February 1-8
"Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground" (Psalm 147:5-6).

Excerpt from Prayers of the People, a free yearlong guide to prayer for CBF missions and ministries. Order the Prayers of the People prayer calendar as a way of remembering CBF missions and ministries throughout the year.

Prayer Requests from the CBF family

• Please pray that 2-3 churches would join in partnership with us in a way that would anchor our financial support so that we can meet our financial needs and move to Greece this summer and begin ministry among Albanians.
• Please begin praying for our visa process that we will begin in a couple of months. It can be very difficult to get a visa to Greece. Pray that the process will go smoothly.
• Please pray that when we move we will be able to find an apartment in a good neighborhood where our children will have good friends.
• Please pray for Greece as it struggles through this economic crisis. Please pray for the many families who are without work or who are working without receiving a paycheck.

• We are so thankful for the wonderful visit we have had with our son Joshua. Pray for his safety and readiness to begin the spring semester at George Mason University. Pray that he will continue to represent Christ well with his dorm-mates, through the church and in the community.
• We are excited to report that Macau has passed a new law banning smoking in all public places (except the casino floors). So this means all restaurants and hotels, shops, parks and bus stops... are non-smoking. For many years we have been asking you all to help us pray for health of the service industry workers. We are so thankful to God for answering our prayers in this wonderful way. It has been so nice to eat just food and not smoke in the restaurants. Praise God for this loving provision and protection.
• Please continue to pray for Larry's PhD work. He has to present a progress report on his proposal on Feb. 25th. Pray for discernment.
• Please pray for Jacklyn, a new student in our English classes. She has come from Guangdong Province to intern at a large restaurant in Macau. She is very enthusiastic about learning English and the Bible. She has lots of questions like "how can God love everyone?" She shared that the first day she came to our classes was the beginning of her dreams and that night she slept very well. Pray for her to have eyes to see and ears to hear.

• Please pray for Virginia, the new principal at the Ruth School. Ask God to give her wisdom and guidance as she leads the staff.
• Please pray for the March 20-24 session of the Gypsy Smith School for Roma church leaders. Pray for safety in travel for the teachers and the students. Ask God to guide the teachers as they present and to give the students open minds and hearts as they learn.
• Join us in praising God as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ruth School ministry in Bucharest.
• Please pray for Ricsi, a young Roma man enrolled in medical school in Budapest. Ask God to give him perseverance in his studies and to provide for Ricsi’s daily needs.
• Please pray for Robert, 1st grad student at the Ruth School. During the Christmas break his mother passed away from lung cancer. Pray for comfort for Robert and his family. Ask God to show the Ruth School staff how to help Robert during this time of grief.

• Please pray for Norma as she expands her ministry in Roquetas. She is from our church in Almeria. She is now teaching classes two times a week to the African ladies in Roquetas. Pray that the ladies would continue to be open to hearing more about a relationship with the Lord.
• Please pray for Blake as he comes to Spain to minister with the African young men for three months. Please pray for Matt, who will also be making a trip to Spain to research areas to place new families to minister to immigrants.
• Please pray for us as we continue to seek God’s will for the future of the ministry to immigrants here in Spain and other areas. Pray that God will guide us in his will for the ministry and for our family.
• Pray for the church in Almeria as they continue to minister in Roquetas among the African immigrants.

• The graduation rate of Homestead has increased from 50% to 77%.  Thank God for all the community assets that have impacted our academic success! 
• Please pray for youth attending Spring Break - Camp Oasis! We hope to take 20 - 25 youth away from our neighborhood during Spring Break. Camp Oasis allows youth to focus on God for 3 days and has been a life-changing experience for many of our youth.
• Pray for our Sunday night service that is reaching between 12 - 20 people each week.   
• Pray that our 12-step recovery program will reach adults in our neighborhood struggling with addiction issues! Twenty-seven youth are enrolled in this program, and we would like to be a resource for parents, neighbors and family members as well.  
• The children and youth of OHM have raised about $400 for a well in Zambia. Pray that God will bless their nickels, dimes and quarters and connect us with matching donors. Thank God that the young people of OHM have compassion for the people of Zambia and want to do something to help!    
• Pray for all the young people who were carried across our borders as small children and now have no pathway to citizenship. Pray for compassionate immigration reform.  
• Pray for the students who have moved away from our area and our programming. Pray that God will plant them in another family of faith! . 

