Prayer Update – December 2019

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  – Jesus, in Matthew 11:28-30

Special Prayer Request:

Please ask for God’s blessing of generosity through many people this Giving Tuesday, December 3rd.  Please ask that our full goal of $20,000 for the Adult Literacy program will be reached.

RWANDA

• We praise God that Ebola is not a concern in Rwanda.
• Please ask for peace in Democratic Republic of Congo, to the east of Rwanda.  Many of our neighbors have families across the border who are having to flee for their lives.

AZIZI LIFE

• We continue to believe that God is leading us to find or build a new building to house the ever-growing work of the Azizi Life family.  We praise God for beautiful architectural drawings.  However, it has become apparant that there are several major things which will make moving forward very difficult.  We are thankful to have been made aware of this discouraging reality and we ask for prayer that God would give us great wisdom and favor and help.

• We praise God that Sheila, our Head of Operations, has given birth to a healthy baby boy, named Shyaka.
• Please ask for God’s blessing over the UK travels of Tom, our co-founder.  May God give him good people connections, financial provision, and refreshing.

• One of God’s answer to our Multiply prayers has been our partnership with Macy White, an interior designer who has designed her own collection of products with Azizi Life.  Macy loves Jesus and loves the artisans.  Please ask for God’s powerful blessing both on Macy and on the success of this endeavor.

• Join us in thanking God for a new member of staff in Rwanda, Angelique. May God bless her in her work and guide the leaders in best placing Angelique within our team.

• Another Angelique, a weaver from the cooperative Abarikumwe, lost her husband recently.  Please pray for Angelique (pictured above) as she cares for her four children and a fifth child that the couple had taken in to care for.
• We praise God for another new baby boy, born to Sylverie, another weaver in Angelique’s cooperative.  If you have been on the prayer team a long time, you may remember praying for Sylverie’s firstborn daughter, sweet Kevine, who was born with a condition like cerebral palsy.

• Please ask for wisdom, courage, and knowledge for all of our plans.
• We are going through an audit of the Rwanda Social Security Board and ask that God will grant us a smooth process.

AZIZI LIFE IMPACT (UBI)

• We bid farewell to the new Impact assistant, Felix, who had a good opportunity he wanted to pursue.  Please ask for God’s blessing on Felix and for discernment for the small team choosing another new Impact assistant. 

• We praise God that we had the opportunity to train new literacy teachers from Ethical Partnership who will be teaching tea farmers in 6 learning centers how to read and write.  Please ask for God’s hand upon them as they begin.

• We are also thankful for new Bible teachers at our Wednesday artisan Bible study.  The Assembly of God church brought visiting pastors, and co-founder Christi’s mother also taught during their visit to Rwanda.
• It is very exciting to see so much growth in our own Adult Literacy program.  Please pray for provision of $5000 so that we can gift each new graduate with a Bible.

Beeutiful Creations

• We praise God for answering our prayers- we now have local sources for many of the raw materials we need!
• Please ask for successful sales for this peak Christmas period.
• May the model bee farm thrive and be used as a great learning tool.

AZIZI LIFE US

• God opened doors for Christi to offer Azizi Life presentations to many different groups this fall, from elementary school kids to college students to grandmother-advocates.  Please ask that each of these listeners be moved towards God, towards a commitment to fair trade, and toward lives of love.
• We praise God for two wonderful new members of the Azizi Life Board of Directors!
• Should we have listed all the babies together?  Because we are also celebrating the birth of a long-awaited daughter, Austen, to our US team member, Emily. May God give Emily grace, focus, and balance as she continues to serve Azizi Life, now as a new mom.
• The big NY NOW gift show is at the beginning of February, and we ask for God’s help in preparing effectively for a multiplication of new wholesale connections.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer.
From the Azizi Life Team