Burkina Faso* is going through a dark period. On 24 August 2024, while the people of the village of Barsalogho, some 150 km from the capital Ouagadougou, were working together, they were attacked by terrorist assailants. More than 100 civilians and soldiers were killed. Around 150 people were injured. 
The following day, Sunday 25 August 2024, while the country was mourning its dead, another attack took place in a village called Kounla in the north-west of the country. This massacre took place in a church, killing 26 men. After ordering the women and children out of the church, the terrorists executed 26 men. 
The pastor of this church, who had studied with one of our pastors at the Maranatha Institute in Bobo-Dioulasso, was killed. 
These cruel acts have a profoundly traumatic effect on women, children and many others. Let us pray for healing. 
—Siaka Traoré, MWC regional representative, Central and West Africa. 
*Burkina Faso was ranked first on the Global Terrorism Index in 2023.  
Photo: Karla Braun

Pray for the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. Pray for wisdom especially in the Mennonite World Conference member churches, that as historic peace churches, they could counter polarization by demonstrating unity amid diversity, and care for the needs of others.
Photo: Canva

As we commemorate 500 years of Anabaptism, may we rightly remember our shared past.May we renew our commitments to following Jesus, living out unity in community with others, and building peace. May we also invest in our common witness with other members of Christ’s global body.
Pray for cultivation of an Anabaptist identity rooted in following Jesus together as church communities,becoming peacebuilders. Pray that we would reach across barriers that divide us, listening patiently to those with whom we disagree, and de-escalating violence. Pray for courage to confront injustice.
Photo: Irma Sulistyorini

We ask for your prayers that God will help us to train young people and leaders who wish to proclaim the gospel here in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and also to plant new teams of young ambassadors for peace in the East of our country.
—Napoleon Chance, youth leader, Église Adonai Bukavu, DR Congo
Photo: Tiz Brotosudarmo

Pray for us in Southern Africa and Central Africa, particularly, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe: the region has been affected by climate change and the past rain season has been very dry. Rains are not expected again until mid-November, with the hottest months being August, September, October.
Already the dams are drying up and animals are getting stuck in the mud as they try to access the little water that still remains in our dams. (See photo from Matabeleland South where there are many Brethren In Christ congregations.)
Over 2 million people will need food assistance in Zimbabwe alone. Our only hope is God Almighty, who is our provider.
—Reverend Sindah Ngulube, Brethren in Christ Church, Zimbabwe, Danisa Ndlovu, Regional Representative

Cordial greetings from the Anabaptist Missionary Church of Bolivia. We ask for your prayers so that God may help us train pastors and leaders who wish to proclaim the gospel and plant new churches in Bolivia’s nine departments.
—submitted by Estavan Gonzales Villarroel
Photo: Canva

The loss of license to receive funds from overseas has deeply affected Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India, a meeting that unites development and mission work of 8 Anabaptist-Mennonite conferences in India. Pray for discernment as they learn new ways of working and finding funds to support projects. Local churches already face strain to pay pastors.
Photo: Tiz Brotosudarmo

Pray for intergenerational unity in worship. Preferences for worship styles often differ between age cohorts. This can cause arguments or the development of separate worship events. Pray that each generation will extend grace to each other and remain in relationship, willing to learn from each other.
Photo: Windhi Arsari

Praise God for the meetings of the EMLC (European Mennonite Leaders Conference) which are an instrument of forming and building a communion/koinonia among its members. There is an openness and willingness to recognize each other. Pray that these experiences will continue to be taken home and shared further. Praise God for the efforts of the European Coordinator (and MWC Regional Rep) José Arraís continue to bring previously unknown branches of our European Anabaptist-Mennonite family into this communion. Pray that through the diversity of old and new Anabaptist-Mennonites, there is opportunities to refocus on identity, slowly carving new from the old.
Photo: European Mennonite Leaders Conference (EMLC) met in Barcelona, 2023/Liesa Unger