This past Sunday my wife Esther was discussing with some Datooga women the meaning of sin and the way Datooga view sin and how to be cleansed from sin. Esther was able to share about Jesus. Please pray for these gospel seeds that have been planted to grow and bear fruit.

Five Datooga came to Jesus through Esther’s community visitation. Pray that they will grow in their faith.
Pray that God will provide funds for children’s school lunches at Muhiedagew. The community is struggling to get enough food. The school lunches are very much needed.

Pray for the Datooga believers to stand strong in the Lord and share the good things God has done for them with others.

Last year the Datooga Jesus film was launched. We are praying for 10 projectors to give to pastors working among the Datooga so that they can show the Datooga Jesus Film. Pray that God will open the door for that. Pray that many Datooga will see the film and seek Jesus.

The whole village of Olpiro (Datooga village in Ngorongoro) will be moved to Handeni Tanga. Because of this movement, the AICT is planting a new church in the new area. Meshack, one of the students who recently graduated from Geita Christian College will go to work as a missionary in that new area. Pray for Meshack, that God will provide what he needs to settle in Handeni, and pray for the Datooga that they will know Jesus in the new area.

Pray for the Tanzanian evangelists who are serving among the Datooga. Pray God would lead them to people who’s hearts He has soften and prepared to hear the gospel. Ask the Lord to build His church among the Datooga.

We would like to thank God for the movement which is going on now among the Datooga. Many people are asking us how to believe in Jesus. The other thing to praise God is that two church planters will be graduating from college this year and will work to plant two Datooga Churches. Pray for the Lord’s blessing on these two men.

We praise God for what is happening among the Datooga people. I would like to share a short story: This morning I received a phone call from a Datooga person asking for baptism. He said there is an old man who would like to be baptized. We are experiencing stories like that at Muhiedagew of people wanting to follow Jesus. Continue praying for the Datooga.

Please pray that the Datooga will come to know Jesus as their Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. Pray that evangelists, missionaries and pastors will be found who will move to ten key Datooga towns and villages to tabernacle among the people and share the Word of God with them so that in each town and village there will be a reproducing, Christ-centered Datooga church.

Pray for ongoing efforts to place missionary/evangelists in every major Datooga village and town without a church. Pray for the Lord to raise up people who love Jesus Christ and are called by Him to go.

Pray for the Datooga in shepherding camps to listen to the Scripture portions and stories that have been recorded in their language. Pray for them to hear clearly the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, calling them into His fold. Pray also that as shepherds mix with one another, the believers will share the gospel with those who have not yet heard it.

Pray that the Datooga believers will take seriously their responsibility to live as ambassadors for Christ. Pray that they will plead with their friends and family, telling them God has been reconciled to them, now they should be reconciled to God. Pray that those who have rejected Christ will soften and accept Him.

Last weekend a missionary visited the Datooga Church in Morogoro. He played the Datooga Bible during the service, and everyone was very excited to hear the word of God in their language. As he was visiting the two local missionaries, Lucy and Rose, their Datooga neighbors were visiting and they listened to the Gospel in Datooga. Praise Jesus that He is working. Keep praying that many Datooga will come to faith in Christ, not only in Morogoro but also in all towns and villages where the Datooga live.

We were to make our first evangelistic campaign to the Datooga who live alongside the Serengeti plans on the Bunda outskirts side, but the rains this year made it impossible. We hope to do it between June and July when it is dry. We want to target a purely Datooga group in their villages. Please pray for this plan to work. Thanks

Pray for the Christians–evangelists, pastors, business owners–who are moving into Datooga towns in order to share the gospel and plant churches among them. Pray for them to be strong and courageous, and to persevere in the work. Pray for their sending churches to support them well, and pray for them. Pray for much fruit.

Please continue to pray for Pastor Emmanuel as he recruits and trains evangelists to live in ten key Datooga towns in order to share the gospel and make disciples among them. Pray for the Datooga people to have a hunger and eagerness to learn God’s Word, and that the entrance of the Word will bring light.

Pray for the Indigenous Church Leaders Training that is going on in Morogoro. We have 9 tribes represented, 53 participating. We are praying for 30 people from this group who will be pastors.

Praise the Lord He has helped a pastor identify ten strategic locations to place new missionaries to the Datooga. Pray that the Lord will raise up evangelists and missionaries to go live among them and share the gospel. Pray for sending churches who will faithfully support them month by month. Pray that the Datooga will have strong churches in every corner of the tribe.

Pray for Pastor Emma Shilikale as he works to help establish three new church plants in Datooga areas. Two people are going to Morogoro and one church in Igunga is going to plant a Datooga church. He just got home from Morogoro, where he was helping to setup and settle the two girls who are starting their Datooga ministry.

Praise the Lord for a widespread nationwide survey that has almost been completed among the Datooga of Tanzania. It seems there are pockets of reproducing Christ-centered churches in many areas and approximately 1% believers so far. Praise the Lord for the plan to put Tanzanian Christians in ten strategic towns and villages so they can do outreach and start churches. Pray for the Lord to greatly bless this project.

Praise the Lord for a couple who have agreed to move to a Datooga village that needs the gospel. Pray for their sending church to support them well. Pray for them to make many friends and have a powerful impact in that community. Pray for them to be able to plant a reproducing, indigenous, Christ-centered church in a community that has no gospel witness.

Please continue to pray for Datooga evangelists and pastors to be sent to all corners of the tribe. Pray that the Lord will raise up those men and women.

Then also please pray for the churches in Tanzania to be filled with a passion to see the Great Commission fulfilled in every tribe in the country, including the Datooga. Pray that it will be their own sons and daughters they send out. Pray they will support them generously, visit them, care for them, and stay in touch with them.