• Pray for “Projet Meubles et Monde” in Montreal.  This ministry is providing furniture to people in need in the Parc Extension neighborhood.
• Pray for a church’s new food ministry in South Montreal that is providing 80 boxes of food to the working poor in their community each week.
• Pray for the new host family at Matthew House Ottawa. Pray as they and their 3 year old daughter adjust to living communally.
• Pray for S from Cameroon as she moves from Matthew House Ottawa into her first permanent residence in Canada. She will be living with 2 Canadian senior adult women that are supporters of Matthew House. One other former resident of MHO also lives with these lovely ladies that seek to share the love of Christ by renting out rooms in their home to newcomers to Canada.
• Pray for the hundreds of refugees that are living in motels in Ottawa as overflow from the homeless shelters. Pray that a solution can be found to make the experience of living in a motel for months without access to a kitchen doable.
• Pray for Matthew House Montreal as it opens its doors at its new address in February. Pray for those who will be calling Matthew House Montreal their first home in Canada.

• Several interfaith dialogue events have already taken place and more are being planned. Pray that God would use us to help churches and individuals become comfortable in building relationships with their Muslim neighbors.
• Freedom Sunday is a day set aside for churches to highlight the issue of human trafficking. Pray that God will call out churches to address this justice issue. Pray for churches and individuals to register for a webinar to be hosted on the 22nd of February.
• A refugee family is without electricity or food and is 2 months behind in rent. Ask God to help this family find a way to sustain themselves here in the US. Pray for the wife, who is deaf, to find resources here that will help her integrate into society.
• Butch and Nell will be leading breakouts at various CBF regional meetings. Ask God to use the breakouts in connecting Butch and Nell with churches and individuals that are interested in cross cultural engagement.
• Preparations are beginning for this year’s General Assembly. Nell will be helping to put together a breakout for the event. Ask for God’s clear leading so that the breakout will meet the needs of participants in the General Assembly.

• Pray for a young Bhutanese refugee who is seeking Christ yet desires to remain a Hindu in order to be accepted by her husband and family. Pray for courage for her to take this step of faith and become a follower of Christ.
• Pray for the logistics of beginning a community garden for Karen refugees at one of the apartment complexes. Pray that this will help meet not only their physical needs but also their spiritual and emotional needs.
• Pray for the development of a mentoring/ empowerment program for Iraqi refugee women in our area. Pray for Christian women to come alongside these women as mentors and friends.
• Praise God for the opening of doors to work among refugees with new ministry partners. Pray for wisdom as we seek to find ministry opportunities to develop relationships which will meet physical and emotional needs.

• The Executive Committee of the Village of Hope in Kiev, Ukraine has committed to pray every Friday (of course, you can pray daily or as the Lord leads) for the process of registering the land where the Village of Hope is located. Finally, when the process is almost over, some officials are delaying the process because they want a bribe. Please join us in prayer for this urgent need.
• Please pray for the Kashtalian foster family and their process of changing their status of foster family.
• Please pray that the Lord will send more partners to help complete renovation of the retreat/camps section of the Village of Hope. Many Christian organizations/churches want to rent the facilities but they cannot because we do not have enough capacity.
• Pray for the churches/teams that plan to come this coming summer to serve in a short mission projects at the Village of Hope and the surrounding community.

