A young Christian woman is going through the Bible story set with her neighbours Mama and Baba S. It is the first time of storying with a family unit who are not believers, where both the husband and wife are committed to learning the stories. Pray that God will use this MIGHTILY in this family’s life! Baba S, in other circumstances, quietly observes and reflects on a new way of doing things, and then one day makes the plunge. Pray that he will make the plunge into faith in Christ.
Two Young Men
At the home of the national pastor, two young Alagwa men came to ask their questions. Is Jesus really God? How can God be a human being? If a person’s sins are washed away by His blood when they trust in Him, what happens when they sin again? Do they once again “have sin”? For over an hour the Christians answered and shared Scripture. Please pray for the salvation of these two young men, and that their families will also embrace Christ.
May the Husbands and Children Love Jesus, too.
Pray for two households with believing wives who listen to recordings of Bible stories in Alagwaisa and Scriptures in Swahili in the evenings together with other family members. Pray for their husbands and children to be drawn to Jesus too.
Families Discovering the Love of God
Please pray for opportunities to share Jesus with family groups. Sometimes it can be hard to find times when everyone is together. Pray that as families discover the love of God they can choose to follow together and support one another.
Impact their Lives
Please pray for the Alagwa involved in the translation week last month. Pray especially for those who are not believers; may the word of God continue to impact their lives and turn their hearts to him.
Persisting in Seeking Jesus
Please pray for an older Alagwa lady in one village, who is really persisting in seeking Jesus. Recently, when troubled by demonic attack, she asked a team member to pray for her. The team member also encouraged her to pray for herself, which she did in the name of Jesus. Soon after, she was released and was able to get up and just carry on her daily activities! Please pray for this lady, that she would continue to grow in her hunger for Jesus and would be emboldened to commit her whole life to Jesus.
As Families
Please pray for opportunities to share Jesus with family groups. Sometimes it can be hard to find times when everyone is together. Pray that as families discover the love of God they can choose to follow Jesus together and support one another.
Emboldened to Commit Her Life
Please pray for an older Alagwa lady in one village, who is really persisting in seeking Jesus. Recently, when troubled by demonic attack, she asked a team member to pray for her. The team member also encouraged her to pray for herself, which she did in the name of Jesus. Soon after, she was released and was able to get up and just carry on her daily activities! Please pray for this lady, that she would continue to grow in her hunger for Jesus and would be emboldened to commit her whole life to Jesus.
Physically Attacked
Please pray for an Alagwa believer, who recently has come to visit family. They have put tremendous pressure on her to return to Islam. Yesterday she made a stand by joining the other believers for church. Later, she was physically attacked by a family member. Please pray for her! May she find her strength and comfort in Jesus. May her family see her witness and repent and turn to Jesus.
Alagwa Breakthrough Prayer
“Father, by Your Spirit bring to the Alagwa freedom from fear, that many will come to know Your love and follow Jesus.”
A Mighty Work of the Spirit
Pray for the Holy Spirit to work mightily among the Alagwa, filling the believers with boldness to confess their faith in Christ to their families and friends. Pray for unity among the missionaries and nationals who are working to reach them with the gospel. Pray that the Word of God will be translated and that many will hear it and believe.
A Week Of Bible Study
Please pray for the next Scripture translation week in July. Pray for all the translators to be able to attend, and for God to prepare their hearts as they come for a week-long Bible study! Particularly pray for the translators who are not believers, that their hearts and spirits would be touched by God, and that they would respond to Him. Please also pray for the challenging logistics to come together well.
Praying for Her Children
Praise God for a believer being discipled who is starting to pray in earnest for the salvation of her children. Please pray with her!
Complete Deliverance from Demonic Spirits
Please pray for an Alagwa believer who is passionate to see his mother released from demonic oppression. His mother has heard the gospel and would like to be prayed for and to follow Jesus. Right now, the demon gives her power her to practice as a witchdoctor and has a fairly large amount of control over her. Last Wednesday evening this man planned to go with two older Christians to pray for his mother. Please pray for this woman’s complete deliverance and that she would commit her life whole heartedly to Jesus.
Planned But Not Yet Started
Please pray for a ladies’ Bible study group, being planned with an Alagwa believer. It has not yet started, maybe in part due to good rains which have meant that farming is taking much of the ladies’ time. Please pray that God will make this group happen in his way and time. Please pray for a continued passion in the heart of the Alagwa believer to see her friends and neighbours hear God’s word and find his truth.
