South Africa

Please pray that as we lead into Passover (an Old Testament Feast) that CMJ UK will have the opportunity to engage with Jewish communities sharing the truths of the Old Testament. Pray that many will remember how God gave his people a way to escape Egypt and that many will have an interest in the Passover feast's relevance for today.

Pray for a dear Brother, one of AM’s trainers in Africa who has been sentenced in absentia to time in prison and fined for holding an unauthorised religious assembly (worship), having been closed off by the governor of the area in 2019. More hostility and false accusations and charges are being brought against God’s people in this land and more and more Church fellowships are having to close. May the LORD empower, enable, and strengthen His people in this nation, part of Jesus’ inheritance. May our dear Brother know the peace and presence of our precious Saviour with him.

Hindi speakers in South Africa: Dutch and British colonisers brought many Indian indentured servants to South Africa. These servants had a 'middle status' between black people and white people in South Africa. Believed to total around 467,000, less than 4% of Hindi speakers living in South Africa today are Christian. Though now mostly fluent in both Hindi and English, they still worship their Hindu gods or follow the Hindu philosophy. Most of those with this South Asian heritage in South Africa live in Durban. Pray that these Hindi speakers would receive the abundant blessings of worshipping the one true God, who loves them.

Cape Malays in South Africa: Islam had just started to take root in Indonesia when the first slaves were brought by the Dutch East India Company from Java and elsewhere to work in South Africa. When slavery ended in 1839 those freed from among the Cape Malay people were allowed to settle in the Bo-Kaap district, but the Apartheid regime continued to segregate society. Christian colonisers had no desire to evangelise the Muslims. Today, the 324,000 Cape Malay speak Afrikaans and are predominantly Sufi-practising Muslims. Pray that the Cape Malay receive a gospel presentation that touches their lives. Pray for the few existing converts to be protected from angry family members, and find encouragement within the church.

Jews in South Africa: The migration of Jews into South Africa began in the early 1800s where they were free to practise Judaism. There are believed to be around 52,000 Jews in the RSA, the largest Jewish population being centred in Johannesburg. Benefitting from being classed as  'white' during the Apartheid era, English-speaking Jews of South Africa are affluent and well educated, and there are both Orthodox and Reformed Jewish congregations and synagogues. Pray for Jesus to reveal Himself as their Messiah through the love of South African believers from all backgrounds.