Answered Prayers
“Is this Good News that you have heard?” a missionary
asked a group of Mandinka women after a discussion about Christ’s
forgiveness of sins because of His death on the cross. The women
responded in unison, “Yes, this is a good message! Little
by little, we are understanding.” Mandinka women believe
that their only hope to get to heaven is through their husbands.
Many have little or no formal education, which means they have
no opportunity to study religion. Praise the Lord that each week
this group of women is hearing a message of hope, joy, salvation
and peace. Ask God to answer the prayers of one Mandinka woman
who recently asked God to allow “this good message to sink
down into my heart.” Ask God to help Mandinka women step
out in faith and follow Jesus! mandinkapeople.com/
A worker has begun a new discipleship program among Palestinians.
She writes: “The Father is breaking the chains, and people
are coming to know Jesus. We are so thankful for our many opportunities
to share the Good News.” The Lord is blessing the Palestinian
people by revealing Himself to them through this new outreach
program. Please pray for protection for these workers and for
the Spirit to continue to call Palestinian seekers to Himself.
palestinian-arabs.com/
Praise the Lord! A volunteer team recently came to serve in the
Be New area and saw amazing results. Thirty-five Be New women
(all new believers) attended the women’s conference and
were challenged to reach other Be New women with the Gospel. In
addition, the team planted numerous Gospel seeds and led eight
people to Christ. Potentially, four new groups could result from
the team’s ministry. Pray that their work will continue
to bear fruit and result in multiplying New Testament churches.
Thank God for 11 new Muslim-background believers who were baptized
in May, bringing the total number of newly baptized believers
in the Dhaka North network to 23 since the beginning of the year!
Workers in the city write: “The spiritual battle is at times
pretty intense, but the results are worth every minute of stress!”
Pray that they will abide in the vine, continue to bear fruit
that lasts, put on the armor of God daily and experience victory
through the Lord. go2southasia.org/
Give thanks for the many Lebou believers who are growing in their
faith and learning more and more about the way God would have
them live. From Senegal, the Lebou Team writes: “It has
been wonderful to hear Lebou believers discuss what the Bible
is saying to them and to hear one believer tell another that he
knows that pain and suffering is coming, but he has to do what
he feels the Lord would have him do. This is boldness and we have
been praying for that very thing!”
“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; Praise Him,
O you servants of the Lord” (Psalm 135:1, NKJV). The Wassulu
Team asks you to join them as they praise God for four new believers
in village D! The four West Africans accepted Christ in March
through the ministry of a volunteer team from Georgia. Ask the
Lord to give these new believers wisdom, boldness and steadfastness.
Pray for them to share their new faith with their families and
friends. Ask God to raise up a leader for this small, but growing,
group of believers. wassulu@bellsouth.net
Recently workers had to close a refugee center for Persian immigrants
in Turkey and re-open at a new location. Give thanks to God that
they were able to quickly find another building in a strategic
location for a lower rent! Pray that many Persian refugees will
experience rest and peace at this new center. Ask that they will
hear and respond to the Good News of God’s love and will
find in Him a true, eternal refuge. centralasia.imb.org/
Thank our God! H has talked with several believing women about
the differences between their beliefs and hers. After one of those
conversations, H asked if she could keep the Bible they were reading.
Since then, she has been reading it with the purpose of proving
her own beliefs. But we know God’s Word is powerful and
active. Please pray that as H reads, the Holy Spirit will open
her eyes to the truth of who Jesus is. pray4dubai@gmail.com
Praise the Lord for many opportunities in the last few months
among the Bridge people of Indonesia! Believers have been overjoyed
to meet with new Bridge people in many different areas. Please
ask that these relationships will continue to grow and develop.
Ask the Lord to show the believers which of their new friends
are open to hearing and responding to His Word of new life. Pray
that He will guide and empower their words as they witness.
“I shared my story, and three people prayed to accept Jesus!”
said K, a young Pakistani woman. K is growing in faith and in
boldness. She has realized that she is capable, through the Holy
Spirit, of sharing the Gospel and discipling new believers herself,
and she is doing it! Recently, these three new believers were
baptized. They are now meeting as a group at her house every week.
Praise the Lord for K’s growth in the Lord. Pray for the
three new believers to be filled with the knowledge of God’s
will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Pray for them
to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him
and bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:9-10). Pray
for them to share the Gospel story boldly with their families
and friends. go2southasia.org/
Four Wala women in a village in Ghana invited members of a team
of believers from Arkansas to come into their courtyard. One young
mother’s hand was swollen from a snake bite, and they asked
the believers to pray for her healing. Before praying through
their translator the team asked about the women’s relationship
to God. They quickly replied that they had seen the JESUS
film that was shown the night before and that they wanted to follow
Christ! Praise the Lord! All four women prayed a prayer of repentance
and commitment. What a blessing for four women who live and work
together daily to make this important decision. Pray for these
and the other new Wala believers to grow in faith and to become
a community of light. Pray for the pastors who will disciple them.
