August 13th, five pastors and evangelists of four different denominations serving among the Rangi community met at our church to pray and strategize on how we can work together as a team to evangelize the Rangi people.
– Thank God that He is answering our prayers for the unity of purpose.
– Pray that God will help us to work together for him despite our differences.

First, I continue Bible discussions with Salamada, and she says she continues to love Jesus, so please join us in praying for her. Second, pray for Yusuph, who says he feels the call of God to serve Jesus and needs to now attend Bible school. Lastly, please pray for the Rangi as it is a time of great famine and the people of Busi are really suffering for lack of food. Pray for God to provide. Thank you, and may God bless you for praying.

Please pray for a number of Rangi who have heard the stories of the Bible and the gospel for several years now, yet have not decided to put their faith in Christ. Pray for a breakthrough.

Please pray for a group of believers who will meet at the end of July for a prayer summit meeting for the Rangi. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them as they present their requests to God. Pray for more workers to go share Christ with the Rangi. Pray that Christ-centred, reproducing Rangi churches will be planted throughout this huge tribe.

Please continue lifting up Bibi, an elderly lady who believes in Jesus but who last expressed fear at following him due to family influence. Please ask for her to have a revelation of Christ. Please also lift up her physical and emotional needs, as she is elderly, widowed, and childless.

Praise God that a lady who earlier expressed serious interest in following the Lord was able to attend a Bible seminar, where her desire to follow Jesus was furthered. Please pray for this woman to grow in her faith and understanding even as she lives with her Muslim family. Ask the Lord to draw her whole family to Himself.

Please pray for a young, Rangi Christian woman who is looking to attend Bible School. Praise God that she has a desire to learn more, and pray that it would be possible.

Praise God for an influential Sheik in Kondoa who recently attended a Bible seminar in his town and who received well what was shared. Please pray for this man to come to true understanding of faith in Jesus, as his heart does seem to reflect a genuine desire to follow what he knows is true.

The Rangi are one of the largest ethnic groups in Tanzania who remain mostly untouched by the gospel. Please pray for the Lord to send more Christians to share Christ with them, and pray that one day there may be reproducing, indigenous, Christ-centered churches in every town among the Rangi.

Matthew is a Rangi believer who has grown much ever since he decided to follow Christ. He is currently serving Christ in an evangelical church here in Africa. He has withstood all Islamic pressures and threats against him. Some of these came from his family members, Muslim friends, as well as the community. He has stood the test and he is now very strong and bold to share Christ to all people. He just got married June 10! Please pray God’s blessings on this couple and for many more Rangi believers like them!

Please pray for M, an influential man in a Rangi village, whom workers have been praying for for a number of years. Please ask that, during this month of Ramadan, Jesus would reveal himself to M, call him, and give him courage to turn and bring many others with him.

An evangelist was able to do a seminar to which a number of people came who have had significant exposure to the Bible and the gospel through Christians. Please pray that the teacher’s words would take root and they would see the contrasts with their Muslim beliefs, especially during Ramadan.

Please pray for M, a young Muslim woman who fled to the city due to a difficult situation in her home. (Her husband had married another wife). M is young, hurting, and vulnerable. Please pray for her protection and that she would meet believers in the city. Please pray for healing in her family and for her to act wisely.

Pray that those who are sharing the gospel among the Rangi will be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that their labor is not in vain in the Lord.

A Rangi evangelist was on his way to show the Jesus film, and ended up broken down in a village. Eventually he decided to show the movie there instead, and after the showing, there was one lady who adamantly wanted to become a follower and wanted to be baptized right away. Clearly the Lord had been preparing her! At this point, the hope is that she can get some more discipleship soon. Please pray for her to be genuine and to grow despite what is certainly opposition around her.

Please this week pray for Salmada, because she has encountered challenges to her faith from her parents and brothers who don’t want her to be a Christian. Salmada is asking us to pray for her. Besides that, please pray for the family of the local evangelist, Patrick. Villagers and neighbours around them are coming every day to beg for food and help, since there has been such a severe drought this year and food is so scarce. He finds their needs and requests heavy; everyone is suffering.

A young Rangi lady recently became a follower of Jesus! She requested that her name be changed to Elizabeth. She comes from a Muslim background. Please pray that she would be strong in her decision to follow the Lord, that the Lord would renew her mind and help her understand His Word. Please ask for her to be transformed, and for her life to bear the fruit.

In November, a Rangi evangelist taught some Rangi farmers a method called “Farming God’s Way.” They planted simply without plowing, and used a ground cover. People were making fun of them, saying they were lazy and didn’t clear the ground properly before planting. Kijuu visited them again this December and took photos and prayed with the farmers. Because of the lack of rain, they are the only farmers with anything growing. Now everyone is interested how they did it!

Please pray for the Rangi people in the town of Busi who continue hearing the good news. Pray for those who are learning about Christ, that they will put their faith in Him. Pray for encouragement for the evangelist, P. as he continues sharing with them.

A young Rangi woman just accepted Christ as her Saviour! Here is the report from the evangelist: “I praise God for one young lady receiving Jesus as a Savior of her life. She is called Salmada please join us to pray for her. “

Praise God for the salvation work He is doing in people. I would ask prayer for the ministry in the village of Busi. First of all, there is a girl there I’ve begun discussing God’s Word with. There are also two girls who are Muslim secondary school students who come to my home. They love to sing gospel songs. Please also pray for their salvation. Thank you so much for your prayers, may God bless you! –From a village evangelist

We in the town of Busi are progressing well. We thank the Lord for our kindergarten. Last year we graduated 33 students, and this year we thank God that in answer to prayer we have 34 students. We also thank the Lord that last year we had many opportunities to discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ with people. Please join us in praying for God’s favour on us so we can continue serving Him. Pray for me (the local Rangi evangelist) and my family, for the school, and for those who have been listening to the gospel. Thank you very much!