Stepping Out in Prayer
Praise God for an Alagwa believer. She shared how she had been praying for her husband as things had not been good between them. Previously, she had gone to one of the team for prayer. This last week, some of the problems began to reoccur, so she just started to pray on her own, and saw God change the situation around. What an encouragement to see her stepping out in prayer.
Happy To Listen With All Her Friends There
Praise God for an Alagwa lady who was really excited to hear about Jesus at a Christmas party. She is now listening to the Bible stories in Alagwaisa and loves to hear them and wants to know about God. Praise God that two other Alagwa women are involved in sharing Jesus with her, and that she is also happy to listen with all her friends being there. Please pray that she and her whole family will follow Jesus together.
“And You Will Be In Front To Lead Me”
Please pray for one Alagwa man who started following Jesus some time ago but has been struggling and has avoided fellowship with other believers. Last week, he prayed a prayer of repentance. He told God “I will be behind, and you will be in front to lead me.”
PLEASE PRAY for this man; that this prayer will continue to ring in his heart, and will bear fruit in his life. The battle is real, but God is faithful.
Salt and Light
Please pray for Alagwa believers, who are starting to walk a new path in their community and culture. Pray that they would be wise and courageous to be salt and light amongst their neighbours and family.
The Right Women To Join The Group
Please pray for a worker and an Alagwa believer as they seek to set up a women’s discipleship bible study group together. Pray for the Alagwa believer to grow in her faith and be able to take on leadership of the group at the right time. Please pray for the right women to join this group and remain faithfully in it. Please pray for a harvest of disciples who can continue to make disciples.
Three Young Women
Please pray for three young Alagwa women who are all Christians. They are all under pressure from their families in different ways not to come to church, and even for some to abandon their faith altogether. Please pray that each one would know comfort and strength from the Holy Spirit to continue to stand firm in their faith. Please also pray that their families might see their faith and also come to know God for themselves.
Open Sharing of the Gospel
Praise God for an opportunity to openly share the gospel with 20 Alagwa men and boys in one of the villages that the team is doing outreach in. Pray for many to believe and put their trust in Jesus.
As a Couple Seeking Jesus
Pray for a young Alagwa couple who is seeking Jesus. The husband’s desire is to follow Jesus, but he wants to move together with his wife who is not yet ready. Pray that God will give them understanding of His word and courage to follow it.
Hours in God’s Word Daily
Praise the Lord for the way He is working in the oral translation project and using it to touch Alagwa hearts. The translators are in God’s Word for hours each day and they have seen the power of prayer to enable them to do the work.
Challenging the Men for a Response
Pray for the Alagwa young man who was not able to come to a Christmas celebration but, on hearing the message later in the evening asked how the other men responded. When he learned that the men hadn’t made a response, he said he himself would ask them how they would respond to the message. “You don’t come to a celebration just to eat rice,” he said. “People need to respond to the message.” Please pray for him and the conversations with other men. Pray that God will use this man and his questions to challenge men in the neighbourhood to consider their response to Jesus.
He Saw Answers to Prayer
Praise God for the ongoing work of oral Bible translation. One of the translators, not yet a believer, prayed for a translation session as he had seen the facilitator do. At the end of the day he was encouraged to see how God had answered their prayers. Please pray that even in the process of hearing and translating God’s word, many Alagwa hearts would be touched and changed by God.
Ladies Heard of God’s Love at Christmas
Pray for the Alagwa ladies who glady heard the story of God’s love at a neighbourhood Christmas celebration. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will touch their hearts and draw them to Himself. Please pray that their eyes would be opened, and they would understand that they actually need to give their lives over to God and follow him.
She Turned to God First
Praise God for a lady who is seeking Jesus in our village. A few weeks ago, she had understood for the first time that the power of witchdoctors does not come from God. (Traditionally, there is the belief that the witchdoctors “do good” and therefore must be empowered by God.) Recently, her eldest daughter who lives far away started to suffer from stomach problems. She came to arrange for an opportunity for her to be prayed for at church, or at one of the pastors’ houses. Praise God that she turned to Him first.
Please continue to pray that all the Alagwa seeking Jesus will understand that only God has the power to heal their bodies and souls.
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Please pray for those Alagwa who are living in fear of the consequences of following Jesus. Please pray that they would know the love of God which casts out fear. Please pray that their eyes would be opened to know that Jesus is worth the cost of being rejected by family and community. Ask Jesus to give them courage.
