Global Prayer Digest

Worodougou Malinke People of Côte d’Ivoire

2012-02-09T11:00:55+00:00

Today's Devotional

Isaiah 25: 7b-8 "On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever."

The end of shrouds, funerals, and the stench of death is what Isaiah is proclaiming! And this is a promise to the faithful in all nations. How can anyone say no to such a promise? Though the majority of humanity will say no, there will be a remnant from each nation that will say yes to the Lord and yes to life. That is why we pray for them.

Pray that the Lord will bring unimaginable life to nations like the Worodougous, who are beginning to respond to the gospel. Thank Him for the current response to His Son, Jesus Christ.

Today's People Group

Cheikh checked one last time. No one was looking; he darted into Sekou’s shop. Traditional conversation filled some minutes. At last Cheikh asked, “Is it true you are a Christian, Sekou?” The shopkeeper’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed his fear. This could be a trap from the Muslims. Or it could be his opportunity to tell about Isa, Jesus. Cautiously he replied, “Why do you ask, my friend?” Cheikh whispered, “I have had two dreams in the last week. A man in white appeared to me. He said, ‘I am Isa. I am the way.’ I need to know how to follow Isa.”
The Worodougou people have not been Muslims very long. It was only Cheikh’s grandfather’s generation who converted to Islam. They continue to mix many ancient superstitions in with their Islam. Most remain Muslim in name only. After planting the seed for years, believers from nearby people groups started focusing on the Worodougou people. A group of 35 believers grew to 70. Now one contact says, “After … reaping a hand-full of indigenous believers who have suffered persecution by their families, the time seems ripe for a spiritual harvest among the Worodougous!”

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up an abundant return on the years of planting. Pray that Worodougou leaders, caught between Islam and nature worship, will lead their people to the way of eternal life.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Khasonke Malinke People of Mali

2012-02-08T11:00:56+00:00

Today's Devotional

Daniel 2:44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever."

What a note of assurance, of triumph, of victory! God’s unchangeable kingdom will last forever. These words of certain victory should encourage and strengthen us in the task of world evangelization. We do not yet see the Kingdom in its glory and power, but the Kingdom is here. It is among us. It is growing, pulsating with power as God calls and fills his people with the power of His Spirit. It is growing as God thrusts his people into a worldwide harvest, calling those from every nation to share in the glory of eternal fellowship with the Heavenly King.

Pray that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will strengthen our hands, quicken our minds, and encourage our hearts with a vision of His victorious Kingdom.

Today's People Group

Kashka, still just a boy, spends his days behind his father’s pair of oxen. The team pulls a rudimentary plow up one row and down the next. Nearby his father tends a field of millet. Meanwhile Kashka’s brother prepares a dry field to plant sorghum. Both of these crops prove resistant to drought, a constant concern in Mali.
Kashka’s family is part of the Khasonke Malinke people of southwestern Mali. He will attend a Muslim school just long enough to learn the basics of Islam, but he will never learn to read. He will only learn mathematics that will help him as a farmer. He has heard that there is a medical clinic, but when he asked where, his father just points toward the sunrise and says, “Two days away.”
Islam holds a strong influence in northern Mali. But where Kashka lives, his people mix their Islam with traditional tribal beliefs. He lives among an extended family of more than 50 people. He is the third born son in a family where his mother just gave birth to her eighth child. His Khasonke people would welcome an agriculturalist or a teacher who could teach in the evenings.

Pray that the Lord Jesus will raise up tentmakers who will live with the Khasonkes. Pray that the Holy Spirit would plow and prepare the soil of the Khasonke people to receive the gospel. Pray that Latin American intercessors will faithfully pray for the Khasonkes.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Sose Malinke People of Gambia

2012-02-07T11:00:39+00:00

Today's Devotional

Genesis 10:1 "This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood."

From there, Genesis goes into a long genealogy. From time to time, it pauses to say something about a particular individual. Many of us wonder why the Bible includes so many genealogies. In some situations when the Bible is presented to a particular people group, the genealogies give it credibility to the new audience. Would these genealogies be useful in reaching a people group like the Soses who give them high value?

Pray that today’s missionaries will not neglect the use of genealogies when they are useful.

