(Photo of a small group of trainees practicing teaching from the FFICM Follow-up Booklet.)
Nigeria:
- Praises:
- God is continuing to bless the personal ministry of Zainab, one of our trainers. Five people joined the new believer follow-up group which Zaibab leads. Additionally, two homeless women joined Zainab’s professional training class. As a personal ministry, Zainab has also been teaching baking skills (pastries, bread, yogurt, biscuits, wedding cakes, etc.) to women in her community. After completing the three month training which Zainab offers, these women are fully equipped to open their own shop so they can begin earning money. The required capital for starting a small bakery shop is affordable for even poor women. Zainab has been offering this ministry for free for the past 18 years! Praise God for leading us to partner with a woman of such faith and dedication to serving the Lord!
- Last week two of the FFICM-Africa team (Prisca and Valentine) co-facilitated a 3-day New Believer Follow-up Training Event for 30 people. The training was organized by a pastor who had previously received training through FFICM at Gindri Seminary. He organized this follow-up training event for leaders of the church including representatives from the youth group, from among the elders, and the women’s fellowship. Praise God that the vision for strengthening young Christians is spreading among the church in Nigeria! Thank God also for the faithful service of our Nigerian partners, Prisca and Valentine!
- The new office for FFICM-Africa in Nigeria is almost complete! The team is hoping to be able to move into their new office this week. The work of painting has finished, and they are just taking care of the final details.
- Last week the team recorded the next 13 radio episodes that will be airing on 4 different radio stations. Pray that God would touch many lives through these recordings. Now they are getting ready to record 13 new TV episodes for two different TV stations. Pray that they come out in a good quality. May God continue to draw believers and nonbelievers towards abundant life with God in Jesus Christ through these programs!
- Pray with us for:
- The Hausa Background Believer (HBB) conference. Preparations and ongoing work by the leaders. Today is a day of prayer and fasting for the conference. Peter will share about the gospel card and about follow-up.
- The Jalingo conference. Preparations continue to move forward. We expect over 1,000 attendees to come together in mid-April for this event.
- This week trainers from the FFICM-Nigeria team (Sam, Pankyes, Valentine and Ishaku) are leading a new believer follow-up training event for 130 people in Gidang Waya, Nigeria. Pray for strength, zeal, and vision for them as they work to equip church leaders with tools and strategies for meeting the unique needs of new Christians.
- Pray for the Nigerian board of trustees for FFICM-Africa are meeting on Thursday this week. Pray for wisdom as they make decisions about the local organization and the work to lead and build capacity in our Nigerian counterpart/partner.
- The National Director of FFICM-Africa, Peter Wash, will be sharing with 300 Fulani believers about FFICM’s new believer follow-up ministry. The leader of the Fulani Christians is on the planning committee for the Muslim Background Believer (MBB) Conference. Pray for God to empower Peter as he teaches and for the Holy Spirit to encourage and embolden the Fulani Christians in their own faith and ministry.
- Rick Cordell is leading a training event in Abuja this Friday and Saturday. Please pray for safety in travel and for a good response to the training.
Ethiopia:
- Praise:
- Tesfaye has joined the FFICM team in Ethiopia! He has been leading the evangelism department of EKHC, the denomination we work with there. We are excited to have him join the team there!
- Pray with:
- Eskinder has continued searching to find a suitable vehicle for us to purchase for the work of the ministry there in Ethiopia. We are grateful for the money that has been given for this by donors in the US. We thought that we had enough funds but it is getting harder and harder to find vehicles for sale in Ethiopia as the government stopped the import of vehicles over a year ago.
- Pray for the preparations for the large conference that will be held in Ethiopia at the end of March for 15k-20k participants.
- Pray for wisdom as we continue to begin work with the Genat denomination there.
USA:
- Praise:
- FFICM was approved for the Murdock Trust grant! Praise God for the provision of financial resources which will be dedicated exclusively toward the position of a Fundraising Director. Pray for the hiring team as we search for the right person to fill this role.
- Yesterday David shared at partner church Laurel Community Church (Hillsboro, OR) in their morning service about the ministry of FFICM, and board member Ken Keeley was also there and helped answer questions and dialogue with people from the church about FFICM. This church has been supporting FFICM for a long time and we praise God for their ongoing passion for new-believer follow-up.
- FFICM partner church Trail Christian Fellowship (Eagle Point, OR) held their annual missions conference this past weekend. We praise God for their dedication to ongoing prayer and financial partnership!
- Rich made it safely back to Oregon! He had a great 2 weeks of training in Ethiopia and a fruitful several days of meetings with strategic partners in the Atlanta, GA area on his way back to Oregon. Pray that he gets a negative Covid test today so that he can get into our office (that is located in the Luis Palau Association headquarters) and work there again.
- Pray with us:
- Dara was no longer able to fill the role of Director of Communications with FFICM due to her ongoing health problems and related issues. We grieve the loss of Dara’s health and stand with her in prayer as she focuses all her energy on her recovery. We join her in prayer for physical healing, for financial provision amidst the far reaching impact of this devastating illness, and for direction and wisdom. Pray for FFICM as we navigate the need for a new Director of Communications.
- Pray for good attendance at our “First Saturday of the Month FFICM Virtual Prayer Meeting” this coming Saturday, March 6 via Zoom. We will be focusing prayer on the 4 upcoming conferences that will be held in Nigeria and Ethiopia in the coming months. Pray that there would be good attendance, and pray that the prayer needs would be clearly communicated.
- Stacy’s brother who was just put on hospice care after many years of debilitating sickness. Pray for him and his family as they support him during his last days and weeks. (Stacy is a US volunteer overseeing our multimedia)
- Luis Palau who was also just put on hospice care. (Our FFICM office is located right above Luis’, as part of the Palau LinkCenter in the Luis Palau Association headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.)
