May 9 : Living Water. “We had just moved into our house when we saw out our window a woman and her daughters getting water from our outside faucet in big pots and carrying them on their heads out of the gate. This became a daily ritual to which we looked forward. We would smile, make hand motions, and try to communicate. That was 14 months ago, and now we are close friends, speaking their language. D lives in a mass of blue tents close to our home. She cooks on an open fire outdoors and washes clothes on a rock. Her three children started coming to our home each day to ‘see the white people and to taste their food.’ Now, they seem like family to us! They attend our church and come twice weekly for Bible stories and songs – not counting daily visits for food and love. Recently, after hearing Bible stories, D became a believer. How we have rejoiced with her over her decision! She works daily, carrying cement on her head in the hot sun at construction sites, making about two dollars a day. Her husband drinks nightly and beats her. Within the last month, we have discovered that R, D’s 9-year-old daughter, has a bone disease called Perthes. She is now immobile and has gone to their home village to have a village doctor put leaves on her leg in hopes of healing. Please pray for this precious family, asking that they will know the healing power of Jesus.”

May 10 : Searching for Treasure. South Asians are no longer concentrated in one spot on the globe; they are everywhere. “Little Jaffna” in Paris is a cluster of streets in the capital’s 10th district and is generally referred to as the “immigrant neighborhood.” The area is usually tight with people and alive with commercial activity and the hum of business. It is packed with “cash-and-carry” stores, sari “palaces,” sweet-meat vendors, restaurants, video and music shops, butchers selling goat meat, tailors, barbers, travel agents, and fresh fish-wallas. The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Paris is estimated at 75,000. Pray that the Sri Lankan Tamils who are searching for economic prosperity in Paris will find the true source of life – Jesus – and take back this treasure to their families in Sri Lanka.

May 11 : Sikhs in Canada. They have emigrated from India to Canada by the tens of thousands. Some of their temples are massive and ornate, built to preserve their culture and faith. Many keep the traditional clothing, including large turbans. Who are they? As to religion and culture, they are Sikhs. As they see it, to become Christian is to throw away not only their faith, but their entire heritage. This is why only a handful have left Sikhism to follow Jesus. One such person is Miss M, born of Sikh parents and raised in Canada, who heard the words of Jesus four years ago while in college and took the risk to follow Him. Despite mild persecution from family and spiritual attacks from the evil one, her faith and commitment have grown. Recently, while seeking a teaching job, her mother prayed to one of the “gurus” that Miss M would not get work until she had returned to the Sikh faith. But within three weeks, our Lord had provided a job offer. Please pray that it will be a testimony to her family that Jesus is the Way. Miss M is now leading two other former Sikh young women to be disciples of Jesus. Please ask the Father to strengthen these women by the Holy Spirit. Please pray that Jesus will build His church among Sikhs in Canada.

May 12 : Music & Art. Please pray for a woman serving in North India who is going to spend two years developing music, and possibly drama, resources for a Muslim people group. Pray for her as she finds musicians and artists in that people group – both believers and non-believers – who will help her in her task. Pray that many will hear about Jesus from the resources that come from this project. Thank God for pouring out His Spirit, in answer to your prayers, when groups of songwriters and keyboard music teachers spent time in a very large city in India in January. Dozens of people responded to the Gospel, and many more heard. Pray that God will continue to work in that city.

May 13 : Easter in Bangladesh. On Easter Sunday morning in Bangladesh, approximately 10,000 people gathered in front of the national Parliament building to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Thank the Lord for the clear and powerful presentation of the Gospel. Pray that the many non-believers who heard the Gospel will continue to be drawn to Jesus. Pray that the Christians in Bangladesh will be unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and share Him daily with those around them.

May 14 : Faithful Witness. “F was born in a Muslim family in the northern part of the state. Because of a physical disability, she was allowed to attend college. One of the young women in her dorm room was a believer. Eventually all the young women became believers, but F was the only Muslim to trust in Jesus. Her family opposed her decision, and she left home. They still have not believed in Jesus. F recently finished Bible college and is praying about her future. She is being discipled and is learning tools to reach Muslims. Already F has been able to share her testimony with many local pastors and several Muslim women. At the end of April, she helped to teach hundreds of college students how to share with Muslims. In May, we will be sharing with a small group of youth about reaching Muslims, and F will be teaching them how to be a disciple and teach others to be disciples. We have received an invitation to teach a group of church planters in June about reaching Muslims in a strategic district in the northern part of the state. Please pray for God to clarify His call to F. Also pray as we travel and teach together, asking that F will learn many things to help her obey the Father. Please pray that some who attend these classes will be burdened to reach Muslims living and working beside them.”

May 15 : High-rise Building for Bihari. A newspaper in Bangladesh has published the Bangladeshi government’s plans to demolish the two major Bihari camps in the capital city of Dhaka so it can build 45 high-rise buildings with adequate housing for 38,000 Bihari families. The construction project is supposed to take four years, during which time the government will resettle camp dwellers to a flood-control embankment area west of the camps. Thank God for this answer to prayer, and please pray that officials will approve the proposal. Pray that all concerned genuinely will have the welfare of the Bihari people in mind. Pray that neither the land nor the finished housing units will be misappropriated by more powerful people, as has happened in the past. Thousands of Bihari Muslims have been living in cramped, refugee-like camps since Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971.