We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:20-22
20 June 2022
Dear FFICM Prayer Partners,
This morning Jerel shared from Paul Tripp’s New Morning Mercies. The gospel is one of hope, of victory, of never being alone. We were challenged with the question “what impact does the gospel have on how you live and interact with others today?”
Prayer requests from group:
Highlights from this week’s update:
- Pray for Florence as she prepares for an upcoming new believer follow-up training she is coordinating in Cameroon.
- Pray: Pankeyes and Zainab will be traveling to the village of Zaron, Nigeria this week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do new believer follow up with the girls school we spoke at in March.
- Pray for one of our past trainees who teaches theology at a university in Ethiopia. Next week he will be training 300 university students in new believer follow-up training.
Nigeria:
Nigeria Program Updates
- Continue to pray for the Nigeria team to find a good Operations Manager/Office Manager. Pray that God would show them the way forward. Pray for unity of mind and planning with the Nigerian board of trustees and staff as they make this decision.
- Pray: Inflation continues to be very bad in Nigeria. The already high prices keep doubling. This is making it difficult for people to buy food. Farmers are unable to buy fertilizer because the fertilizer they use is a petrochemical product, and the price has tripled. It is time to plant this year’s crops but seed and fertilizer is so expensive, many people can’t afford to plant now, and without crops there will be food scarcity later. Pray especially for the many poor pastors and congregations that are being severely tested. Many people have decided not to farm this year. Please pray for them and that they will be able to provide food for their families.
- Pray for the staff development the first week of July. Pray for what they should discuss and work well as a team.
- Pray for preparation for the MBB conference in October. Pray for God’s guidance and wisdom on how this conference can come together.
- Praise/Pray: Peter has made good progress on his USA visa application for coming to the US for his classes for his doctoral degree this Fall. Now he just needs to schedule his interview with the US Embassy. Pray that his application will be looked on favorably. We are hoping he will be able to also share with you all in-person at our Fall Fundraiser.
- We sent materials to Kaduna this week. They are excited to take the materials and training to the local churches. Pray for them as they use the materials and lead others in new believer follow up.
- Pray: Pankeyes and Zainab will be traveling to the village of Zaron this week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do new believer follow up with the girls school we spoke at earlier this spring.
- Pray for Ahmed and his driver who are traveling to Gembu, Nigeria today to meet with some new believers from a Muslim background. It is a long trip, pray for safety as well as for the ministry that will be done in Gembu.
- Ongoing Muslim Outreach Ministry
- Pray: TV and Radio Ministry — 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. The FFICM-Nigeria team is meeting in-person with these converts to support them in their new faith.
Prayer for the Nigeria Ministry Team
- Peter Wash, National Director Nigeria
- Pray: Peter is working with doctors about recent stomach issues. They are running tests and working on his diet. He is feeling better although he has been tired. Please pray for his overall health.
- Samuel Chungwom, Trainer
- Praise/Pray: After a long period of drought, rain has begun. This is good for the gardens. But this means that people are going out to their gardens and criminals know this and are looking for isolated people in their gardens to attack and rob. Pray for safety.
- Praise: Sam’s parents’ health is much better, but when it is rainy, they often get sick. His dad has been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.
- Praise: Sam’s youngest son is 4 months old now and is healthy, but has had some ongoing health issues on and off.
- Prisca Barth, Trainer
- Pray for her visa application to the US for her Multnomah University class this Fall.
- Praise: her husband, Bartholemew, has returned from the hospital and is walking again. Pray for his continued healing.
- Zainab, part-time Trainer
- Praise God that she is “doing fine by the grace of God.” Please pray for the women she is leading and for the fellowship.
- Yusuf, former Trainer
- Continue to pray for Yusuf. He is telling others how grateful he is to FFICM who were more concerned about Yusuf and his salvation than ourselves. He testifies of how FFICM follows and lives out what the Bible teaches, using the example of leaving the 99 to find the 1.
Kenya:
Pray for Joel Kimuyu as he meets with Pastors to train them and meet with them about future trainings with the Masai.
- Pray for upcoming new believer follow-up training June 5-10 in Malaa in Machakoa, Kenya.
- Pray also as he travels to Isinya in Kajiado, Kenya to plan for a training there.
- Pray for two meetings with pastors in different places, In Insinya and Malaa.
Cameroon:
Pray for Florence as she prepares for an upcoming new believer follow-up training she is coordinating in Cameroon.
- The trainers will travel from Bamenda to Maroua by car and train June 23-25
- Training will be held June 27 – July 1.
Ethiopia:
Program Updates
- Praise/and prayer request regarding vehicle purchase: A vehicle has been found! It is brand new and is within our budget, and is available right away! The only thing we are waiting for now is the transfer of funds. The first time we tried to make the wire transfer, the funds got hung up for almost 2 months. We are looking for alternate ways to get the funds transferred.
- Praise: Eskinder’s US visa was approved. Pray for wisdom as he prepares for travel to the US this Fall both to visit the FFICM office as well as attend his Multnomah doctoral class.
- Praise: Many people keep coming into Eskinder’s office asking for many copies of our materials. They continue to use what they learned and are doing new believer follow-up with many and are also training others to use the materials.
- Praise & Pray for wisdom: There are many requests for more training, resources, and additional conferences. We generally train only 100 at a time, and there are many more church pastors and leaders who want to be trained.
- Pray/praise for our trainees who are continuing to train others! Especially the women!
- Pray for Ethiopia as there is still a lot of unrest in the northern part of the country. It is no longer only with the Tigray but now also with Oromia and the government.
- Pray for the Hosanna area. The regional church asked for training. They are also asking for the True Gospel Conference next year. Many people in Hosanna are going astray and following different kinds of things so they are calling and requesting the big conference and training for pastors, evangelists, and church members.
