Sovereign Serendipity! They BOTH came! Both Mama F (who recently professed Christ as her Savior) & Mama S (who has come for prayer & God’s Story) joined the Christian ladies’ prayer group in my home this week! They risked the exposure of being seen gathering with local believers. They arrived just in time to hear our pastor’s wife narrate the story of Ruth. BOTH wholeheartedly participated in the discussion and prayer afterwards. What an awesome God we serve! Pray for their spiritual and physical protection & for the salvation of their whole families!

Our teammate was invited by his friend to the cashew forest to witness his 8 year old son’s circumcision. By the time he arrived the Islamic ritual had already taken place and the bewildered boy bravely sat trying to hold back the tears streaming down his face as he sat on the blood stained mat. This is the rite of becoming a “man” in this culture that will soon be followed by a tribal celebration over several days. On the walk back the boy’s father gathered various roots that he explained would be used to ward off any spirits that may come to attack his vulnerable son. May the Swahili come to know the Savior – the Son of our Father God who restores true Biblical manhood.

Hawa came to my door begging again. Her husband moved their family here from a far distant village. First her sons died, then her husband. On my porch I got to share the story of Eve (Hawa), and that through her God would bring the Savior of the world. I told her God sees her & sent His Son Jesus to save her. She smiled and said she believed Jesus is her Savior. And we rejoiced! The next day God woke me with an urgency to go see her. Hawa was lying in her bed shaking from a high fever. I immediately began to pray for her healing, and for the treatment she needed. A few days later I helped her from her bed to the front porch to get some fresh air and we talked again of the God who sees, loves and saves us. I hadn’t realised how the neighbors were watching and listening till I was visiting another new believer and a passerby told her that Hawa was doing much better since Jesus healed her. The new believer chimed in, “Of course Jesus heals through prayer – it’s not just the medicine!” Pray the Swahili will come to know their Healer, Savior Jesus!

When arriving at new believer Bibi C’s porch to tell God’s Story with her, God brought her searching sister (Mama M) there, along with a neighbor Mama N to hear His Story too. What a joy it was to share some of it as Bibi C chimed in with her remembrance of God’s Story too. This has happened twice! They seem interested to hear more of God’s Story – pray all of this will grow Bibi C in her faith & lead her sister & neighbor to the Savior! Praise God for His divine appointments with the Swahili & pray for more to come!

The last few weekends have been very LOUD in our village from the ceremonial Islamic circumcision ngoma (dance celebrations). The boys are brought out before the crowd, gifts are bestowed and the dancing begins all weekend long, with loud speakers blasting the thumping music. In the night the dancing becomes lewd acts and the lostness is vivid. There are often angry accusations among families and neighbors afterwards from the sinful actions that took place. Pray that one day the Swahili will be set free to dance to the beat of a different drummer for His Glory and their great joy in Him, with no regrets!

Mama & Baba F are our neighbors. You have been praying for almost a year now that they would respond to our witness of Christ’s salvation. They have seen healing in their young daughter, who is walking after prayer for her in Jesus name – when witchdoctors could do nothing. They have seen us cry out to Christ with other believers for our own healing and they have seen Him answer. They have come to us burdened from the broken relationships in their own family and community and we have shared with them the hope we have in Christ the restorer of our most important relationship with Father God. Finally, a few days ago, Mama F, hearing the salvation story yet again, responded for the first time that she believes that Jesus is not only her daughter’s Healer, but also the Savior of the world! REJOICE!!! Pray now for wisdom in how to enfold Mama F into the body of Christ here. Pray for the salvation of their whole family!

