Praying for Future Leaders

Happy New Year from our West Africa Team!

Below are three recent prayer requests regarding university students for multiple people groups in West Africa. As you pray, please remember our team leaving on Feb. 20th. They will most likely have an opportunity to spend time at the local university. Pray God uses their presence and their words in a mighty way with the students they will spend time with. Also pray for discernment and direction as our team continues during this trip to think about long-term strategy and how we might better engage university students in that area.



This is inside a classroom at one of the elementary schools. Approximately 100 students are taught in a room this size.

Reaching the Next Generation of West African Leaders

Few evangelical missions organizations are currently reaching out to university students in West Africa. Pray for unity and guidance as each of these missions organizations seeks the direction that their agency needs to take to reach the next generation of West African leaders. Ask God to call out people who love Him enough to come and share His Truth with university students in Guinea, Senegal, Mali and Niger.


Developing Ministry Among University Students

Strategy and vision for ministry among university students in West Africa are in the initial stages. An IMB missionary began doing research and making contacts in October 2008. Much information is needed, but most importantly, prayer is the key that will help West African students recognize the direction and the plans God has for their lives. Pray for wisdom and discernment for this missionary as facts take on faces and then finally become a focus for the ministry. Praise God for the way in which He is opening doors for the gospel in West African universities.


The "Cream of the Crop"

There are several universities throughout West Africa, but ministry among university students is just beginning in Guinea, Senegal, Mali and Niger. As diverse as the countries themselves, these universities each have their own flavor as they educate the “cream of the crop” of their country. The capital cities of Niamey (Niger) and Bamako (Mali) have the only universities in their country, so students from every people group attend in hopes of getting a job to help support their entire family. Guinea and Senegal have several universities, each with its own specialty. Each of these universities desires a partnership with a university in the United States. Pray that university students in West Africa will realize that their greatest need is not for the wealth or prestige that comes from an education, but for a Savior who offers eternal life.

Bearing Gifts We Travel Afar

A story and prayer request from our on-the-field Maninka team.

A member of the Maninka team shares, “When we first moved to our city several years ago, I asked a young Maninka woman to explain her understanding of Christmas and its customs. She saw it as a time when we Christians prepared food as a sacrifice and then shared it with our friends as gifts. A worker had once given her baked goods at Christmas and that is how she interpreted the gift, even though the worker had shared the Christmas story with her. Often the message we share is seen through a cultural lens. Please pray that this Christmas season the Maninka team will have many opportunities to share the story of the Savior’s coming and the hope that it brings. As we talk about Christmas with our friends and with university students, pray that our message will be clear and God’s Spirit will speak across cultures.”

Farmers Needed

A certain village suffered greatly due to a lack of food among those who lived there. A farmer who lived in the village was prepared, because he had brought new seed from his father’s village many miles away. There was even plenty of available land surrounding the village. However, the farmer was only one man. He could not sow enough seed by himself to eventually feed all the villagers. Though the villagers were hungry, they did not understand the importance of what the farmer was trying to do. The farmer had even sent word to his father’s village that he needed help. Yet, because his father’s village had already begun harvesting a good crop, they did not grasp the urgency of the farmer’s request. They planned on sending a few farmers, but not until they finished their own work.

This parable illustrates the challenge that faces missionaries among the Maninka people in one area. Village upon village fills the landscape of this region, yet presently there is only one IMB couple trying to plant seeds in a vast area. Thank God for four new villages that were recently visited by a volunteer team from Tennessee who was able to present copies of Genesis and Luke in the local language to the village elders in addition to helping missionaries share the story of Christ. Pray for wisdom as they plan on how to proceed in working with these villages and following up on these visits, and pray for more “farmers” to come and share the task.

This was a recent prayer request found at www.gowestafrica.org from the Maninka Team of West Africa.

Please pray as our team for the February trip is being put together. Pray for more "farmers" to catch the vision for these four new villages.