News

There have been more salvations and several new groups started in several villages. More M and Ndengereko discipleship leaders are being raised up. We have witnessed several miracles the Lord has done recently in some of these new believers that has reinforced their new faith. Though there are great challenges, especially fear of being ostracized. Pray for believers to grow deep roots of faith, gather together, and bear much fruit.

Outreach

Thank you for your many prayers that we needed for this week’s ministry. We were in the thick of it for sure. On the second evening we were praying over a lady that was demon possessed. After about 10 minutes, she jumped up, grabbed me, looked right in my eyes and told me to go to hell in perfect English. So the battle rages on. We continued praying for her for another 10 minutes or so before she was released. This lady is a traditional Mtumbi person and does not know any English. This village is very very dark. Please pray for Light to come.

The Name glorified

Pray for the Gospel to continue to spread throughout M-land and beyond to other tribes that the Name of Jesus would be glorified among the peoples of Tanzania.

Build Your Church.

Pray for the work amongst the M to continue to bear much fruit as believers are discipled and share their faith with others. Ask God to build His church among this people group.

Mature

Pray for believers to mature in their faith, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, and share with others the good things God has done.

Walking in Him

Please pray that those M believers who have received Jesus Christ by faith will walk in Him, being rooted and grounded in love, filled with all wisdom and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, full of faithfulness and perseverance.

Protection

Please pray that the M believers will continue spreading the Word of God. Pray for protection from the evil one, from divisions and factions, from doctrinal deviations. Pray that as they share the gospel many others will believe.

Jesus’ Commission Obeyed

Praise the Lord for the M who have come to faith in Christ and been baptized. Continue to pray that the Lord will bring a movement of M people who are disciples of Jesus, and that each one will share in Jesus’ commission to make disciples to the ends of the earth.

Abounding in Love

Pray that the M believers will abound in love more and more with real knowledge and discernment, to approve what is excellent and be sincere and without offense till the Day of Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit will purify and refine them, that the testing of their faith will strengthen, establish and perfect them.

Leaders Grow in Christ

Please pray for the “M” disciple makers and group leaders. Pray they will continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Pray they would continue to grow in their relationship with Christ, in the knowledge of His Word, and be bold witnesses to the lost around them.

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Please pray for the “M” disciple makers and group leaders. Pray they will continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Pray they would continue to grow in their relationship with Christ, the knowledge of His Word, and be bold witnesses to the lost around them.

Bless the Beautiful Feet

Please pray that the M who are sitting in darkness will see a great light, on those in the shadow of death a light will dawn, the light of Jesus Christ. Pray that in small villages where Jesus has never been heard of, in these days the gospel will be coming. May the Lord bless the feet of those who announce glad tidings of good things.

Public Testimony

Praise the Lord for many M who have decided to follow Jesus in the last six years. Pray that as they study the Scriptures, some of them will desire to receive further training in the Bible, so as to teach it and explain it accurately. Pray that whole families will give public testimony to their faith in Christ in such a way that many others follow their example.

Discipleship training

“Aug” and two of the Catalyst Team leaders will be facilitating a discipleship training this week in another “M” village. This will be the first time for these local Catalyst leaders to lead a training. Several of the new discipleship groups that have been meeting in other villages will be coming. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to fall upon this group and raise up more “M” workers to reach the “M” people this generation.

Growing Up

Pray for the M people who know Jesus Christ as their Savior to be growing in their knowledge of God’s Word as they meet together. May they love and care for one another. May they share the gospel widely with their friends and families and neighbors. May the Lord raise up many disciples among the M people!

Groups of Believers Multiply

Pray that the M believers will continue to study the Word of God. Pray that the groups of believers will multiply. Pray that many who used to follow Islam will soon follow Jesus.

New leaders and new groups!

We have been able to add three more developing leaders to The Catalyst team. The Catalyst team now has leaders from the N, S, E, W, and Central areas within this people group. Also there has been at least two new groups started in the last two months through some of these leaders training others, resulting in new generations. Each of these new groups are in a village where there was no group meeting before. The people in these discipleship groups are meeting regularly to study God’s word and as a result are coming to Christ out of I$lam. Praise Jesus!

