Prayerline May 2024
Your Prayer Guide To Reach The World
Stand With Churches Through Challenging Times in Brazil
A native ministry received a letter—folded and smudged—with this message: “My brothers and sisters, covid came and we did not die. There is a lot of malaria in our region, but we are still alive. The illegal miners shot us, and we are still alive. The great famine came, and we are still standing. Foreign missionaries left because of the government ban, but we are still standing, and the church has been meeting all the time.
Extend Grace To Refugees in Jordan
An African refugee with severe health problems came to a native ministry’s medical clinic, where he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease so advanced that he had to have both legs amputated. When the disease attacked his kidneys, ministry workers connected him with specialized doctors.
Support Discipleschip Of Persecuted Believers in Laos
A village leader known for his dislike of Christians gave five local Christian families an ultimatum: leave or renounce their faith. The families refused either option and instead continued to worship together in a home. But their defiance increased the village leader’s hatred.
Equip Missionaries For Evangelism in Ethiopia
The wife of a high-ranking official and member of an esteemed Muslim family became interested in Jesus because of the stories about him in the Quran. She asked her Christian neighbor for a Bible, and John 3:16 impacted her so much that she visited three missionaries to discuss the gospel.
Provide Native Workers With Outreach Tools in Pakistan
A native ministry has sparked change in a region of Pakistan in which child labor is a normal part of life. Through community outreach such as distributing school supplies to families, ministry workers can now report that 30 children who once worked in the brick kiln factories are now attending school instead.
Impact Families Through Bible Studies in China
A native ministry’s Bible studies have impacted the lives of believers who realize the importance of placing God first despite their many other responsibilities. One woman who was overwhelmed with taking care of her young child and her elderly relatives was grateful for the opportunity to study Scripture each week.
Embolden Workers Fighting Spiritual Battles in South Asia
For years, evil spirits tormented a devout follower of a native religion, and his religion’s magicians could not help him. Finally, he visited a Christian church and asked for prayer. A ministry worker shared the gospel and prayed for the distressed man, who was then attacked by the spirits until he fell unconscious.
Comfort The Downtrodden in North Africa
After the mother of a 17-year-old girl refused a young man’s proposal to her daughter, he raped the girl in revenge. He was sentenced to prison, and the young woman’s family beat her repeatedly, a common practice in a culture in which the girl is often blamed in instances of sexual violence.
Help Vulnerable Students Receive An Education in Myanmar
An 11-year-old boy was accepted into a native ministry’s school after the director happened upon him, his younger siblings, his mother, and grandparents following their escape from their village, which had been bombed as part of the ongoing civil war.
Share God’s Word With Seekers Of Truth in Syria
A devout Muslim woman was tasked by her family to intervene with a relative who became a believer after she delivered a healthy baby. Prior to the planned intervention, the Muslim woman attended several Christian meetings to gain a better understanding of her relative’s new beliefs and therefore be better equipped to bring her back to Islam.
Encourage Refugees With The Hope Of Christ in Europe
A refugee family that has lived for eight years in a refugee center learned about Christ through a native ministry and chose to accept Jesus as Savior and be baptized, leaving behind their traditional Muslim religion. Though their life in the refugee center is difficult and their future uncertain, their perspective was transformed when they became believers.
Change Lives With The Gospel Message in Peru
A farmer addicted to alcohol and abusive toward his wife and children attended church with his family one Sunday at the invitation of his neighbor. When he heard the gospel preached that day, he and his wife accepted Jesus as Savior, and their life together was immediately changed.
Help Lead The Lost To Christ in South Asia
Ministry workers laid the foundation stone for a new prayer hall, an exciting step toward creating a new place of worship in the region. Evangelism has been so fruitful here that many of the 400 to 500 worshippers sit outside the current meeting place each Sunday because there is not enough space inside for all to come together.
Support Traumatized Victims Of Violence in Nigeria
Kidnappings and terrorist attacks have led many in Nigeria to live in constant fear, but native missionaries continue to share the gospel and offer humanitarian aid. “Our missionaries have continued to move in and do their work sacrificially as it is no longer a choice but to them, is a command to go ye and make disciples,” the ministry leader said.
Provide Assistance To The Persecuted in Southeast Asia
A member of the Communist party heard the gospel from his aunt and became a believer in Christ. His life was so transformed that his parents, wife, and children all accepted Jesus, in addition to five other families in his village. But as word spread about the man’s decision, local officials became involved, visiting him many times to warn him away from his newfound beliefs.