She & her husband sell doves from their home so that their neighbors may take them to their Islamic witchdoctors to have them sacrificed & drink the fresh blood in search of healing in mind and body. Our teammate has testified to her that we do not depend on the blood of any animal for healing, but that we depend upon Jesus’ blood – the blood of God’s sinless Son, to give us forgiveness and healing for eternal life. And she laughs. Today she heard that I have prayed for another’s healing, God has answered those prayers, and she sincerely asks me to pray for her aching knees. I tell her I can pray for her right now, today on her porch! She laughs again and says she has work to do. As I leave the sound of her laughter remains with me… reminding me of a certain Sarah who, at first, laughed – not quite believing the promise brought to her in her old age by those foreign visitors …. Please pray for all the Swahili to come to know the true healer of their souls, that they would not depend on the blood of doves, but on the blood of The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Today I was invited to attend the final funeral ceremony for the elderly brother of 2 good friends – Bibi C (an elderly new believer) & Binti O (who has agreed to have me come share God’s Story with her).  While I sat, I could observe the men outside with the Imam (mosque leader) chanting Arabic rites over incense to Allah. I asked the ladies what he was saying, but none spoke Arabic & they could only guess that he was pleading with Allah to be favorable to the dead man & grant him entrance into paradise, because after this ceremony there was nothing else that could be done for the salvation of the dead man.

Pray for God to keep opening the doors, keep giving us the words to bring hope to the hopeless. Pray the seeds of the gospel will take root in the hearts of our beloved neighbors. Jesus Christ changes everything!

One of the men in our town has been a deeply loyal friend and neighbor to all of us over the years. He has been wrestling to find the Truth for years, going back and forth between following Islam but intrigued by Jesus. A few months ago a short term team came to visit our town and a couple of them have been able to stay in touch with this man. Because of their conversations, he recently said he has been inspired to start reading the Bble again. Please pray that as he engages the Word of God, the Spirit will open his eyes to its Truth and lead him to surrender his life to Jesus.

As we have often prayed for dreams and visions for our people here, one specific friend is always heavy on my heart because I know she has had many vivid dreams in the past that have gotten her attention. The other day she told me she wished that sometime she would have a dream that came true, for example that she would dream she was given money and it came. I told her that night that I was going to pray and ask God to give her dreams about things that are true and she should also. She agreed and told me she was excited to come share with me any dreams she has from here on out. Please ask the Lord to give her vivid dreams of Truth about who He is, dreams that she cannot shake and that will stir in her heart a desire for New Life.

Praise God for the godly Tanzanians He has sent to our team! These are skilled professional men & women sacrificing to work in the most impoverished, marginalized unreached region of Tanzania to reach the Swahili for Christ. In the world’s eyes it is utter foolishness to choose to serve where we are! God has recently filled 2 desperately needed positions with an overqualified accountant and a couple who is well known for their Christian leadership & integrity on a national level. The accountant is willing to work for a fraction of the salary he deserves and the couple has turned down a salary because they are able to live off their own personal investments & income. We are in awe of how God builds His Kingdom. Pray He will protect our team from the evil one, sin and temptation. Pray that our team DNA will be that of Christ and His Cross – that we would die to ourselves so that Christ will be made famous among the Swahili.

In the middle of the night team members have been regularly woken up by the drunken cries of a witchdoctor outside their bedroom window. They’ve asked their neighbors what it’s all about and all they get is a giggle and off handed response that it is nothing at all. But it is disturbing and disruptive. Our team members have been told that the witchdoctor’s brother died from a ritual gone wrong on the beach recently. The Swahili have seamlessly syncretized Islam with their traditional witchcraft. Pray that this witchdoctor will one day soon be walking the streets proclaiming his salvation in Jesus & his freedom from witchcraft & alcohol. Pray for the protection, peace and rest for this team family and for all the believers here who are surrounded by a constant onslaught of spiritual warfare as God establishes His Kingdom in this historically Christ- resistant, churchless village.

Selina (a new believer who was baptised at Easter) is growing in her identity in Christ. A few months ago she timidly asked to learn to read & write. What we discovered together is that she already has some ability to do that, she just needed someone to come alongside to help her grow. She is in a discipleship process growing in those skills as she studies and memorizes the Word of God! It is a joy to watch her slowly bloom in confidence of who she is in Christ! Pray for her continued spiritual growth and protection as a young lady quite vulnerable in this lost culture.

Praise God for growing opportunities to share the hope we have in Christ with our neighbors! Not only are the Christian Admin, supervisors & staff attending & sharing in leading the twice weekly prayer & gospel- immersed devotions during the farm tea break, but local seekers are joining in as well … listening, observing & asking for prayer! Pray for the salvation of these seekers!

