Praise for a meeting that was called last week, gathering representatives from all the different believer groups both expat and islander. There was sharing, discussion, and prayer. It was encouraging that areas of disunity were addressed. The hope is to start doing these meetings quarterly. Pray that these meetings might lead to greater unity and encouraging one another in the good news and work of the kingdom.

Praise God for a wonderful time breaking the fast with some local believers last week. We met in the morning with one group (at their invitation) to pray together – a first, and it was good! Then some of them came in the evening to eat together. Before we ate we dedicated & shared an app with 9 translated scripture books in it – this was also a first. Some newer believers sang a new song they had written (People of God, be not afraid). There was confession and testimonies shared, and a lot of food eaten! It was a good day! Pray for more!

We will have another training seminar this week. Pray for wisdom in selecting the day, time, and location. Pray there be good attendance and deep desire for more growth and learning.

Jay and Zina in Madagascar, during a prayer walk, met an islander who they shared the gospel with. She is interested in learning more. Pray for her to continue to seek the truth and find Jesus.

The last week of fasting is often chaotic with Eid shopping as well as people greatly anticipating the end of the fast. Pray for opportunities for both us and local believers to share personal testimonies with many in the midst of the chaos. Pray for intentional, bold sharing to happen. May the Lord open hearts to receive His Good News.

Pray for island believers on i3 as they gather Friday to remember and celebrate together Jesus’ death and resurrection. We expect around 70 people. Pray that it would be wonderful time of fellowship, filling all with this good news and the joy to share it with others.

We continue to have trainings for the local followers about once a month. In the trainings, we teach the importance of abiding, prayer, sharing the Good News, and Bible study. Pray for discernment in how to encourage participants to hold each other accountable  Pray for the participants to continue growing in their love for His Word and may their lives be continually transformed by His Good News.

Pray for a new brother who has been meeting with others. This new group has experienced some persecution, including being taken to the police and forced to pay a fine. Pray for wisdom for them as they make decisions about where and how to meet without giving in to fear.

Please pray for Clive, a brother up on the plateau, who has stopped meeting with the other believers and started going to the mosque again. There are no other believers in his town that we know of. Please ask God to renew a right spirit within him, cast him not away from His presence, take not his Holy Spirit from him, restore to him the joy of his salvation and uphold him with a willing spirit. (Ps 51:10-12)

There is a translation consultant here for two weeks doing a check of some of the translated Scripture. They are working alongside team and local translators. Pray for wisdom in this process as they make decisions about the text. Pray for good communication and for sessions to be led by the Holy Spirit. Pray too for the local translators who still haven’t trusted Jesus to be drawn to Him through this process. Pray for the translation project to continue to bring His truth and grace into this dark place.

An app of the gospel of Mark has been released on the islands. Pray that it would be shared from islander to islander and that many would be drawn to Jesus as they read and listen to the gospel.

We have been giving out calendars this month, which feature local proverbs alongside proverbs from the Bible. Pray that as we give these out we might have good conversations, and that these proverbs would spark a desire to read more of God’s word.

The 5th training meeting for local believers is this month. Ask God to bless it. At the January training, the local believers took turns practicing leading a simple Bible study. They were then challenged to ask the Lord to help them invite people in their neighborhoods to join them in studying the Bible together. Pray for courage and perseverance for the local believers as they step out in faith and invite those around them to join them in studying the Word. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they interact with their small groups. May they grow in confidence as they allow the Lord to use them to expose others to truth.

Rachel (an island sister) and her children are facing a difficult situation with Rachel’s father. Several months ago, he beat her daughter so badly that she is traumatized and fearful of people and leaving her house. Recently he beat her son severely because of a misunderstanding. They are fearful of his unchecked rage. Unfortunately the court system is often corrupt and whoever is willing to pay the most can win. Pray for protection, divine intervention and a change in his heart. Rachel asks for prayer that the Lord would move her father far away from them. Pray for wisdom as we do our best to encourage and point Rachel back to Jesus.