Today's People Group

Father and son play the balaphons (similar to xylophones) while a younger son keeps rhythm on a tall drum. Two beautiful daughters join them in their shady spot and begin to move in a graceful, floating dance over the packed earth. The Sose family has taken off work early today because they heard that the griot, a local story teller of family histories, would join them soon.
The rhythm of the balaphons and the drum grows faster. Then it stops. The griot approaches with his assistant. Griots have learned Malinke history in exacting form and can recite it going back hundreds of years. The griot sits on a low stool to recite the history of this Sose family. His aid begins plucking a high-pitched stringed instrument called the jali. The griot quotes a name from the previous generation. Pause. He tells something about that person. Pause. He names the father of the previous person. Pause. He tells something about him. And on he goes, generation after generation. All the while the assistant plucks the jali.
Like other Malinke peoples, the Soses are an oral society. Some can read, but what really matters to them is remembered and publically recited. Those who would bring the gospel to the Soses must find oral methods to do so.

Pray for creative oral communicators who can share the story of Isa, Jesus, with the Sose Malinkes. Pray that soon the Sose people will be using their musical and story telling skills to spread the word about Jesus far and wide.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Sankaran Malinke People

2012-02-06T11:00:24+00:00

Today's Devotional

Joel 3:14 "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision."

Joel’s prophecy foresaw that God would summon the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, there pronouncing judgment on the wicked, but declaring refuge for His people. As the prophet looked out over the sea of humanity in the valley, he was vividly aware that the great and terrible Judgment Day was imminent. This prophecy was a picture of today’s world in which vast multitudes hang in the balance of decision. Will we give each people group the opportunity to decide to follow Jesus? Will we offer salvation to the nations in order to save them from judgment?

Pray that God will raise up messengers from His Church and thrust them out to peoples like the Sankaran Malinke people.

Today's People Group

“Why do they call you ‘Wadaba’?” Highly impressed with the musical ability of the Sankaran young man, the visitors had many questions. “Wadaba means ‘Great Panther,’ and my Sankaran Malinke people say the sounds I make on my djembe drum have the power of a wild cat’s scream. My family and the people of my village encouraged me, so I was able to study with the great drummer, Knoate, in Conakry. See this leather pouch? This contains written verses from our Holy Qur’an. It was given to me by the marabout (Islamic spirit leader) in our village to give me good luck. My music is blessed by Allah! I pray to him to bring magic out of my drum.”
Sankaran is the spoken language of 62,000 Malinke people, who live mainly in remote villages in northern Guinea. Most of them are poor and struggle to live by farming. There are problems with health, education, and a lack of clean water.
Reports indicate that 99.9 percent of Sankarans follow an Islamic faith that often is mixed with traditional spirit worship. Catholics make up most of the very small number of people who are Christians. When members of a nearby church recently visited a Sankaran village, the people enjoyed hearing the gospel stories. Some remembered that a missionary had come long ago and told them stories of Jesus.

Pray that God will send His servants to reach the Sankaran for His Son.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Konyanka Malinke People of Guinea

2012-02-05T11:00:48+00:00

Today's Devotional

Habakkuk 1:5 "Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."

God went on to reveal to Habakkuk that He planned to use the ruthless Babylonians as His instrument of punishment for the degenerate nation of Judah. At first Habakkuk protested that God’s strategy seemed to condone the Babylonians’ violence. It still seems today that often God is silent while the wicked swallow up the righteous. But as we watch the ebb and flow of international affairs through the centuries, we can be confident that God is wisely and fairly working out His purposes until the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (2:14).

Praise the Father that His Word will indeed be fulfilled so that all peoples, including the Konyanka Malinkes, may know of His love.

Today's People Group

“Play the kuku for us! The rice harvest has been good. The spirits are happy with our offerings, and Allah has answered our prayers. Play now and let us dance!”
Kuku is an exciting rhythm that is usually played on the drums or the krin (hollowed wood logs) by the Konyanka Malinke people. Some Konyankas are famous for their ability to make instruments and for their musical talent.
The kuku rhythm originally came from Beyla, a town in Guinea. The majority of the 124,000 Konyanka-speaking Malinke people live in Guinea, and a few can be found in Cote d’Ivoire. Historically they have been known for their ability to grow grains, especially millet. Farming is their main source of living.
Konyankas practice traditional spiritism, and over a third of them claim to be Muslim. Their Islamic leaders have not forced them to drop their mystical religious beliefs. Many Konyankas will pray in mosques and then go elsewhere to offer sacrifices of food to the “spirit of the village.” Forms of divination and casting spells are common. Currently, there are only a few known followers of Christ among the Konyanka people.

