenya
A second young Borana man will be attending Bible School next year, starting in May at Ukamba Bible College. Pray that he will be equipped and trained for lifelong fruitfulness in evangelism and pastoral ministry.
Update on The Nyang’atom of Southern Sudan
The Kenyan missionary couple who lived and worked among this people group are no longer there making it difficult to get any updates, but we can pray for the believers who are there. Pray that they found tremendous encouragement as they just celebrated the Easter weekend remembering what Christ has done for them.
Update on The Kacipo of South Sudan
Easter has just passed where many individuals must have heard the wonderful message of Salvation on,y in Jesus. Please pray for them. Pray that their hearts would welcome that tremendous message.
Update on The Lokwa of South Sudan
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 he power to bring it.
Update on The Laarim of South Sudan
As the Laarim living around the hustle and bustle of building houses etc. see and hear what is planned, may the Lord reach into their hearts to open them to the message that is and will be brought. That message that they hear bits of in the storying already being shared about the Salvation that can only come through Christ.
Update on The Toposa of South Sudan
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.
Update on The Lopit of South Sudan
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.
Update on The Didinga of South Sudan
We had hoped that by now the proposed pastor and his family would have begun their ministry in Nagishot and surrounding areas. He has been delayed for some reason so please pray that he (Nakaris) would come soon. Please pray specifically for Lolkolang, who is terribly discouraged and yet pushes ahead, often on his own, in his Christian walk. Praise God for the continued assistance from the Chukudum AIC church who still send their youth members up the mountain to try and sustain and encourage the few believers.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
Please pray for one lady, who is a local witchdoctor. A few of her close family are secretly seeking Jesus, and she recently heard the gospel from some team members. She was very excited and wants both a Kiswahili Bible to read, and to hear the Bible stories in Alagwaisa. Please pray for her especially over the coming weeks as she reads and hears more about Jesus. As a team, we have been praying for her whole family for some time- please join us in praying that the Holy Spirit will continue to transform lives in that family, so that they can all follow Jesus together.
Update on The Rendille of Kenya
We praise God for a particularly fruitful time of checking the Rendille translation, despite the fact that Nick, the missionary translator, is now completely deaf. For two weeks we worked via Skype, connecting Nick in South Africa with the translation consultant and the two Rendille translators in Nairobi, Kenya. Tom, Joshua, Laban, and Nick were able to complete the last two chapters of Ephesians and the whole book of James. This consultant checking session was followed up by cross-checks to ensure Key Biblical Terms are consistently used across the New Testament. Please pray for the remaining book to be completed, the revision of Revelation. Please pray the New Testament can be completed by the end of 2016 so that typesetting and printing can take place in 2017.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
The biggest barrier to the gospel for the Alagwa is fear of family and community rejection. Please pray against the fear that binds up many Alagwa, particularly the deep fear of being rejected by family and community if they follow Jesus. May God’s Spirit bring freedom to the Alagwa!
Update on The Rangi of Tanzania
Please pray that Rangi leaders of the community begin to follow Jesus, and their decision will open the door for others who are, frankly, scared. Please pray that the Rangi will understand the seriousness of sin, and that sin cannot be erased by doing a lot of good deeds. This seems to be the biggest barrier to Christ-centered, reproducing churches among them.
Update on The Gabbra of Kenya
Pray for a Gabbra man who is being trained to be an Evangelist among his own people. May God give him wisdom as he walks alongside with other youth sharing the Good News. Pray against spiritual opposition as he faces the sins of his own culture. Pray he may be an example of faithfulness in obeying God’s calling.
In his own words – “I thank God for the opportunity he’s given me to serve His Kingdom here in Hurri Hills. I feel God has called me to this place and I pray many other doors be opened for me to preach to my own people.”
Update on The Tuareg of the Sahara Desert
Pray that the Lord would turn the hearts of these fierce warriors and make them mighty men of God.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
Please pray for three ladies in one village who, having listened to the Alagwaisa Bible stories, want to follow Jesus. Two are concerned about their husband’s reactions, as culturally a wife should follow
her husband’s religion. They are starting to pray for their husbands. Please pray for these ladies that they will continue to pray and give their lives to Jesus wholeheartedly and continue to grow in their
understanding and in faith. Please pray for the husbands, that God, by his Spirit, will open of the hearts these three men to know His love and forgiveness.
