A tragic accident
On Thursday last week, there was an accident in Kotido and a young girl passed away. Pray that God may comfort her family and that his peace may fill their hearts, even though though they don’t understand what happened. The family are neighbours to my language helper. Please pray that, God willing, I may have the opportunity to visit the family, have time with them, and that God may give me the right words to share with them.

Seek the peace
Jeremiah 29:7. Pray for peace in the region. There are frequent cattle raids among the different Karimojong clans. When this happens, revenge is common, and as a result several deaths have occurred. Furthermore there is an ongoing disarmament process. We know that Jesus is the only one who can bring true peace, so please pray for peace in the region and that the Karimojong people may experience true peace.

Full Gospel Church Moroto is in the middle of a two week outreach to different areas of Moroto town. Please pray that the gospel message will be shared clearly, that God’s Spirit will touch people’s hearts, and that many will come to know Christ.

Three Ugandan missionaries have just arrived in a village called Lotirir. They will be serving in the church health centre for one year. Please pray for them as they settle in, build relationships, learn language and seek to serve the community, showing Christ’s love in word and deed.

Pray for the seeds of the gospel being sown amongst the Karimojong to grow deep roots and bear much fruit as the Lord transforms lives. Pray for many Karimojong to be born again and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

Please pray for Lawrence and Simple, Ugandan missionaries who have recently moved to Karamoja. They are focusing on working with local churches to share the gospel with the Tepeth, an unreached people group. Pray for them as they settle into a new culture and community, as they seek to learn language and build relationships in the community. Please pray for invitations and opportunities to reach new villages, and for people of peace in those villages who will welcome the gospel.

Please pray for 30 families who lost their homes in a fire. God has provided money to help with buying food and replacing cooking pans and Jerry cans. These were distributed through the local church. Please pray that the community clearly sees God’s care, faithfulness and provision through this situation. Please pray for the leader of the church and his wife as they seek to love and serve the community and point them to Jesus.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.
Please pray that God may grant many Karimojong the grace and understanding to know him, and to reflect his kindness, justice and righteousness to those around them.

We are currently seeking to translate some discipleship materials into Ngakarimojong. Please pray for the three young men who are involved in the translation, and for wisdom in who to ask to review the materials. Please pray that these materials will be a means for growth for many.

May more Karimajong people decide to walk in the light of the Lord. May they learn to acclaim the Lord and enjoy the blessing of life with Him. May they rejoice in His name and celebrate righteousness (instead of darkness). Lord, you are their glory and strength – help them to recognize you.

Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’ Matthew 9:37-38
There are many villages within Karamoja with no sustained Gospel witness. Some factors which contribute to this include the large distances between villages, lack of available transportation, and roads which become impassible in the rainy season. Another challenge is a lack of workers. Please pray that God will raise up believers – Karimojong, and non Karimojong – with a passion to share the Gospel with those living in rural communities.

From Timothy, a Ugandan missionary who leads a team of Uganda missionaries working with the Ik and Karamojong:
Warrior gangs have really been gradually increasing and rumors of their attacks also. The route that we travel on has had several incidents these past days. A pastor friend was attacked and narrowly spared when the gun refused to shoot. We have postponed our work in this area for now.

So pray for us, that we will continue to proclaim Christ fearlessly, and that God will continue to protect us and the Karamajong themselves. Pray that the gospel will take root in this land that has been desolate for generations.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5:10
Elders are the leaders of Karimojong society. They appeal to god on behalf of the people, and offer sacrifices to appease the spirits. When elders become Christians they are often ostracised and persecuted because they will not take part in worship at the shrines or ritual sacrifices. As a result they are seen to put the whole community at risk. Please pray for courage, grace and a clear testimony amidst these challenges.

Please pray for 3 young Karimojong men who are spending the week in Kampala at a missions conference. Pray for a 100-fold harvest of fruit in their lives for Christ! Pray that they are protected from the enemy’s attacks, and that God’s grace will work mightily in them and through them!

Recently, a few of the disciples within Karamoja [Moroto] had the opportunity to share Christ in a village in Lotome. A gentleman stood up and declared that he was a witch doctor and hadn’t heard the Gospel since he was baptised as a baby. That was over 50 YEARS ago!! He invited them back and said that he was eager to hear the Gospel again and asked that a teacher of the Word be sent to his village. Please pray that God will raise up teachers of God’s Word to share with this man, his village and the other villages in the area.

