When we left Tabora there were fears of looming disaster from locusts, too much rain (and now the corona virus). Praise the Lord our little community of believers wanted to share a meal for Easter but didn’t think they had the finances to pull it off. Well, they stepped out in faith and the God of the impossible met them and they were able to enjoy celebrating Easter with a shared meal. We ask that this boldness in stepping out will be the beginning of bigger and bigger steps of faith and trust in the Lord that our believing community will take, and that the Muslim neighbours will be witnesses to God at work in and through them, and as a result will be drawn to the one true God.

Pray that the Nyamwezi will hear the gospel from other believers, evangelists, and pastors who are filled with compassion for their lost condition and who believe that it is possible for them to leave Islam and follow Christ. Pray for a great movement to Christ among the Nyamwezi people.

Could I ask for prayer for those that we have trained in the TCT programme (Truth Centred Transformation) as facilitators as they work with our little group of believers. Pray that God would grow them in their heart for Him and their understanding that they have been blessed to be a blessing. Pray that our community of believers would also begin to really grasp this at a deep level and begin to live it out. We would love to see their lives transformed by this truth and see it outworking in their own lives as well as in their interactions with others in the community.

Pray that the miracle of Christmas & the birth of Jesus would pierce the hearts of unbelievers, that they would recognise this event as life-changing & that it would prompt them to seek him for themselves. Pray the open proclamation of the Christmas message would cause unbelievers to re-evaluate their lives in light of it. Pray the joy of believers in this season would prompt an openness in non believers to new faith possibilities.

Please pray that God would cause our Nyamwezi friends to be increasingly dissatisfied with their current faith and search for the truth in Jesus Christ.

The Nyamwezi fear the church and the changes it will bring to the community. Pray for this fear to be removed.

Pray that Christian leaders ministering among the Nyamwezi will have the clarity of Amos 3:8:         The lion has roared—
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
    who can but prophesy?

Pray that they will be faithful stewards of the gospel, speak out against evil, and not fear the message God has given them to proclaim. Pray that those who hear the Word of God would recognize God at work in their lives, respond radically, and open their mouths to declare their testimony to others.

We have a team of seven AIC evangelists trained in reaching Muslims arriving on Monday for one week. We find this hugely exciting that our local brothers and sisters from Mwanza want to reach out to people in our area!! We are also praying that their work will be accompanied by a move of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people here, bringing many to Christ!! Please pray with us.

Many areas among the Nyamwezi had no representative of Christ- but they do now! Praise God! Pray for pastors and evangelists serving specifically among the Nyamwezi, that the Spirt of God would be poured out into people’s hearts. Pray for those Nyamwezi who do believe in the power and resurrection of Jesus Christ that their belief would move toward entire life conversion, “identified as his own”. (Ephesians 1:13)

“Lord, remove the veil from the eyes of the Nyamwezi and give them a longing to know your truth, that they may have new life in Jesus.”

Fasting for the month of Ramadan is over. We pray that our neighbors will see the futility of this work of salvation they seek, and come to Jesus in faith so that fasting as a follower of Christ will take on new meaning, saved by grace. Pray that the Nyamwezi will have dreams and visions that will point them to Jesus and will answer His call to “Come, follow Me.”(Matthew 4:19)

Please pray for three who have been healed physically by Jesus and can now walk. Praise God! Pray they will not forget what He has done for them but will trust Him wholly to be their Savior despite family members staunchly holding to the prophet Mo. Pray all in their families will realize their need for a Savior to be Healer of their souls.

Please pray that the Nyamwezi who are drawn to Jesus will come closer and trust Him fully. They need to see Jesus more than a historical prophet, pray they will know Jesus is God Incarnate, God in the flesh! “I and my Father, We are One.” (John 10:30)

Pray for the transforming work of the Holy Spirit for those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus, that they would be growing in the knowledge and obedience of the Word. Pray for release from evil strongholds in the areas of sexual immorality and divination. Pray that new believers would be drawn to group fellowship where they may learn the Word and grow together in Christ.

Praise God for a number of people coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Daily the Lord is calling people to Himself, and individuals are praying to receive Jesus as their Savior. In an act of humbleness, a local healer called on us to say that Jesus is the only One who is able to completely heal his younger brother. Jesus is able! Pray that his brother, a young father of three, will be healed of his ailments and his health restored. His younger brother has put his faith and trust in Christ, even though his older brother, as of yet, says “No” to inviting Jesus into his life – this act would put him out of business – even though he knows where true help comes from! Pray for both brothers! Asking for faith as great as the Caananite woman who “came and knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’…and her daughter was healed at once.” Matthew 15:25, 28

One evening while on a walk, we met the father of one of our students along the path. In conversation with him, he shared with us that he was a Muslim, but liked his wife’s Christian religion. However, his relatives would mock him if he chose to follow His wife’s religion. We began to share the Gospel with him, explaining we were followers of Christ, and as we shared, the father took off his kufi cap, confessed his sins, prayed and gave his life to Christ!

