Our young Latuko friend, Charles, is spending this week with Mark in Kapoeta for further training in Discovery Bible Study and discipleship. It is wonderful to see an older, mature believer like Mark reach out to a young man like Charles to encourage him in ministry and outreach. As Mark trains his Toposa disciples and Charles, pray he will “encourage the young men to be self-controlled,” and that in everything Mark would “set them an example by doing what is good” (Titus 2:6-7).

Please pray with us for:
1. The disciples’ training this month and March
2. The disciples’ outreach in the villages
3. The disciples’ spiritual growth
4. The disciples’ families’ needs and God’s provision
5. Peace with neighbors
6. Pray against the spirit of persecution of believers

Pray with us. We are attacked from all sides, financial side is what I feel is attacked a lot and also our team’s progress and plans for the year. Today Elia was riding to Narus to do followup and police just accused him and jailed him for hours. The motorbike is still in the hands of police. Interceed with us for breakthroughs and quick open doors for our team to keep on with their plans

We thank God for the Toposa leadership team that boldly took the gospel to the unreached community of Nakwapur last month. A group of 19 Kenyan and South Sudanese believers joined together to share the gospel and bring new believers into discipleship groups for training. Despite opposition from some community leaders, the women and elders in Nakwapur welcomed the team, and many people understood the gospel and accepted Jesus as their Savior – Praise God! Pray for some of these new believers by name: Napeyo, Nanyapuud, Narumu, Paul Nagie, Mariko Lokitoe, Paul Lokooli, Cecelia Narot, Maria – “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents!” (Luke 15:10).

1. Pray for disciples and their leaders and sustainability.
2. Pray for growth and strength among disciples
3. Pray for disciples’ spiritual growth
4. Pray against the spirit of persecution in Toposaland
5. Pray for new areas to be reached

Praise the Lord for thousands from the Toposa tribe who are coming to the Lord. James Lokuuda, who returned there in 2007 after attaining his MA in theology and also training as a translator, writes: ‘In 2018 there was an explosion of God’s Word spreading beyond our efforts. At this time there is grounding and true believers who have tasted the goodness of the Lord and his salvation. 2 weeks ago I went to the place where we had a mission in the 80s-known as Kalokupe- that place has been renamed by the believers as KAAYESU, meaning THE PLACE OF JESUS.’ Please pray for Lokuuda and the challenge of discipling the multitude of believers. A solar radio station and solar radios would be of great benefit to teach the mainly illiterate Toposa.

Please pray for Toposa believers who were savagely beaten for not following their father’s faith (a combination of witchcraft and Catholicism). These young women are facing a hard time because of their faith and for discipling others. Pray for them as they continue to lead discipleship groups at Bakita Catholic Girls’ High School (where they are boarding students) and in their home village.

Pray for Osca, a young Toposa man, who has been facing persecution from people in his home village. He is abused and blamed for every problem because he is a believer. Osca is a strong leader that God is using to reach the Toposa. Pray that he will maintain his integrity and faith no matter what he faces.

Kenyan missionary, John Wanyoni, tells this story: “I remember when I was sent to South Sudan about 14 years ago, I tried to reach the Toposa, whom I believed God had sent me to evangelize, but I couldn’t. I knew God’s Word, but this was a totally different culture. They needed God’s Word, but my approach was wrong…We have learned simple reproducible tools that have helped the ministry here grow. As the days go, we are seeing the Gospel spread even faster in all three counties of Toposaland. I was so encouraged when Abraham Namono from Kamee shared with me how he is reaching Morunyan villages and how they had sent Isaiah, a twelve-year-old, to survey a new village and found a group of believers already there. The group had been started by one girl!” Pray for God’s Word to be firmly established all over Toposaland, and to keep growing.

Mark Keter, a Kenyan missionary working among the Toposa, reported last month that churches are under attack in Naliel (Toposaland). He said the Nabois church was burned down by some youth, and other churches threatened with the same. Please pray for the Toposa believers to remain firm in their faith, resisting the attacks of the evil one. Pray against this evil spirit among the youth, that their hearts of violence would be transformed by the gospel, and they would become zealous for the works of God.

