Feb. 21 : Storying Women. Please pray for an upcoming storying project among the women of Amritsar. This project will focus on chronological Bible storying as a mode of discipleship. Ask God to raise up national women who have a desire to lead other women in storying groups.

Feb. 22: Word Made Available. An international brother is praising the Lord that the Asmani Kitab for Muslims is now available. This process has taken over four years to complete and makes the Bible available to Rajasthani Muslims in a script that the majority of them read – Devanagri Urdu. Rajasthani Muslims will now be able to read stories about Moses, David and the prophets of old. They will also be able to read about Creation, the fall of man, Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, and other stories from the Bible. Praise the Lord that His Word will never return void!

Feb. 23 : True Disciples. As a result of the trainings that occurred over the last several months, there are 12 new believers from one Indian Muslim community! Members of five churches were trained late last year, and they took seriously the biblical mandate to take the Gospel into their communities. These 12 new believers are still fragile in their faith, not even understanding the basics of Bible study. It is tempting for those who won them to faith to simply bring them to existing traditional churches in their area. A significant problem with this is that there are serious cultural and language barriers that would prevent these new believers from seeing Jesus Christ. They would see lots of tradition and ritual but not blatant disciple-making. Coming from a Muslim background does not prepare them to understand the Christian traditions existing in their area. Please pray that these new believers will be discipled in following Jesus Christ through loving obedience to His Word rather than simply ‘pew-sitting’ in existing churches. Pray that those mentoring them will focus on loving obedience to God’s Word as the normal Christian life.

Feb. 24 : Breaking Ground. Thank you for praying a year ago about the radiation cancer center at Bangalore Baptist Hospital. Finally, ground has been broken and construction is underway. Pray that all will progress in a timely way, and that this will open many hearts to Jesus Christ.

Feb. 25 : No Fear. “A few months ago, we asked you to pray about the first persecution our network experienced. God has continued to protect the local believers and help them endure threats and suffering. During the onset of these problems, a brother was followed by Muslims to a meeting. A few days later, those men beat him and threatened him. For two months, this brother kept a low profile. He and his wife relocated in order to avoid further persecution. Just as he came out of hiding, the men holding the other brother under house arrest saw the two men talking in the street and alerted a local mosque. A mob came out to meet them and beat them severely with sticks. Please pray that they will not be overcome by a spirit of fear. Also pray for wisdom for his spiritual advisors to know how to encourage him through this. Please pray that his persecutors will soon become his brothers and that those who beat him will one day raise their hands with him to worship Jesus. Please continue to pray that God will call out other laborers to join us, as we long to see the Muslims of of this Indian state come to know Jesus as their Savior. As persecution keeps some from being able to meet together, ask God to provide new networks of believers to help nurture these house churches and start others.”

Feb. 26 : Festival of Colors. Holi, one of the most loved Hindu festivals, begins this year on February 28, and is celebrated for three days. Also known as the Festival of Colors, Holi is a time when Hindus, and South Asians from other religious backgrounds, celebrate by throwing colored powders and water on anyone and everyone. It marks the spring harvest and thanksgiving for nature’s abundance. Holi has roots in several Hindu legends of gods and goddesses. Many claim that Holi represents unity and brotherhood, as everyone indulges in uninhibited festivities, regardless of cast, creed, color, race, status or gender. Pray that South Asian followers of Christ will be wise in deciding how to be salt and light during Holi. Ask God to provide opportunities for the lost to hear the truth of His Gospel. Pray that many South Asian Hindus will discover the incomparable brotherhood and unity found in the body of Christ.

Feb. 27 : Garment Factory Workers. Approximately 2 million people work in Bangladesh’s garment export industry. Eighty-five percent of the workers are girls and young women, many of whom earn less than 50 cents a day. While this, for the first time, puts money into the hands of girls who in traditional Muslim societies could not work outside the home, the wages, working conditions and hours in these factories are far below Western standards. The booming industry employs many Bihari Muslims, male and female. Gospel outreach to garment factory workers is very limited because they often work 12 to 14 hours a day and there is little time for Christians to meet with them. Please pray that God will raise up people and strategies to share His Word inside the factories. Pray for the salvation of the garment workers. Ask that they will have fair and safe conditions in which to work.