Praise God for open eagerness for holding a first ever church service Christmas morning! We will meet outdoors under a tree and a tarp. Pray for good weather and that people will understand the amazing truth of Emmanuel, “God With Us”. Praise God for willing hearts among the leadership for wanting a church in their village, even not of their own religion. Pray for villagers to seek the Way, the Truth and the Life. Pray those that come to belong would come to believe. Ask God for provision of a permanent location and structure from where to worship.

Praise God for an adult grandson of an elderly believer to come to know the Lord as his Savior. Now both grandfather and his adult grandson want to share Jesus with others in their family. The grandson has given an invitation to meet with three other family members in order to share the Good News with them. Pray old and young alike will desire to make a decision for Christ in this family. Pray for other whole families, from one generation to another to embrace the Lord.

God has been bringing about a movement within the region! We have been praying for a harvest and it is very exciting to see and hear and witness what God is doing! Two households have recently committed themselves to Christ, and there are others coming to Christ, too. As a farmer sows seeds, the farmer doesn’t see what is happening to the seed, but then, the sprout comes up, and new life is suddenly visible. It is the Holy Spirit, the Word, and the Father at work, watering and causing the growth. Pray for the new life to grow and not wither!

Pray for my friend. She’s from a very strong Muslim family. I see in her a small bud that is longing to blossom. Ask the Lord to free her heart from fear and her spirit from oppression that she might see the beauty of the Lord and put her trust in Him.

Pray for planning this month regarding places of proclamation of the Gospel among the Nyamwezi. We ask for God’s wisdom in leading and opening land spaces where congregations of believers may hold Sunday meetings for fellowship and weekly invite those seeking to learn more. Ask the Lord to make clear preaching points from which Christians may reach out to neighbors and communities in sharing God’s love.

Pray for Muslim background believers in Jesus who embrace what they are learning about Christianity, yet confessing they believe both persuasions. Pray that as they read the Word of God that they would no longer be able to hold these two religions together but they would choose to place their hope in Christ alone. May they not suppress their joy of discovery in drawing near to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Pray for 20 church leaders who are preparing for missionary works of service through intensive periods of Bible training. Pray for their equipping, enabling, and empowering by the Holy Spirit. Pray they would be catalysts for change within their local churches to permanently and actively participate in the Great Commission.

We have seen a scattered number of Nyamwezi come to Christ and are excited that God is doing something amongst them. Pray that these believers will meet together and encourage one another. Pray many more will be saved!

Pray for my neighbour Mary Ann. I have ‘walked’ with her for the past 4 years following a late miscarriage (first baby had died at 7 months old) and then her desperate attempts to conceive again. She came to the Lord during this time along with her husband. They live in a large extended middle class muslim family house and family are very religious. The couple have been worshipping secretly and have not ‘come out’ in the open.
Amazingly she finally got pregnant last year and we prayed all the way through that she would keep the baby and she now has a son! They are still secret believers, reading their bibles and watching preachers on TV, but fearful of losing everything if they were to stand up. They need the power of the Spirit to set them free to live in integrity and transparency.
I am worried that now she has the miracle baby she may cool off and make decisions regarding his upbringing that compromise and jeopardise their fledgling faith.

Pray for Tanzanians and the Tanzanian Church to embrace the call of the Great Commission to reach all peoples. Pray especially for God to raise up Tanzanians to reach out to the Nyamwezi and live among them. Pray for those who are sensing God’s calling to make this commitment, for enablement, coordination, and research into where to place new teams.

Praise God for the testimony of a mother who knows that Jesus is her Savior and the Savior of the world. When asked how she came by this news – since all her religious teaching has been from the mosque – she said, “I learned that He died on the cross for my sins from the movie you showed last year.” The movie was the Jesus Film, which we showed a couple of times last year, but with no known responses to it. Pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in people’s lives through this media and that the Gospel truth would continue to be accessible in public forums such as Jesus Film presentations. Pray that more will come to know Jesus as their Savior.

The young Nyamwezi woman is now 36 weeks pregnant- a month to go before delivery and she is still well. This is her third pregnancy- the first baby died at 7 months, the second died in utero at 22 weeks. There are a lot of hopes placed on this little one! She watched the Easter story on TV, and today we read from Mark and prayed together. Please be praying that the Lord would deepen her faith and that the new baby will be healthy. Pray she and her husband will give all the praise to God, as well as openly confessing their new faith in Christ and living as Christians before their Muslim family.

