The community garden is officially closed as of October 31st. Praise God for how He has used the garden to build relationships within the diaspora community and to open doors to collaborate and form partnerships with community agencies. Pray for ongoing relationships and gospel seeds to grow!
Pray for open hearts among my patients and hospital staff and opportunities to share Truth.

Praise: “L” (Algerian) and “S” (Tunisian) are studying the Bible!
Prayer: Please pray for our 20 new ESL students. Most of them have been in Canada for less than a year. Please pray that God would convict them of their need for a Saviour. Please pray that despite the COVID restrictions, we can have a Christmas celebration where we can share about Jesus.
Please pray for “S”, that as he goes through the Al Massira Bible study and reads his Bible, the Holy Spirit would convict him of his sin and need of a Saviour.
Please pray for “L” that as he reads the gospels for the first time (mostly because he is convinced that Jesus never claimed to be God) he would be confronted with the Truth, that he would meet Jesus and understand his need for Him.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

* Praise we have had regular time of fellowship with a few muslim Somali young men at our home. Pray for open hearts, and that we would boldly proclaim Jesus to these guys.
* Pray that we would have clarity with moving forward in ministry during covid as many meetings have been cancelled or are very cautious.
*B & CL have been asked to speak, pray that the body would see our vision for the diaspora ministry in Winnipeg. Thank you for praying!

Pray for our weekly Ethiopian Youth Bible Clubs on Zoom. Lately the youth are beginning to feel freer to ask us questions—serious questions! And our Ethiopian colleague told us the other night that, around the corners—not visible on our computer screens, some parents are also listening in on these Bible lessons! We certainly need God’s wisdom.

* Praise for about 300 bikes given away over the summer, and significant relationships built in the process.
* Thanks also for solution to our storage problem for the winter – a school that has a large Yazidi population has a settlement worker, who requested our help with getting bikes into the hands of the kids there. I am working on finding a time when I can interact with this community to repair and distribute bikes.
* Pray that conversations around our back yard fire pit, bike rides, and continued Jesus conversations will happen with our many new found friends.
* Pray for safety and wisdom as we continue to engage with our many friends who have requested tutoring and help with educating their newcomer children.

Pray God’s Spirit would open the hearts of two Imams, A and S, with whom Da and Ke are working.
Please also give thanks with us for a very successful outreach picnic: The imam left the picnic smiling. I texted him after I got home: “A, thank you for bringing your people tonight. I really enjoyed it.” The imam replied: “You’re welcome Ke. We felt the same way. You guys are awesome.” So, seeds planted, relationships begun or strengthened. We are grateful to God for what He has done.

* Beyond our group there is momentum for a new Arabic- speaking  Muslim Background Believers’ church in Dearborn. Let’s pray this into reality!
* A lot of classes are starting for us this month including 3 citizenship classes. We want these to be a gateway into relationships that the gospel might be shared.
* Please pray for wisdom to know what to prioritize especially in these days of online schooling.
* Wisdom on if and what to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas events.

* Continue praying for an open door for the kid’s club (Sept 26) that had to be postponed for the third time because of reinforced covid restrictions. Pray for heart preparation of the children and parents for the eventual opportunity.
* Pray for a good restart of a smaller kid’s club on Oct 14 in another center.
* Praise for good weather and new students as our international cafe club was held in the park for 3 Friday’s while the usual center was unavailable. Pray for the Word to take root in those who stay after for the study.
* Pray for the covid cases to lessen and no further restrictions. This city is one of two with the highest cases in France and more clamping down on activities have been put in place. Continue praying for opportunities to proclaim truth and hearing well with the mask challenges.

* Pray with us for English tutoring outreaches on Friday, Saturday, and Monday of each week. We are partnering volunteers with our students, (& their families), by gathering in area parks close to student’s homes to practice English and fellowship. Pray that we and our students are blessed with wisdom and understanding from our LORD God. (Proverbs 3:13)
* Pray for the Bible lessons we’re teaching each week with our students. We trust God’s word to accomplish God’s purposes. (Isaiah 55:11)
* We praise God that His Holy Spirit is working among UPGs in this area and they are thirsting for the good news of Jesus.

* Please pray for our DBS on Sunday mornings, that God will open up S./M.’s heart to understanding the Gospel. She and her son come from the Horn. Please also pray for A. that he would grow in his faith in Jesus. Please pray for his wife to be able to come join him from N. Africa. Please pray as we intentionally invite other diaspora friends to join our study.
* Please pray for opportunities to share stories from God’s Word with our diaspora friends.

* Praise God for a growing relationship with Mr. A who is an immigrant from our hometown in the Horn.
* Praise for a group of people who meet monthly to pray for Somalis and engage them with the Gospel.
* Praise for a growing understanding of the lay of the land in Louisville and potential opportunities for outreach.
* Pray for peace in the city and opportunities to point people to Christ during this time of pain and protests.
* Pray for opportunities for JJ to connect with Somali women. Wisdom in how to order our days.