Two youth who are being discipled are asking to be baptized as they continually grow in their relationship and intimacy with Christ. Pray for their spiritual and physical boldness as they align themselves with Christ and declare to the community that they have renounced Ancestral worship, witch-doctors and Shrine practices.

An opportunity has arisen for some of our team to move to a new village to work alongside the church there. Please pray for God’s clear leading as they seek his direction.

Two Ugandan missionaries in Karamoja (Timothy and Mark) report that for many days they have been hearing from their house villagers dancing all night long to worship and appease spirits. The witchcraft in their district of Kaabong runs much deeper than they had anticipated. Please pray for a breakthrough in this district! Please pray for two church plants situated in this district in the villages of Lotim and Narogos! Please pray for the Bible studies being conducted! Please pray for the healing of Mark who is down with typhoid right now. Please pray for the strengthening and encouragement of both missionaries and local believers!

Please pray for 3 young Karimojong men who are spending 2 weeks in a different district of Karamoja with Ugandan missionaries, being discipled and learning about missions. Pray for much fruit in the lives of all involved!

Cases of COVID 19 are increasing in Karamoja, and this is often accompanied by fear. Please pray in the face of uncertainty and fear many turn to the Lord Jesus for salvation. Pray for believers that the truth of John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” will bring comfort, hope and peace.

Oftentimes in Karamoja a woman’s value comes from having children. Please pray that the Karimojong will come to understand that God made women in his own image and that, because of this, they have inherent value and dignity.

Please pray for one of our Karimojong sisters, who has steadily been growing in faith and obedience to the Lord. Both she and her young son have experienced abuse from her community. Please pray that she will not be discouraged, but will keep her eyes on Jesus, and continue to live boldly and lovingly.

Karamoja has been experiencing insecurity since the beginning of January- raiding between clans and people getting shot. Some young guys who went to raid were stoned by another clan. A local lay reader in church and his wife living in another clan had their lives threatened and warriors tried to enter their house and kill them. Please lift up Karamoja! For the warriors to repent and come to Christ, people to forgive rather than revenge kill, and peace between clans.

Pray for a young man named Emmanuel. He is the only believer in his clan and often persecuted because of having gone to school. He wants his clan to know Jesus. They are called the Ngiyowi and they live in a village called Loputuk. Pray for Jesus to work in their hearts! Pray specifically for his dad, Louse, who is a fierce warrior but recently has gotten sick, pray that he will repent and turn to Christ for true life.

Pray for a young man named Ochen who said he wants to follow Jesus yesterday! Pray that Jesus will show Himself to this young man who often has bad dreams. Pray for his friend Joseph who also heard the message but didn’t respond. Pray for both Ochen and Joseph who were challenged to share the message of good news that they heard with 5 others each.

Please pray for a man named Gabriel. The mother of his children is a Kjong woman who has become a believer, and Gabriel has recently expressed intrigue in how different she is. Pray that Christ draws Gabriel to Himself!

Please pray in faith for a church planting movement to happen among the Karimojong, that they’d be reached even in the next year! Pray for unity between missionaries, local and expat, as well as between them and the local church. Pray for a unified strategy and plan and wisdom about how to use resources and time for the intentional spread of the gospel. Pray that Christ will make sure His people are trained and ready to make disciples who make disciples.

Please pray for a young Karimojong woman, a believer, who has stumbled. Please pray for God’s continued conviction, grace, and comfort to help her get back up. Pray for a renewed intimacy between her and the Lord and abundant mercy to help her as she faces life changing consequences. May Christ be glorified through all.

Please pray for Solomon, a young Karimojong high schooler who is rapidly growing in Christ and hungry for more. He is about to graduate. Pray that Jesus will provide someone to disciple and walk with him. Pray for spiritual protection. Pray that he learns how to fish for and disciple others. Pray Scripture over him.

Please pray for Grace. She had a dream last week about a man giving her a fish and telling her to go fishing. When she put her fish in the water, it attracted all the other fish. She really wanted to know the meaning of the dream, and we shared Mark 1:14-17 with her. Pray that Grace will desire to grow in Christ and take seriously what it means to be a disciple! – to follow Him and read/know His Word and also to become a “fisher of men”! Pray that she will be a disciple who makes disciples that make disciples!