- Continue to pray for an ongoing difficult staff situation in Ethiopia that Eskinder is working with. Pray for wisdom.
- Pray for a training for MBBs in Butajira, Ethiopia in July. They are currently securing the dates.
- Pray for one of our past trainees who teaches theology at the university. Next week he will be training 300 university students in new believer follow-up training.
United States:
Strategic Development and ongoing ministry
- Praise: Pray for wisdom as FFICM continues to look for a new part-time bookkeeper in the US.
- Praise/Pray: Church status — FFICM has applied for church status here in the US. The was submitted months ago! Pray for wisdom for the IRS as they consider our application. 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 financial benefits for us as an organization. We are still waiting for a response from the IRS. Keep praying about this…
- Pray: International Director of Prayer — We are praying that God will provide a volunteer International Director of Prayer for FFICM. We would love to have someone to take charge and develop this crucial area of ministry even more. Pray that God would raise the right person up for the job.
- Praise for the grant request “Letter of Inquiry” that Jerel sent out recently for the Fall women’s trainer training in Ethiopia. Pray also for a few other grant requests that he is working on preparing to submit in the next few months.
- Pray we are working to get our financial compilation finished so we can finish our 2021 990.
- Pray for Rich and Jerel as they continue to meet with many FFICM partners to share one-on-one with people about the amazing things that we saw God do in the recent trip to Africa and celebrate together about the goodness of God.
- Pray for the upcoming trip to the East Coast this August 5-17, and for the opportunity to share the ministry with conferences and congregations around the area. August 7 there will be an evening service where we have the opportunity to meet with many churches at one time and in one place.
- Pray for 2 churches who might join in partnership with the organization this year.
- Pray for the steering team committees for the golf tournament and for the east coast tour.
- Continue to pray for our financial situation at FFICM as we spend time developing it as well as working on long term structures that will help us with finances and accountability. We praise God for several recent large donations, but we continue to look for God’s provision to enable FFICM to be able to continue to grow and expand.
- Pray for our team as we are writing new materials for the US audience. Pray that God will give us wisdom and insight for what we can do to help new believers in the US and adapt our materials. We will be shooting some video components for that at the office this week.
- Pray for doors to open to be able to share our ministry with individuals and churches.
Ministry Partners
- Carly Powne, US Based International Trainer — www.fficm.org/carly-powne
- Continue to pray for Carly to be at 100% monthly support — We pray that God will continue to bring a full team of prayer and financial partners for Carly so she can focus fully on her role as an International Trainer with FFICM. Praise God for those who have already signed up to be part of her prayer and financial support team. Praise God she is currently at 70% of her needed monthly support. Once she gets up to full support she can increase the number of trainings she is involved with.
- Pray for Lane, her 3 year old cousin who is like a nephew to her. Lane was recently diagnosed with Leukemia and is struggling daily to take his medication. Please pray for Lane as he is an active boy, and a lot has changed in his life in a short time. Please pray for his family as well: Mom, Dad, and 3 sisters.
- Jerel Skeith, Director of Strategic Relationships
- Praise: Jerel and his wife recently bought a new home (still in the Portland area) to better meet the needs of their family. They are settling in and adjusting to new routines, but very grateful for wonderful new neighbors. Pray for wisdom as they transition to the new house and deal with all of the adjustments involved in that move.
- David Moore, Director of Operations
- Pray: Son Andrew (aka: Ben) is still in juvenile detention. Next court hearing is again this week on Wednesday. Pray for wisdom as David and Denise navigate this process. David visited Andrew in juvenile detention yesterday. His heart is still very hard and he doesn’t appear to want or to be able to make the changes that he needs to make in order to gain the freedoms that he wants. He has been asking staff at juvenile detention for a satanic Bible.
- Praise/Pray: This weekend he will be celebrating his father-in-law’s 80th birthday with many family and friends coming to town from across the country.
- Pray for wisdom as they look for a replacement car for their daughter Hannah was recently in an accident that totaled her car.
- Rich Gardner, President
- Pray for his family situation.
- Pray for the finances of FFICM. We desire to continue to grow and expand and we need wisdom in knowing how to grow our financial base so we can continue to expand the ministry globally.
- Pray for Rich as he continues writing new materials for FFICM.
- Pray: Rich’s daughter, Dara Searcy-Gardner, continues to struggle with debilitating asthma. With the failure of the first medication, she’s needed to try a new medicine; however, the insurance is refusin
- g to pay for it. Pray that the insurance company would change their response so Dara could receive the treatment she needs. She’s unable to work and barely able to function. She is asking us to pray that the medication would conquer the asthma. We pray for complete healing. On top of all her other health issues, she was recently diagnosed with covid. Pray for full and quick recovery. In the past week she was taken to the emergency room by ambulance twice. Continue to pray for healing and recovery.
- Rick Cordell, Adjunct Trainer from US
- Pray: Rick is continuing his Nigerian ministry work, but remotely from Portland for 3 months. Pray for productive remote work.
- Pray for Rick as he plans to meet face to face with several churches and individuals who have been supporting his ministry. Pray that the time together will be fruitful.
- Praise: Wednesday will get to see daughter Ruthie and granddaughter Aurora for the first time since returning from Nigeria.
- Deborah Sezov, FFICM US Board member
- Pray for her pastor, Andrew Barsinger, whose cancer has returned. Andrew has been a great supporter of FFICM and very involved in creating gathering spaces for the East Coast tour. Pray for him, for his young family, and for his congregation.
- Senior Pastor, Dick Ellis, fell and broke 5 ribs. He is out of the hospital but was away from home when the accident happened and is not sure how he will get back. It will be a painful journey, so please pray for him, for healing, and for the pain to be taken away on his journey home.