Please pray for Christ to be formed in these new believers and they would be envisioned and empowered to bring the gospel to the rest of their people, in this generation. Pray that as a result, whole communities would be transformed through their witness and the power of the Gospel.

Message of Hope

Pray for God to reveal Himself to many M people during this season of fasting, drawing more out of darkness and into the light and life of Jesus. Pray that in the midst of the fear and unknowns that the Covid19 pandemic is bringing, that God would be using the local believers to share the message of hope to desperate people.

A Firm Foundation for this New Believer

A man from a nearby village joined us for worship this week and came saying he was ready to receive Christ! Pray for a firm foundation for his new faith and that his wife and children would receive salvation as well!

Assessment today and tomorrow!

Please be praying for “A” as he goes with Sadi from the Catalyst team to assess two more discipleship groups today and tomorrow. We want to see and better understand what the Lord is doing among the M! We have assessed 4 groups so far and have 5 more to go. Over the last two months we have had to postpone the assessment many times due to unusual frequent rain.
Please also pray for wisdom as we seek to add a few more key people to the Catalyst team to train up as movement catalyzers in other key areas. This will be a huge step towards seeing Gospel impact throughout this people group and beyond. Thank you!

Built up and established

Pray for the new believers and groups to be built up and established in their faith and bold witnesses for Christ.

Assessment and planning

Please pray for A and the Catalyst team to be able to finish assessing the new groups of believers. Please also pray that we would be able to make a good plan with the C team for using the Jesus Film to engage new areas.

Assessment

This month we are doing an assessment of the movement. Our teammate A along with 3 local leaders are visiting the remote groups and interviewing leaders and members to get an accurate picture of the movement. Pray that the believers would be encouraged by the visit and we would gain insight into how the new believers are growing and what their needs may be.

New villages

The Catalyst Team identified 20 more M villages that they want to start new discipleship groups in in the next few months. When this happens then approximately half of all the M villages will have discipleship groups meeting regularly! Ask the Lord to go before and prepare many hearts to seek Him.

Movement growing!

Just in the last few months there has been some incredible growth! There are 3 new discipleship groups that have been started in 3 new villages! There are a total of at least 40 new believers in all 3 groups combined! Other exciting news is that the original 7 groups that were started last year have been growing as well. There are growing numbers of believers in all groups and there are 8 new leaders being trained! Pray for these new believers and leaders to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and to abide in Jesus daily.

100 audio players

Praise God for 100 audio players loaded with our Bible story set in the M language. These players can be a great resource for those that can’t read and for groups to listen to God’s Word together. Pray for the distribution of these player and teaching people how to use them for Bible study. Pray for many to believe God’s word and be saved!

Freedom of the Children of God

The M have several evangelists who are sharing the gospel and making disciples through home Bible studies in many villages in the hills. In the past the M have been committed to Islam. They also have sought witchdoctors and have had much bondage to evil spirits. Pray for their deliverance from all that binds them into the freedom of the children of God.

Blessings on the evangelists!

Please pray for A, S and M as they visit the 7 discipleship groups over the next few days to encourage the new believers and assess how they are doing.  Pray that the Lord would continue to raise up M disciple-makers that would catalyze a movement throughout the M hills and beyond.

Catalyst team growing and going

The Catalyst team met again two weeks ago. They made plans to start training others from within the groups to go out to nine other villages with the goal of sharing the Gospel and starting new discipleship groups. Three other M men will be joining the next Catalyst team meeting in January, who have shown leadership potential and who attended the discipleship trainings we facilitated. We hope to be able to provide ongoing encouragement, accountability, and training/coaching for them. Please pray for Augustine as he leads these meetings for the next few months.

Pray for unity

We heard some discouraging news that the 4 denominational churches have stopped meeting together for prayer. Pray for the unity of the local churches to be strengthened again and for these church leaders to be instruments to unite the Body of Christ instead of dividing it.

Growth!

A and I recently met with M and S and were able to get a detailed update from them. It was so encouraging to hear that the different discipleship groups are growing and the one that M started in the village that had no known believers has more than quadrupled since June, going from 7 to now 32, all from a Muslim background. This is the same village where he was poisoned and he continues to go weekly to disciple this group despite the many challenges. Pray for these new believers to grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. Pray they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be bold witnesses of the new life they have found in Christ.

