Afghan: Build your church God, among our Afghan brothers and sisters. Help us to listen and connect our new friends well with your word in their language. Praise you God for the hands and hearts that have labored to translate it!

Sudanese: We pray for growth in the number of Sudanese students we serve and an open dialogue about your truth God.

Moroccan: We pray for the persecuted church and for those separated from loved ones because of that persecution.

God help us build strong relationships with students’ families this summer!

Please pray for multiple opportunities to share the gospel and continue developing friendships with H, M, A and E. Pray for open doors to minister to Africans through ESL and a nearby Pregnancy Resource Center, as well as through personal friendships with people we meet in our everyday spheres of life.

Please pray that during these summer months the Lord will work in local churches, giving them a desire to participate in outreach to Africans near them.

We are in the last week of hosting a Yazidi man and his son. They return to northern Iraq after 2 months with us getting medical care. Please pray for seeds that have been planted to take root.

Pray for a new friendship with a family from NA2 that lives down the street from us here in Philly.

Pray for ongoing ministry to a local Iraqi family working through cancer treatments and recovery.

We have seen a marked increase in refugee arrivals, which has been great as we and our team at Naomi House build relationships and help with settlement. Pray for the Lord to open many hearts to the gospel.

Also we are running our first MAC camp in Manitoba this summer. It is a week of camp geared for newcomer and refugee youth. Ask the Lord to draw many to Himself.

We had a wonderful sunny day of bike repairs, fellowship, and engagement with our neighbours on Saturday. About a dozen kids came to get bikes and left happy. We shared a hot dog meal following.  A local sign shop owner has committed to making us new signs for our big kids’ bike build program. One local youth imam came, and Jas said he’d like to arrange faith dialogues between his youth and Christian kids. We’re also kicking off ‘faith around the fire’ this week, or as soon as the signs are finished. Pray for deep conversations around the fire and for the Spirit to draw many to the Lord.

* Pray for us to be able to discern the needs of the people in front of us and then be able to share the Gospel in a way that speaks to people, just like Jesus and others did for so many people in the Bible
* Pray for H, M and JK, 3 students who continue seeking the Lord. Pray particularly for M that she will take that one last difficult step of paying the price to follow Jesus because He is so worth it.

* Afghan: Build your church God, among our Afghan brothers and sisters. Help us to listen well and connect our new friends with your word in their language. Praise you God for the hands and hearts that have labored to translate it! We praise God for several new friends who have rejoiced to have a Bible here as they lamented the loss of the Bible they had to leave behind in Afghanistan!
* Uyghur: We pray for your protection for those who believe, and we pray for those here that they may be able to hear your word God in their heart language.

* The Portuguese Class is growing in Passo Fundo and J. & A. are helping some students who have been open for relationship. Please pray specifically for M., an African Muslim, who is more and more open to relationship.
* More and more we are hearing about sexual violence against immigrants, including cases of human trafficking of young women. Pray that God will give us wisdom on how to help these women and engage against this practice.

* Pray for our restarted ladies craft and chatter event. It’s a great way for our church to reach out to the unreached people groups in our community.
* One of the church leaders and I attended an iftar (breaking fast during Ramadan) at one of the local mosques. Please pray for growing relationships and opportunities to share the gospel.

1. Thank God we were able to share His words during the Chinese Zoom class during Ramadan. Pray God’s words dwell in their hearts and they ponder it.
2. We will go visit our friends during Eid. May God guide us to have good sharing times.
3. God has started to stir up the church to be concerned and take part in the Diaspora ministry in Hong Kong. Pray to God to provide more volunteers for us.

This year, Easter came in the middle of Ramadan, so we planned a lavish banquet for our cousins after 8 PM when their fast was over. But first we invited them all to gather at 7 PM to listen, as I “storied” the entire chapter of Luke 24! These dear friends listened more carefully this time than ever before. Many voiced appreciation for God’s Word. Pray that the story of Jesus’ resurrection may play over and over in our friends’ minds, opening the way for true forgiveness from God!

* I have been doing in-home ESL tutoring with an Afghan man. Pray for our weekly meetings, that our relationship would grow and we would talk about matters of eternal significance.
* Pray for our continued relationship with our Somali truck driving friend, MH. He passed his citizenship interview. Pray for a receptive and soft heart when he hears Gospel truths.

* Ask the Lord to introduce each one of us on the Atlanta team to an unsaved UPG African.
* Pray that the Lord would save these Muslim friends: E., H., M., and A.

*  We have been working with about 30 Afghan families at a local hotel for 6 weeks. Pray for fruitful ministry and many to really listen to the gospel.
* Pray for Mr I who was asking me to “show him the proof in hand” that Jesus was real. May Jesus reveal Himself to him in a powerful way! Pray for Mr. F who recently accepted the Bible and showed interest in the story of Exodus. May he be freed from bondage of Islam!

* A couple weeks ago, “S” and “E” (“S” is an MBB) sent me an invitation to their farewell Open House. They are preparing to move to another city, closer to his job. We will really miss him! But I wish you could have been at their farewell last Sunday! We joined other families who filled their home with lively conversations, all of us discovering how God had used His Family assisting these refugees (S & E) in following Jesus in a new land and with a new language. Keep your eyes and hearts open! Is God tapping you to be part of His encouragement team?

