Let's pray
1 Pray for the workers laboring to be a blessing to Somalia, and for the many believers. The land is still in a severe drought, and over 3 million are internally displaced. “We left in search of water,” says one refugee: “It’s a daily struggle finding enough just to survive.” Working in Somalia has been difficult for decades, but Somalis—especially those in other places—are spiritually hungry and responsive.
2 Pray for ministries working amongst the refugees in Uganda. The numbers of refugees arriving, especially from the war in Sudan, have increased this to an average of 2,500 per week. At the same time there have been funding shortfalls. Uganda has had an open door policy, but funding shortfalls are pressuring its abilty to help them. Health issues are widespread, and there are not enough educational resources for the children of the refugees. (See this UNHCR briefing for more details.)
3 Pray for the spiritually hungry among the Hausas, and those laboring among them. “Following Jesus is a life-or-death matter” for Hausas (Evangelical Focus): “If you accept Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior, you believe your faith is worth dying for. You expect to die for it.” Hausas are both hungry and responsive and choosing to follow Jesus: “How can I become a Christian? The teachings are so real. I see truth and hope in this way of life.” Local Christian leaders believe the number of Hausa Christians today is significantly undercounted: one local leader estimates they make up a third of the Hausas. (I hypothesize this is high, but the actual number is probably closer to the high number than the low.)
4 Pray for the believers and workers in Bangladesh, which has recently suffered from the landfall of a cyclone (NYT). The number of people known killed was fairly low, but millions (almost 10% of Bangladesh) have been left without any power and tens of thousands of homes have been severely damaged or destroyed. Field reports I’ve received have indicated significant damage in 19 districts, including homes and crops in fields.
5 Pray for the church in Central Asia. Worship services are being raided and fined (Evangelical Focus). One source reports over 200 people were accused in 2023; most were punished with large fines.
6 Pray for the believers in China, who are enduring in their faith in the midst of a significant surge in surveillance and government control over the general population (NYT). The surveillance increased markedly during the Covid pandemic, and has continued to ramp up since then. Beijing wants government that is “more visible, more invasive, and always on the lookout for real or perceived threats… The goal is to embed the party so deeply in daily life that no trouble… can even arise.” The government has used protests against the surveillance to identify agitators; now, they are recruiting as many as 15 million “grid monitors” as local government informants.
7 Pray for those working with immigrants in a largely hostile situation in the USA.
A recent article highlights the very large number of children (1 million) among their numbers (WSJ). Many of these aren’t proficient in languages used in school, and many have suffered and are dealing with deep trauma. (Although Haitians are primarily highlighted in this article, many other unreached peoples are represented among the immigrants, as are more-reached but still largely non-Christian groups like the Chinese.) Pray for believers to work with these in ways that will be a blessing.
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