Praise and Prayer ~ August 9, 2021

August 9th, 2021

Dear FFICM Prayer Partners, 

Notice all the emotions in the text: Painful. Grieve. Glad. Distressed. Rejoice. Confidence. Anguish. Tears. 

Paul doesn’t just tell the believers what to do . He communicates through his emotions. Our hopes for new believers are not just cognitive. We don’t just preach and teach from our knowledge of God’s will. We teach from our hearts, communicating from our love for them and God’s love for each of his children. 

“So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.”

2 Corinthians 2:1-4  (NIV)

Below you will find a prayer guide to support you as you accompany us in prayer and worship this week. May God bless your time in the quiet place with hope and peace.  

Nigeria:

• Current and Ongoing ministry
  • Muslim Outreach Ministry
    • TV and Radio — We continue to broadcast the TV and radio episodes that have been recorded to share about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and are specifically made for people coming to Christ from a Muslim background. Continue to pray for the impact of these recordings, and for the FFICM staff as they work to follow-up those who are coming to Christ. 
    • Solar-powered Audio Players — Many Muslims are coming to Christ through listening to the Bible in the local language which is on these players! Pray for all those who hear the Gospels through these devices. The Muslim leadership strongly oppose these players and are seeking to block all access to them in Nigeria. 
    • Pray: One of the new converts from Islam who was an Imam, is having trouble with his village and is experiencing much persecution. 
• Upcoming Events
  • Praise/Pray: Fundraising Planning for FFICM-Nigeria — The team in Nigeria is working on local fundraising opportunities in Nigeria. They are planning an open house event that will take place on October 2nd. Pray for the planning process, the vision casting, and the outreach strategy. Prisca is leading the Fundraising Team. Jefferson Lee (an International Philanthropy consultant in the US) is mentoring the Nigerian team in their fundraising efforts. They have been strategizing with the board of trustees and other key stakeholders in preparation for the event. 
  • Pray: The training that was planned for August 9th-13th with seminary students from the United Methodist Church of Nigeria (UMCN) in Bambur, Nigeria has been shifted to January. Pray for protection for the leaders and guidance from the Holy Spirit. 
  • Prayer: Training ECWA Pastors — The training of pastors in Tiga, Katsina State will be postponed from August 16th-20th because of poor support by the ECWA leadership. 

• Safety amidst Dangerous Violence: 
  • Pray: Famine, but not because of drought — Many Nigerian family farmers were not able to plant their crops to feed their families this year because of the threat of kidnapping. They will have to buy food instead of growing their own. This is unsustainable financially for the villagers and is leading to a food crisis since people cannot afford to feed their families. We need to pray for God’s intervention and provision!!  
  • Pray: Ongoing kidnappings — There continues to be more and more kidnapping in Nigeria. Some are politically motivated, some religiously motivated, but most of it is simply for the financial gain that can easily be obtained by getting the ransom payment. Our staff member Ishaku reported in our staff prayer time that two kids were kidnapped near his house this past week. We praise God that the children were released safely, but we pray that the kidnappings would stop and people would be able to move around without the constant fear of kidnapping.
  • Pray: Safety while Traveling — Ongoing security issues make it difficult to travel and do ministry. You never know which road will be closed or where the bandits will be. There are very frequent attacks and insecurity in the land. Please pray for safety for the trainers. Pray for Comfort that she will reach her destination safely as she travels. 
  • Pray: Safety for MBB trainers — Pray for safety for our MBB trainers Ahamed and Yusuf. They are often in great danger as they refute the teachings of Islam. Their lives are at risk. 
  • Pray: The Miango area near Jos has been under attack since Monday. Many have been killed and sent to refugee camps. There is a massive attack planned for Jos so people are really panicking and they are not safe. Over 200 houses have been burned down just outside of Jos. The soldiers say that they have not been given permission to help. 

• Prayer for our Ministry Team
  • Praise: Mercy’s Health — Mercy (FFICM Nigeria Finance Coordinator) recovered from her hurt finger and could not work due to the pain. Thank you for praying for her recovery. Praise God! 
  • Prayer: Ishaku’s Village — A corpse of a Fulani man was found near Ishaku’s village. The Fulani (who are Muslim) believe in revenge and will likely return to the village to attack and murder villagers at night. Please pray for protection and peace for Villagers who haven’t been able to sleep at night for fear of retribution. 
  • Praise/Pray: Sam’s family is doing much better! Sam is one of our lead trainers in Nigeria. His dad just had surgery on his eyes and his wife and daughter who had been sick are now feeling much better. Pray for health for his family and encouragement for them as they have been hit hard with many health issues this past year.
  • Pray: The visa situation for foreigners on long-term visas in Nigeria continues to get more and more difficult. No new or previous visa quota requests have been processed since September 2020. This impacts all those who are on a permanent visa there with a Green Card (like our International Trainer Rick Cordell). There are rumors that the government is trying to stop all foreign missionaries and foreign money from coming into the country. This impacts our work in Nigeria, but also the lives of hundreds of others who are ministering there. Pray for wisdom and provision from the Lord.

Ethiopia:

• Peace in Ethiopia
  • Pray: Uncertain Political Future — Ethiopia has been experiencing war in the north. Please pray for political resolution, for peace and for provision for the people whose lives had been devastated by the violence and loss of access to basic resources. 

• Strategic Development
  • Praise: Possible Vehicle — Praise God for the funds that have been received. Please pray as we continue to work on negotiating details and working on paperwork to buy a vehicle being sold by the US Embassy there in Ethiopia. There have been some challenges in processing the paperwork with the government due to the fact that it was owned by the embassy.  
  • Pray: Tesfaye’s language learning — Tesfaye (one of the FFICM trainers in Ethiopia) is already bi-lingual in that he speaks Amharic and Oromo. He is learning English to expand his capacity as a lead trainer. Pray that his tutoring would go well and that he would be able to remember all that he is learning.

