Day 35 of 40 - Prag
My name is Prag. I am the wife of Levy. Currently, we are serving in South Africa. Please stand with us in prayers for our region, South Africa. You will hear me use the word sangoma. Sangoma means being involved in ritual practice or being trained as a witch doctor, or traditional healer or ancestral worship. Please pray with us for our Care Workers, Primary Caregivers, and our children who have been involved in sangoma practice.
Sangoma practice has really affected our community with fear. Currently, we have one of our most vulnerable child who has been taken to be trained as a sangoma. She’s required to pay a thousand Rand. She is treated like a slave by the people who are training her. Please, pray with us, that God will give us wisdom and courage on how we can intervene in this situation. Pray with us that God will raise local church leaders, together with our local Service Centre office, to stand and to have courage to share the truth in our communities.
Please pray with us, as the Word of God says, “We shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.” Please pray with us that God will give us courage and will give us strength as we walk into our communities, that we will share the truth about Jesus. Thank you.
Have you ever felt pressured to do something even though you know it’s wrong? Have you ever seen a friend do something that could be dangerous for them and you didn’t know how to help them?
Day 37 of 40 - Vivian
Good day everyone. My name is Vivian. I work with Hands at Work, and I serve at Lagos Service Centre [Nigeria]. I would like you to please pray with us today. Please pray for our Youth Boys in Amakoko Care Point, in Ilaje community.
One thing we’ve observed in the community is that the men don’t take care of their wives. The culture encourages a man to marry as many wives as possible and to get as many children as possible A man can have up to four wives, can have up to six wives, and he can get like eight children, 10 children, and even more than. But he will not take care of the wife. He will not take care of the children.
He will not support the wife. He will not support the children. The responsibility of feeding the children, the responsibility of buying clothes for the children. The responsibility of treating the children when they are sick, the responsibility of even providing shelter is mostly on the woman.
While the youngest child of the house is still crawling, the woman is pregnant again with another child, the culture forces the children into child labour. Sometimes children are sent to go and work in order to take care of themself and also the family.
Sometimes children are not allowed to go to school. They are forced to stay at home in order to take care of the younger ones while their mom will go and sell fish in order to be able to provide food for the family.
Please pray for our youth boys that even as we’re raising them in the Care Point, even as we’re sharing the word of God with them and showing them the way that the Holy Spirit will minister into their hearts and that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to see the culture for what it is, that the culture is a culture that endangers the lives of women and children.
Please, let us pray for our youth boys that our youth boys will not follow in the steps of their fathers - their fathers, their brothers, their uncles - this is a culture they have known since they have been born. Let’s pray for our youth boys that they’ll not follow in the footsteps of their parents. That the Lord will deliver them from that evil mentality of having many children and many wives that you cannot care for.
Let’s pray that our youth boys will not be influenced by this evil culture, but rather they, themselves, will begin to influence the community positively. Please let’s pray our youths will know the truth and that the truth, which is the word of God, will set them free from this evil culture and this evil mentality.
Please pray for our youth boys that when it’s time for them to settle down, they will take one wife and they will only bear children that they can care for, and that the change will begin with them. Thank you very much.
Has your mom or dad ever asked you, “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you also do it?” Do you ever feel like it is easier to go along with what everyone else is doing, even if you know it isn’t right?
Day 39 of 40 - carolyn
Friday has come. The crucifixion. Jesus was on the cross. From noon until three there was absolute darkness. Jesus cried out just after three. The curtain tore from top to bottom. The earth shook. Rocks split. Tombs broke open. Why do we call it good Friday? Actually, if we think about it, common sense would say, “There’s nothing good about it.” But, that terrible Friday has been called Good Friday because it led to the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death and sin.
Let’s pray today, that we can recognise in the darkness, Jesus took all our sin. His father turned his head away from him. He could not face him for all our sin. The miracle of that curtain tearing from top to bottom, the earthquake, the rocks splitting, let us take a moment and pray for ourselves. For the forgiveness of our sins. To pause and to acknowledge and to try and consume or think or absorb what Jesus actually did for each one of us on that day. He died for us, but yet we know that in three days he will rise because he promised. He said, in three days, I will rise. Grace, be with you all. Peace to you. Bless you.
Think of the most painful thing you’ve experienced. What Jesus went through for you was much, much worse, but he did it for YOU. Talk with your mom and dad about what Jesus did for us, and take time today to thank him.
Day 40 of 40 - Levy
Hi everyone. Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. My name is Levy, married to Pragcidence, and we are serving together in Hands. Today is Easter Sunday and we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ it gives us hope. Hope for salvation. Hope for our community. Hope in our life. For discipleship. I want all of you, wherever you are, across Africa and outside Africa, to pray with me - that our children in the community, they’ll have hope in Jesus. And those who know Jesus, they’ll continue to believe in Him. And those who don’t know Jesus, let’s pray together that they’ll know Jesus. Pray with me for the Primary Caregiver, the Gogo, the Auntie who are looking after our children, that they’ll have hope in Jesus.
As they go through difficult times when they’re looking after our children, because they’re the ones who face the challenge every day. Pray with me for our Care Workers who are visiting our children, that they will have hope in Jesus. Pray with Hands and our Care Workers who share the Jesus we know to our children, that there will be more children who shall receive the salvation.
Pray that Jesus Christ, he’ll guide them. Jesus Christ, He will be on their side and let them have hope. Pray with me that us in Hands at Work, we’ll go to share Jesus to make discipleship. As you know in Hands, we don’t hire but we make sons and daughters. Sons and daughters are those we disciple them and they grow in faith. They start, also, to share Jesus.
Thank you so much. God bless you. And all of you, there’s hope in Christ because of his resurrection. Thank you.
Spend time today thanking and praising God for raising Jesus from the dead, for offering us salvation, and bringing hope to the world.