You prayed…He answered

On Sep 25, 2018 you prayed for this request: “We are in the testing phase of our stories. Last month I was able to meet with groups in 3 different locations and get feedback for our stories. In November we are hoping to have the stories available on memory cards. Pray for us as we make the changes we need and final recordings over the next two months. May God’s Word move with power among the M people!” And God answered: “Praise Jesus! We finished recording all 18 of our stories last week with our crafting team. This week we will be distributing the 50 memory cards and 12 solar players that we have. This was a project we started in 2015 with our team and it is exciting to see it through to this phase of distribution.”

I loved you at your darkest. Rom 5:8

Drunk and beat up, Baba C stumbled up to my house. “Lecho! Lecho! Help me! I’m dying!”, he cried. When we looked closer we saw his head was split open, bleeding onto the tree he was leaning against. “I’m dying!” Help me!” he said again. “Okay, Baba C. We’re going to get you some help.” As we were driving to the hospital, the story was pieced together that they were playing a card game, gambling, and ended up fighting over the money.  While we were waiting for the nurse, I tried to comfort him. “No, Baba C, you’re not dying. Maybe you are receiving a second chance, a new life.” And I shared the gospel with him. This past week Baba C came to visit me and thank me and let me know that he has thought about it and is ready to make a decision to follow Christ. He’s tired of his old life and needs the power of Jesus to change. Praise God! That same day he went to my teammate’s house and they led him in a prayer of repentance and receiving Jesus and he seems eager to study the Bible and grow. He even said he hasn’t had a desire to do drugs since the day he prayed! Please pray with us for Baba C to continue to experience new life in Christ and to grow as a disciple. Pray that he would be bold in sharing what Christ has done for him.

You prayed…He answered

On Nov 11, 2018 you prayed this request: “On November 12 the M version of the Jesus Film will be shown publicly for the first time in a Muslim village. Please pray for protection from the Lord for all the logistics. Pray that many people will come see the life of Jesus, and hear the invitation to receive Him by faith. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work powerfully to overcome any obstacles, and that many people will come to Christ this night.” And God answered: Over 200 people came to the showing of the Jesus film. Praise the Lord!

More disciples!

Praise God for news that more disciples are being added to remote discipleship groups! Ask God to renew the minds of these new believers, fill them with the Holy Spirit, and give them boldness to share their faith with others.

Jesus Film

On November 12 the M version of the Jesus Film will be shown publicly for the first time in a Muslim village. Please pray for protection from the Lord for all the logistics. Pray that many people will come see the life of Jesus, and hear the invitation to receive Him by faith. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work powerfully to overcome any obstacles, and that many people will come to Christ this night.

Stories finished and being distributed!

Praise Jesus! We finished recording all 18 of our stories last week with our crafting team. This week we will be distributing the 50 memory cards and 12 solar players that we have. This was a project we started in 2015 with our team and it is exciting to see it through to this phase of distribution. Please pray with us that these stories would be listened to by many and spread far and wide among the M Hills. Pray that the leaders of the discipleship groups would be able to use the stories as they learn from the Bible together in their groups.

 

Ministry during planting season

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to encourage Sadi and the believers in his village during this planting time. Pray their love for one another and their unity in the Spirit would continue to grow during this farming season. Pray for Masi as he continues to lead his groups during this season as many are not able to meet regularly. Overall please pray for the Presence of God to increase among the M and that many will turn to the Lord.

Story Project

We are in the testing phase of our stories. Last month I was able to meet with groups in 3 different locations and get feedback for our stories. A highlight for me was being able to travel to one of the villages with two ladies who I’ve invested in much this last year and hearing them explain the stories to the group we met with. Many people loved listening to the stories and expressed interest in knowing more about the Word of God saying, “These stories are important!” and “We need to listen to them again to really learn them!” In November we are hoping to have the stories available on memory cards so that people can do just that! Pray for us as we make the changes we need and final recordings over the next two months. May God’s Word move with power among the M people!