* 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.

Praise: That our house in Louisville is in the perfect location: we bump into Somalis everywhere we go! Pray for building relationships with our Somali neighbors.
Pray for open doors to the Somali community and open hearts to the Gospel. Pray for Mrs. F and Mrs. X.

Yesterday an Algerian man had a very serious conversation with MC about what following Jesus is all about. Today we can praise the Lord that “we can call him our brother in Christ”. Please continue to pray for this man to be grounded in the Word and that his new faith will lead others to the saving knowledge of Jesus.

I talked to my Imam friend. He’s struggling emotionally due to several problems–people not coming to the mosque, his 5 year immigration process on hold, his son not able to get financial aid to attend college as a non-citizen, etc. I read God’s Word with him and prayed for him. He became emotional and said that was precious to him and just what he needed. He told me he’s reading Detrick Bonhoeffer’s “The Cost of Discipleship”, which he loves. But he’s so down (depressed) he doesn’t have the strength to discuss it. I was able to talk to him about the power of Jesus over evil spirits and the need to choose God over the fear of man because these are issues my son is facing. I have been open with him about my son’s struggles. Please keep praying for my imam friend.

Mo, a new Algerian believer, got baptised on August 9th in Montreal. Please pray for him in his new faith. Pray for both growth and new life.

Pray for more opportunities to share the gospel with International Students in Lakewood, California during this season of Covid restrictions. Pray we will be encouragers and a light that attracts them to Jesus

Pray for S. in Foz do Iguaçu, with the borders of Argentina and Paraguay closed, the challenges are greater as immigrants have a lot of limitations to work and to get help in Brazil.
Pray that God will continue to involve the Brazilian churches to be ministering among refugees and immigrants.

We praise God for a lot of relationships that have been made in this last month. Finally it seems that people are out and meeting each other.
Pray for the follow up to the meeting held August 7 with the head of the Somali association here in Rochester. Please pray that there could be good lasting cooperation and building of meaningful  relationships.

Praise: 2 Moroccans and 2 Algerians are (Lord willing) going to be baptized in the next few weeks.
Pray for these four individuals: M. (Algerian, 30s), G. (Algerian, 30s), N. (Moroccan, 50s) and S. (Moroccan, 50s). They are very new in their faith. Please pray for grace to stand in the midst of persecution (earthly and spiritual), their integration into local churches, and sanctification.

Praise: This morning we got a request for two Arabic Bibles. A husband and wife have requested an Arabic Bible, from al-Hayat.tv, that came to me. I just contacted them and they are excited for the Bible. Pray that this would lead to a Bible study with this couple.

Pray for connections with hearts who are seeking, for openness in conversations, and hearing well with mask challenges. “Lord, make hearts tender to be receptive to the Gospel.”
Pray for the opportunity to be a part in the opening of the community center in Strasbourg the last 2 weeks of August. Pray that I will be an encouragement and help as ME’s team launches this new outreach. “Lord, be honored and magnified and made known in this community center.”

Pray for A, a Somali cousin who is considering giving his life to Christ. May the Lord continue drawing A to Himself.

Please lift up N & L in Toronto as they start a weekly Bible study with 3 Sikh men who recently came to the Lord. N. led one to Christ through an evangelistic social media ad in the first weeks of the covid crisis.
Pray for B & C in Winnipeg. They have practically adopted an 18-year-old Somali who was severely traumatized by the war in his homeland. Pray that this young man’s heart would soften to the Gospel as he spends time with B & C and their kids, and as B. joins his Somali soccer team.
G & K in Montreal have just completed the Bridges video series on Muslim evangelism with 22 French Canadians. Fifteen of the grads have made new North African friends, and 5 have already given away Arabic Bibles. Pray for much fruit among these new Québécois evangelists.

Praise that several people whom we have formed relationships with through the garden are interested in having extended outings together. We are planning trips to botanical gardens and parks with walking trails and lakes.
There has been a large surge of Covid cases in Noel, especially among the diaspora communities. Pray that the Lord would protect these who are ill from serious complications and that He would use this virus to draw many in these communities to Himself.

Please pray for four men from the local refugee community who I am meeting with one to one for English Language classes. All of them appear resistant in some way to the Gospel but at the same time they are open about the needs in their lives.
Please pray for the city of Leicester which is one of the most multicultural cities in the UK. The various communities include a large number of people from North Africa and the Horn. The area has been hit hard by Covid, currently around 1 in 10 of all the new UK cases are from the Leicester area. Pray in particular for the churches and those involved in outreach and community work in the city to have an open door for effective ministry.

