Praise God for the great soccer tournament outcome in Wisconsin. There were 5 teams that signed up with 3 of those being Somali teams. Pray that our Somali friends will respond to the love of Christ and will be open to friendship with us.

We are using a seminar called ‘Awareness and Evangelism of Refugees and Immigrants’ as part of our plan to help the Brazilian church to reach out to African refugees and immigrants in South America. There are so many opportunities, particularly as the immigration policies are changing in North America and Europe, South America is becoming an alternative for a lot of refugees. Today we have in Brazil more than 1 million immigrants from 79 different nations and many of them come from Africa. Pray for the church to have a vision for this opportunity.

We are helping a young Brazilian who was a Muslim. Awhile ago, he started to search for the Christian version of Jesus’ death. He got a bible from his neighbor and as he was going through the Scripture, he had a powerful encounter with Jesus. There are many people like him in our nation as well. A few days ago in Sao Paulo, a refugee from Africa told me: “I was very interested in finding out the truth and I did some research online but I didn’t find anything. It was through a Christian here that I discovered I was seeking a God that I never met in my country.” Pray the Lord will help us find more Africans who are seeking Him.

Pray for GROW, an ESL outreach program the entire Philly team is involved in, as it goes through financial and structural changes. Please pray for increased finances, for student attrition to decrease, and for GROW to have a spiritual impact on those who attend classes. Pray for many seekers to enroll in classes.

Praise God for new volunteers. Pray the SALT (Somali Adult Literacy Training) training will be well attended and helpful to tutors. Pray that the right Somali families will be matched to each tutor and they will develop deeper relationships and be able to share Truth.

Church-based outreach teams in UK are yet to pick up despite some interest. Pray that UK churches will priorize outreach to diaspora peoples around their churches.

A couple from Canada will help with a 4-week research of Unreached People Groups in key UK cities from mid-July to mid-August. Pray for the necessary contacts to be made and some logistical hitches to be overcome.

Important conversations are happening… ESL strawberry-picking field trip; Eritrean Iftar meal; Somali graduation. Fellowship with believers has been rich… at our international prayer gathering, Eritrean Church, and an Ethiopian home. And there are ESL end-of-year celebrations and a field trip to a farm in Trout Lake, and a month of preaching, and more, just around the corner. Pray for God-ordained opportunities, and the right words from our mouths.

Pray for the Outreach to Somali people in Cardiff, UK. Outreach remains at a very initial stage and so we are praying for more openings to share the gospel.

Please pray for volunteers that will commit to helping with summer ESL classes to North Africans (starting June 25). Pray for God directed coversations between volunteers and students and that the hearts of the students will be open to hearing the Truth. “What must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He has sent.'” (John 6:29)

Dream teams are starting next week- June 21. There are about 50 people going to Spain & Malta to proclaim the gospel, do sports camps, build a playground and a myriad of other things. Pray that we will find people of peace with whom we can share the good news. Ask God to go before us and prepare hearts to respond to the Gospel.

Praise God for great attendance and good conversations about fasting at the last potluck at Pamoja House. It is the first time they had a potluck during Ramadan. Please pray that God will use the seeds that were planted.

Please pray for the Somali community in Wisconsin. They are grieving the loss of one of their imams, who passed away on the first night of Ramadan. Pray that the Lord uses this sad situation to bring people to Himself. Pray He will send believers to grieve with them and shine the light of Christ into the darkness.

Pray for the Muslim community that prays at the Masjid Al-Hayy (“Ever Living Mosque”) in Sanford, Florida. Most of the 1,300 attendees come from East Africa’s Kutchi community. The 43,000 sq. ft. mosque is one of the most elaborate in North America and reflects the growth of the Muslim community in central Florida.

We want to see the Lord of the grain-fields send workers to join our Diaspora Ministry in South America. In last few days we started to get invitations from churches in two Brazilian states that are willing to work with Diaspora in their region. Praise God.

Please pray boldly for the opportunity to start a team in Passo Fundo by July of this year. Nothing is impossible with God.

