Monthly Prayer Focus

Have you ever felt you just didn’t have enough—and your need, whether spiritual, financial or emotional, was one only God could provide? For many people in Africa and Asia, the need for stable income smothers their family each day. But God has been doing the impossible for thousands of these families by providing income-generating and life-improving gifts through the generosity of partners like you.

While partners here typically donate gifts through GFA World’s Christmas Gift Catalogue as the holidays approach, GFA missionaries and leaders work together year-round to distribute gifts to people living in physical and, often, spiritual poverty. Will you join us in prayer for these Christmas gift distribution events?

As GFA regional leaders and local pastors discuss the needs in the communities they serve, they need God’s direction on what gifts to give whom. Sometimes, a village has an overarching need—for example, outdoor toilets in a locality with poor sanitation—but other times, each family in the community might have a unique need. Would goats or sewing machines or chickens be more useful? Sometimes the answer is clear, and other times the answer may require more prayer and consideration.

Please ask God to guide pastors and leaders to the right solutions for each community. Ask Him to show them how, when and where to distribute gifts.

After donations come in for gifts, GFA leaders must purchase the gifts in their localities or regions. We want them to find healthy animals and quality gifts at good prices. The longer these gifts last, the longer they can help meet families’ vital needs or bring in income!

Please ask for God’s favor as GFA missionaries purchase gifts. Ask Him to bless each gift to last many years to come.

Sometimes the communities that need Christmas gift distributions the most lie in the most remote areas! GFA leaders may need to drive hours on rugged roads to bring the gifts to those communities, and even gift recipients may have to hike a distance from their homes to receive them. Even in more urban areas, people may need to navigate treacherous traffic to get to the distribution sites.

Ask the Lord to protect GFA pastors and leaders and all the gift recipients as they travel to and from Christmas gift distribution events.

An act of compassion in Christ’s name can make all the difference in a person’s life. More than anything, we want each Christmas gift to introduce an individual or family to the God who sees them and cares for them. As GFA missionaries distribute these gifts, many people are finding hope in Christ—the best gift of all—for the first time. For others who already know Him, a gift strengthens their faith.

Please pray for each gift recipient to have a revelation of Christ’s love for them. Ask God not only to bless gift recipients’ lives but also to transform them.

Jesus came “that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). He blesses us with abundance so we can bless others. For many Christmas gift recipients, a new source of income (or a necessity, such as a blanket, that can offer better health) enables them to provide better for their families and live thriving, abundant lives. As they rejoice in God’s provision, they often share with others—for example, by giving a goat kid to another struggling family.

Pray God will continue to use these Christmas gifts to supply families’ needs according to His riches (see Philippians 4:19). Ask Him to bless our brothers and sisters with income so they can be a blessing to others.