Feb. 14 :  God’s Love Demonstrated. In October, millions of people in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, India, lost everything they had to unprecedented flooding. Teams from Indian Baptist Society went into numerous villages to provide encouragement, food, clothing, cooking pots, etc., to these suffering people. Teams have returned to do follow-up, much to the surprise of the villagers. The IBS teams have demonstrated the love of Christ, not only with tangible help and words, but also with the Gospel. The villagers said, “Thank you, for when we were hungry and without food, you came to help us.” Please continue to pray that in the aftermath of disaster, and as a result of the seeds that were sown by the IBS teams, there will be many who will come to know Jesus. Pray for the IBS teams who will continue to follow up and reach out to these villages with the love and message of Jesus Christ.

Feb. 15 : Human Trafficking. World statistics report that India, with 1.16 billion people, is second in population only to China. With an estimated 27 million babies being born in India each year, more than 30 percent of the population is under the age of 14. Human trafficking is a huge problem in India; however, recent newspapers in one major city reported that 66 children (ages 5 to 15) were liberated from slavery. Praise God! Please pray that these children and all the children of India will know true freedom. Pray that release will be proclaimed to the captives and that the oppressed will be set free.

Feb. 16 : Beaten for Jesus. Recently a church planter working among Muslims was taken from his family to a local mosque, interrogated and beaten upon discovering his Bible. Afterward, he was put under house arrest at his family’s home. He was allowed to leave the house to purchase milk. During that short time, he ran into one of the other church-planting trainers. He was scared but began crying when he talked about wanting to continue in discipleship/training. What an amazing testimony of faith, and very humbling for the one who mentors this young man. Things like this have continued to escalate in recent days. Please pray that the Lord will use what is intended for evil to invade this entire family with eternal hope. Pray that this will spur the new believers on to a renewed devotion to Christ Jesus and obedience to His Word. Pray that the groups that continue to meet will evolve into healthy, reproducing churches despite the persecution.

Feb. 17 : Working Together. Please pray for an upcoming media project that will focus on reaching the Jat Sikhs and other Sikh people groups. Several Great Commission Christian organizations are working together on this project. Ask for guidance as workers arrange logistics, write scripts and make plans for shooting video. Pray for all that is needed to produce the videos and other media. Pray that many Jat Sikhs will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as a result.

Feb. 18 : Empowered to Grow. This month a new training will start in Kolkata, involving 25-30 cell group leaders, to help them in sharing their faith, discipleship, and forming other cell groups. The training will be once a month for 10 months. This particular church is hoping to double the number of cell groups from 40 to 80 this year. Pray that the leaders will be empowered to take what they learn and teach others so that the groups will multiply with new believers and disciples for Christ.

Feb. 19 : Faithful in Persecution. “December and January were challenging months for some of our national brothers as they faced persecution and threats. Upon discovering a Bible in his backpack, one man’s family tied him up and took him to a local mosque, where he was put on trial for his new beliefs, threatened and slapped around by his accusers (it is similar to some of Paul’s experiences with the Jews in later chapters of Acts). Finally he was sentenced to house arrest. For weeks our brother remained in the custody of his family members, unable to join with believers for encouragement or training and removed from the believers and house groups he has been nurturing. Finally he escaped the clutches of these captors and is currently in hiding. Please continue to pray for this brother as he seeks direction about the future. He said that returning to his family would result in his death, and he would prefer to die in service to Jesus. Please pray for Muslim-background believers throughout this Indian state to grow in their faith and receive training to help them make disciples of others. Continue to ask God to soften the hearts of their neighbors and family members so that they also will receive this Good News. Ask God to use this persecution to strengthen His church and spread His message throughout the state. Pray that those being persecuted will be encouraged, remain faithful, and continue to share with boldness.”

Feb. 20 :  Ready for Baptism. “There are 15-20 more people who are ready to be baptized. Give thanks to the Lord with us for this good news. Things often take a long time to happen, so now we ask you to pray that an actual baptism event will take place. Typically, we teach for several hours about true faith, doing our best to confirm the participants’ belief, and then they are baptized. The entire event concludes with a large meal. God is faithful and worthy to be praised!”