Four missionary teams have deployed to a troubled land (that we’re calling Wellspring) in East Africa in the past 60 days. You, and other Christians like you, are the ones who, through God’s power, are making this happen. Thank you for your prayers, support, and shared vision. Here are some quick summary prayer points for each of these four teams. Will you join us in praying for Wellspring and these 12 faithful servants?
Three Prayer points for the A-Team:
1. Learn the Language Quickly
They’ve settled into their town, which has around 100,000 inhabitants from the focus unreached people group. But it’s part of a much larger city. They meet together for planning and prayer, but live separately for strategic reasons. Two of the three team members don’t speak the language of Wellspring – so that’s the first order of business for them. They’re prioritizing language most of all in this first year. Please pray that God will loosen their tongues and that they’ll learn language and culture quickly.
2. Find Friendships and People of Peace
Pray for Mahmud (male), Kitira, and Fabayo (both female team members) as they begin to make friends among Wellspring people. Pray that these new friends will be able to introduce them to other friends and help them get established. They are especially looking for these influential gateway relationships, sometimes referred to in mission circles as “people of peace,” taken from Jesus’ instructions to the disciples that He was sending out. (See Luke 10 — especially verse 6. See the phrase “someone who promotes peace.” Those are the people for whom the group is searching now.) The team is praying intently for guidance in this. They are trying to talk to everyone, including their new landlords, to see who might listen — and “promote peace” for them. Please ask God to lead them to People of Peace.
3. Prayers and Praise for Kitira
Kitira has medical training and understands the language of Wellspring a little better, from previous visits. She has been volunteering at a medical center in their neighborhood. The owner has taken Kitira under her wing and is allowing her to make friends there. It’s working great. Unfortunately, she already went through a very troubled time as she became very ill from something she ate. Please join us in giving thanks that she has recovered and is doing much better now.
Three quick summary prayer points for the D-Team:
1. Pray for Bakari
The members of this team have settled into a town with approximately 80,000 inhabitants of the focused unreached people group — Wellspring. Bakari has chosen to attend formal language classes, since he has the most ground to cover. (He knew very little of the language of the Wellspring people.) But he has special training in computers. Once the owner of the language school learned about his skills, they asked him to teach computers at the school, so that’s helping him meet people of Wellspring very effectively. Please pray for his language progress and for his ability to share in the classroom, both as a language student and as a computer teacher.
2. Pray for Femi
Femi is more familiar with the language, having visited the people of Wellspring previously. Pray for her as she seeks to develop relationships and meet “persons of peace.”
3. Pray for Mwamba
Mwamba is a Muslim background believer himself. In other words, he is a member of the Wellspring people group who has come to full faith in Christ as his savior. So now, he is an insider going back to reach his own people. As a result, he doesn’t need language training since he is speaking his native language. He is seeking out other Muslim background believers, though they are very few, in hopes of building a network among them. Mwamba’s experience as an insider is not only helping the D-team, but also other teams as well. Please pray for his safety and security as he would be a likely target for persecution, since he is operating at a higher level already in the culture, as an insider.
Here are three quick summary prayer points for the H-Team:
1. Pray for Yaz
The H-Team is also blessed with a cultural insider named Yaz. He grew up in this city, which has around 760,000 inhabitants. So, he is a Muslim background believer being sent back into the town where he grew up. He has already identified a family with whom to share the Good News. Pray for Yaz as he shares with his people. Pray for his safety, yet ask God to make him bold. Ask the Lord to help him as he feels responsible for the other two team members.
2. Pray for Visas
Simba has visited Wellspring previously, so he’s a little more familiar. But Dakari is starting pretty much from scratch, trying to learn language and culture. They both needed visas because they’re not from Wellspring, of course. They have started with a one-month visitor visa. Please pray that they can obtain a one-year multiple entry permit without any difficulties.
3. Pray for Dakari
Dakari needs prayer for language learning. There’s no formal school in the city of H, so he’s learning in community and with Yaz as well. Please ask God to loosen his tongue.
Here are three quick summary prayer points for the DJ-Team:
1. Pray for Visas
Please pray for the whole DJ-team to get visas for the place in Wellspring where they are working. There are over a half million people Wellspring people living in the city to which the DJ team have moved. That’s huge. The need there is so great. Ask the Lord to help the entire team obtain long-term visas.
2. Pray for Hondo
Hondo has visited the city many times before and has been the first to obtain a one-year multiple entry visa. Pray for Hondo as he tries to pave the way for Asabi and Dawud to obtain visas too. Ask the Lord to guide them as they consider partnership with an existing humanitarian aid non-government organization (NGO) working in the area.
3. Pray for Dawud
Also, please ask God to help Dawud recover from the severe malaria he has been battling. He has already improved some. Please ask for 100% recovery. Please pray that Dawud and Asabi can learn the language and culture quickly.
As you’re praying for this team and the other three, please pray for 3 additional teams we’re currently seeking to launch in 3 other sites. Ask God to provide partners to empower their work, team members willing to go, and entry strategies that will work effectively. Thank you for your partnership in prayer!
When sending gifts to empower the work of this team, please send them to Team Expansion, Account 1179, 4112 Old Routt Road, Louisville, KY 40299. Or you can learn more and make donations online here.