A Witchdoctor’s Dilemma
Pray for one family in which many members are secretly seeking Jesus. Pray especially for one who has been a practising witchdoctor. Whilst she is eager to hear God’s word and understand it, please pray that she would be open about being a witchdoctor, repent and allow Jesus to cleanse and fully heal her.
Translating the Bible…Orally!
Praise God for the Alagwa from different villages and churches, and community leaders from surrounding areas who have agreed to be part of the Oral Bible Translation project. Please pray that all of those involved would work together well. Please pray especially for those who don’t know Jesus. May God’s word touch them deeply as they translate it.
Deliverance From Sickness and Evil Spirits
Praise God for people in the community who are seeking prayer both for sickness and deliverance from evil spirits. Pray for those who have shown a desire to follow Jesus as a result of his healing touch on their lives. Pray for courage and conviction for them to follow Jesus only. Please also pray for those who do not want to follow Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts.
An enthusiastic reading student
One of the Alagwa ladies we have been praying for is coming almost daily for Bible study. She is desperate to learn to read and write. So we study the Bible and pray together, and then I help her with her literacy. This is such an answer to prayer, as I was praying she would have a renewed passion to know God more. She always wants to study the Bible first, and I believe God is speaking to her. She is also sharing with one of her neighbors who is not a believer. Her husband is a believer, although he seems to be struggling with community and family pressures. Please pray for him to stand strong in his faith.
Women of faith and their husbands
In March, we asked you to pray for three ladies in one village who, having listened to the Alagwaisa Bible stories, wanted to follow Jesus. Two were concerned about their husband’s reactions, as culturally a wife should follow her husband’s religion.
Update-Praise God that these women are continuing to study the Bible and seek God. Praise God that one of them has been listening to God’s word with friends who aren’t seeking Jesus. She also lent her audio player twice to a man in her family who also really wants to hear God’s word. He kept it for so long, we gave her another one. Her face lit up as she received God’s word again. Please pray for an ever-deepening hunger for God and His word among these women and their families. Praise God that all three women are listening to God’s word with their families and friends. Please pray that they will continue to seek God for themselves and obey His Word. Please keep praying for the salvation of the husbands.
You prayed…God answered!
You prayed: 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 9-27-16-Praise God that these women are continuing to study the Bible and seek God. Praise God that one of them has been listening to God’s word with friends who aren’t seeking Jesus. She also lent her audio player twice to a guy in her family who also really wants to hear God’s word. He kept it for so long, the woman had to be given another audio player. Her face lit up as she received God’s word again. Please pray for an ever deepening hunger for God and his word. Praise God that all three women are listening to God’s word with their families and friends. Please pray that all 3 will continue to seek God for themselves and will obey God’s word. Please keep praying for the salvation of their husbands.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
YOU PRAYED: Please pray for the team as we try to arrange for a good recording of the Alagwa Chronological Bible Story set so that we can further distribute the stories via memory card. Please pray for all the practical arrangements to come together in the coming weeks. 3-11-16
UPDATE: Praise God that the Bible Story set was recorded April, with an Alagwa believer from our church telling the stories. The stories were transferred onto audio players which already had the Bible in Swahili on them. In one village where some audio players were given to people seeking Jesus, whole families have been gathering to listen to it in the evenings. Visiting friends and family are also often really keen to listen as well. In other villages, too, the stories are being listened to in evenings and when people are out herding. Please continue to pray that God’s word will touch many hearts.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
Pray that those Alagwa who are coming to faith in Jesus will understand they can’t combine following Christ and practicing Islam. Pray that they will completely reject their old religious practices as well as their old doctrines.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
Please pray for four Alagwa women seeking Jesus in one community. Please pray for them to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to have the passion and courage to meet together to listen to God’s word and pray with one another.
Update on The Alagwa of Tanzania
Please pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare many Alagwa hearts as a Christian Sports team arrives at the end this week from the States. They will be working mostly in two Alagwa communities, sharing Jesus and teaching football skills. Pray particularly for many Alagwa young men to understand God’s love through these guys.
Seekers!
Praise God that a neighbour lady and her husband are both eagerly listening to the Alagwaisa Bible stories together. They have also asked for and are reading gospels in Swahili and Rangi. They are also praying with us and are eager to understand the Gospel. Please pray for them, that God will continue to open their hearts and eyes as they work through what it means to follow Jesus. Pray that they would continue to have the desire to know more of God, and to experience relationship with Him. Please pray that this couple would follow Jesus, and lead their whole family to do the same. (Praise God that two of their sons and one of the son’s wives have been secretly seeking Jesus for some time).