• Past Events
  • Praise/pray: Last week training for 212 students in Arba Minch — The team trained university students in new believer follow-up (Wednesday through Saturday). Eskinder brought 1,050 New Believer Booklets to resource the participants for the classes they lead after the training. Praise God, during the training, the students practiced sharing their faith in the local community, and 21 people made first time commitments for Christ and 2 people that have fallen away from their faith committed to come back to the Lord. Pray for these new believers as the students work to do follow-up with them. The university students will go out starting today for a 1 month trip focusing on evangelism and follow-up in 10 different unreached people groups. Pray for all the logistics involved in this training, the outreach, and the follow-up of the new believers as a result. Pray for courage for all the students as they travel to share the Good News! 

• Current/Future Programs
  • Pray: Fall 2021 Training Marathon — Rich and others from the US will travel to Ethiopia in October/November to assist with 5 weeks of new believer follow-up training, including the following:
    • Week 1) Training of Asella Evangelical Churches Fellowship and more than 14 denominations will participate.
    • Week 2) Training the Genet Church denomination in Ethiopia. FFICM has not previously partnered with the Genet Church denomination so this training opens new possibilities for growing impact! 
    • Week 3) Training in a neighboring Muslim country – We will partner with Elias, an Ethiopian missionary in that country.
    • Week 4) Training of Women trainers at Ethiopia Kale Heywet Church – We will train 80 Ethiopian women in New Believer Follow-up. This team of women will become Trainers of Trainers. They have a plan for exponential growth as women are prepared to go out and train other women.
    • Week 5) The Head of the Ethiopia Kale Hayet Church has requested a training for follow-up of new believers from a Muslim background! 
  • Pray: the team in Ethiopia has more than one week-long training event scheduled for each month through the end of the year. Pray for wisdom in scheduling, preparing, and carrying out this busy schedule of ministry activities.

USA:

• Prayer for our Ministry Partners
  • Pray: Rich and Jerel’s August travel — This Thursday Rich and Jerel will travel to the East coast for two weeks to connect with supporters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Pray for their travel and for opportunities to share stories of God’s ministry through FFICM. Pray for the growth of partnership engagement! 
  • Pray/Praise: New International Trainer, Carly Powne! — Praise God for His provision in His timing. Pray for Carly’s transition from her current role as Youth Pastor in Texas to joining the FFICM team over the next several months. Pray that the right person would come along and that the kids would be open to it. Pray for her efforts to raise prayer and financial support as a missionary working with FFICM. We have been praying for God to provide new staff to come on board as International Trainers for almost 2 years! Carly has an amazing set of skills, experience, and passion that she brings to the team. Read more about Carly at www.fficm.org/carly-powne. 
  • Pray/Praise: New Development Director, Jerel Skeith! — We officially welcome Jerel Skeith to the FFICM team today as he has his first official day of work with FFICM. We are so grateful for the Murdock Trust grant we received for the Development Director position! Praise Jesus for this partnership! Jerel has been involved in ministry for years and has a passion for evangelism and new believer follow-up. We look forward to all that he brings to the team. Read more about him at www.fficm.org/meet-our-staff. 
  • Pray: Rick Cordell — Prayer that the process of getting his green card would go smoothly so that he can return to Nigeria soon. 
  • Pray: Dara Searcy-Gardner, former FFICM staff and Rich Gardner’s daughter — Dara continues to struggle with debilitating asthma. She asked us to pray that the medication (Xolair shots) would conquer the asthma. Pray for complete healing. 
  • Praise/Pray: Courtney Zurcher, FFICM intern — Courtney has served faithfully for the past year and a half as Communications Specialist. She has helped us with our Website Update Team, helped with our social media updates, prayer letters and the monthly prayer meeting as well as many other things. Praise God for all she has contributed to the growth and expansion of this ministry. Pray for wisdom as she transitions back to school for her last year at Azusa Pacific University.
  • Pray: Keith Larson, FFICM USA board member — Dr. Keith Larson experienced a mini-stroke this past week. Pray for his recovery and mercy for his family as they respond to Keith’s changing abilities after the stroke. 
  • Pray: Stacey Lloyd, FFICM USA volunteer — Stacey will not be in the office today as both he and his wife have come down with some respiratory bug this past weekend. Their daughter Hannah is also recovering from her surgery but not as quickly as hoped. His grandson also came down with an ear infection the same day as his daughter’s surgery so it’s been a rough weekend. 

• Pray for Strategic Development
  • Pray: Wisdom regarding church status — Pray for wisdom as FFICM applies for church status here in the US. Most large mission organizations have applied for and been granted church status in the US. This would allow us to be able to have all of our staff receive the ministerial housing allowance and would have other tax and finance benefits for us as an organization. 
  • Praise: U.S. based-training in July/August— We are training a group of 12 people weekly via Zoom! We are recruiting ministry partners interested in serving as both part-time and full-time trainers with FFICM from the US. Pray for successful training, encouragement for our US-ministry partners, and guidance by the Holy Spirit regarding long-term impact from this training. 
  • Pray: Fall Fundraiser — Pray for a smooth process in planning the fall fundraiser and wisdom in how to fundraise better. Help us to communicate well through all of our modes of communication. 
  • Pray for wisdom as we finish our next phase of updating our website. 

Poland:

• FFICM trainer Roman Barinowski who we have partnered with in Poland and Russia had surgery on his nose this past week. Pray for continued healing.