Dear FFICM Prayer Partners,
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.
- There is an MBB who has suffered their house being burned and their children and wife being taken. Help him to endure and pray for his safety.
- Praise/Pray: There are about 320 MBBs in the area! Praise God for so much openness to the gospel among Muslims in this area. Pray that the Lord would encourage them and keep them safe.
- 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. THye have invited Christian politicians, church leaders, and church members that have a heart for ministry.
- Pray: Ahamed is trying to organize another training for about 5 muslim converts to train them on the new MBB material and to follow up with those in their community. This will happen hopefully next week. They will also train trainers. Pray for them as they work to translate the Follow-up Booklet into Hausa, the local language of MBBs of the area.
- 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. We pray that the kidnappings would stop and people would be able to move around without the constant fear of kidnapping.
- There have been many kidnappings near where Mercy and Valentine live. Mercy was kidnapped but thankfully was released.
- 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: 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 last 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.
- Pray: The city of Jos, where the FFICM office in Nigeria is located is currently under lockdown due to many killings in and around the city. Some of our staff are stuck outside the city and are having a hard time getting home. The killings are back and forth between Christians and Muslims, and there are people that are being brought in from other areas to do killings and fingers are getting pointed in many directions. The bottom line is that hundreds of people are being killed, the people are scared, and they need the peace of God to reign in their land.
- Pray: Zainab reports that in the capital, the Muslims are capturing young Christian girls aged 16-18 and forcing them to marry Muslim men and convert to Islam. Pray for protection, wisdom and peace.
- Pray: There is nowhere safe for Ahamed to go right now. He is not safe in Muslim communities because they see him as an evangelical and a traitor. He is also unsafe in Chrisitian communities because they think he is a Muslim. Pray for peace and for guidance in where he can safely live. Also pray for peace and safety for his family.
- Pray for Kaduna state where Zainab’s extended family lives because it is the next area threatened by the attackers. It is still hard to get food in the area and the Hausas are threatening to retaliate the killing in Jos.
- Prayer for our Ministry Team
- 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 — War is continuing in the northern part of the country. 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. People are displaced from their villages to other parts of the country due to this war.
- Pray: There is a third wave of COVID hitting Ethiopia causing a high number of deaths. The government has restricted some gatherings over 50. Pray for wisdom in determining restrictions that will stop the spread and keep people safe.
- Strategic Development
- Praise/Pray: Vehicle — Praise God that the needed 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 for wisdom to know if we need to look for a different vehicle as the paperwork is taking so long on the one we have been looking at.
- Pray: Tesfaye’s language learning — Tesfaye (FFICM trainer in Ethiopia) is already bi-lingual as 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.
- 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.
- Praise: Two weeks ago 212 young people received training. 84 people who had fallen away from the faith, due to lack of follow-up, came back to Christ due to this training, and 55 came to Christ.
- Pray for the 10 groups from the student training that are doing evangelism and follow up teaching.
USA:
- Prayer for our Ministry Partners
- Pray: Rich and Jerel’s August travel — Rich and Jerel flew to the East coast for two weeks to connect with churches and FFICM supporters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They have visited many churches while there, including a new church. They have received new sign ups for the prayer letter, as well as possible donations. Pray for their travel and for opportunities to continue to share stories of God’s ministry through FFICM. Pray for the growth of partnership engagement!
- Pray for Rich as he has been struggling with a sinus cold while on the East Coast.
- 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 be chosen by the church to replace her as youth pastor there and that the kids would be open to the new person. Pray for Carly’s 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 for the upcoming commissioning service at Carly’s church on Sunday August 29th in San Antonio, Texas.
- Pray/Praise: New Development Director, Jerel Skeith! — We praise God for our new Development Director Jerel Skeith who just joined us this month and is already traveling and sharing about our work. We are so grateful for the Murdock Trust grant we received for the Development Director position! Praise Jesus for this partnership and the legacy that was left from the life of Jack Murdock, founder of Tektronix! 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 Jerel brings to the team. Read more about him at www.fficm.org/meet-our-staff.
- Pray/Praise: Rick Cordell — Pray that the process of getting his green card would go smoothly so that he can return to Nigeria soon.
- Praise: He just received his renewed US passport! Pray for wisdom as he looks to make decisions about upcoming ministry opportunities in Nigeria and Ethiopia and waits for God’s provision of a visa for either of those countries.
- 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.
- Pray: Keith Larson, FFICM USA board member — Continue to pray for Dr. Keith Larson who recently experienced a mini-stroke. Pray for his complete recovery and mercy for his family as they respond to Keith’s changing abilities after the stroke.
- Continue to pray for those continuing to be impacted by Coronavirus around the world including one of our own FFICM board members.
- Pray: Rich and Jerel’s August travel — Rich and Jerel flew to the East coast for two weeks to connect with churches and FFICM supporters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They have visited many churches while there, including a new church. They have received new sign ups for the prayer letter, as well as possible donations. Pray for their travel and for opportunities to continue to share stories of God’s ministry through FFICM. Pray for the growth of partnership engagement!
- 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 last week. Pray for continued healing.
