(yoh-kuh-HAH-muh) - Throughout December, IMB team members in Yokohama will partner with local Japanese believers and volunteers from the U.S. to host live Christmas music outreach events. These gatherings will not only feature beautiful music but also offer materials that share the true meaning of Christmas -- the good news of Jesus Christ. Please pray for the many Japanese people who will hear this message of hope, many for the very first time. Ask God to open their hearts to receive the light of the gospel.
pray4APAC@imb.org
The Cape Town Baptist Seminary school year ended for the students with the last final exam on November 13. New potential and beginnings poke their heads above the ground like new plants seeking the sun. People have nourished these students over the years, and now they're seeking to answer God's calling upon their lives. December and January are months for seminary faculty to interview potential new students wishing to receive training. Prayers arise over each applicant by the faculty, seeking God's will. Every applicant is feeling excited, eager, and anxious and might wonder, "Did I hear correctly? Did God truly call me?" Please join the faculty, applicants, and their churches as they seek to admit God-called men and women as students to the seminary. Pray that each person will continually seek God's will. Praise God because He has called more workers into His harvest field! Ask God to help the faculty and staff to train the head, heart, and hands of each student. Thank God for these new workers. "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest" (John 4:35 ESV).
http://www.imb.org/sub-saharan-africa/
(SHE-uh) - Faith has been in and out of a relationship with a man she has seen only a few times over the past couple of years. Their relationship has left her depressed, and she has begun a search for hope. After hearing the gospel and reading from the Bible for the first time a couple of weeks ago, she has continued reading Scripture every day. On a journey to better her relationship with God, she is learning who Jesus is and why He came. Faith expressed to a believer, "I feel fortunate that God has chosen to reveal Himself to me just as He chose others I've read about in the Holy Book." Even though Faith is reading stories in the Bible, she is also daily reading the Quran, and she has become more committed to the five daily prayers required in Islam. She feels that she is being a good Muslim by learning about Jesus, even though she is aware of the contradictions between Christianity and Islam. Pray for Faith to come to true repentance and new life in Christ.
(soo-MAH-trah) - Tim and Dana have both continued studying the Bible with other believers. They have started studying about baptism. Tim understands the need to be baptized, but Dana is struggling with the decision. Please pray that Dana will trust that God's love for her is bigger than her fears about what may happen if she gets baptized.
pray4APAC@imb.org
(mah-huh-RAHSH-truh) - Pray for three groups of pastors in Central India who are being trained in how to start evangelistic Bible studies using audio Bible tools. In the past few months, these men have started more than 30 Bible studies in their towns and villages -- some with unbelievers and some with believers who are weak in their faith. Pray that unbelievers will grow in knowledge of the truth and be saved! And pray that believers will grow in their faith and then go and likewise start the same kind of Bible studies with others around them. Pray for "thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold" fruit (Mark 4:20 ESV)!
(WUH-dye) - Pray for the Amdang, one of the people groups in the Ouaddai region. This is a small group of about 99,000, and they are exclusively Muslim. Ask God to prepare their hearts to hear the good news. Pray for believers who live near them, asking that they will be able to form good relationships with the Amdang. Pray that they will bold to share the gospel with them and show love to them. Pray that the "firstfruits" (2 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV) of this tribe will believe and follow, to the glory of God. "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Revelation 7:9-10 ESV).
Christmas is an exciting time in Southeast Asia, especially on the Northern Plateau! There are staggered Christmas celebrations at churches across the plateau, in addition to Hmong and International New Year Celebrations. Christmas celebrations often last for days with children's programs including games and gifts, cultural dances and performances, and many presentations of the gospel. Please pray for local officials, family, and friends who visit the different Christmas celebrations to hear and believe the gospel!
pray4APAC@imb.org
(mon-GOHL-yun) - Christmas brings many opportunities for outreach in Mongolia. Home gatherings, church services, and English classes are only a few ways that God can bring His message to those who do not know the truth. Please ask God to spur on believers to use the celebration of Jesus' birth to share the reason for the season. Please pray also that He will bring many to saving faith.
pray4APAC@imb.org
(kuh-MY) - The Christmas season is a wonderful time for community outreaches throughout the towns and villages in West Cambodia! Please pray for unity as local pastors, lay leaders, and believers partner to plan and carry out festivities that will yield many opportunities to proclaim the gospel. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will convict people's hearts as they listen to gospel presentations, and that many will come to faith in Christ! Pray that the Lord will also shield His people from spiritual warfare before and during these events.
pray4APAC@imb.org
(cah-TEE-oh; ooh-rah-BAH) - Please pray that the Christmas event that's being hosted at the Katio church will be an evangelistic opportunity for those in the village to hear the good news of Jesus. Pray that more people in this community will come to know Christ and that He will raise up a pastor for their church.
jillianenash@gmail.com
Healthcare and pre-healthcare students are planning their upcoming summer travel. Going on a mission trip can have a powerful impact on students, setting them up for a lifetime of service either as repeated short-term travelers or even as mid- or long-term cross-cultural workers. Pray that the students currently looking for missions opportunities for summer 2026 will be able to find the right one for them that the Lord will use to best impact their lives for Him.
healthcare@imb.org
www.imb.org/healthcare
Give thanks to God for the new believer in a far-reaching Himalayan area who recently turned from Tibetan Buddhism to Christ! Pray that his faith will remain strong and grow as he is discipled by local harvest workers who will travel frequently to visit him. Pray that a church will grow from his "oikos" (household or circle of influence) and that more churches will be planted in the region of Nar Phu!
(ab-i-JAHN) - It has become a tradition for workers in Abidjan to host members of their church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Pray that this time of fellowship among believers will be sweet and that all will have cheerful, giving hearts during this season. Pray that members who attend church regularly will continue to grow in the knowledge of God and His Word. Lift up the workers, as they miss their family members and church family back in their home country. Join them in giving thanks that they can be satisfied in Christ. May the Christmas season give them a renewed spark, spurring them on in their efforts to reach the lost and make disciples in Abidjan!
http://www.imb.org/sub-saharan-africa/