Disciple New Believers in Türkiye
When a teenage girl told her family she’d become a Christian, they destroyed her Turkish Bible and forbade her from attending any church services. Refusing to renounce her beliefs, the girl marked a tree near her home with the sign of the cross and sits beneath it to read an English Bible, which her family cannot understand and therefore does not realize its value.
Give Aid To Refugees in Slovakia
A retired couple fled Ukraine and discovered a refugee ministry when they arrived in Slovakia. The ministry workers offered them groceries and medicine and invited them to their church services. “Besides help we had warm fellowship when we visited them,” the woman said.
Plant Gospel Seeds in Bangladesh
A Hindu woman in a native ministry’s tailoring program was amazed by a missionary’s story of Jesus following the conclusion of class one day. She invited the missionary to her home because her husband, a rickshaw driver, wanted to know more about Jesus too.
Lift Up Persecuted Believers in Kyrgyzstan
The leader of a native ministry visited a married couple in a remote village who had been ostracized by their family and neighbors for their Christian beliefs. When the couple sought to join their cow to a local herd, the herdsmen forbade it. When they need water for their garden, they are prohibited from getting it.
Equip Native Pastors For Evangelism in Africa
The Lord is doing great things in Africa through native missionaries who travel village to village distributing Bibles, praying with the people, and training pastors and missionaries. During one such visit, Christian workers saw nine people—including the chief—put their faith in Christ.
Help Missionaries Build Relationships in Mexico
A native ministry trained its missionaries on practical ways to integrate with local communities and build relationships with the people. Now, those missionaries have begun to use that training to teach the people how to raise animals, vegetables, and micro crops. Missionaries are also teaching lessons on bread-making and textiles, as well as plumbing, electricity, carpentry, and blacksmithing.
Support New Believers’ Deepening Faith in South Asia
More than 50 women attended a women’s conference organized by a native ministry to learn about the power of prayer. Most of the participants are ministry leaders themselves, and they expressed their gratitude for the many sessions available for them to attend during the conference, which was called “Empowerment through Prayer.”
Restore Broken Relationships in Zimbabwe
A woman abused by her husband learned of Christ and accepted Him as Savior through the evangelism of native missionaries. She then became involved in a women’s ministry and learned of the power of prayer and the importance of committing your spouse to the Lord.
Help Christian Leaders Befriend The Lost in the Middle East
The leader of a local prison admitted to a pastor that he had secretly taken one of the New Testaments the pastor and his co-workers delivered to the prison for the inmates. The man hoped that the pastor would discuss the Scriptures with him because when he read on his own, the words “brought him such comfort.”
Support Fellowship Opportunities in Albania
Recognizing the importance of discipleship to both men and women, a native ministry has worked hard to organize groups and events specifically targeting the spiritual needs of local believers. Ministry workers led a men’s study called “Every Man is a Fighter” that helped train Christian men how to serve in different ministries
Engage With Non-Believers Through Underground Evangelism in China
In one native ministry’s small group, the pastor speaks in a near-whisper and the people must sing quietly to avoid detection by the authorities. But this fellowship time is invaluable for believers to deepen their relationship with God and each other. It also provides an opportunity to engage with non-believers who want to build friendships with others.
Help Church Plants Disciple Their Flocks in the Philippines
A ministry leader drove more than 100 miles on dirt roads to join in celebration with the congregation of one of the ministry’s church plants, which had organized a baptismal event along the Pacific Ocean for one of its families. Together, the mother, her husband, and their daughter were baptized in the ocean.
Transform Communities Through Outreach Events in Cameroon
A mentally ill homeless woman announced that she wanted to accept Jesus as her Savior during an altar call at an evangelism event. When asked if she believed God could deliver her from her troubles, she said yes. Despite the mockery that erupted from other attendees, a missionary prayed with her, and she was instantly delivered.
Support Workers’ Outreach Efforts in China
Christian students invited their roommates and friends to a recent ministry-organized camping trip, and some who agreed to come only attended because of their interest in the event, not because they wanted to learn about Christ. But their fellowship with believers left them wanting to know more about the gospel, and ministry workers have realized the importance of discipleship following such events.
Encourage Those New To The Faith in Sri Lanka
A boy who could not speak began attending a native ministry’s preschool program, and ministry staff not only prayed for the child, but they also ministered to his mother. Through their faithful prayers, the little boy began to speak, and his mother accepted Christ as Savior. Though she now faces opposition because of her new faith, she has not wavered.
Establish Relationships With Native Christian Workers
Native missionaries understand the challenges of bringing Christ to people firmly rooted in the traditional religions of their cultures. But they also know that they must persevere for the sake of the gospel, and they do so with joy in their hearts.