“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 Saturday, August 1: Phil and Kimberly will be doing orientation for four new “Hands On” missionaries who will be serving four-month terms here in West Africa. Pray for them as they adjust to the climate, culture, and language differences. Sunday, August 2: With various volunteers, scheduled activities, bad road conditions and previously scheduled conferences for some, pray for a time that the Zerma team can meet together for a time of planning, fellowship and encouragement. Monday, August 3: The Sustar’s are just returning from their stateside assignment! We are praising God for this amazing family and that He is bringing them back to Niger to minister on the Zerma team. Praise God with us!!! Tuesday, August 4: Praise God for the wonderful things He is doing through FBC Sandersville, one of our partnering churches. The impact of a recent team of volunteers has increased ministry opportunities in “L” town significantly. Wednesday, August 5: Pray especially for Rachel, Christin, and Karis as they re-adjust to life in Niger. Thursday, August 6: Ask God to strengthen the Zerma believers in their walk with Him and to give them a bold spirit to share. Friday, August 7: Once again rains needed for planting crops seem to be slow in beginning. Pray it will rain and continue in sufficient amounts to make a good crop. Saturday, August 8: Thank you for your prayers for Karis. Her foot is completely healed. She is back to all her usual physical activity. Sunday, August 9: Pray for our spiritual growth. The day-to-day activities that fill up our schedule can often distract us from what is most important. Pray for us to be diligent in our personal quiet times. Pray also that we would get adequate rest. Monday, August 10: Lily returned from Bama last month. Pray that in the few months that she is here that Brandy and Kanesa would have time to pour into her spiritually. Pray that she would continue to grow and become more like Christ and more bold every day. Tuesday, August 11: Pray for Caleb, Caroline, Rachel, Christin, and Karis as they begin school. Pray that God would grow them in wisdom and knowledge and use them as lights among their teachers and friends. Pray for their faith to continue to increase and for them to be diligent in their studies. Wednesday, August 12: The seven summer volunteers in K-town have been gone for just a couple of weeks. Praise God for the impact they had in their villages! Ask God to help them as they re-adjust to life in America that they would not forget all He showed them while they were here. Thursday, August 13: Ask God to give Kanesa and Brandy direction and discernment as they seek to follow-up in the villages where the volunteers lived. Pray that as they disciple new and old believers they would know best how to lead them. Friday, August 14: Our dad in S-village has yet to make a bold stand as a Christian though he has been a believer for nearly two years. It is our hearts desire to see him truly count the cost of following Jesus and be willing to take up whatever cross he might have to bear. Pray that God would give him the urgency to share what he knows is truth with his family and friends. Saturday,
August 15: Praise the Lord for the "Proclaimers"
which have been brought to the Zerma team. We are getting them out
to various groups so that they can listen to them when they want.
The Proclaimers' have the entire New Testament in the Zerma language
and seem to be working well. It is solar powered and seems to be Sunday, August 16: H returned to live with her husband and took an MP3 player that has the New Testament in Zerma. It was meant to help her continue to grow in her faith, but her husband took it away from her---so that HE could listen to it!! Praise God that he is hearing the Word. Ask that is would divide the deepest parts of his being and bring him to faith in Jesus. Monday, August 17: Ask God to give Ben and Cindy wisdom and discernment as they reengage in ministry. Tuesday, August 18: Pray for the Cain family August 18-21, as they will be in Ouagadougou (eight hours from Niamey) for a week of team leader meetings. Pray that these meetings would be productive for Phil and pray for safety as they travel. Wednesday, August 19: Please pray for missionaries as they travel. Rainy season is especially a difficult time as dirt roads can become extremely bad and in places dangerous as roads tend to wash away in places. Thursday, August 20: H’s mom has been struggling with really high blood pressure and has fallen a couple of times while trying to move around. Please pray that God, in His mercy, would heal her, but more than anything that He would save her. She knows that her religion is “lost,” but she refuses to go to the One who is the Way. Friday, August 21: When Albass has an epileptic episode many people do not understand what is happening. Please pray for Zongo as she has cared for him the 13+ years of his life since the death of his mother. Zongo does not realize what the episodes does to his strength nor his body and tends to lose patience with him. Saturday, August 22: Daga is a diabetic. This can make an already physically difficult life much more difficult. Praise the Lord that some Christians saw this need and recently provided a monitor so he will be able to check his blood. Praises that this monitor will ease some of his burdens. Pray also that this will be a large step in Daga accepting Christ as Savior. Sunday, August 23: Please remember the Zerma, as rainy season is quite a change. Most will be walking or living in or near their crops. Water in puddles is a temptation to drink as the water wells are far away. Pray for wisdom and good health during this time. Monday, August 24: Z is a new believer in K-town through the testimony of Cody, one of the summer volunteers. Please ask God to make his faith strong and genuine. May he bear much fruit for the kingdom of God even now that Cody is gone. Tuesday, August 25: Rainy season is great as many plants come to life. But rainy season also brings sickness because of malaria and diarrhea as well as amoebas from being near or drinking the water. Wednesday, August 26: Pray for the many Christians who will be working hard in their fields and will not have contact with other Christians for several weeks or months. Pray that the Holy Spirit will encourage and bless them and their efforts to bring Christ to their friends, families and neighbors. Thursday, August 27: Harry has become a good friend of Kanesa and Brandy’s. He first came to know them because he repaired their fridge and called Kanesa a radical. He listened closely as 42 Bible stories were explained to him in detail. He confessed he saw the truth. And then he rejected it. Please ask God to give him courage and to bind the fear that is in his life that keeps him from believing. There are many others like him who are merely afraid to trust in Jesus. Friday, August 28: Please pray for Penny as she has struggled to know how long to stay in Niger working with the orphans. When God told her to stay, He did not tell her when to leave. Ask that God would clearly direct her and give her peace in the midst of uncertainties. Pray that He would bless her obedience. Saturday, August 29: There are a handful of children in K-town who spend much time with Kanesa, Brandy, and the many others that come to stay in their house. They are precious children who are getting the privilege of hearing God’s Word from the time they are young. It is evident that some of them even understand already the difference between the religion of their parents and Christianity. Ask God to cause the seeds to spring up in their hearts. Ask that they would be the new generation of those who truly follow after God. Ask that God would also protect them from many of the dangers that surround them. Sunday, August 30: Ask God to strengthen our language skills and help us to continually grow in our understanding of the culture that we might be better ministers of the Gospel. Monday, August 31: Over the past month we’ve noticed an increased interest in spiritual things on the part of the Zerma people. All of us on the team have noticed more and more questions about the “Jesus road” as well as requests for Bibles, cassette tapes, and for the ‘Proclaimers’ that play an audio recording of the New Testament in Zerma. Praise God for what He is doing among the Zerma! Thank you for your faithful prayers that help bring all this about. Thank you for
working with us through your faithful prayers, |