Please pray for many local youth who have requested bikes from our bike ministry. Please pray that contacts made repairing, donating, and lending bikes will lead to further conversations about our Hope in Jesus.
Please pray for young Somali Christians who are struggling with addictions,. I have once again been allowed to visit one in jail – he is facing serious charges. Please pray that words of repentance may turn to a heart of repentance and a new life in Jesus.

Pray for the 2 in- home English classes in Bloomfield Hills. Pray we can sow gospel seeds in these new relationships. We have 6 in-home classes going.
Please pray for opportunities to come together for the Jr/Sr High kids to serve at a thrift shop alongside youth group kids this summer. Please pray for a soccer coordinator for the last week of July too. We are hoping to have a tournament for this same group of kids.
Praise Jesus for food delivery opportunity during this time of uncertainty. Please pray that it will lead to new relationships for our team of volunteers. As we try to be the hands and feet of Jesus, may we proclaim God’s good news.

Pray for ongoing opportunities to speak into the lives of our Muslim friends. Some are struggling with cancer and others have the COVID virus now.
Pray that God will open up hearts to the Good News during this time of fear and uncertainty.

We have started meeting face to face in small settings for ESL classes and faith discussions.
Last week I met up with two of the Somali youth religious leaders to discuss faith. We are thankful for the opportunity to share truth. They are asking for a follow up meeting. Pray that the Lord would continue convicting them of their need of the Savior.

Praise for some recent opportunities to share the full Truth with island friends. Pray for the Spirit to open their hearts to Himself with constant reminders of His Word spoken to them.
Pray for direction in ministry for these summer months and onward. Pray for relationships with hearts who are seeking, openness for conversation and for ability to hear well with the mask challenges.

Pray for our Ethiopian friends and colleagues, W&K, who just lost the baby they eagerly anticipated arriving later this summer. They are now walking through their grief, so we delayed our launching of the Zoom family Bible studies for several of their Ethiopian church families. But they are eager to begin very soon. Pray for wisdom to do it well, and as partners with them.

Please pray for Rose, a friend in the Middle East that I have been studying off and on with by text. Her daughter was just diagnosed with autism, and she’s really struggling with what that means for her daughter. Please pray that God would guide our conversations and open her eyes to Jesus.
We hope to open our community center July 31! Please pray that the two inspections happen quickly and without problem, that our sign would be approved, and that we would be able to finish everything that needs to be done by opening day. Pray this will be a safe place where people feel welcome and free to explore and find Truth.

Please pray for opportunities for spiritual conversations with a Libyan neighbor. She will be moving to Indiana mid-July. I don’t think she has ever heard the gospel. It is on my heart to share this with her before she moves. Please pray that God will move in a very clear way to allow this to happen.
Please pray that God will provide an international neighbor to move in when my Libyan neighbor leaves.

We had a 4th of July picnic and invited friends from North Africa. Pray for the people who came the we would have good follow-up conversations.
I met a young guy from Morocco who is a neighbor. Pray for his heart to be open to hearing truth. And for times to hang out with him.

Please pray for continued opportunities to share the gospel with International Students in small groups in Lakewoord, CA. Pray that the campground site we reserved for our annual camping trip in August with students will open up or that we would find an good alternative option.

Pray for our friend K. from Syria who is struggling with leukemia- it got worse during Ramadan. Please pray that God will open his heart to the Gospel. He is very religious.
Pray for open hearts as the team passes out Trader Joe bread- that their Muslim friends will find Jesus to be their Bread of Life.

We rejoice at the profession of faith of Ali6 and his baptism 3 weeks ago. Through Scripture reading and discussions during ESL, he accepted the Lord and soon after decided to be baptized. Pray for his growth in the Lord.
We have had zoom Bible study with a Somali couple in the LA area and two young Somali men in central France. We are encouraged by their desire to grow in their faith.

Pray specifically for two families we have been visiting for a while, that the language barrier will no longer be a problem as they learn French quickly and that they will understand the grace Jesus has for them.
Pray also for the international students we are befriending, there are quite a few wanting to read the Bible with us in the upcoming days.