Fran Stevenson, international ministries, Afghan immigrant focus, mobile ministries, Freemont, CA 

• As husband Pete and I are preparing for our spring missional journey we have an opportunity this month to show a video at my church. The video will begin with the CBF video “Discover Your Passion” following will be a short video explaining Mobile Ministries plus many other opportunities CBF have to offer. Pray that the congregation will see a new perspective regarding missions that they have not realized before. 
• Pete and I are helping our Afghan friend and his family (stationed in Afghanistan) to transition back to America as his final destination. He hopes to fly back to America in February and secure housing for his family to follow. This has been a difficult situation for him. He worries that his children are not able to attend school in Afghanistan so he is anxious to move the family back to a safer environment.
• Prayer for my family: my brother John in England has Millers Fisher syndrome. Brother-in-law Bruce has been diagnosed with esophagus cancer. Pete’s sister Susan has many medical challenges.

• Please pray for a few children in particular involved in our ToMorrow’s Leaders After School program through Touching Miami with Love, our inner-city ministry. Many of our children are facing difficult situations in their home life and school and because of severe behavioral issues risk being expelled from grade school.  Please join us as we pray for these children and for our staff as they help these parents navigate through assisting their children with their behavior problems.

• Pray for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who are standing strong in difficult situations.
• Continue to pray for Iranian Christians who remain in prison in Iran.
• Pray for new immigrants and refugees who are trying to establish new lives here in the US at an economically difficult time.
• Pray for the Afghan & Iranian Christian Fellowships in MD and VA. Pray for continuing outreach and growth.
• Pray for Persian Christian resources being distributed worldwide.

• Please pray for the 10,000 refugees from Eastern Turkey who have moved to our city. In one day they lost everything they had except what was on their backs. One family we met was at the hospital with their father who was having a heart attack when the earthquake hit. Had they been at home they might have lost their lives! Their building was destroyed! We have met so many families like this since November. Pray for us as we try to be God's presence here in our city. We clearly tell the recipients of our gifts (food and clothing) where the money comes from. It is a witness!

• Please pray that God will strengthen and comfort Patricia, Victor, and baby Elias. They are a family of Romany Gypsies that have their tents close to where we live. They're going through a difficult time right now. Please also pray that God would give us wisdom in ministering to them.
• Pray that our intensive Spanish classes will go well in the month of February.
• Pray also that God will guide our decision-making as we discern how best to begin our ministry in the coming months.
• Thank God that we had safe travels to the south of the country for the Union of Baptists in Chile's annual congress.
• Also give thanks that God has provided us with a growing network of friends and partners both in Chile and in the United States.

• Pray for Bob & Janice Newell as they return to Athens after a three-month Off-Field Assignment in the States.
• Pray for the students and teachers during the Winter Session at PORTA – the Albania House in Athens, beginning February 6.
• Pray intercession and thanksgiving for the PORTA Partners (short-term volunteers) who are coming to serve through PORTA in March & April.
• Pray for the unstable Greek economic situation and its many damaging impacts on Albanian immigrants and the ministry of PORTA – the Albania House in Athens.

• We want to express our deep gratitude to the many, many people around the world that have been praying for our family, especially for Jeff’s health. He is recovering remarkably from brain surgery! We are overwhelmed with thankfulness for God’s protection and healing over Jeff. Praise be to God!! Thank you for joining us in prayer as we shift our focus back to preparing our family to move to Macedonia in June! We are blessed beyond measure to be a part of this Fellowship. Thank you for your faithfulness to pray for the field personnel.

• Please continue to pray for India and for CBF projects and programs, especially for training, evangelism and church planting programs in India and Nepal.
• God willing, Rev. Dr. Greg DeLoach, senior pastor of First Baptist Augusta and Phil Martin a member of First Baptist Church Augusta will be traveling with me in India and Nepal from Feb. 20-28. Rev. Dr. Greg DeLoach will preach on Feb. 26th at International Christian Church in Katmandu, Nepal. This church is made up of all expats living and serving God in Nepal and consists of all mainline denominations, about 350-400 people. Also we'll be engaged in a Pastor's conference in Nepal and India.
• Please pray for our (Rev. Dr. Greg DeLoach, Phil Martin and Sam Bandela) travels and for all the ministry related activities during our visits before and after.
• Indian Christians are STILL going through unwanted, unexpected and undesired persecutions. India and Indian Christians need our URGENT prayer.