January 3, 2023
Greetings FFICM Prayer Partners!
Jerel shared a word for this year, “Draw Near” and read from Romans 4. Following the example of Abraham who grew strong in his faith, we are encouraged to lean into the grace of God and draw near to Him.
Highlights from this week’s update:
- Pray for activities for this next quarter. Pray that God will give opportunities for conferences and trainings.
- Pray for Nigeria as they go into an election year. Pray for positive change that will make people see God and God’s glory. Pray that God will keep the nation safe and that they will be free from crisis.
- Pray as we reevaluate all strategies and take a pause in hands-on ministry to look at everything we are doing and teaching. Our goal is to evaluate, refocus, and develop new materials.
Ethiopia:
Program Updates
- Pray for peace in the Northern part of the country.
- Pray for the True Gospel conference coming up on March 17-19 2023 for 20,000-25,000 people in Hoseanna, Ethiopia.
- Pray for the many who are requesting training in Ethiopia. God is opening doors to work with other denominations.
- Pray for the staff and the opportunity to hire more people. The goal and prayer is to hire 9 people for the FFICM staff, including part-time trainers in different regions. Pray for the opportunity and finances to hire 3 part-time as well as a full-time woman coordinator by the end of the year.
- Pray for Eskinder’s sons who are graduating from university at the end of the year. There are very few jobs available, even for college graduates. Pray that God would provide them with the right jobs. Pray for his oldest son, Nathan, as he applies to a pilot training program, it is a very competitive program.
- Pray for Eskinder’s youngest daughter Anna to be able to attend school and that they will be able to afford the school she is in. It is a faith stretch financially for them to have her at that school, but they could not find any other suitable school for her.
- Pray for the details around Eskinder’s Doctorate of Ministry program through Multnomah University. He has just one class left, and then his thesis. There are some issues that came up recently regarding his transfer credits from his Master’s degree that may impact the timing of the completion of his doctoral program. Pray for wisdom as we help him navigate this challenge.
- Pray: Eskinder’s younger sister’s husband is facing a hard time. He may have a brain tumor, and they are struggling. Pray for his strength and healing.
- Pray for missionaries from Somali and Eritrea who are gathering together in Addis. They are asking for follow-up training in Addis so that they can take the training home with them. They are expecting about 60 people at the new believer follow-up training.
- Praise for the seven women who were trained in Ethiopia last October. Their ministries are flourishing, and they are producing much fruit training others around Dilla, Wolaita, Addis and more. The national office has sent many more books to these women as they have trained over 600 people. These women are also training pastors, it is a very exciting time to see how the training of these 7 has continued to reach out and grow.
- Pray for upcoming trainings in Hoseanna as a part of the True Gospel Conference. We are also planning a training in Dilla with Woodnesh, one of the 7 women who was trained last October.
- Praise God for these opportunities and how He is opening doors for us.
Kenya:
Program Updates
- Pray for materials for training and for resources for FFICM in Kenya. In addition to his upcoming training in Tanzania, Joel has been invited to return to Masai, and he has been training Ugandans over Zoom. There are requests for even more trainings. Joel needs resources for materials to make this happen.
- Pray for Joel as he continues to work on his MA in Global Evangelism through Multnomah University remotely online.
- Praise: Joel was able to meet with pastors in Tanzania to begin preparations for future trainings. Pray that God will provide resources to lead these future trainings.
Nigeria:
Nigeria Program Updates
- Pray for the peace festival in Jos. E-Team Global and New Life For All has requested FFICM to do about 12 trainings in partnership with the upcoming evangelistic festivals that will be held next year in Jos, Nigeria. Pray for safety, understanding, and wisdom as they continue to work together. Praise for a successful meeting this last week with Mike Parker and others organizing this event. Pray They are talking about having trainings in all 12 zones.
- Continue to Pray for the response from the MBB conference. There are many who are reaching out to Ahmed, responding to his teachings and ready to make a commitment to Christ.
- Praise for time at the radio station in Latvia recently. The people were very happy with the radio program that Ahmed and Peter provided, answering questions that Muslims have had. The time was very encouraging. They were also able to meet with a new convert in town who had called in to the radio in the past.
- Pray for activities for this next quarter. Pray that God will give opportunities for conferences and trainings.
- Pray that God will give opportunities to be fruitful in ministry, and not for our own ministry but for God’s.
- Pray for the staff as they travel back to Jos after spending the holidays with their families. They will all travel back on Tuesday and hope to be in the office together on Wednesday.
- Pray for programs that have been canceled due to the need to restrategize. Pray that they will be able to reschedule activities and that they will be done in the glory of God’s name.
- Pray for Nigeria as they go into an election year. Pray for positive change that will make people see God and God’s glory. Pray that God will keep the nation safe and that they will be free from crisis.
General Nigeria Prayer Requests
- Pray for someone that we can train to help Ahmed in his travels and ministry. Pray that God will provide the right person with the right attitude.
- 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: Tensions are rising ahead of the upcoming election in February 2023. Both the Muslims and the Christians are mobilizing their people. There are many concerns and Nigeria needs us to pray for the country. Christians in the north have been told by Muslims that if the Christian candidate wins they will be killed and their houses burned.
