Operation Christmas Child January Prayer 2016

WEEK 3: January 17--26^th Pray for the following OCC Requests:

NEA Requests:

1. Pray as goals are being set for 2016 collections!!! 11,000 is what we are praying about so far. We will let you know soon when God leads us to our official number to be the NEA Goal for 2016! 
2. Pray for Melinda Dixon and other Mid-South Area Coordinators as they travel to the AC Planning Conference in Nashville in the next few weeks for it to be refreshing and motivating! It was rescheduled due to winter weather.
3. Continue to pray for Marlin Dixon’s healing after a minor surgery he had on Jan 11. He is planning to go back to work Sunday Night, the 24th.

 Operation Christmas Child Mid-South Requests:

1. February 3rd is our 1st quarterly day of Prayer and Fasting for OCC this year. (the other days will be May 4, August 3, and November 2, 2016)
2. Praising God for all of the Gospel Opportunities that He blessed OCC in 2015!!
3. Please pray for the many distributions that will be taking place over the next several months and that God would be glorified and many children would come to know the Lord.
4. Please pray for God to continue to call new volunteers to partner with us in sharing the Gospel. We are seeing a great response to the new Volunteer Relations campaign!
5. Please pray for Franklin Graham and the Decision America Tour.

This week we are praying for Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa. 

Specific Requests for each country are:

Namibia is on the southwest boarder of Africa. It has 2.2 million people with 37 different languages. 270,000 are Evangelical Christian (12.2 %). Challenges for Namibia are: Poverty – a dangerous gap separates the rich and poor; over 35% are unemployed. , Aids- Namibia has the fourth highest infection rate in the world, and Reconciliation. Namibia’s colonial past under German and then South African rule, the legacy of apartheid and the Cold War-fueled fighting and terrorism before independence have left many scars. Some good progress is being made in the area of reconciliation; pray that in Christ both perpetrators and victims might find forgiveness and peace. Namibia began receiving shoe box gifts in 2000. The current National Leadership Team Coordinator is Isak Farmer. The Namibia NLT has 2 Regional Leadership Teams that are instrumental in leading efforts in the different regions of the country.

Specific Namibia Requests:

1. Pray for the finalization of the agreement with the new consignee.
2. Pray for a new volunteer National Leadership Team Resource Coordinator.
3. Praise God for the formation and establishment of two new RLTs.
4. Praise God for the around 800 TGJ teachers trained this year. Pray the TGJ teachers and local contacts will remain faithful and committed to the call of God in discipling children. Pray for diligence in reporting all that is to be celebrated from this season.
5. Praise God for the committed local contacts who joined the Khomas Team.

Seychelles is a group of 92 granite and coral islands spread across 400,000 square km of the Indian Ocean; 1,600 km east of Kenya. Its population is 84,600. There are 10 people groups with 3 languages, 30% are unreached. 5.9% of the population is Evangelical Christian. The challenges for prayer are the less reached peoples: 1) The outer and less-populated islands are isolated and have had little challenge to make a personal commitment to Christ; and 2) The small Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim communities need loving outreach from believers who demonstrate the true gospel. Seychelles began receiving Shoebox Gospel Opportunities in 2010. Since 2010 over 14,000 children in Seychelles have received a shoebox gift. Over 21% of the population is under 14 years old. 

Specific Seychelles Requests:

1. Pray for the Ministry Partners.
2. Pray the children will finish The Greatest Journey discipleship program.

South Africa is a republic with nine provinces at the southernmost point of Africa. It has 62 people groups with 10% unreached. They speak 11 languages in all and 21% are Evangelical Christian. The South African National Leadership Team began with its first season in 1996. Pray God will motivate all of the teams to reach the least reached and unreached children, including those in the most rural villages, with the Gospel. Peter Sekhonyane became the NLT Coordinator in 2008. The South Africa NLT also consists of Abigail Toobi as Prayer Coordinator, Mandla Nemabulane as Resources Coordinator and other additional members. The South Africa NLT has one Regional Leadership Team that is instrumental in leading efforts in the different regions of the country.

Specific South Africa Requests:

1. Praise God for the first successful TGJ season led by the new Discipleship Coordinator.
2. Praise God for healing the RLT Coordinator in Kwazulu Natal, who was critically ill and admitted to hospital.
3. Pray for the remaining TGJ teacher training events.
4. Pray that the Gospel message shared through OCC will contribute to the healing of South Africa.
5. Pray for the youth of the country who are under the attack of drugs, alcohol, and teenage pregnancy.