Praise God for the strategic meeting between 100 Toposa leaders that took place in mid-August in Naliel. They appointed 6 to oversee the Toposa movement. Praise God that some even walked 96 kilometers over two days to meet. Pray against the increased persecution that has emerged in 4 areas with severe attacks and beatings. Pray for the believers that testify that they are ready to die for Jesus as they continue to meet. May this fuel even more hunger and thirst for righteousness. May the Kingdom of God be made manifest in every Toposa village. Please also pray for the Toposa, Nyangatom and Jiye (TNJ) cluster strategy coordination team as they meet. Pray for effective distribution of needed resources such as Jesus Film solar backpacks, audio Bibles and chronological Bible story cloths. Pray for the on-going training of disciple-multipliers from each group and the fulfillment of their commitment to engage 72 new villages by the end of 2020.

There has been another persecution at Nabois church. When people were gathered, youths came in and they beat the believers mercilessly. One of the disciples has run 15km to escape. Please pray for healing and strength for the believers and for conviction of sin for the youth.

Pray for all the disciples among the Toposa to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord
Pray for the recent outreaches and new groups that have started
Pray for second and third generation of disciples (disciples who make disciples).
Pray for disciples’ target to reach many new villages to be successful.

Multiple villages are facing persecution after turning to Christ. In one village, young warriors are angry at the lack of alcohol, that girls are worshiping God instead of dancing with them, and that their witch doctor has come to faith. Pray for these disciples and their leaders to stand firm in their faith.

Update: God is at work! We just ended church service and it was wonderful. The Lord has done great things after the persecution several weeks ago. The church has grown- we had more than 300 people including youths, who asked for peace!

Witch doctors are the order of the day among the Toposa. Since the gospel has entered many villages, most of them have gotten saved! Some are church leaders now. At one baptism of 60 people, most of them were witch doctors! Praise God for what he is doing and pray for these leaders to be used by God to bring many to Him.

From Mark Keter among the Toposa: Urgent prayer needed!. We are in time of trial and persecution, especially the disciples and their leaders. Already 3 other churches have been burned down by Toposa warriors. Pray that the believers may stand firm in the faith.

The Toposa, Nyang’atom, and Jiye disciples being trained the past three months have returned to their villages with commitments to engage 74 new villages in their areas. Over the past two months there have been 40 new baptisms! Two of the members of Mark’s team have also engaged the Murli and Kachipo people. Pray for these 17 disciples as they begin their ministries in these 74 new locations and fulfill their faith commitments. Ask the Lord for a great harvest.

Pray for 13 disciples bring trained in Naliel, South Sudan, for 2 months. Pray they will be faithful men who will train others also. Ask Jesus to build His church among the Toposa.

Praise God for 79 believers being baptized! Among these mostly Toposa believers were 2 Jiye leaders. Praise God for what He is doing among these people groups!

Troy is going to Kapoeta today to work with Kenyan missionaries Mark Keter and his team. He is going to do a week-long training on animal care for these missionaries working among the cattle-keeping Toposa people. Pray that this is a valuable and useful tool for this missionary team, and that God will use their concern for the Toposa’s most valued possession as a means of reaching the hearts of this people group. Pray the Toposa will desire Jesus more than they long for their cattle.

Praise God for the good training for Toposa disciples on sustainability as a long-term solution for supporting disciples. Pray for the upcoming 2- month- long full training for disciples in March and April. Pray for shelters for the training and accommodation that still need to be built. Pray for unity, wisdom and strength for both the team and disciple leaders to overcome various challenges.

Please continue praying for our team. Julius is now in Kakuma Refugee camp. We are starting discipleship among S.Sudanees in the camp. There are people from the Jie, Toposa, Didinga, Nubians( Kanyauro tribe) and Lotuko tribes. We are connecting with the groups and seeking for people of peace and soon we will start training them. Pray for receptiveness and for many to embrace God’s Word. Julius will be there for a week before he heads back to Naliel to followup with other groups. One of Julius needs is to get a motorbike to help him in his work. With God all things are possible.

Pray for deep discipleship among the Toposa believers – for spiritual growth and renewal of their minds.
Pray for Toposa leaders to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
Pray for Joseph Lobaringa, who is set to go to a Bible school in Kenya for 1 year.

Pray for the team serving among the Toposa as they prepare to return by the 20th from Kenya. Pray that God may provide for their needs.
Pray for the plan to bring disciples from different areas for 2 months of full-time discipleship training in Naliel.

Praise for those in the Magos area, their food stores are full!
But cattle are sick.
The church is growing- pray for the Word to bring transformation in many lives.
Pray for pastor Elia as he continue to reach out.