* We praise God for new believers in Jerez and a few Muslim seekers involved in a Bible study. Please pray for faith to grow.
* Pray for new Ukrainian refugees arriving at our partner church Tharsis Betel in Jerez this week. Pray for God’s people to minister to them and ask the Lord to open many hearts to the gospel.

* Pray for the 20 students from India and 1 from Germany who attended a 3-day retreat in the mountains during their spring break. Pray that the Word of God that was spoken would penetrate their souls and cause them to turn from idol worship and become followers of Jesus.
* Pray for the Easter outreach planned for students. May those who attend be willing and able to hear God’s voice and turn to Jesus for salvation.

Several visits to mosques and homes are planned for Ramadan. Pray for Gospel opportunities and soften hearts to be willing to hear that Jesus is more than a prophet. Pray that they would initiate these conversations with true sincerity.

* Please pray for our Muslim friends during Ramadan to have visions of Jesus, and for us to continue to engage them productively during this time.
* Pray for “I”, who is boldly proclaiming his faith in his homeland. Please pray for him to stay strong in faith, and boldly, gently, respectfully, proclaim Jesus.
* Pray for “A” whose paranoia has increased markedly lately – please pray for his willingness to seek treatment for this and addictions. His love for Jesus is still very evident.
* Pray for “A” and “H” – brothers who lost their Christian Mom a few years ago. “H” is a believer who struggles with mental illness and loneliness and has begun coming to church with me lately. “A” is a self-avowed unbeliever now but is still eager to talk with me.  Please pray for his healing from a debilitating immune disorder, and for a genuine heart change to seek after Jesus.

* Pray for H and J: two students we are walking with and mentoring. Every day they are coming closer to the Lord. Pray for soften hearts.

* Praise God that through 7 personal Zoom “faith discussions” in February and March the whole plan of salvation was shared with B., a newly graduated Nigerian Muslim engineer. B. was not ready to put his faith in Christ at the end of the talks, but on his own asked if we could do a weekly Bible study with him. Pray that the Spirit of God would convince and convict B. during a chapter-by-chapter study in Mark’s Gospel.

* We have been asked to help start an ESL program for 15 Afghan refugees. Pray for wisdom as we begin this class in the next few weeks. Pray for opportunities to share Christ and for open hearts to receive this good news.
* Pray for increased connections among our Somali friends through Ramadan, even though connecting with them will be harder.

* During this wave of the pandemic many refugee families need assistance, especially for kids. We were thankful that a church offered to provide them with packages of food and other necessities, and they even helped deliver them. It opened a door for the gospel.
* Thank God our Chinese classes have just finished, though we encountered many technical problems since our African students used phones only and their wifi was not so stable. However, they keep on learning Chinese.
* Our Chinese class will change the schedule during Ramadan. When I talked with my students whether they will take off Ramadan for spiritual retreat as their annual leave. They were so excited to talk about it. Pray for us to seize every opportunity to share our faith with them.
* A few members of a church want to help the Chinese class- pray for vision to see UPG’s know Jesus.

* We work with North Africans (Arabs and Berbers from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria). Please pray for the Holy Spirit to convict unbelievers of their need of a Saviour, and to thirst for Jesus. Please pray for the believers to become more involved in church and ministry.

* We launched a new ESL Course based on the TV series The Chosen. We have approximately 10 students who have joined us over the last 3 weeks- 8 across North Africa, with an Iranian woman and a woman from Russia. Please pray for the Lord to use this course, this TV series to draw them to Jesus and that in our discussions and scripture reading, that they would come to know Jesus. Please pray for many to join a subsequent Bible study.

* We find that the ESL students (including our Sudanese friends) have meaningful things to say or ask during and after holiday events. Pray for the impact on their minds and hearts this Easter.
* Please pray for the English ministry that students will continue to grow in knowledge of our God during the Bible portion of each lesson.
* Pray for the K family and their daughter who was in crisis. She has come home from the hospital, and we are thankful that she is able to function and hold a conversation. Nevertheless, it is still a long road of healing and trying to find help for her to be able to move forward. Please pray for wisdom as we navigate all the mental and spiritual dynamics and please pray that, amidst all of the difficulties, Christ would be made known to their family.

* For peace and reconciliation, and a longing for our Christian brothers and sisters here to seek unity.
* For healing for the wounds of addiction and mental illness among our friends.
* For me to engage and bless the young men in our area who are failing in school and have been involved with gangs. Our friend M in particular is having a tough time finding work with his police record.
* For wounded kids of believing families who are drifting/running from Jesus, to come back.
* For increased openness among our Muslim friends in our neighboring apartments, and for the time spent there in tutoring, befriending, and teaching ESL, to bear Gospel fruit.

The driving school that I started has refugee teens clamoring to get in. Young men, mostly from Africa, would never open up with me about their needs. But get them behind a steering wheel and they talk straight from their hearts. Who knew that sitting in traffic would be the perfect place to share the love of Christ!