A pastor has been surveying a large area where the Datooga live to see where to put ten new pastors or evangelists to share the gospel and start churches. He has spent over a month surveying the area and has discovered there are even more villages and towns with Datooga people who are still unreached than he initially thought. He will take some time to survey even more territory. Apparently the Datooga are a large group and there are still many parts of the tribe that need the gospel. Pray for many Christian witnesses to go to all these different areas and share God’s Word with those who still have no way to hear it.

The Datooga are a very large tribe spread over a huge area in Tanzania. Pray that those areas without the gospel can soon receive the good news of Christ and His love. Pray that the Jesus video, the Scripture recordings, and the Datooga Bible will be shared widely, and that hearing the Word of God will bring faith.

A pastor and missionary to the Datooga is on a two-week trip through a vast area of their tribal homeland, looking for ten strategic locations to send missionary pastors to plant churches. Please pray for safety on his journey and a warm welcome from villages that still need the gospel. Pray for the Lord to raise up and provide support for the pastors who will go. Pray for the word of God to spread rapidly among the Datooga.

Please pray that ten evangelists or missionaries can be placed in ten Datooga villages without a church by the end of 2020. Pray that the Lord will greatly strengthen and provide for these brave volunteers. Pray that the Datooga will have a reproducing, indigenous, Christ-centered church.

The Datooga translation of the Jesus Film should be ready by the end of August 2020. Please pray for all those who are translating, recording and preparing the video. Pray that it will be used widely and that many Datooga will come to faith in Christ as a result.

Please pray again that the Datooga Bible will be completed this month. And pray that it can be widely distributed in both written and oral form, through all the villages and shepherding camps, and that people will be fascinated by what they hear.

Pray that the Datooga will have reproducing, indigenous, Christ-centered churches in every major village and town throughout the tribe.

Regarding Sandawe and Datooga, because of Covid-19 Pastor Emma Shilikale has shifted gears to accomplish his Indigenous Leader’s Training. Instead of a large gathering bringing trainees from all of central TZ, Emma is traveling around to each cluster to distribute the training materials. So he’ll teach each smaller group cluster, then they’ll continue to work on it in their locations, and he’ll follow up with them by phone and another visit. Pray for safe travels for him and that the Lord would use this format to equip His people for service.

A couple of weeks ago I shared the Gospel with an old Datooga lady, a mother of my friend who is a pastor. She has several concerns: first if she becomes a Christian it will be difficult to cope with other people because she does not know how to read. Second, there is no one of her age who is Christian. Third, there are only two of her children who are Christian, she will need all her children to become Christian first. Fourth, she is worried when she dies if she is a Christian they will not cover her with a cow skin at her burial. We explained the gospel and prayed for her. Please pray for Utede that she will believe in Jesus. I have also started to share the gospel with one of her sons who is not a believer, his name is Gisukwari. Pray for their salvation.

Please pray that in the next year, ten evangelists, missionaries or pastors can be sent to ten Datooga villages to start churches, and that the Lord will enable them to do that work.

Pray that the Good Shepherd will protect the Datooga shepherding communities and villages. Pray that the Lord will send evangelists to start ten new churches in Datooga towns that do not yet have believers. Pray for supernatural openness and receptivity to the gospel.

Ten new towns, ten new missionaries, ten new churches planted by the end of the year. Is that too ambitious a project? No matter what troubles come, no matter what the barriers are, may the Lord do abundantly above all that the Datooga believers and evangelists and pastors ask or think, and glorify the name of Jesus greatly.

Please pray for the Datooga to ponder what it means that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Pray for those who are Christian pastors to consider His example and follow in His steps. Pray for those who feel lost and like needy sheep to return to the Shepherd and Guardian of their souls. Pray for many Datooga who have wandered in the wilderness to find their way into the sheepfold of Jesus Christ, and His full salvation.

Praise the Lord that more and more churches are being planted among the Datooga. Praise the Lord for the Scripture recordings that have spread far and wide. Praise the Lord that there are many Datooga who are coming to faith in Christ. Please pray for missionaries to be raised up who will live among the Datooga in some of the villages that have no witness and no church yet. Pray that they will be able to stay a long time and train leaders who can carry on when they are gone.

Pray for the Datooga churches to continue to multiply and for those Datooga communities that have been extremely resistant to the gospel to become open to it. Pray for long-term evangelists and missionaries who will not only come to stay a year or two in villages that are unreached, but for those who can stay a long time until leaders are trained who can continue planting new churches.

Please pray for a survey this week of the Datooga people. Pray it is clear how many believers are in the tribe, whether the churches are reproducing and Christ-centered, and that the survey team will return with stories of how God is at work. Pray that the survey team will have a chance to share the gospel along the way and encourage believers who are planting new congregations.

Shepherds were graciously visited by angels and given the privilege of being the first visitors to the newborn King. Please pray that the Datooga believers who are pastoralists will be like those first shepherds who worshiped Him, then told everyone they saw about the Messiah’s birth. Pray that more and more will come to adore and serve our Savior, and that during this season of church celebrations, new congregations will spring up as a result of the witness of other local church outreach efforts.

Praise God that this Christmas we will be baptizing new believers. Pray that God will bring more people to Him during Christmas time.

For the last year, the Datooga churches have grown and new ones have been planted, thanks to pastors and evangelists carrying the Word of God to settlements of shepherds and villages that are interested in knowing Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Please pray that more and more churches will be planted among the Datooga and that the pastors of those congregations will resemble their Chief Shepherd as they care for their flocks.