BHUTAN — Give thanks for a recent vision casting seminar that the Words of Hope team hosted for local Bhutanese church leaders. Our producer says that the seminar was designed “to stir the spirits of the existing local church leaders to be involved in God’s mission in and around their churches.” The team coached the church leaders in ways they can do outreach without needing to spend money.
INDONESIA — Words of Hope supports the production of Christian YouTube programming in several Dayak languages in Indonesia. Our producer asks for prayer for a few of the family members of believers who still follow the Kaharingon belief system, which is the ancient animist religion of the Dayak tribes. Pray that these family members would come to know Christ through the witness of their loved ones.
IRAN — Please continue to pray for the people of Iran as protests for basic human rights are ongoing. In the midst of these hard times, however, we give thanks and rejoice over the recent baptism of nine new believers at a Words of Hope discipleship conference for Iranians that was held at a safe location outside the country. These baptisms give us hope that Christianity is still growing inside the closed country of Iran!
ENGLISH — Pray for efforts to offer Words of Hope English resources in an additional format—through Amazon’s print-on-demand service. For a minimal fee, some of Words of Hope’s devotional series and books will be available to order online in this way. Our hope is that this will help us reach a larger potential audience and be an affordable distribution model for these kinds of resources.
ALBANIA — The team in Albania was able to translate Words of Hope’s English Advent devotional series for children and families into Albanian and promote it during the Christmas season. Hundreds of Albanian families participated in the creative daily activities. Many churches across the country offered the Advent series to their congregations as one of the first resources of its kind in the Albanian language.
UGANDA — Continue to pray for outreach among the Kup-Sabiny people. This tribe still practices female genital mutilation, or FGM. The Words of Hope team is working to find a committed coordinator to organize an FGM survivors’ rehabilitation fellowship. Those who speak out against the practice are still stigmatized in the community, however, so finding a coordinator has been challenging.
INDIA — Pray for after school tutoring centers run by Words of Hope throughout northern India. Words of Hope will specifically be fundraising for these centers this Easter. Many children living in poverty in northern India do not have access to quality education. Some of the villages where we work have only a 60% literacy rate. The Words of Hope tutoring centers help children get caught up to grade level expectations so that they can complete their primary schooling.
NIGER — Give thanks for improved security in the country of Niger. Our ministry partners report that they can now travel in most parts of the country without being threatened. People in general seem hopeful that peace is spreading in the country, particularly near the borders with Nigeria, Mali, and Burkina Faso, where there had previously been instability due to political situations in the neighboring countries.
NEPAL — We give thanks that thirteen new families have joined Words of Hope’s partner churches in Nepal in the last few months! We are also excited that, after a long time of planning and conducting surveys, we are ready to start programming in the Helembu (otherwise known as Sherpa) language of Nepal. The team has already prepared a series of sermons that will be on the air soon.
SOUTH SUDAN — During the recent visit of Pope Francis to South Sudan, our Dinka ministry leader, Alapayo Kuctiel, had the privilege of meeting with the Pope and other religious leaders to foster movements of peace and reconciliation among tribal groups. Pray for peace initiatives that will lead to lasting stability in this war-torn region. Pray that the peace of Christ will change hearts.
ENGLISH — Pray for efforts to expand the reach of the Words of Hope daily devotional. Our goal is for many more individuals to have access to this encouraging resource. Over the next two years, we will be forming a strategic team to explore ways to introduce the daily devotional to a new group of subscribers. Once people become engaged with the daily devotions from Words of Hope, they often become donors to the international outreach of the mission as well!
TURKEY — Please continue in prayer for the country of Turkey. People living there have been devastated by back to back earthquakes and aftershocks that have left tens of thousands of people dead, and countless numbers of people without homes and shelter. Our partners in Turkey are all safe, and they have found ways to continue broadcasting on the radio. They are focusing on messages of God’s love and trauma recovery.