God is building His church

God is at work and continues to draw people to Himself. We are praising God that the groups of believers have continued to meet despite the various challenges they face and that there has been some recent growth. The group Masi is leading in the village where he was poisoned has a new person that has joined in the last couple weeks! This is also the village that had no known believers before this group was started.

Please continue to pray for these groups to continue to grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. Please pray for their protection, especially for those who are leading.

Story Project

This month will be full of testing stories with 3 groups in different areas of the M hills. My friend and story crafter Mama B is eager to help with this step in the process. Pray for her this month as we again spend many hours in the Word together, that she would see clearly the TRUTH and LIFE found only in Jesus. Pray for the groups that come together to hear the Word—that God would prepare the soil of the hearts of people who will listen.

Faith to face the cost

Pray for protection and perseverance for the new believers and leaders of the groups. We know from early church history as well as current movements around the world that persecution and suffering are a reality as Christ is building His church. The believers here face a great cost of causing division in their families and in their communities. Pray that whole families would come to faith together! Pray that these believers would be able to say, “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (Heb. 10:39)

They can kill my body but not my spirit!

On Sunday “Masi” went to the “Pg” village where he is discipling a small group of new believers. Someone attempted to take his life by putting rat poison in his food. He said that as he ate the food he could taste the poison so he stopped eating it and left for home. Soon after he left he started to feel very sick. He came to a place where there was water and started guzzling as fast as he could. He then cried out to God for help and started to throw up. After some time he started to feel a bit better and was able to make it back to his house. Praise God He was totally fine by the next morning! He shared that he is not afraid and though they can kill his body they cannot kill his spirit. He is determined to continue to go back to that village to disciple these new believers. Pray for the Lord’s protection and blessing on Masi, and for conviction of sin on whoever tried to poison him.

update

“In the last week there have been at least 4 more believers from the unity team in the “Nm” village that have gone out to different areas to find open people to share the gospel with. This team of over 70 has been praying weekly for the last few months asking the Holy Spirit to fill them and lead them where He wants them to go.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will give them boldness and lead them to the people that He has prepared. Also please remember to be praying for protection for all the new believers and groups and that they would grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for them.

Something is happening

Praise God for the new thing He is doing among many M. He has delivered many from the kingdom of darkness and brought them into the kingdom of His dear Son. Pray for the leaders and new believers to grow in faith and be protected from the schemes of the Enemy.

Bible distribution!

We have been praying for a good way for the new believers in this movement to get bibles and the Lord has answered! S and M went around to their different groups and took orders for those who wanted a bible. Each person was willing and able to pay the $2.50 that we paid. Pray for protection as S and M distribute these bibles this week. Please pray for these new believers who are receiving a bible for the first time that they will have a deep hunger to read it daily and for the Holy Spirit to open their minds to understand His Word.

Story Project

We are set to complete the first recordings of the 18 Bible stories in M this week! We will spend several weeks testing the recordings with different groups to see what revision needs to be made to make the stories clear. Pray that even as these Bible stories are tested, God would give people a hunger to know Him and His Word would move with power here.

Meeting Regularly

Please pray that the M believers meet regularly with seekers, who want to know Christ, in their homes to read, hear and discuss the Bible. Pray that the Jesus video will be widely distributed and seen. Pray that there will be great unity and love between Christians of various denominations.

More discipleship training

100 believers are gathering now for follow-up discipleship training. Pray for A and J who are leading the training. Pray for several of the key leaders who are ill. Ask God to raise them up and make them fit to attend. Pray for God’s blessing on this strategic meeting.

Committed to Disciple Others

Praise the Lord that He is at work among the M. Ask that those believers who have committed themselves to disciple others will do so without discouragement or weariness. Pray for many new believers.

We Helped the Baby Get Medicine

The wife of one of the believers we have been discipling came to our Bible study last week for the first time. She is not a believer and hasn’t been open but recently their newborn got sick and our small group of believers helped the baby get medicine. She came to say thank you as she was really touched by the love she saw through the body of Christ. She heard the full gospel as we studied the death and resurrection of Jesus and said she wants to come back next week! Pray the Holy Spirit will work in her heart throughout this week and that she would come to know Jesus as her Savior.

Reading the Bible

Please pray for a young M woman who received a Bible and has been reading it. Now she is asking her Christian friend to meet with her so that they can discuss it together. Pray for other women to join them and for the entrance of God’s Word to bring light.

Deep Commitment

Please pray for the Lord to deepen the commitment of disciples all throughout the M villages, commitment to Jesus Christ, commitment to making disciples, commitment to planting Christ-centered churches. Pray for the Lord to greatly bless and increase the spread of the gospel among them.

Jesus video

Please pray urgently for the completion of the recording of the Jesus Video in M this week. There were some delays initially and the recording team only has a week to be there. Pray that God powerfully uses this video to help M people come to faith in Christ.

Decisive Steps

Please pray for one M family who have heard the gospel for almost five years. They deeply love the Bible and Jesus. Please pray that they will confess faith in Christ and be baptised as a family, and that other families will follow their example.

Delivered by Christ

Please pray that the M will no longer seek the help of witch doctors to relieve them from tormenting evil spirits, but will instead come to Christ for complete freedom and protection, deliverance and power.

Steadily Abiding

Please pray that the people who attended the seminar for M disciple-makers will continue to spend time reading God’s Word and praying each day, deepening their own relationship with Christ.