John is a Kenya missionary working amongst the Toposa. Pray for evangelism and outreach in Kokoro, Lopua, Napeicheke and Kapoeta East. Also pray for the listening groups that were trained on using audio Bibles. A Youth camp is coming up on December 9th. Ask  God to draw many youth to Himself.

Recordings of Bible stories for women have recently been completed. Pray for those that receive the stories to be transformed by the Gospel.

From last Thursday to Saturday, we have been doing an amazing baptism of 1130 believers! A 3 day Baptism! Here is a testimony of how God changed the heart of a Toposa Elder: This man challenged us by how he has believed in Jesus and now he spreads the news of Jesus to his fellow elders. He said, “Thank you Jesus that I got this opportunity of salvation and baptism at my age before I die so that I will enter Paradise.”

Pray for peace between the Toposa and the Laarim. There is a lot of revenge killing amongst both groups. Pray for a longing for peace and an openness for the Prince of Peace to give true peace.

Pray for the student activities planned for the school break. Student disciples are being followed up in the villages. Pray for effective ministry.

The ‘fire churches’ (groups meeting around the fire) are doing well under the care of the disciples. We thank God because they are growing spiritually too. We have two new churches planted in Kaldo area. Some have put a temporary shed to enable them to pray under it especially during this raining season and also to have a shelter during the day heat when they do their discipleship meeting. Lucino is meeting his group every Thursday. Also other disciples have their meeting days and all gather on Sunday morning at their various churches. Pray the disciples would grow strong and many would be added to their number as Christ builds His church among the Toposa!

The Outreach Team went to one of the remote Toposa villages where the persecution of new believers has been intense. The new believers gathered 500 Toposa to come for worship, singing and dancing. One of the new believers challenged the group to come forward with any information for WHY the Outreach Team should not be sharing Jesus in their villages. She spoke for 20 minutes and no one came forward. As a result, they all agreed that the “sharing of Jesus” would go forward without interruption. Pray for much fruit!

This is from Kenyan missionary John working with the Toposa: Thank you for praying. We had a good trip to Narus. We did some training and visited villages where our disciples are reaching- Napeikeny, lopua and Kokoro. Many have been led to Christ and they are being discipled to reach others.

There is a new group of younger guys being discipled in Kapoeta. Pray they will also be taking the Gospel out to unreached villages amongst Toposa.

Jie is one of the most unreached people that share similar culture and language dialect with Toposa. We had a survey trip in April for Jie Lopeat and we found one of the greatest needs is water.
John, one of the Kenyan missionaries working among the Toposa, got information that Jie of Lopeat have sought refuge among the Toposa of Mogos, 35km away, in order to get water. The dam that was helping them has since dried up.
Pray for them and that peace will prevail between them and Toposa. Historically they used to fight and steal cattle but peace was made some time last year. However, they still they get their animals stolen.

Pray for our missionary team who are going to live among the Toposa for a long term mission work together with their families. Their names are Julius and Pasquina Magu, Mark and Lonah Keter, Isaiah and Nida Bwala, and Mary Nachii. Most of them are relocating this week to various places among the Toposa. And they will be reaching the Jie, and other unreached communities. Pray for all missionaries and people involved in reaching out with discipleship among the Toposa.

Pray for more workers to come among the Toposa; one missionary said, “come quickly the time is now.” Pray that God would guide the right people, whether expats or nationals, to reach out to the lost Toposa.

Many Toposa are responding to the Gospel, missionaries are seeing the Spirit work and many are coming to Christ, previously hostile villages are now asking for the church to come and share. In Kapoeta, local disciples are taking the Gospel to numerous villages and continuing to follow up with the local leaders every week, pray that many will coming to saving faith.

Pray for Naliel and the missionary team coming to the area. Toposa disciples want to start 42 more churches in the area by the end of the year. Pray!

The Jesus Film is being shown  regularly in Toposa villages, and  there has been a great turn out in each place to see the film. Pray that those who see the film respond to the Gospel, and that there will be open doors for the Message to spread.

Africa Inland Church (AIC) is currently focusing on four areas where they are evangelizing: Mogos, Lotien, Riwotoo and Kapoeta Town. Mission leaders are being trained to plant churches and to equip new believers to share their faith. Their hope is that there will be an evangelist focused on teaching Bible stories in every Toposa village. Pray that the Word grows deep roots in the hearts of believers and that they are bold to share their faith.