* Pray for the current situation in Europe and how it affects some of the international students.
* Pray for guidance and a special attentiveness to the Spirit during these times.
* The ministry in France is continuing, with a group of Afghan refugees meeting at the café for French conversation and fellowship with a few people from our church. Please pray for deep relationships to develop here.

* Pray for the refugees in Croydon, a mixture of UPG’s including people from Sudan, the Horn, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq.
* Two of the Muslim language students with whom I am doing Chronological storying have reached the New Testament and we are looking at the life of Jesus together. Please pray that they will be able to see Jesus as more than just a good person and an important prophet.
*I have the capacity to start storying with one or two more students. However, finding potential students with a suitable level of English is proving difficult. Please pray that the Lord will lead me to people who would enjoy this type of study.

* One Somali man has heard the gospel from a variety of people over the last month and God seems to be working on numerous levels with him. Pray that God will open his eyes to the truth.
* Many Afghan men and women have asked for ESL support. We have a team of people gathering to start a class for them. Pray this will be a fruitful endeavor.

* Please pray that I will continue to grow in friendship with two ladies from the local mosque and that through them I will meet others, including African immigrants.
* Praise the Lord for stirring the hearts of His people. Praise the Lord for local believers and churches that are beginning to pray together with me for God to open doors for ministry to UPG Africans in the area. Pray that at the right time I can host a gathering of various people who are interested and want to participate in outreach, so they can meet and encourage one another.

* Pray for MH our truck driver friend from Somalia. He has a citizenship interview on March 24. We’ve been encouraging him and helping him to prepare. He drives 45 minutes to visit us and we are praying that he will have a deeper hunger for the Truth. Pray that his heart would be softened to be receptive, that his ears will listen, and his eyes see.

* Please pray for the International Students who have heard the gospel recently. May they believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing they would have life in His name (John 20:31). Pray that these conversations would not be forgotten and that seeds of the Gospel truth would germinate in their hearts.

* Pray for the islander families affected in the commuter plane crash on Feb 26 near the smallest island, 14 people were lost. This affects all of the islands, including the diaspora. Pray for the few believers to be godly comforters in this tragedy, for our teammates as they walk with these grieving families and wisdom for the airline company and the country.
* Continue praying for ‘salty’ texts/conversations with island friends on WhatsApp.

* Pray for Mr. A from Algeria. Praise the Lord he returned safely from Algeria. Pray for his spiritual growth. Pray that God will provide him a job, and a Christian wife.
* Pray that we can be a blessing and encouragement to our churches. Pray that we can challenge these churches to engage the unreached diaspora in their own backyards.
* Pray that God will open up the eyes and hearts of those who are coming to our DBS on Sunday evenings.

The UPG’s we are working with are:
* Senegalese (Wolofs & Fulanis) – Pray that God will open more and more doors of relationship as they have a very strong Muslim community and very closed to relationships outside the community.
* Guinean – We are planning to work with Guinean Muslims in a city in northern Brazil where there is a university that has more than 600 Africans. Pray that the new DR members could move to that region soon.
* Muslims of different ethnicities – Brazil has become a place of migration for different Africans (Nigerians, Congolese, Sudanese, Egyptians, etc.), they are not part of large clusters, but in large centers today it is possible to find them. Pray for open doors for fruitful ministry amongst them.

* We were saddened at Christmas that our Somali friends M & A, who over 2 summers sent their kids to our MAC camp, have separated. When M refused to renounce his faith in Christ, A demanded that he vacate their condo. She is now trying to turn their 3 kids against their dad. The good news is that M’s faith has become even stronger, and he is anxious to share the Gospel with other Somalis in the Capital Region and beyond.
* Shortly after a ski day in January, my Nigerian Muslim university grad friend J got word that he was hired for his first job in Toronto. I helped him move 5 hours down the highway to Toronto. All that time together strengthened the trust level so that now we have a weekly Sunday afternoon Bible study.
* Our Chinese Christian neighbor has asked J. and me to help her lead a Christianity Explored series for neighbors in our 2 town house buildings. Pray for the right timing to start the dinner-and-video series and that our invitations will be accepted by neighbor’s around us—nominal Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim.

In Winnipeg, we work with newcomers to Canada from a variety of backgrounds such as South Sudanese, Eritrean, Somali and Iranian. We need prayer for how to minister to each person individually and find ways of connecting so they don’t feel so isolated and alone. We are expecting more refugees in the coming months.

* Pray for Somalis and Sudanese – spiritual eyes to be opened to see their need for Jesus; there is no church in the Somali area of the city. Ask the Lord to build his church!
* Thanking God for the opportunities to serve in various ministries.

* Last year I joined the board of a local organization, Equipping Leaders for a Lifetime of Service (ELLS), committed to helping African church leaders get accessible Bible training. The ELLS board is eager to also make this available to Diaspora church leaders in the US. Pray for wisdom.

* I have been adapting and simplifying Berding’s Bible Fluency course for possible use with a couple of our close Diaspora families. Music, symbols, instruction, interaction, and other kinds of worship are used to help people feast and meditate on God’s Word. Pray the course would be a blessing to many.