If Karimojong hearts were likened to soil, we could say that the soil has been depleted of nutrients due to poor farming habits over the last decades (aka false teachers). Even when they hear God’s Word now, the soil is not fertile enough for that seed to grow well and bear good fruit. Please pray for the soil of hearts in Karamoja – that God would use His Spirit and His people to bring life back into this depleted soil so that the seed of God’s Word could take root and bear fruit to eternal life!

False teaching has been sown and rooted into Karamoja ahead of the true gospel, keeping people’s hearts dull to the good news! Please pray for the strongholds of deception to be broken, that the eyes of the blind would be opened to the marvelous light of Christ. Please pray that each Karimojong has an opportunity to hear the true gospel.

Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:1-3

Please pray for Bible study groups which are starting in 3 local churches. Pray for believers to be rooted in God’s Word, and that they would bear much fruit in the Spirit. Please pray that as they study God’s Word they would be equipped to recognise and reject false teaching.

Please pray for Ambrose, a Ugandan missionary. He has recently moved to Karamoja, and has been invited to live in a village called Lokeriaut. Please pray for him as he makes the transition to life here, and begins to make friends and get to know his new community. Please pray for opportunities to share the gospel with the community in Lokeriaut and for God to open their hearts to receive Him.

Please pray for a community in Karamoja called Langariama. Someone there just received an audio Bible this week. Please pray that hearts are prepared and softened to receive the seeds of the Word and produce much fruit!

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. Isaiah 9:2

Many here are walking in darkness. Please pray that the light of the Good News would shine into communities, homes and hearts. Praise God that the darkness cannot overcome his light! (John 1:5)

In January, expat and local believers in Karamoja received book resources to disciple believers through SEAN (Study by Extension for All Nations) ministry. Please pray that many Bible studies result and that a foundation of God’s Word will be laid like an immovable rock under the faith of Kjong believers. Please pray that knowledge and understanding of God’s Word will spread exponentially through Karamoja.

Pray for those who were once regular at Bible study but have not been coming these last couple of months. Pray for people to see that the god they worship through their traditional religion and sacrifices is not the God of the universe who is revealed in the Bible. Pray that they would be set free from the spirits that have deceived them and they would truly repent and put their faith in the true God and salvation through Jesus.

For the Karimojong and all who attended the music workshops, give thanks for all who continue to sing and hear these new songs. There has been a wonderful response to the new songs – several participants confessed that they felt they had really grown in their faith over the workshop. One of our church teachers has shown himself to be a gifted musician and was woken up one morning by other young guys wanting to be taught these new songs they heard him singing the evening before. And last Sunday several men walked the 10km to the main church in town to present the new songs to the church there. We have found many have felt liberated to praise God using the tunes of their hearts. Please pray with us that this will be the start of a great movement among the Karimojong.

Please pray for the Karimojong secondary students involved in Scripture Union Club. Sadly, the club has had much influence from prosperity gospel and false teachers. Please ask our Father to transform the club in Karamoja, that students will be drawn to Him, and truly give their lives to Him! Please pray that the club becomes what it is meant to be: a place where students are equipped in His Word. Please pray that He raises up a generation of loving laborers for His field through this very club!

Please pray for Acolin (pronounced “Ah-cho-leen”), a small community in Karamoja. It is known for its drunkardness, but God is moving powerfully there right now. A month ago, a local church showed the Jesus film and many people wept as they watched. About 30 people made professions of faith! Perhaps even more exciting (if possible) is the hunger that is stirring for God’s Word. A local believer named Sarah often plays her audio New Testament, and many come sit outside her home every day to listen, even missing meals, and ask her to “get a radio” for them also. She has given away about 8 so far. She says she sometimes hears her neighbors singing, praying, and weeping late into the night. Pray in whatever way God moves your heart to in this amazing and exciting work He is doing!

Please pray for a song writing workshop over the next 4 days, amongst the Karimojong in Kotido, Uganda, that many come and those who come really engage with scripture. Pray we can create songs that speak of the gospel in truly local styles that engage and speak to the heart of the Karimojong. Pray for wisdom for Wendy Atkins who is leading it. Pray it would have an impact on the local church, particularly men who love to sing and dance but are almost completely absent from our small rural congregations.