A praise! A local Christian worker was recently able to complete a course to get his certificate for pre-school teaching- which means that his nursery school is no longer in danger of being shut down if it’s investigated. We are thankful that the time and money were found for him to be able to do this training.

Our Christian brother Kijuu has been showing the Jesus Film in Rangi Villages. He had showed the film in 5 villages this past December, but in the village of Itolwa about 500 people showed up. Kijuu was afraid at the amount of people but the showing went smoothly. We are encouraged by the interest in Jesus as evidenced by that large audience. Pray for all those who saw the film, that the Lord would remind them of what they saw and draw them to seek Him.

There is a young Rangi man (about to enter his final year of secondary school), with whom local Christians have been actively involved; he has had great exposure to Christianity. He is currently staying with a Christian in Busi, and it sounds like he is asking really good and insightful questions. Please pray that the Lord would be working on his spirit, and that he would be given great understanding!

After two successive years of bad harvest, some people are hungry and having difficulty feeding their families. There are some plans in the works for relief, but please pray that God would be glorified and that hungry individuals would have their needs met.

Approximately 500,000 Rangi people live in central Tanzania. Holding to a mix of Islam and animism, they are still untouched by the gospel. Pray for the Holy Spirit to penetrate their hearts and allow them to recognise Jesus Christ as their Saviour and the one true God.

The Lord’s work is not limited to organisations or teams. After experiencing the transforming power of the Bible and of following Jesus, one Roman Catholic background believer has taken up the challenge of teaching seminars and Chronological Bible Storying to both Roman Catholics and Muslims alike. A Rangi Muslim he taught is now a believer, and is leading a group of other Muslim background believers in his town.The Lord’s hand is evident in seeing these different believers with different backgrounds, come together formally and informally to work towards the goal of seeing the Rangi be transformed by Jesus!

Give thanks for the recent release of ‘The Jesus Film’ in the Rangi language. Praise God for his provision for all of the details surrounding translating and recording the film script. Pray that the Holy Spirit would go before every showing of the film and use it to draw people to Jesus.

Please pray for P, a Rangi man who has trained as an evangelist and is now ministering among his own people. In an area where there is a shortage of space in the local primary school, he has started and runs a nursery school that has been extremely well received by the community.

One of the members of the SIL translation team is a Rangi believer named K. Praise God for the passion K has to see his fellow Rangi reached with the gospel. Pray for the Lord to give K continued boldness and also to protect him and his family from spiritual attack.

A Rangi woman’s work never ends. Most women are occupied with many daily responsibilities: children, farming, preparing food, carrying water, and so forth. Mama S and Mama M are no different. Unlike most women, however, these sister- wives are also spiritually hungry. They have heard “The Story of God and Man” from Adam to Jesus, using a story set in Kilaangi (the Rangi language). They have listened intently to the words of the prophets about the promised Redeemer, and they affirm Jesus’ teachings and power. Just like a Rangi woman, the Lord’s work never ends either. He is continuing to help Mama S and Mama M think outside of their Islamic box. Please pray that the Lord would work miracles in these women and their husband, and that he would give them great courage. Ask that he would add ‘tell others about the joy of following Jesus!’ to their list of things to do.

Praise God for a team from SIL who have been tirelessly working on translating the Bible into the Rangi language for many years. Pray for continued unity and perseverance as they aim to finish in the next few years. Pray too that God would use the Rangi Bible to help many come to Christ.

Ask the Lord for his guidance as the idea of sending another team of workers to live and minister among the Rangi is considered. Ask that he would open doors and give wisdom for every detail, from the selection of a village to the assigning of team leaders and team members.

Pray for opportunities for a Rangi evangelist, P, to share Jesus through his interactions with the nursery children and their parents. Pray too for P’s family as he has become a husband and a father in the last year. Ask God to continue to grow a heart and passion to reach the Rangi in P’s wife, Deb.

Praise God for a new group of Muslim background believers among the Rangi! Ask the Holy Spirit to guide these believers as they meet together to study the Bible each Sunday. Pray for strength and encouragement for them as they face opposition from their friends and family.

At a recent seminar, one returning attendee brought a friend. The returning man has something in him that makes him really thirst for the truth, but doesn’t seem able to take the leap to actually GIVE his life to Christ and change. The new friend has studied the Quran and it seems he really “heard” well during the seminar. Please ask that both of these men would find that their hearts understand and are willing to follow Jesus, and that they would be a light where they are.

The first Christian school in a village recently graduated its first kindergarten class. Pray for the Muslims who attended, that they will ponder what they heard and saw and seek our believers to understand more.

A group of MBBs (Muslim background believers) have been meeting for about a year, growing together without formal church leadership or involvement. The national church wants to send a pastor to them… please pray about this. There is concern that a person will be sent to them who is not sensitive to the MBB situation and who will actually discourage growth and force conformity to unfamiliar forms and practices. Please pray that the Lord would provide a pastor with a heart like His own, one who understands and loves MBBs and who will be a great asset to them in their spiritual growth.

Please pray that Rangi Muslims and Roman Catholics would be drawn by GOD to seek out believing, evangelical Christians in the area and to believe their message of salvation!