Pray for a new brother just back from being in the nearby Big Island country. Pray that he would be able to connect with local believers here and that they would be an encouragement to one another. Pray that God would provide him with a job here.

Continue to pray for the local believers here, that they would be marked by grace and truth, a deep hunger for the word and a heart that listens to the Holy Spirit.

The believers on i3 are really wanting to see the work move forward this year, so they are praying that each of them will bring a new islander to faith. They are also hoping to do more to shepherd and teach their kids. Let’s pray with them that these efforts would be empowered by the Holy Spirit and there would be an increasing desire among them all to see the kingdom grow on i3 and all the islands.

Continue to pray for island brothers and sisters we have mentioned in the past, like Jonny whose wife died this fall leaving him as a single dad of 4 kids, and Dorcas who was kicked out of her family home because of her faith. Continue to pray for her relationship with her family. The crisis moments may have passed, but they continue to live in challenging situations in need of prayer.

Please pray for the disillusioned young people on the island who feel forced into gangs and violence, seeing no other option. Ask for believers to find them first and show them the better way!

Mama Fae is a seeker, who’s studied our first story set. She is not yet convinced that Jesus is the one way to the Father, but wants to keep studying. I’ve been trying to meet with her to study John, but many things get in the way – work, family illness, children’s behaviour. Please ask for protection over her family and work, wisdom to find a good time to study, and most importantly an open heart to receive Jesus as Lord.

The body of believers have had a rough couple of weeks. One had a young cousin who passed away suddenly. Another is facing a difficult situation with her children. One couple is struggling to have children. Please pray for these precious brothers and sisters as they walk through the trials of life. May they know that Jesus is with them in the grief and sorrow, know His love and comfort, and continue to trust Him even when things seem so broken. Pray for wisdom for us as a team to know how to encourage and support the local followers during these difficult times.

We plan to have the 4th training day for local followers on Thursday January 26th. So far, there are 4 who are committed to participating each month. We will be following up with them about daily abiding and prayer, and challenging them to ask the Lord to lead them to a small group of people in their neighborhood interested in doing a Bible study. Please pray for courage for the followers as they step out in faith and ask others to join them in studying God’s Word. Pray for new pockets of believers to grow in each neighborhood.

Praise God for opportunities to share the Christmas story. Particularly pray for four men who came with many questions to an English club, so many that they ended up staying an extra 30 minutes to ask them all. Pray that their curiosity would grow not lessen and they would find answers in Jesus Christ.

We have a new island brother! Our partners have been praying and sharing with this man for years. He recently had surgery and they went and prayed for him. During the night, he was awakened by a bright light. The next day, he was completely healed- body restored and even the incision marks were gone! He talked to brother D, who challenged him to give his life to Jesus. He did! But then he told D that he was worried what his family would think. Brother D told him, “Don’t worry. Your aunt [the new sister from last week] has also put her trust in Jesus. So you are together.”
How the Lord provides! May these two grow together and bring their whole family to the Lord.

Praise Jesus that in this new year we have a brand new island sister! She has been searching and has interacted with different believers over the years, but only fully understood and made a decision to follow last week. Pray for her that she would grow in understanding and see her heart and life changed by the Spirit. Pray also for her friends and family. We hear that she has others that she wants to hear the good news. May she be the first of a new group!

Pray for Z, a newer believer who came to faith through some fellow workers here. He has a few other friends he meets with and it seems that some of them have come to faith also! They have recently been learning about baptism, pray that the Spirit would give them the heart of the Ethiopian in Acts 8 when he said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

J and Z and their team walked around the university to share some sweets with the islanders for Christmas. They were able to share the good news with many and handed out gospel of  Luke booklets to 3 different students. Please pray for these students to engage with Scripture and be touched by the truth.

