Urban Rose is a city of millions of people. Although parts of the city are modern, filled with large homes and high-rise apartment buildings, there are still neighborhoods made up of small, one- or two-room mud houses. This is where the poor live, the millions of people who live in severe poverty and whose lives have gotten harder as prices continue to rise. In one such neighborhood, two believers have started helping some of these poor families. Single women with children are some of the most vulnerable in this society. The believers are providing these women with food and training in job skills. As the women are trained, the believers have opportunities to demonstrate the love of Jesus and build relationships. Please ask the Lord to provide all the resources needed to help this community. Pray that the women's hearts will be soft and open to the good news. Ask the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to the truth of Jesus, and pray that many will be saved.

"December brings rain to Malawi, and many of our pastors and church leaders at the Baptist College of Malawi survive on the crops that they plant each year," writes the Malawi Team. "Please pray for a healthy and productive rainy season so that the students' crops will grow and enable them to provide for themselves and their families for the entire year."

There is so much to thank to God for, as 11 unengaged, unreached people groups have been identified in one region in South Asia, with at least one believing family in each one! This month, these new believers will be encouraged and equipped to reach the very same people group of which they are a part. Please pray that these believers will realize that they were saved for a purpose and positioned to be witnesses to their people. Pray that they will understand the training they receive and be bold in their witnessing. Ask the Holy Spirit to multiply their numbers daily.

"A blind widow with five children needs to go back to the hospital, which is located five hours away," a worker writes. "Her one 'good' eye has gotten infected. Please ask God to make a way for her to journey there. Pray for her limited vision to be preserved. She is a faithful member of our church. God knows her need, and we ask you to pray that others here in Rwanda will provide the help that she needs in order to take care of that need. 'And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near' (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)."

Praise the Lord that the Laro of Sudan are no longer classified as unreached with the gospel! According to researchers, more than 2% of this population of 50,000 are believers, but less than 5% are evangelical. Thank the Lord for those among the Laro people who have come to faith and are actively growing in the Word and sharing their faith. During this Advent season, pray for them to take many opportunities to share the Christmas story with those who have yet to hear and understand it. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:11-12 ESV). Pray for the lives of Laro believers to reflect the love of God and the truth of the gospel. Pray for the growth of the church among the Laro. Ask God to raise up leaders who will rightly proclaim the Word of Truth.

Please pray for an upcoming outreach trip that local harvest workers will be taking to reach out to Kashmiri people.

(MEE-boh) - Believers in the land of the Mebo experience spiritual warfare on a regular basis. There are not many Christians, and there is a lot of pressure to get married. So, many times, young people fall into the trap of marrying outside the Christian faith. Tony is a man who fell in love outside the Christian community. Many people warned him of the dangers involved, but he ignored their warnings. He married and took his new bride to his village, thinking that if she lived with Christians, she would become a believer. After only one month of marriage, she began exhibiting signs of dark spiritual influences on her life. This led believers to conclude that she was demon possessed. Tony has moved into his wife's village because her relatives said that the spirit in Tony's village was too strong for the spirit in his wife, and they feared for her physical and mental health. Pray for Tony as he tries to live as the only Christian in his wife's village. Pray that God will redeem her and give her freedom from the bondage she is experiencing. Pray for all Mebo people as the gospel advances into areas where the enemy is rampant and active.

Workers ask: "Please pray for a man in our church body who had eye surgery. Right after that surgery, he experienced abdominal pain. He made it to the hospital in the city, where they told him that he needed to have his appendix removed. During the surgery, his appendix ruptured, and he had to be flown to a bigger hospital in a bigger city. He was hospitalized for eight days. Today, he is back home recovering. Praise the Lord! Please pray, too, for a single mother in our church body who is raising a daughter by herself. She will be teaching the children's Sunday School for the next six months. This leadership role is new to her, and she is nervous about it. Her daughter will be among the children she will be teaching, so please pray for the seeds that will be planted in her daughter's life."

The way Americans celebrate Christmas and observe its traditions is of great interest among an unreached people group (UPG). Sadly, most of them only know about Santa Claus. However, the subject of Christmas provides workers and local believers with a wonderful natural bridge to the gospel. Conversations with people who are curious about Christmas make for ideal occasions to share the redemptive story. Please pray for Christians to have many opportunities to share the gospel message this Christmas season. Pray that those who hear it will open their hearts to the good news and experience salvation, especially those of an unreached people group. And please pray that the workers and local believers can effectively follow up with new believers.

Please pray for numerous Christmas events happening that will be opportunities to share the gospel with individuals and families of an unreached people group (UPG). In fact, one just happened at the end of last month. It was an evangelistic Christmas cooking class. Please pray for those who attended to become believers as a result of hearing the gospel. This month, there are several small Christmas luncheons that will happen throughout the month. Please pray for the guests to participate in celebrating the Savior's birth, for clear presentations of the gospel, and for many to believe. People of this group are interested in Christmas and its celebrations. Please pray that God will use this curiosity to draw them to Himself. Please pray for the other related outreaches happening to engage the community and share the real meaning of Christmas. Please pray for these activities and for the salvation of this people group.

(ker-MAHN-gee) - Pray for the son of Alan and Diane, believers who fled their home country because of a years-long war. Their son is being persecuted in school because his parents are believers. The school requires a religious class each day in the new country's majority religion, and the boy has told his teacher that he can't follow that religion. His teacher gets very angry, and the other children tease him. Pray for strength and endurance, and ask that Diane will be able to speak truth to the teachers as she advocates for her son.

(DER-bun) - Will you join the missionaries in Durban in praying that churches and individual believers will have many opportunities to share the love of God with their communities through word and deed during the Christmas season? Pray that many will hear a clear presentation of the gospel and respond by giving their lives to Christ. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 ESV).