Summer is coming! College students are out of class, and families go on vacation. All the while, unreached peoples of the Asia-Pacific Rim still seek truth from false gods and remain in darkness. There are many Christian college students who have chosen to go to these unreached peoples and spend their summer sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank God for them! Pray as these college students arrive in the Asia-Pacific Rim this month to spread the light and truth of God's Word to dark places.
Every two to five years, missionaries transition to the United States to begin a stateside assignment. During that time, they speak at churches, work on new training, and rest. Before their stateside assignment, missionaries must find people to whom they can entrust their ministries. This situation is imminent for missionary Ronnie Davis, who teaches fulltime at Cape Town Baptist Seminary. He teaches many courses, and finding someone else to teach those courses is often difficult. This year, the seminary faculty and Ronnie are looking for a teacher who can teach May through October. Ask God to send the right person or people to teach in Ronnie's stead so that he won't have to teach remotely while on stateside assignment. Give thanks to God for the 25 years that Ronnie has taught at the seminary and his diligence in training men and women to take the gospel to the ends of the world! Thank God for the 50 years that the seminary has been open to train South Africans and other people of the world to be ministers and servants of the Lord!
(REE-oh day juh-NAIR-oh) - University students are well into the semester. Please pray for the students as they do assignments, go to class, finish projects, and take tests. Also pray for Christian students to have boldness to share the gospel with others. May they have the courage to speak up when they disagree with things that are taught in the classroom. Pray for new believers to be discipled and to get involved in local churches around the city.
(KAHN-kin) - Some local harvest workers have been meeting with a Velip family that is hosting a church in their home. The Velip are an unengaged, unreached people group, and this family is the first contact with them! The family has been beaten and has had their home destroyed because they left their traditional beliefs. Pray for this Velip family to be encouraged and to remain bold. Pray against the stronghold of religious traditions in the area, and ask for many Velip to come to faith in Jesus alone. Pray for believers to be discipled and for the Lord to produce much fruit in the district.
In October, you were asked to pray for a believing young Arab man who had received an unexpected diagnosis. Months later, Amine continues his battle with cancer. After his first treatments and some surgeries, it was thought that the cancer was gone. Unfortunately, scans showed that it remains, and he must continue with another round of rigid treatments. The chemotherapy is taking a toll on Amine's body. Thankfully, his mother and siblings are in-country and are able to care for him. Please pray for endurance and complete healing. Pray for Amine to cling to the hope and peace he has in Christ. Ask for the doctors and nurses to see the light of Jesus in him and the church as they minister to him. Please also pray for peace and comfort for his mother, siblings, and fiancée.
Many Japanese older women have more free time and are willing to meet with missionaries for English conversation practice. Some have never read the Bible or heard anything about how it can be helpful for everyday life. Three women in their 60's and 70's have met recently with a missionary woman and are showing interest in learning how Bible teachings can positively affect their relationships and life. Pray that the Lord will soften their hearts and give them understanding as they spend time talking and reading together. As Japanese senior adults search for ways to spend their free time, pray that more will find Christians to talk to and be introduced to the Creator God and Jesus. Pray that churches, who have a large percentage of their members in their later years, would provide gatherings for talking, prayer, study of the Word and sharing a meal together this month.
A local evangelical school has been working hard to prepare an Easter program to be broadcast on the Eastern Orthodox Easter holiday, which falls on May 5 this year. This will be broadcast online and via satellite. Pray that their message of the true resurrection will reach the ears and hearts of those across the Israeli Arab world who are ready to hear and that they will repent and believe.
Please pray for Paul and Nancy serving in Africa. They had to relocate last year when a political rebellion forced them to quickly leave their country of service. They have been faithful in language learning and ministry for the past several months. Some IMB team members have returned to that country, but Paul and Nancy had to wait. One reason is that Nancy fell and hurt her back, which affected her mobility. As she recovered from the fall, her back was re-injured at least twice. Another reason why the couple had to wait was because of a delay in securing their visas. Nancy recently wrote: "Thank you for your prayers for us. We had a lot of grace today. The first thing was getting our visas. The officer saw that I had mobility problems, and the visa was given very quickly. The second is that our language tuition fees have been cancelled for this month. This is because I fell at school (slipped on a wet tile)." Please pray for Nancy's full recovery from her back injuries. Please pray that both Paul and Nancy can join the rest of their team as planned in mid-May.
Please pray for the church in Malawi to take up its responsibility in spreading the gospel to the hundreds of thousands of Deaf or hard-of-hearing people in Malawi. A few volunteer teams are preparing to visit Malawi and minister specifically to the Deaf communities there. Pray for them to have wisdom as they work with hearing Malawian pastors to encourage them in ministry to the Deaf. Ask God to call many Deaf to Himself and to raise up, within their communities and groups, men and women to lead.
(sir-KAY-she-uns) - Some believers who have been living among Circassian people will be moving away soon. Please intercede for them as they interact and meet with Circassians and say their goodbyes. Pray that God will be at work in the Circassians' lives and bring other believers into a relationship with them who can continue to share the gospel.
(SHOW-pee) - "Aaron is sick," the message came in late one night. "They sent him back from the hospital with a small sack of pills for the pain." The scene is all too familiar, as poor medical care offers only nonprescription-level pain medication and sends away a newly paralyzed man with no further assistance. No explanations are given for why his body has suddenly stopped working on one side. No assistance is provided for him or his sustenance-farming family, terrified with their patriarch being so ill. He lays on a straw mat for days. Time passes. There are only minor improvements. He turns away church members' visits and regresses to his animistic culture. He is afraid. His world is shattering. His family's wellbeing is riding on his shoulders. Doubts creep in. Satan's deceptions are so much heavier in the dark. "Please join us in praying for our brother, Aaron, as he battles this health scare. Pray most fervently for his heart, as it is even more under attack than his physical body. Pray for God's words to come to mind and for an openness to the body of Christ that he has clung to in the past. To God be the glory in Aaron's life."