Pray that God touches the hearts of Nyamwezi church members to be leaders in the church and convicts them to reach out to their communities.

Pray for pastors who are sent by their denominations to minster in Nyamwezi areas, but who often are not Nyamwezi themselves. Pray for courage and adaptability that they would reach beyond their own tribal familiarity and grow in their love for those who don’t know the one true God. Pray they would live out the Gospel in all they do and say. Many pastors don’t have opportunities for ongoing training as they lead their congregations. Pray for good collaboration over the next year in efforts to offer ongoing training, support, and encouragement for national pastors.

Pray for a young Nyamwezi couple who have become secret followers of Jesus. They are studying the Bible and growing in their faith, but he comes from a very strict Muslim family of religious leaders, and until now they have not confessed their faith in Christ to any family members. Pray for the Lord to fill this couple with courage and deep love for Jesus that is willing to suffer persecution for His sake.

Pray that two Christian families’ friendships in the village will open opportunities of introducing people to Christ and that the Holy Spirit would move their Nyamwezi neighbours along the path to belief in Christ as Savior.

Please pray for the salvation of two Nyamwezi night guards, who have been studying the Bible with a missionary for many months. Pray that they and their families will put their faith in Jesus Christ and follow Him.

Pray for Nyamwezi to surrender to God’s loving control. Pray for Christians for boldness in giving an invitation to respond to Christ whenever sharing theological truths. Pray for non-believers to understand the Gospel, “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again on the third day.” (1 Cor. 15:4) Pray for understanding that only God could do that for us. Pray that those who understand and believe these truths would offer their lives to Jesus, that they would allow Christ to change them in any way He wants. Pray for recognition of sin, no reluctance in confessing sin, and giving lives over to authority under Christ.

Pray that Satan and his spiritual world of evil would loose their hold on the Nyamwezi. Particularly pray for a new outreach area among the Nyamwezi. For fifteen weeks, fifteen to twenty people have been attending a weekly Discovery Bible Study group at this location and are encouraged to share what they learn with family and neighbors – and they do! Pray that people would come to know Jesus, believing that God was willing to humble Himself and take on the form of a man. Pray that the truth of God’s Son coming down to earth and living among us would not be offensive but instead be a magnetic draw to know the God who was willing to share in our sorrows.

Just after Christmas, a man came explaining how he’d come to be a new believer in Jesus. He was now seeking a place where he could fellowship and learn more about the Bible. His wife had prayed with us earlier that year for her unsaved husband while she was pregnant and in distress. In the last year the Lord has touched this husband’s life in a number of ways. He is now convinced Jesus is the Son of God! Pray this young couple would grow in depth of knowing the Savior and that they would share Christ with their neighbors.

Praise God for a man coming like Nicodemus to meet and ask, “What must I do to be saved?” That day the angels rejoiced as he placed his trust in Jesus. Pray for regular follow-up and nurturing in his new found faith. Pray for further opportunities to share the Gospel Message within Nyamwezi villages throughout the month of December. Pray that they may be in awe of the signs related to the birth of Jesus. Pray especially that people will understand the truth that Jesus is the Promised Savior about whom the prophets foretold who came to save all.

New life is evident everywhere as the rains begin, quenching the thirsty land. A dreary, dry landscape has been transformed with green grass, trees displaying every hue of green, and land freshly plowed. On Sunday, a boy who came to church received Christ as his Savior. He and three others were baptized. Pray for growth of new Christians and for more to come to know Jesus as Savior to experience life renewed, born again. Pray for harvest among the Nyamwezi!

Pray for Christians living among the Nyamwezi that they will have the right attitude, the right answer, and not be surprised by the nature of questions from those seeking answers about Christianity. Praise God for hearts that are wanting to draw near to the Truth and an openness to hear about His Word. Pray that those seeking would believe. Pray that those sharing the Gospel will be adequately prepared with knowledge and understanding about our hope in Christ. May we “always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason regarding the hope that is in you, yet answer with gentleness and reverence.” 1 Peter 3:15

Praise God for two new brothers in Christ, who have come to faith out of Islam this week! One is an older man who has been examining the Scriptures for over a year. Pray that in his new found faith he would have zeal to share his decision with others. Pray that he and his whole household would follow Jesus, and that the Word of God would nourish and encourage them. The other new believer is a young man, whose friend has been witnessing to him for many years. He told his friend this week, “I want to receive Christ as my Savior”. His father and brother have also come out of Islam. Pray these three would have influence on the mother, who has yet to receive Jesus. Pray this young man would be as Job, treasuring “the words of His mouth more than my necessary food,” (Job 23:12).