Pray that the JESUS Film will soon be released in their language. Pray that the hearts of the Konyankas will be open to receiving God’s Good News of salvation. Pray that many will become strong believers, willing to turn their backs on the spirits forever.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Western Malinke People

2012-02-04T11:00:50+00:00

Today's Devotional

Isaiah 40:15, 17 "Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket…. Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing."

When we stand before a wall-sized world map, we catch a glimpse of the immensity of this earth. Yet Isaiah asserts that when we stand before the Creator, the creation dwindles to comparative insignificance. What perspective this fact gives to God’s people! We are so easily overawed by the scope of the Great Commission that our resolve weakens and our courage fails. But God is greater than His commission, greater than His earth, greater than any obstacles we will face. And His power is so great that reaching all the nations for Christ is easy for Him. His love regards them as infinitely precious and worthy of the death of His Son.

Pray that our Almighty God will teach us to fix our eyes on Him so that we may have the right perspective as we reach out to the nations.

Today's People Group

Western Malinke mothers were joyfully singing to the rhythm of the kora (a large, gourd instrument with strings). “A child is better than anything in the world! Take a hundred things and give me a child!” They sang as their daughters gracefully performed the traditional dance that honored their initiation into adulthood. One mother cried and said, “Now all my children are grown. Allah has looked well on me. The spirits have been well pleased with my offerings.” She beamed at her daughters.
The most important event among the Western Malinke people is the initiation of their children into adulthood and their entrance into the community as adults. Like people everywhere, it gives parents both a sense of accomplishment and sadness as they see a new day dawning.
As adults, Western Malinkes are expected to adhere to Islam, though it is combined with ethnic traditions. There are Bible translation efforts taking place among the Western Malinke people, and they have a small church at this point. For the most part, however, the Western Malinke people must read the Bible in a language other than their own tongue.

Pray for lasting fruit to come from the work of the four mission agencies that are trying to plant churches and translate the Bible for them. Pray that the Western Malinke people will soon be freed from the grip of Islam and indigenous beliefs that keep them away from Christ.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Bible Translation Efforts Among Malinke Peoples

2012-02-03T11:00:41+00:00

Today's Devotional

Habakkuk 2:14 "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

Habakkuk prophesied that the nations of the earth will one day have the knowledge of the Living God. As it stands, they have a certain amount of knowledge of Him when they view His beautiful creation. But the nations need more. They need to know about His love through Jesus. That is where the Word of the Lord becomes especially important.

Pray that God will speed the day when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth!

Today's People Group

Did you read your Bible this morning? Most Malinke people didn’t. Those who did probably read it in a trade language like Bambara or French. Most of the Malinke subgroups we are praying for this month need their own Bible translation. Once that is accomplished, someone can produce other Christian materials in their languages as well.
As you read this, there is a team working on a Bible translation for one of the Malinke peoples. A good part of their time is spent taking care of daily business of cooking, cleaning, educating the children, and building relationships with Malinkes. Unlike you and me, they face the daily challenges of living in an African town where electricity is not available, so they have to rely on solar power.
To do what they are doing requires a tremendous amount of perseverance. It will take many years to complete this Bible translation, and even when the work is done, there is no guarantee that people will accept it or read it.
In addition, the Bible translation team has faced significant spiritual opposition over the years, causing the work to be slow and threatening its continued progress.

Pray for Malinke elders to be moved by the Holy Spirit to open the door for the Bible to be accepted in their communities. Pray for a people movement to Christ among Malinke tribes. Pray for longevity among the translating team.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Missionary Biography, Continued

2012-02-02T11:00:11+00:00

Today's Devotional

Zephaniah 3:9 "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder."

We are already witnessing the first fruits of this promise. Brothers and sisters like Tito now serve shoulder-to-shoulder with missionaries from Western nations. Concerts of prayer for world evangelization have begun around the globe. More people use this Prayer Digest in Chinese, Korean, and Spanish than in English. These encouraging signs are but a glimpse of the day in which all peoples will be represented in the service of praise at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Thank Him for what He is doing in all the earth. Pray for His Kingdom to come to earth as it is in heaven.

