Prayer Initiatives

Albania

A mountainous Balkan state on the Adriatic sea, Albania remains one of Europe’s two poorest nations.  While there is marked improvement, poor infrastructure, corruption, and high emigration rates hamper further growth.

No religion was allowed to exist in Communist Albania from 1967.  The ban was lifted in 1990, but no legal provision for religious freedom was made until 1998.  Since then, Albania enjoys total religious freedom, cherished by many.  The majority of Albanians are very nominal, but some traditional religious groups have had a tendency to resent and oppose the proselytism and activities of both evangelicals and marginal cults.

Haiti

Haiti is on the western third of the island of Hispaniola, an island shared with the Dominican Republic, and the poorest state in the Western Hemisphere.  Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have fled/emigrated. Haiti has a history of bloodshed and dictatorships and annually appears at or near the top of the corruption index; crime is rife, and 25% of the already-under-strength police force are in the pockets of drug lords and gangs.

The Roman Catholic Church’s role as the state church ended in 1987.  An estimated 75% of Christians are also actively involved in voodoo, a development of West African Spiritism and witchcraft.  But religious sentiment is strong, and almost all Haitians primarily identify themselves as Christians.  There is freedom of religion.

India

Geographically and politically, India dominates South Asia and the Indian Ocean.  There are 28 Union States and 7 Union Territories.  Kashmir is the contested area That is administered by Pakistan and China. 

India’s constitution provides full religious freedom of worship and witness for all religions.  The rise of Hindutva extremist resulted in a hate campaign against Muslims in the early 1990s and against Christians in the last 1990s as followers of ‘Foreign” religions.  Due to mass-conversion movements by Dalit groups away from Hinduism, and to evangelistic activities by Christian groups, issues of conversion and anti-conversions laws are high importance and sensitivity.  Persecution levels range widely, usually depending on the strength of Hindutva groups from one state to the next.

Uganda

Long known as the “Pearl of Africa”, much of the land in Uganda is fertile and well watered.  The numbers of those who perished from Amin’s dictatorship (1971-1978), civil way, famines, and tribal killings are unknown, but estimates vary from 800,000 to 2 million.  The slow, steady improvement made since 1992 was undermined by the conflict in the north and west and the ravages of AIDS and disease.  AIDS has significantly impacted the rate of population growth. Debt relief allows for longer-term development, but poverty remains widespread.

Under previous regimes of governance there were restrictions and intense persecution of Christians.  There is now a new freedom of religion.

La Chapelle

Top 3 prayer requests:

1. Please pray for Pastor Josias Laporte and the church plant in Gatineau. Pray for Josias, the core team for the new church plant and also for their first baptisms on January 31. We pray for many more baptisms in 2021. 
2. Please pray for all the la Chapelle churches in Quebec, that we may be authorized in 2021 to do small group in person services and to have gathering of more than 25 people. 
3. Please pray for our baptisms in Montreal on January 17 2021. 13 people already registered to be baptized in our office. Please pray for the spiritual growth of all the new Christians. 

Mission of Hope (Haiti)

Top 3 prayer requests:

1. We are praying we can start opening up trips soon (2021) to Haiti, DR and Guatemala. The team just released reservation options on the website for churches to reserve their spots. We are prayerful that we can reconnect with our partners and start mobilizing again.
2. Pray as we make more progress in Guatemala. MOH expanded into Guatemala not too long before COVID. So there still some ministry infrastructure pieces that need to be built out. The opportunity is great, by God’s Grace we will have firm footing by first quarter of 2021, though even now so much Good stuff is happening in Guatemala.
3. Continue to pray that the MOH team can serve the church in the states well. Part of our heart and vision is to be a resource to our partnered churches. With the lockdown, it has made it difficult to fully do so.

Marissa's House

 Top 3 prayer requests:

1. Please pray for the people of Uganda as they will be having Presidential elections beginning in January.  The elections are contentious and many fear violence. Pray for the safety of our ministry partners during this time of potential unrest.
2. Pray for our ministry staff in Ethiopia as that country is experiencing renewed unrest between ethnic tribes in Tigray as well as Oromia.  The government periodically shuts down internet connection to try to control the unrest and this is a huge disruption to doing any kind of meaningful ministry between Pastor Samson in Addis Ababa and Pastor Sisay in Jimma. 
3. Pray that we are able to finalize the working contract between Marissa's House Projects and Jimma Emmanuel United Church so that we can begin the refurbishment project.

Legacy Church Preschool (LCP)

Top 3 prayer requests:

1. For continued health and safety for the staff and children.
2. That God would use us to plant seeds in the children and their families that lead them.
3. That God would grow our program and send families that need to hear about His amazing love!

Belle & Sparrows

Top 3 prayer requests:

1. Opportunities for grants (grant writer) in 2021 to provide needed services to the women/families we serve in our own backyard.
2. Continued growth of The Candle Project through sales and wholesaling to retailers in order to hire more women and give them sustainable income as they continue their healing journey.
3. 21 partners to join us, donating $21 a month in 2021, to fund the first year's lease of the The Stella House to make it affordable to the women that will be moving in. 

Emily's Place

Top 3 prayer requests:

1. Reopening of Residential House 1 and the 8 to 9 families that will be moving in
2. Fundraising success in our events and for Compass House (our new 24-7 programming house) expenses
3. The recently implemented Surviving to Thriving program (both for adults and children)

Real Options

Top 3 prayer requests:

1. We have a new sonographer starting at the end of this month. Please pray for quick learning and smooth transition.
2. We are in need of more patient advocates to counsel women through their options. Specifically, we would love you to join us in prayer for patient advocates that speak a variety of different languages. Our next training is on the week of January 25th, so please pray for God to move in hearts to come and join this training.  If you are interested in this training, click this link.
3. We are seeing more Hindu and Muslim clients than ever before. Please pray for God to soften their hearts and prepare them to hear and respond to the gospel.