* Starting from October 1st I am going to try to move some of my English teaching which has been done outside in local parks inside to a local church venue. Please pray for the transition.
*Praise that the international women’s sewing and international university student Bible study groups are expanding through online access. Please pray that those attending would see their need for a Saviour and turn to Jesus.

* Praise for N (Moroccan who recently believed) being baptized two weeks ago at our church. She is now being further discipled. She is already inviting her friends/family to church and sharing the gospel.
* Praise for a space (rented gym) to have our Impactkids.ca program with 10 North African children signed up for our first drop-in last Saturday October 3rd
* Praise for a space (church) to have our English conversation classes- first one Saturday October 10th.
* Pray for our Impact Kids- that we will do well from a COVID-19 perspective, connect well with the families, and that the seeds of the gospel would take root in the kids’ hearts through the story of Noah.
* Pray for a good group of North Africans to sign up to our English conversation classes, that God would call those whom he is already at work in.

Praise God for the opening of the community center/café: Le Quai 67! Business is fairly slow at the moment, but we are starting to meet people in the community. Oct 2 we started French classes and today we start a time for moms and young children!
I recently met a North African woman from the neighborhood. She has two young children and is longing for community. We met for coffee and connected really well.
I’ve met with several friends at the café over the past week- it’s a great connecting place! Praise God for several Gospel conversations with friends.

* Praise God for the good turnout for our Welcoming Week events. We are thankful for the relationships that were formed and nurtured and for the fruitful conversations.
* Our non-profit board will be meeting on October 8th to discuss and plan how to move forward with the community center in Noel. Please pray for wisdom as we consider the next steps.
* We will be having a closing event at the garden on October 25th. This will be a Fall themed event for families. Pray that many will come and that the Lord will guide and direct our time together.

* Praise God for the B. family and for the way the Lord is opening the doors for them to go to Caxias do Sul. Pray for the two day trip, for their adaptation in the region and to start the work among Senegalese refugees.
* Pray for It. and Su. They have had difficulties to develop ministry again, as their area is still a red flag for Covid-19.
* Continue praying for the involvement of new Brazilian churches with the Diaspora Ministry.
* Pray for Brazil, especially for the south where most of our members are. At this time of winter we are going through the peak of the pandemic.

Pray for developing relationship with a Somali leader who is now helping me coach my son’s soccer team.

Pray for creative ways to develop relationships and get to share our beliefs. Pray for soften hearts to be receptive to the Gospel.

* Praise for Initial contacts with Somalis in our neighborhood and in the city.
* Pray for the establishment of good relationships and rapport among Somalis and local churches.
* Pray for J as she seeks opportunities among Somali women

* Pray for our ESL and citizenship classes to fill up with students and teachers! Our goal is to have classes going by October 8th.
* One Sudanese family has begun to do weekly Discovery Bible Studies through the sermon on the Mount. May they recognize Christ as savior and the word as truth.
* Please pray for Zawadi and the Zomaf African team to be able to effectively reach Swahili and French speaking diaspora youth.

* Things at Naomi House continue to be busy for Ca.- so many people looking for sponsorship and also hope. Pray that she would show Jesus’ love and that many would respond.

* Br. has loved being back at the drop- in center, even with COVID restrictions the kids have come. Pray that they will receive the Good News that God speaks to their hearts.
* Pray also for our Somali boys. Each with a different story and it seems each craving love and attention. We have been trying to see them biweekly, pray that they would feel the Holy Spirit in us. Pray for Ad. who is familiar with the Torah and likes to discuss spiritual things-that he would know there is something different about Christianity and Jesus. Pray for Sa. as his family is still trying to get out of Somalia. We have set up a fundraiser to help with travel costs.

The Community Center in Strasbourg will be starting classes this month and their church will start meeting again, this time in the center. Continue to lift up this strategic outreach in this part of the city where many immigrants/refugees live.
Pray for a kid’s club in a needy Marseille area to happen Sept 20. Because of Covid restrictions the schedule had to be changed twice. Pray for good contacts with families and children.
Continue praying for new relationships with those who are seeking, openness for conversation and ability to hear well with the mask challenges.

* Praise God that He is using the gift bags containing produce from the garden to open up spiritual conversations with our African friends.
* Our non-profit’s request to re-zone a downtown building for a community center was denied. Pray for wisdom in the next steps.
* We are having “Welcoming Week” for our diaspora friends this week! We will work on projects together, eat meals together and both harvest and plant at the garden. Pray for the building of relationships and for fruitful conversations.