Thank the Lord for the many new believers He is raising up among
the Bridge people of Indonesia! Pray for the grace and peace of
the Father to reign in their hearts, so that they may be eager
to hear and know the Word and desire to share it with others.
Lift up these followers, asking that they will be willing to go
and make disciples of others, baptizing them and teaching them
to obey everything Christ commanded.
Please praise God for the work He has done among Bihari Muslims
in Bihar, India, through a team of national Christians. By the
end of 2007, this team had distributed 1,900 copies of the Gospel
of Luke in 13 Bihari Muslim villages. Seven families responded
positively. Please pray now that these families, as well as others,
will accept the salvation of the Lord and grow in His Word. This
year, the team hopes to reach another 10 villages with the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Please pray for team members as they travel to
remote villages, asking that they will be safe and healthy and
that God will provide for their every need. BihariBride@pobox.com;
http://www.biharimuslims.com/
A Kabyle Berber evangelist in Algeria has a very good friend
who is a prominent imam (religious leader) in the local
mosque. During a recent discussion, the imam demanded to know
why the Christians wanted to defeat the Muslims in Algeria. The
evangelist responded that Christians only wanted to help the Muslims.
He then explained that Jesus was already victorious, not over
Islam, but over Satan. Christians simply want the Muslims in Algeria
to share in this victory. Apparently the imam was touched by these
words. He accepted a Bible from the evangelist. Please pray that
God will work in his heart now that he has the one true Book.
In November 2006, a volunteer team from Georgia shared evangelical
films in a Wassulu village in West Africa. At that time, S boldly
made his first public confession of faith before a large crowd.
He had been mentored by Pastor F, who preaches and shares often
in public. For timid and quiet S, it was a new experience and
one that meant that he would be known as a Christian by the hundreds
who came to see the films that night. The Wassulu Team rejoiced
when S made this bold step into the public light as a believer.
It was an answer to the prayers of many. Today, S leads a Bible
study for the Wassulu in his village who have come to know Christ
in the past year. Praise the Lord for the faith and commitment
of S. Pray that God will guide and teach S as he studies the Word
and encourages the believers. Ask the Lord to keep S from discouragement
and to enable him to continue to grow in boldness. Ask the Father
to provide for his young Christian’s wife and children,
so that they will all stay healthy in a land of poverty. Pray
that S’s light for Christ will grow brighter and stronger.
wassulu@bellsouth.net
Praise the Lord! Thirteen Pakistani women heard the Easter story
last month when their teacher devoted four days to the telling
of the resurrection story in their Urdu literacy class. There
were many good questions and discussions. The women have asked
to hear more stories. Ask God to speak to the hearts of these
women and to bring them to a saving knowledge of the One who is
no longer in the tomb. go2southasia.org
When the Soviet Union crumbled 17 years ago, people like M couldn’t
imagine an identity outside of communism. A former KGB officer,
M said that he did not believe in God. “I’m a communist,
and I’m too old to change,” he explained. But God’s
power to change people was more than M anticipated. God first
wooed the hearts of M’s wife and daughter then powerfully
impacted his life. Just two years after declaring that change
was impossible, M surrendered his life to Jesus. Three years later,
in 1996, M’s aging mother also became a believer. His family
became a powerful example of the work God is doing throughout
Kazakhstan, where the Gospel has been spreading along family lines.
Today M is a successful businessman who desires to serve God and
share his faith in the professional world. Praise God for His
mercy and saving power. Pray for M as he witnesses to the Russian-speaking
Muslims with whom he interacts every day. Ask that he will also
have great wisdom as he helps to open a new business that will
enable overseas workers to join him in engaging the Russian-speaking
Muslims of Central Asia.
Last month, two new churches were dedicated and many new believers
were baptized among the Muslims of Lucknow, India. By the power
and grace of the Holy Spirit, now these new groups are being led
by an Indian partner. Praise the Lord for these village men and
women who have entered the kingdom of God. Ask God to preserve
and strengthen their faith. Intercede specifically for their knowledge
of God and His Word to grow and for them to consistently meet
together as Christ’s local body. Also pray for more people
to be saved. Lucknow4Jesus.org/
Thank our God! Some people have answered His call to work among
a Last Frontier Muslim people group. Pray for them as they fulfill
commitments in their current places of service and make plans
to move.