Praise God for the power of prayer! The local church women’s prayer group is flourishing! They recently visited Bibi Chai (an elderly homebound lady who is a new believer) to pray for her. Bibi lives with her daughter, who used to leave the house when we began to pray or share God’s story with Bibi, but now lingers doing “necessary chores” during our visits … listening & observing. That day her daughter was bed ridden with malaria and actually asked for prayer for her healing! And Jesus heard and answered those prayers! In subsequent visits, the daughter has given praise to God for answering our prayers & is asking for more prayer for God’s blessing on her life. Pray that she may come to know her Healer as her Savior too!

A couple of weeks ago, during Ram@dan, one of our workers was visiting the home of her best friend, and a local madrasa teacher was there tutoring her friend’s young son in Quran studies. Very unexpectedly he asked our worker if he could borrow a Bible in his language to study. Please pray that this religious teacher would be captivated by the Word he has been given and that as God has promised, His Word will not return void but would bring Life to this teacher.

Pray for physical & spiritual strength for all the believers (local & expat) during this oppressive month when all the community around us is immersed in this dark ritual of deception. We wake with the calls to false prayer & speakers blare lies throughout the day & night from homes & mosques. May all followers of Christ seize every opportunity, especially in this season, to give witness of the truth & hope found in the Savior.

Baba Fatuma is the father of the little girl with Cerebral Palsy who is now walking after prayer. Like his wife, he has heard witness of the Savior & he has stated a desire to come to church & is now joining the believers during their twice weekly prayer together during their morning tea breaks on the farm. Pray for his salvation & the salvation of his whole family.

While visitng Bibi Chai’s ( a new believer) elderly sister in mourning for the death of their brother, God opened the door to share again with her of the hope found in Jesus & the sister agreed to hear more of God’s story AFTER Ramadan. Pray for the opportunity to share with her & for her salvation! It would be awesome to have these 2 sisters worshipping together in the family of Christ!

Praise God last Sunday the local church members taught a Disciple Making Movements seminar to their fellow members in order to help them as a church strategize how they will engage their lost neighbors with the gospel! It is exciting to see the local church members leading & exhorting one another in this way! Pray they will put this training into practice immediately – especially during this oppressive month! May Christ’s kingdom come & His will be done here & now!

Mama Sofia came to visit me tonight bearing a pumpkin gift from her garden & the reminder that she still wants me to come pray for her family even though her daughter has been completely healed from malaria for months now. She wants more prayer & to hear more of God’s story! Praise God! Pray for time to meet & for the Salvation of her whole family!

Praise God for 6 believers ocean baptised right here on Easter Sunday! One of them was Serena who gave her life to Jesus on our front porch a few months ago. Another was Baba Franki who rededicated his life to Jesus after his Muslim wife left him & their young children late last year. Pray for these believers to grow in their faith and for others to come to Christ through their testimony.

For eight months I’ve been reading through the Gospel of Luke with my househelper. Last week after reading about Jesus’ death and resurrection, I asked her what she thought of it. She said confidently and boldly that she believes every bit of it is true. She says she is a Muslim but also understands that if she confesses with her mouth and believes in her heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, she is saved. I suspect there could be many other people who genuinely believe, without access to His Word, fellowship or teaching. Please pray especially for them, that God would lead them to believers who can help them grow in their faith.

Earlier this month we celebrated a dear friend’s birthday. On the way to the restaurant, she was expressing frustration over how difficult her sister is to live with. I responded to her, saying that Jesus taught us we have to forgive people. I said, “And in fact, Jesus tells us to not only forgive, but to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.” She thought about it and then said, “Really? Jesus said to do that?” I shook my head and she (jokingly) said, “Well then I’m going to start following Jesus. That’s a good message.”

Please pray with us that God would hold back the darkness in our friends’ lives, that in moments like these, the forces of evil that wage war for our friends’ souls would be held back long enough for our friends to feel the warmth of the Light of Truth and Love. Pray for Christ’s power and authority to break the chains of deception for the Swahili people.

Please pray for my friend and her husband, that they would see the power and authority of Jesus, specifically in the provision of a job for the husband. Pray that the wife would understand that anything good she sees in us is only the Spirit of Jesus living in us. That HE is the friend she truly needs. Pray Hebrews 1:3 for all the Swahili people, that they would see and believe “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”

Baba Franki is a local believer who is raising his two children after his Muslim wife left him in December. His daughter Solofina became critically ill and had a vision of a man telling her she would not recover. The local believers prayed for her healing while Baba Franki rushed her to the hospital. And Our Healer God heard our cries for help! Praise God! Solofina is healed and back to school again!