* Praise: several ladies from the International women’s sewing group continue to join our Zoom online sewing times. In our most recent sewing time, we shared a brief devotional with the ladies. Pray for a good response.
* Praise: places of worship have been given permission to reopen provided there are social distancing measures in place.
* Pray that hearts will be prompted to seek and find the Lord during these stressful times of the pandemic
* Pray for God to direct us to the activities of his choosing as lockdown restrictions continue to shift week to week and Covid cases are on the rise here

*Ethiopian Youth Bible Club. We’ve taught 8 weekly Zoom sessions so far, with 10-15 Ethiopian kids. We interact around music, chronological storying, and videos. Each week, we also meet with our Ethiopian colleagues who had this vision and prepare and pray over the final touches.  Please continue to pray for these children to grow in faith.
* Sunday morning tent services—Next door, at our daughter and son-in-law’s home, our team has just launched an outdoor “tent” interactive fellowship as a welcoming place to seek and worship, even for those from other cultural backgrounds. Pray that this will be used of the Lord to grow His Church among the nations.

* Pray for Th., an African immigrant who has completed his resettlement program, but still cannot find work. He is now homeless and living with a friend temporarily.
* Pray for sports to be allowed to continue this fall. Two of my biggest outreach opportunities here in Spain are through sports. I am helping to coach a football team of African migrants. Also, right before quarantine, I had just joined the coaching team for a football club of underprivileged kids and reconnected with the kids of several Sahrawi immigrant families I met during AIM’s sports camp last year. Pray that we can get these clubs going again.
* Pray for a meeting I have coming up soon. I was just invited yesterday to sit down with a Muslim refugee friend and the imam of the local mosque in Jerez to discuss Jesus, the Bible, and the Qur’an.

Pray for protection from the mosque warning people on the WhatsApp group to stay away from receiving services from our English center. Pray that this would reveal those who are open and seeking. Pray for boldness.
Pray as we are planning to start in person classes September 8 following the governors guidelines. It will be challenging. Please pray for all of the logistics and staff in order to make that happen.
Pray for the Algerian believer that he would grow in his faith. Please pray for the Somali lady that is coming to our Sunday fellowship that she would come to know the Lord

ESL classes are starting the first week of Sept. Pray for a good turn out of immigrants to study English. Pray for good conversations about eternal things.

Sept. 13-20 is Welcome Week at the new RAISE house; we’ll be introducing immigrants to RAISE services and activities and providing lunch during the week.
Es. has had several opportunities to pray with immigrants as she goes door to door for Census 2020. Pray for these brief connections to bear fruit.

We have had a wonderful response to our offer of free bikes to neighbourhood kids, both of kids and young adults seeking bikes, and churches donating them. This has developed into friendship and an informal faith study (not yet Bible study but getting there) with several Somali young men who meet with me at least 3 times a week. Pray that this will grow both in size and depth.
Pray for several Somali Christian friends who are experiencing stress during this COVID crisis. Please pray for them to look to the Lord, and for us to minister to them in Spirit and in truth.

Praise God, I was able to share the story of Ruth with my Libyan neighbor before she moved, emphasizing the truth that God is always with us even when we think He has abandoned us. I was also able to share with her the hope that I have as a Christian that when I die I will be with Him for eternity. Pray for more conversations about the Lord as I continue to have contact with her.
Pray with us for who God wants to have move into the now vacant apartment.
Pray for wisdom on what our ESL program should look like for the fall and for an adequate number of like-minded volunteers who desire to “bring lasting HOPE” to so many lost in darkness.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way….!

Praise God for the new ministry of food distribution. Pray we would be able to meet physical needs in a God honoring way AND step into the relational space to share God’s good truth. We serve about 20 families a week right now. With C19 stuff shutting down group events for the kids, pray our team would be able to find ways to connect not only with the adults, but kids of the families too.
On Sunday August 30th we are planning a back to school picnic. Please pray for many to attend and for wisdom for us as we decide what and whom to include and exclude for our event.
Praise God for an in-home ESL program we just started with 5 new ladies.

There are still a lot of restrictions in place here regarding meeting people inside buildings, but we are free to meet people outside. As a result, and with the warm weather, my diary is more or less full. We give thanks for this. Pray for fruitful conversations.

Praise: good participation from the 2 ladies who attend the Zoom English class where we use Bible stories in our lessons
Praise: several ladies from the International women’s sewing group joined our 1st ever Zoom online sewing time.
Praise: the weekly international student Bible study time has had 5-10 participants joining the Zoom time with many of them back in their home country.
Pray that there would be spiritual fruit from all of these activities .

After having dinner with M friends, we feel we’ve deepened our relationship and have a clearer understanding of where the husband and wife of the family are spiritually. He’s very confused. She has seen a vision of Jesus that was very significant to her, some years ago. Very importantly, the husband of the family now understands that the Bible was not tampered with in order to hide Islamic teaching. However, he is going to do some research, so I will need to do some too. Ask that God will water the seeds planted and that the evil one will not snatch them away.