Update on The Sandawe of Tanzania
Pray that more Sandawe people will learn to read their own language so that they can read the Scriptures that have already been translated.
Update on The Dorobo of Kenya
Shel Arensen is visiting the Eburru forest today. He has helped a group of Dorobo men start a group to preserve and plant trees in their traditional home which was devastated by charcoal burners some years ago. The group is being helped to start an indigenous tree nursery and to replant a section of the forest. Today is a visit with some of the donors sponsoring the project. Many of the older hunters from the Eburru area have joined this group as they are keen to protect their forest. The project will also give them some new beehives for collecting honey. Most of the men in the group are not believers. Pray that this shared interest in the forest will draw these men into a relationship with the creator of the forests.
Update on The Mbororo of CAR and Chad
Recently MP3 players and mini SD cards were given to select Mbororo leaders which have scripture and Bible stories recorded onto them as audio files. We have received positive feedback from these tools, as one missionary from the area writes, “I received very positive reports on the effectiveness and need for more players and/or memory cards for their phones. Pray specifically for cheif Mama Tchad and Gorgaire, who are two of the most enthusiastic to have received these devices. For the first time, many Mbororo are hearing the words of Scripture in their own language—Fulfulde !
Update on The Ik/Teus of South Sudan and Uganda
The IK have started preparing their fields because rain started very nicely, thank God for this. We are very thankful that Hillary, an IK man, is a member of parliament and Mark John as a counselor to represent the IK in the Kaabong District.
Please pray, that start the lessons in the schools at Kapalu and Lokinene.
Update on The Ik/Teus of South Sudan and Uganda
The IK have started preparing their fields because rain started very nicely, thank God for this. We are very thankful that Hillary, an IK man, is a member of parliament and Mark John as a counselor to represent the IK in the Kaabong District.
Please pray, that start the lessons in the schools at Kapalu and Lokinene.
Update on The Karimojong of Uganda
Praise the Lord for a few genuine believers rising out of the red dust of Karamoja! All over Karamoja, there are some committing their lives to Jesus, please keep praying for discipleship to root and ground these believers in Biblical truth and that these believers will have the courage to live according to Bible culture not Kjong tradition. May the traditional powers that are valued: pride, deceit, thievery, murder, and self be broken in this land in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Update on The Rangi of Tanzania
Praise the Lord that a Rangi gentleman who has been studying the Bible with a local missionary is loving and understanding more and more as they study the Bible together. They have both been challenged by the Scripture. Pray for ongoing growth.
Update on The O of East Africa
A young O woman received the Gift of Salvation through Jesus this week! PTL! Getting people to participate in regular study/discipleship is such a challenge! ***May the baby Church in O-land faithfully evangelize her own people and even reach out to reproduce in other areas – BEARING MUCH FRUIT THAT WILL LAST FOR ALL ETERNITY!
PS: The 1.18kg premie baby with pneumonia was up to 1.32kg 2 weeks later, with pneumonia cleared! (She didn’t come for recheck this week.) Pray that both physical and spiritual followup will be possible this week.
Update on The Nyamwezi of Tanzania
Thanks for praying for relationships! A government official invited us into his home, and we were able to pray for his wife, whose foot still is bothering her following a snake bite in December. We’re so thankful God keeps letting us meet key people in this area of Tabora!
Update on The Gabbra of Kenya
Recently the Jesus Film was shown in a Gabbra community where people follow radically their traditions, which sometimes are ceremonies to worship evil spirits. Most of the families from that community watched the Jesus Film. Afterward the elders requested Bible Studies weekly. It’s amazing to see the community committed to participate in Bible Studies, asking questions, and seeking to know better the Word of God and what Christianity is. A few days ago they asked if we could show the Jesus film again, and we will, early next month. Rejoice with us and please pray may their eyes and ears be opened to the voice of the Holy Spirit. May they surrender their lives to our Lord Jesus in repentance.
Thank you!