Last week I got to story some of the gospel to mama Sofia, our neighbour. It was such a sweet time & she is hungry for God! Her kids like listening too & her son Hamad was over at our place to hear our son read Bible stories to him. Her daughter is slowly recovering after bad malaria. And we pray for her recovery with mama Sofia almost daily in Jesus name. Please pray with us!

I got to share God’s story a bit with Mama Fatima, a neighbor. I have prayed for healing in Jesus’ name for her precious handicapped daughter to walk months ago. She is doing much better & walking. She is hungry for God too. Pray for their salvation!

Praise God the Muslim witchdoctor from another town that had moved in to set up practice next door has cleared out without a word. We have been praying he would find his work utterly ineffective & flee! We are beginning to build relationships with the household that remains. Pray for Christ’s witness to pour out to our neighbors!

Our hospital sits in a remote, isolated Muslim majority (>99%) region, in a country where Muslims are a minority. Our staff are majority Muslim from a UPG but with a few Christians (defined locally as non-Muslims) from distant parts of the country. Although not a faith based institution, a recent clinical meeting was ended in prayer in Arabic to Allah by our Muslim anaesthetist. The other day another meeting was also closed in prayer, this time by a nursing officer not from our UPG, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord & Saviour. Both times respect and reverence was shown by all during the prayers.

In a country where tribal and religious differences are exploited for power and governed by fear, may such mutual respect grow and lead to greater sharing of the heart of the good news, person to person.

Last Sunday a local woman, who had been spiritually searching and attending our church here for a while, finally gave her life to Jesus & professed her faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior!

On Christmas day one of the new local believers was ocean baptized right here! Praise God for this bold witness and beautiful encouragement to the believers!

Praise God for opportunities for our team to share God’s witness with some of our neighbors & even some of their children! Some of these children are coming to church with our children now. Pray for their physical & spiritual protection & for the salvation of their whole families!

Recently I had a sweet visit with Bibi Chai – a new believer. Loved the prayer & fellowship with her. Now her daughter stays to listen to our time together instead of leaving the house. So pray for her salvation too.

My worker came for medical help this morning which lead into me sharing the gospel of Christ. She had never heard of salvation through faith in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ for her sins. She had no idea how God would ever receive her into heaven. Now she knows & says she believes. Praise God for a new sister in Christ …. Serena!

Bibi Chai, gave her life to Jesus this week! Her health had been declining rapidly with heart failure & E felt God was telling her to give Bibi the opportunity to respond to the complete simple story of the Gospel the next time she shared God’s Story with her. When she got to God sending His Sinless Son – God With Us, and The Final Prophet who God promised to send from the beginning – who sacrificed Himself and shed his blood on the cross as the payment for all our sins – Bibi cried out …” Yes! I believe! Jesus is my Savior! He died for my sins! Thank you Jesus!” She said this over and over again! E, in awe at the power of God through the Gospel, explained to Bibi that she was now a sister and fellow member of the family of God and that God is her Heavenly Father who sees her, hears her prayers, loves her and sent Christ to save her. Bibi Chai said “Amen! Amen! Amen!” over and over again!

A couple of days later our Tanzanian partner & pastor’s wife came to visit and pray over Bibi Chai along with E & some other sisters of the faith from church. It was a sweet time of prayer and fellowship as Bibi again declared her faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior. The pastor’s wife led her in a beautiful prayer of assurance of her salvation in Christ. As Bibi finished praying aloud, the rain came in a glorious, merciful farming rain & Bibi declared … “Look! See! The Grace of God pouring down on us!” & tears of joy rained down as they danced a little joy dance of thanksgiving to God that day!

Now please pray for Bibi’s spirtitual growth and physical protection as a young believer in Christ in a very fragile physical state. Praise God that the daughter that she lives with welcomes our visits and seems to continue to care for her as best she can. Pray she would come to Jesus too as she sees the love & unity of the Body of Christ lived out in her home. Pray for wisdom for the local believers to continue to know how to best love & fellowship with their homebound sister in Christ as the newest member of the Body here.