50 New Laborers for the Harvest!

We have been praying for more laborers for the M harvest field and God has answered in an amazing way! The Lord blessed the training of 50 M disciple makers last week. He broke down walls of division and brought unity among the believers. Five M Disciple- Making teams were organized by key locations, and each team appointed three representatives/ leaders who our team will be working with to do follow-up and ongoing mentoring and training. They went back to their different villages truly unified in love as one body in the Lord, equipped with a new vision and a practical plan in place to abide in Jesus first & foremost, and to obey the call to make disciples among their own people, together.

Training

Praise God the first day of training in discipleship and disciple-making went well. Pray for the 47 people attending and for the trainer. May there be lasting fruit!

Discipleship training

Please pray for the discipleship training among the M. More and more believers are asking to attend, from more and more villages. Pray for the Lord to greatly work in that meeting the last week of November, unifying them in their Christian love for one another and making them vibrant witnesses and disciple-makers among their own people.

Historic Training

November 27-Dec 1, about thirty M believers from five villages will come together for the first time to receive training in discipleship. Some have never met before. Please pray for there to be deep unity among these believers and for the Holy Spirit to give them the vision for reaching their own people, together. Pray for a movement of disciples making disciples among the M.

Logistics

Please pray for the logistical hurdles to be overcome for a M family to begin regularly studying the Bible together. The husband and wife work very long hours and finding a time to meet with them is difficult.

May They Read Diligently

A M man and his family have made the decision to follow Christ. Recently they received a Bible story book. While their teacher is on leave, pray they will read the book diligently and grow in their confidence that Jesus Christ is trustworthy.

M Breakthrough Prayer

“Father, we ask You to raise up M disciple makers who will catalyze a movement that will spread throughout the M hills and beyond.”

Progress! Now Ask For More

We had two days of amazing meetings. We all met to discuss and find voice actors for the Jesus Film that is almost ready for recording in M as well as the Luke text in M that is almost ready to print! It was very encouraging to see the progress being made. God’s timing is so good! We are now planning a discipleship making movement training to happen here in our village in November to encourage and equip M believers. We will share more details about this in the near future but for this week please be praying for all the logistics of this training to come together and for God to raise up these M believers to be disciple makers who will catalyze a movement that will spread through the M hills and beyond.

For The First Time*

Please be praying for a team of translators for the next two days. They’ve completed a draft of the book of Luke in the M language and have asked us to gather friends to read thru it together. They are also recruiting voices for the Jesus film. Praise God that these discipleship tools will be available soon. M people will be able to read the Word in their own language for the first time! Some friends we’ve invited are believers. Please pray for protection over our meetings, unity among all the believers and good understanding between working in 3 languages. The others we’ve invited to these meetings are seekers. Pray that even in these meetings, God’s word would move with power as He makes Himself known here. Pray that in these two days we would be walking in the Spirit and in His plans for our time. Pray that the Lord would raise up M disciple-makers that would catalyze a movement throughout the M Hills and beyond.

Ups and Downs

Every people group has ups and downs. Every work has its ebb and flow. Please pray that those who have begun to seek Christ among the M will not retreat and lose interest, but will steadily pursue the knowledge of the Lord.

Which are the Ones?

Please pray for wisdom to know which M people will be the ones who become faithful disciples of Jesus, good storytellers and leaders and examples who can disciple others, also. Pray that these people will emerge and will receive training, encouragement and discipleship.

Five Faithful

Pray that God will provide five faithful men and women who will put their faith in Christ and be gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach Scripture and make other disciples. May the Lord bring a movement of disciples making disciples among the M.

Catalysing a Movement

Please pray this overarching breakthrough prayer for the M people: “Father, we ask You to raise up M disciple makers who will catalyze a movement throughout the M hills and beyond.”

Life Springing Up

The M homeland is vast. But in various places, people are hearing about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Pray that eager new believers will carry the Word about Jesus from village to village, and that the Spirit of God will cause spiritual life to spring up everywhere they go.

Soft hearts

It is the special month of fasting for most people in my community beginning on May 27. Please pray that during this time when they are seeking to earn salvation that God would soften their hearts to understand HIS saving grace. Pray for boldness for me as He gives me opportunities to share.

Bible Stories in M

Pray for the project to translate Bible stories into the M language. Next week the translation consultant will visit to check the initial stories that have been translated. Pray for God’s blessings and that the M will love and believe God’s Story.

Deep Mud on The Roads

Plentiful rains have finally come to the M farmlands. In fact, the mud is so deep on the roads they are nearly impassable. Pray that during this time those who have received the Word of God will continue to read and listen to it, discussing it as families, and coming to faith in Christ.

Plentiful Rains, Floods

Now that the rains have started on the south coast of Tanzania, they have brought flooding. Some people have lost houses. Some have lost their whole crop of sesame, which was to be sold for income for the year for their families. Please pray for the Lord’s compassion, and that the tragedies would provide opportunities for Christians to show Christ’s love and share the gospel freely.

Rainy Season Chats

The rains have finally come to the coast of Tanzania. As people are confined at home during the downpours, please pray they will listen to recorded Bible stories and talk together as families, making the decision to become followers of Jesus Christ.

When He Saw His Foot Healed

A M man with a swollen foot was about to visit a witch doctor when a missionary woman asked if she could pray for his healing in the name of Jesus. He and his two wives agreed. As she prayed, the swelling receded before their eyes. His foot was completely healed by the power of Jesus through prayer. When the man saw this, he spontaneously exclaimed that maybe he should become a Christian. Please pray that he and his whole family will put their trust in Jesus Christ, who not only heals physically but spiritually.

Like A Student Who Shows Up Early

Pray for a M man who comes to hear Bible stories regularly from a Christian in his town. He described himself like a student that so desires to learn, that he gets to school early. He said his wife is encouraging him to go so that he can bring back another story to share with her. Pray they will decide together to become followers of Christ.