Today's People Group

“I began to live a worthy life, and it was during this time that I accepted Jesus in my heart. I longed to know more about God and how to live as a good believer. I went through many difficulties, yet the Lord carried me through.”
“The missionary that brought me to the Lord then asked me if I would work with his mission. I did so until the war broke out which is what brought me back to Senegal in 1998. I continued learning the Word of God and working for the mission. In 1999 I met my wife and we were married in 2000. I had been able to do some medical courses, and I am currently studying at a correspondence Bible school. I continue to learn more and more about my Lord and how I can be closer to Him. We also continue to serve the Lord in the medical field as well as sharing His word wherever we go, especially among the Malinke and Fulani peoples.”

Pray that African believers will walk in the Holy Spirit’s power and be able to overcome all demonic oppression and attacks of every sort, demonstrating that Jesus is truly King of kings and Lord of lords on earth and in heaven.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Missionary Biography—Tito

2012-02-01T11:00:41+00:00

Today's Devotional

Luke 1:34-35 "“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “Since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”"

Tito asked the same question that the Virgin Mary once asked. In today’s world, Muslims commonly misunderstand the idea of Jesus being God’s Son. This passage from Luke can help them to better understand.

Pray for workers to use the Scriptures to help Muslims understand the true nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Today's People Group

“My name is Tito, and I was born into a Muslim Malinke family. When I was young, I went from Senegal where I had been living to Guinea Bissau to help my brother build his house. He had promised to send me to France once the house was finished.”
“It was during this time that I found an evangelistic group preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. So I asked the man: “Why do you say that Jesus is the Son of God if God never had a woman? We only recognize Jesus as a prophet.” Right then the man handed a New Testament to me and asked me to wait for him until he finished. When he finished he began to share how Jesus is the Son of God and invited me to his evangelism group.”
“I began to go to the missionary’s home regularly. He began to teach me a lot about Jesus and especially about John 14:6. As I was interested, I too took him to the place I stayed at, where he would read portions of the Bible to me. My brother then got upset with me, and kicked me out. He said that we couldn’t read the Bible in his home.”

Pray for many from the Malinke peoples to choose to follow Christ.

Learn more at Joshua Project.

Africa Inland Mission Work

2012-01-31T11:00:53+00:00

Today's Devotional

Ecclesiastes 7:20 "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins."

This is politically incorrect, but so very true! Despite what “religions” teach, all of humanity is sinful by nature. It’s as natural for us to sin as it is for us to breath. We cannot ever completely stop sinning, but we can be forgiven. The Africa Inland Mission workers that we send and pray for are inviting the lost in East Africa to become part of the “family of the forgiven.” What a privilege!

Pray that the Holy Spirit will make it clear to the unreached that they are sinners in need of forgiveness. Pray for God to give boldness to His messengers as they spread His invitation throughout the world.

Today's People Group

(This entry was taken from Africa Inland Mission’s website, http://www.aimint.org/usa/about.html)
From the nomadic tribesman wandering Kenya’s arid plains, to urban street children surviving in a sordid city slum, to a young Muslim woman living behind a veil of darkness in a community utterly closed to the light of the gospel—Africa Inland Mission, at its heart, seeks to help the Church take root among the peoples of Africa, transforming lives and communities, and becoming a force for change on the continent.
AIM is an evangelical Christian mission agency dedicated to the vision of seeing Christ-centered churches established among all African peoples. They have over 1,000 personnel ministering in Africa and to Africans living around the world. Their ministries include evangelism and church planting efforts among unreached and least-reached peoples, leadership development, youth ministry, medical ministry, community development and community health, and a broad range of support and logistical ministries.
In every ministry, they seek to work locally, building meaningful relationships that open doors—to introduce those who have never heard to the One who died to save them, to help new believers grow strong in their faith and be enfolded into maturing churches, and to declare the Glory of God to Africa and beyond.

Pray that God will show you how to pray for the work of AIM International. Pray that AIM workers will walk in the fruit of the Holy Spirit so that Christ will be glorified among the unreached.

Learn more at Joshua Project.