Pray for all who have had the opportunity and will continue to have the opportunity in the coming days to hear about Christmas and the One whose birth we celebrate. Pray for an understanding of the story and may it bring joy and an a desire to share the story with others. Pray for all the believers here on this little island (islanders, team, expats) to be continually emboldened to share about the hope we have in Jesus. May islanders’ hearts be softened toward the Lord and may His light shine into their lives this Christmas season.

December has been a month of evangelism! Various activities have been planned for some villages in the north of the island (that is a section of the island that has been allotted to our church). The other churches will be handling the other sections of the island. Please pray for these activities that they will have a mighty impact on our desperately needy island. Once again violence has broken out with school buses being stoned, houses and shops being burned. Pray the Lord will use the unrest and the frustration fueling it to show people another way.

Please pray for the outreach that J&Z continue to initiate weekly, that many doors continue to open as they try to find people of peace. Pray for the good news to be shared and for opportunities to love and serve islanders here in Madagascar.

There were over 50 people at the holiday gathering. It was a good time of fellowship and there was a mini tari (drumming & singing group), singing praise songs in traditional island rhythm. Pray that connections made there would continue to grow and deepen that the body might be strong and united. Pray for those that didn’t come, that if there is conflict that it would be resolved. Pray also for a number of smaller holiday gatherings happening this week, that good news would be proclaimed, heard and understood.

We have worked through the first story set (creation to new creation) with Ma Fae. She loves the stories, but still sees Jesus as just a prophet, given power for a time by God but not worthy of worship. She has asked God to show her the true way. Please pray that God would answer her prayer and show her the truth of who Jesus is, even that He would visit her in a dream or vision.

Pray for a large holiday gathering of local brothers and sisters and expats today. Pray that it would help strengthen the island body and encourage everyone who attends to share the story and good news of Jesus’s birth!

We are in the midst of our 9-month disciple-making trainings for local believers. Training day #3 is on December 15th. Pray for the Lord to clear the schedules of the believers so that they can attend. Pray for hearts that are ready and hungry to dive into His Word. Also, pray that they would make this training, as well as, regular fellowship with one another, a priority. We firmly believe that pray is the main ingredient in order for these trainings to have an impact on the local body. Thank you for standing with us and fighting for our island brothers and sisters!

Continue to pray with us for a growing desire among island brothers and sisters to meet regularly to study and grow together, and to make it a priority. One new brother has yet to find another islander willing to make the time to study with him, so he is only interacting regularly with expat workers. The i3 sisters weren’t been able to find a day and location to have their normal monthly gathering for November. Pray they meet in December!

Pray for scattered believers to gather together to form local churches.
I4: there are believers from different African countries here, a bunch from I3, but very very few from I4. Please pray that the Lord would add to their numbers.
I3: there are many believers here too, but relatively few meet regularly. The Church is here, but there are few churches. Ask that the believers would desire and act to meet together regularly.
I2: the leadership courses have started, attendance is inconsistent. Ask the Lord to give great hearts to the locals to come, and stop things from getting in the way of attending.
I1: pray for unity of the believers.

One of our team members is reading Scripture with some of the grandmothers in her neighborhood. One is a well-known local Islamic children’s teacher. Pray for open and receptive hearts. Pray too for regular opportunities for them to get together and read.

Pray for a local believing couple who have been struggling for a long time with issues in their marriage. Ask that God would remind them how much He has loved and forgiven them, and teach them how to love in the 1 Corinthians 13 way; that their love would bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things.

We hope to hold the 2nd meeting of the discple-making training this week. Please pray for the logistics to come together. Pray too for protection over both the presenters as well as the participants. May they be filled with joy as they look forward to this meeting and may the Lord stir in their hearts a deeper desire for prayer, which will be the focus of the 2nd meeting.

Pray for a newer brother in a village that just this past weekend has started facing a lot of pressure and threats. He is asking for prayer. Pray that he would be strengthened and encouraged in the Spirit and be a light to his persecutors.