Pray for wisdom for summer outreaches. Please pray for  provision of water  for a community garden in Detroit diaspora and for many seeds of the gospel to be planted as we garden together.

Pray that the Muslim friends who attended and accepted the invitation to the Easter Service will still be impacted by the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus that they heard. That the Holy Spirit bring those truths to mind.

Pray for the refugees that have resettled in São Paulo. We want to see God touch them as they seek to learn the language, get jobs, and adjust to a new culture. We pray that they will come to know Jesus. And pray for the two workers that are ministering among them there.

Please pray for a 2-day evangelism training forum we are hosting in April in partnership with Operation Mobilization, to train African -Canadian believers how to reach out to Muslim and other Canadians.

Please ask God to open the eyes of the Church in South America and to see the great opportunity they have to reach out to the refugees and migrants from African-UPG’s right on their doorstep.

We want to see God opening more doors for our Unit to minister to refugee groups all over South America. We want to be creative in reaching out to them. Please pray for us.

Somali people have been in Cardiff for over 150 years, having originally entered as Seamen & then settled & formed a community. On the whole, there hasn’t been much engagement with them over the years and so pray for wisdom on how best to engage with them and partner with likeminded organizations seeking to reach them. Pray that the local churches will be envisioned to intentionally engage with them & recognize the mission field right at their doorsteps. Pray for fruitful engagement efforts over the next 12 months.

In the middle of March, 50 believers will sit down with 50 Muslims for a meal in the mosque. The believers desire to build relationships with the Muslims they meet. Pray for God’s peace to conquer fear in the believers and wisdom in their approach to dialogue. Pray for open hearts and a willingness to pursue a relationships with the Muslims.

The enemy’s voice was definitely so clear: stop this Arabic-speaking community group- otherwise you will be hurt! But God’s sweet and soft voice encouraged us to keep trusting HIM and to keep doing it.
Things have gotten harder as we go on.
Our financial situation, being on the edge of depression, lack of sleep, things breaking, conflict, nightmares, threats-especially to our baby!
These have made us more on our knees and spiritually aware that the enemy is fighting and God is working for His glory. Still, sometimes, we have fear and thoughts that we just need to leave.
We know that in Islam I am an infidel and that by Islamic law I should be killed just because I am a convert and that my daughter is unclean.
I am not saying that this will happen and I am not afraid, but I also know that the mosque and its people aren’t happy with us. We definitely need more prayers. We feel discouraged and guilty that I am hurting the very people I love. Please pray for us.

We believe mainstream pastors and African church leaders in Canada have a lot to learn from each other, and from each others’ churches. In Toronto this winter we are launching a pastoral mentoring network that we pray will encourage the African leaders and strengthen their congregations, as well as give a vision to mainstream churches for Diaspora ministry. Please pray for God’s blessing.

Today we went to help with the English class. One of the teachers told me about a new student who is from Somalia. He is a Christian. His parents were Christians in Somalia. His mother was killed in front of him for her faith. He lives now with a house full of employees of the meatpacking plant and they are all Muslim. I had some brief time to talk with him. Please pray for A; he wants to finish his education. He is 23 years old and reached 7th grade. Pray for his spiritual growth.

A meatpacking plant in Noel, Missouri employs 500 Somali immigrants. Noel is a small community of less than 2,000 residents. The Somali presence has had an impact on the community. Some local residents have moved away. Somalis have proactively opened businesses and established a mosque in town. They stick closely to their community and don’t mix with the local residents. Pray for the few small churches, that they will unite to proclaim Jesus’ love to the Somalis. Pray for the ESL classes that are offered by Kingdom- minded Christians to immigrants employed at the meatpacking plant.

Again this summer, we will be running a Christian camp for diaspora children here in Canada. Because our campers come from refugee and new immigrant families, we want to raise about 4/5 of each camper’s cost. For 80-100 campers, that adds up to about $25,000. Please pray for fundraising efforts this winter and spring. And pray parents will allow their children to come hear the gospel.