- Pray: Kidnappings are increasing at an alarming rate in Nigeria. Sam reports that the roads in Nigeria are bad.
- Pray for the economy as the Nigerian Naira exchange rate is beginning to stabilize. It was up over Naira 900 / US$1 and is now down to Naira 600 / US$1. The cost of food and fuel is very high.
- Pray for the fuel scarcity as it is hitting very hard.
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. People continue to call the office every week in response with questions about what is shared and God is impacting many lives. Continue to pray for this ministry as it is yielding many results. There are many people calling in each week as a result of the broadcasts and the team has been busy doing phone and in-person follow-up with those that are responding.
- Pray for a man from Latvia who heard Ahmed’s teachings on the radio and reached out to him. They are trying to connect him with someone local to walk with him. Pray for connections to be made and that they will find a good mentor for this new believer.
Prayer for the Nigeria Ministry Team
- Peter Wash, National Director Nigeria
- Pray for communication between his two universities as he works to get his transcripts corrected.
- Praise for days off to spend time with family.
- Pray for family and friends who lost loved ones over the holidays. They buried Valentine’s mom and Peter’s mentor over the last few weeks, impacting many people.
- Samuel Chungwom, Nigeria Lead Trainer
- Pray for Sam as he continues classes for his Master’s degree in Missiology while continuing to serve full-time with FFICM in Nigeria. Pray for balance between work, school, and family responsibilities. Sam is very burdened with assignments and is only getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night. Pray that he will find time to sleep and will stay well. Pray that he will absorb material well and that completing his assignments would go smoothly as God recalls to his mind what he has learned.
- Pray as he is leading 13 teens in new believer follow-up. He and his wife are teaching and leading this small group.
- Pray as he continues to write his thesis proposal. Pray that it will be approved. He is hoping to study/write about how to do new believer follow-up specifically with new believers from a Muslim background.
- Praise: Sam’s father’s health continues to improve.
- Mercy
- Pray for her health as she had an ulcer over her break.
- Zainab
- Praise for how God has been protecting and providing for her family.
- Pray for her brother and sister inlaw, Victor and Ruth, who are struggling with marital challenges. Pray for healing and restoration in their relationship.
United States:
Strategic Development and ongoing ministry
- Pray for our team as we are developing new materials for the US audience. Pray that God will give us wisdom and insight into what we can do to help new believers in the US and adapt our materials. Pray for the video series that we are working on for our American teachings.
- Pray for someone to help take over some of Rich’s responsibilities. Pray that he will be able to hand over some of his responsibilities so he can concentrate on developing strategies with the international team.
- Pray for a development representative to be able to help Jerel work out details in his job.
- Pray for wisdom for the FFICM USA team as they navigate many changes and transitions.
- Pray as we reevaluate all strategies and take a pause in hands-on ministry to look at everything we are doing and teaching. Our goal is to evaluate, refocus, and develop new materials.
Ministry Partners
- Carly Powne, US Based International Trainer
- Pray for Lane, her 3 year old cousin who is like a nephew to her. Lane was diagnosed with Leukemia in June. 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.
- Pray: Carly is looking at the possibility of a future extended period of time overseas on an upcoming trip. Pray for wisdom as she explores this possibility for some time in 2023.
- Pray as Carly begins the work in learning the Amharic language, beginning with an online course. Pray that she is able to learn the language, retain it, and use it when working in Ethiopia.
- Rich Gardner, President
- Pray for Rich’s health as he has not been feeling well since returning from Ethiopia in October.
- Pray: Rich’s daughter, Dara Searcy-Gardner, continues to struggle with debilitating asthma. 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.
- Pray for Rich’s siblings as he reached out to them last night with the gospel. One responded with a hopeful conversation to be had later today. Pray for the family as they respond and are open to conversations.
- Rick Cordell
- Pray as he tries to wrap a lot of things into the 5 weeks he is home in the US. He has a lot of people to visit and a lot of work to do. Pray for his time to be fruitful and for him to find joy in this season. He leaves January 19 to return to Nigeria.
- Deborah Sezov, FFICM US Board member
- Pastor Andrew – Pray for healing from non-Hodgkin’s diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Praise: Pastor Andrew was able to lead the worship service and preach again this past Sunday (two times since getting out of the hospital)! Pray: His kidney function is very poor, and he needs dialysis 3 times a week. Please pray that the CAR T cell therapy will eradicate the cancer and that his kidney function would improve. Pray for his wife, 4 year old son, and 2 year old twins.
“I believe
That I enter a glorious new year
To be filled with prayer and praise.
With service to God and mankind,
With inspired creative activity.
I believe
That God’s presence goes with me
Wherever I shall go this year,
By train or Ires or car or boat,
Slowly paced on foot, or high in air.
I believe
His love is shining in my body,
His wisdom guides my mind,
His peace fills me with poise,
His strength is ever at my call.
Oh I believe
That this is God’s new year.”
— Elizabeth Searle Lamb
Thank you for joining us in prayer!
Carly Powne
International Trainer
