Pray for Côte d'Ivoire

JULA; Côte d’Ivoire; 2,500,000. Praise God that the Jula translator and a Jula pastor were granted U.S. visas to travel to Dallas to participate in the typesetting process, which is now complete. Pray for the printing phase, that there would not be any mistakes in the collating and binding of pages and that it would be completed on schedule. Pray that the finished Bibles will arrive safely in Côte d’Ivoire and will be exonerated with no problems. Lift up those preparing for the dedication ceremony planned for mid-2013. Pray for the distribution of the Bibles, for the pastors who will teach their congregations how to use them, and for open hearts among the Jula people. Jula is the major trade language of Côte d’Ivoire. Finally, pray that God will use the Jula Bible to change lives and bring many to a knowledge of the truth.

DJIMINI; Côte d’Ivoire; 85,000. Praise the Lord that the Djimini project leader has finished his studies in Kenya and received his master’s degree in Bible translation. Rejoice also with the team, that they finished the last two remaining books of the Old Testament in 2012. Now the team needs to revise and harmonize over half of the New Testament. Pray for the Lord’s protection over the team as they finish that task this year, so that typesetting for the whole Bible can begin in early 2014. Also, one of the translators has a daughter who is sick, and he spends his time helping care for her while continuing to work faithfully with the team. Please lift up both of them in prayer. www.theseedcompany.org

JULA; Côte d’Ivoire; 179,000. Typesetting of the Jula Bible is scheduled to take place in 2012. Lift up in prayer the main translator and revisers as they read through the whole Bible once more, looking for any inconsistencies. Ask the Lord to protect the team physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Continue to pray for peace and stability in the Côte d’Ivoire, as the country experienced post-election violence.

DJIMINI; Côte d’Ivoire; 85,000. Pray for peace in Côte d’Ivoire, and thank the Lord for keeping the Djimini team and their families safe. Also praise God for protecting the family of project leader, Matthieu, as he studies  in a master’s program in Kenya. Pray that the translators can continue unhindered in their goal to complete the Djimini Old Testament. Pray for good health for team members and their families. Praise God that more Djimini speakers are learning to read through literacy classes, and ask Him to bless the national reviewers with wisdom and the ability to find the right words. www.theseedcompany.org

Ivory Coast: Requests from church leaders for trauma healing workshops are common—golden opportunities to show them how to use the mother-tongue Scriptures. Toualy Martin has held three workshops in the Wè region, the ‘wild west’ of the country, where insecurity is still high. There were deep hurts relating to the civil war and also, sadly, to divisions between churches. One workshop was for non-Christians; 12 of them believed!

Ivory Coast: Singers and song-writers from the four Kru language groups have developed songs in the distinctive Kru style, based on the Kru translation of Mark. Once these are recorded, hopefully this month, cassettes and CDs will be distributed around the churches. Pray that they will appeal to worship leaders and drive the message of God’s word home.

Ivory Coast: Seventy MP3 players with recordings of the Western Dan New Testament have been held up in customs for months, because of red tape. Japhet Loh has been waiting to begin setting up listening groups. He also needs to train group leaders.

Ivory Coast: Music has a prominent role in Kru society. Now that Mark and Luke have been translated into three Kru languages, a workshop is being planned to encourage translators and musicians to develop songs based on the Kru Scriptures, in the Kru music style. Pray for songs that communicate at the deepest level.

Radio Drama Team, Ivory Coast: In Kouya communities, as in many others around the world, information is normally shared orally. Thanks to gifts from believers in N. Ireland, each Kouya village will receive three players, under church supervision. Pray for the formation of listening groups and the training of group leaders. Groups will meet weekly to listen to Scripture, discuss, ask questions, and apply the teaching to their lives. Pray that the fire, hammer and sword of God’s word will work as never before. (faithcomesbyhearing.org)

Radio Drama Team, Mali: The drama team’s current priority is to record the Kouya translation of Luke-Acts for distribution on MegaVoice players in Ivory Coast. Philip and Heather Saunders write: “The Kouya NT was published at the start of civil war in Ivory Coast. Kouya territory straddled the front line, hampering Scripture distribution and literacy teaching. Please pray that hearing God’s word in their own language will have a huge impact.”