Na was released from the hospital & is now regaining her strength at home. Please be praying for her complete recovery. We know what a gift from God this healing is … malaria remains the number 1 killer in Africa. Please keep praying for the salvation of this entire family! Pray that her mother, Mama Sofia, will want to keep hearing the stories of the Bible.

A missionary’s Swahili neighbour, Mama Sofia wants to start hearing God’s story too! In her words: “I was telling her about God’s story today, after a story visit with Bibi Chai. We have had a lot of Godward conversations & I am praising God for this breakthrough. This came about also after I prayed in Jesus name for healing for her 8 year old daughter Na who was admitted this afternoon to hospital with malaria & in need of a blood transfusion. So please pray for her healing too. Na is a dear friend of my daughter. We really love this family!” So pray for the spiritual progress of Bibi Chai, and now pray for Mama Sofia and Naa who need healing and Jesus.

Yesterday I arrived at the house of one of my dearest friends to find her looking sad and heavy-hearted. She and her husband have been having significant struggles with finances, joblessness, infertility, and an adoption that fell through. It seems they are experiencing grief upon grief these days. It didn’t take much pressing to get her to share with me how hard life feels for her right now. She looked at me and said, “I keep praying and asking God to show me the way.” I hesitated but finally responded, “Jesus says He is the way.” This led into a conversation about the Fall, sin entering the world, and the need for us to be reconciled to God. She very confidently said that if she sins, she just has to make it right by apologizing to the person she hurt and praying and asking God for forgiveness so she can be made clean again. I told her we both agreed that God is more holy than we could ever imagine. But I asked her how we could ever in a million years think that we could make ourselves clean before that kind of holiness. She didn’t respond but simply sat quietly. I said, “It would require perfection. A perfect life. Jesus was the only one who ever managed that.” Our conversation was full of love and grace toward one another and when I left her house, she gave me a tight hug and thanked me for being her friend.

But the Swahili people in this location are deeply tied to Islam and the mere suggestion that we would put our hope in Jesus for salvation is highly inflammatory and even seems to cause great fear. There is a bondage here that causes tremendous defensiveness and offense when the topic is raised. Women especially are taught to not even engage with ideas outside of those they’ve been raised with, much less think critically about them. Please pray for the Swahili people that the Spirit would open the door for more of these conversations to take place. Pray that hearts would be opened to the Truth that there is no way for any human to make themselves clean before God. Pray that would stir in them a desire to find a different way. Pray that would lead them to see that Jesus IS the way.

Thank you for your prayers for Bibi Chai’s salvation! Bibi Chai accepted Jesus as her Savior today! Hallelujah! Praise God! After hearing God’s redemption story over these last few weeks & agreeing to much prayer over her, she believes. Now pray for the growing body of Christ here to know how to best embrace their newest member who is physically frail & homebound with a heart giving out, but a brand new Spirit within!

We have 3 fairly new Muslim Background Believers who have joined our farm crew. These young men are hungry to work hard and they are hungry for discipleship. Pray for their spiritual growth and protection and that the Lord would use them to draw many more of their lost neighbors to salvation.

This holiday season we were abundantly blessed to be able to host 2 separate celebrations in our town and we saw nearly 100 people come to celebrate with us! One neighbor who offered to direct the work of making sure that a giant meal was cooked for lunch said, “If this is a day of joy for you, it’s a day of joy for us.” We were humbled and blessed to see many of our neighbors and friends take responsibility for parts of the celebration, without ever being asked to do it. Because of their taking the lead in so many ways, the gatherings felt very culturally appropriate and seemed to be well understood by everyone who came. And yet so many who came through the door said, “Happy Christmas!” It was humbling to see their extravagant demonstration of loving us, their neighbors. And it was a joy to see them experience celebrating the birth of Christ in a way that made sense to them. One dear friend said, “We never celebrated this before you came here,” with the biggest smile. Please pray that our people would continue to reflect on the day, to be challenged by the fact that it broke stereotypes about how Christians typically celebrate, and that many would be stirred to seek more information about the One whose birth was celebrated that day.