Pray&Go

Tag: missions

  • The Year-End Review Newsletter

    The Year-End Review Newsletter

    December 2025

    Welcome Letter

    Dearest Friends & Partners in Christ’s Service,

    Welcome to my December 2025 newsletter update! I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to give you an update on all the Lord has been doing in and through our ministry work across the nations, and I am so glad you are here reading this now. May God bless you and fill you with joy through the testimony of Jesus during this season as we celebrate our Lord’s divine birth. May God be with you as you read.

    In this year-end review newsletter, I am sharing photos and testimonies highlighting moments from 2025, with short sections describing what I was seeing and a part of doing in the nations we traveled to this year as a ministry team. I am also sharing what I am currently doing and preparing for as we move into the new year, including plans to return to South Africa in January.

    2025 has been a year filled with joy, triumph, glory, wonder, and awe. Looking back, I am truly astounded by all the Lord has done and by the many unexpected blessings throughout this season. It has been a joy to be part of the Fire & Fragrance South Africa family and the broader Potchefstroom community. I am deeply thankful for the experiences I have had—and will continue to have—through partnership with faithful prayer warriors, financial supporters, and ministers of the Gospel both here in the United States and abroad. I truly have the best job ever, and I cannot fully express how thankful I am for all that the Lord has done.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to both you and yours!

    — Matthew Forrest Akre


    Stories from the Nations — 2025

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    Sustainable Farming & Bible Distribution

    Bushbuckridge, South Africa | February 2025

    We were invited by our brothers at Wycliffe Bible Translators to train local church members in sustainable agriculture, and our team was thrilled to serve the South African community through both practical training and the sharing of God’s Word. We traveled to Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga Province, bringing Bibles in local languages and partnering with friends who facilitate Farming God’s Way training.

    This trip was especially meaningful for me as I learned more about the simplicity and effectiveness of sustainable agriculture practices. I was filled with faith and vision, realizing how these methods could one day be applied in other parts of Africa to help families and communities steward their land and provide food in practical, sustainable ways.

    During the training, we were able to distribute free Bibles to participants and share simple discipleship moments alongside the farming instruction. It was also during this trip that our leadership team received the initial idea to build a Bible Distribution App for the FFSA community—an idea that continues to serve the wider ministry today.

    God’s Story Training & Translation

    Egypt | March 2025

    “From Cape to Cairo, all of Africa will sing, Worthy is the Lamb!”

    – FFSA Prayer Room

    In March, our Project 54 team traveled to Egypt to participate in preparation and training for the God’s Story Oral DTS (GSDTS). This trip gave us the opportunity to learn more about oral discipleship methods, strengthen partnership with the Project 54 team, and support their ministry through Bible translation training.

    During this time, I was also able to meet with long-term translation partners connected to sensitive regions of Africa. These conversations opened the door for extended time together, where I was able to provide foundational translation training while still on the ground.

    As a result, several new translations of the God Stories were initiated—a collection of 35 Bible stories being used to multiply discipleship across Africa. I left deeply encouraged by how these translations are expanding access to God’s Word in communities with little or no Scripture available.

    This trip also marked the beginning of a significant ministry transition for me, as I shifted into Project 54, a ministry focused on multiplying disciple-making movements throughout Africa. I now serve as part of the full-time staff at Fire & Fragrance South Africa, and I am grateful for how God has been faithfully leading each step.

    Bible Translation Accelerator

    Nepal | May 2025

    From Cairo to Kathmandu, our year was filled with unexpected invitations to the nations. While in Nepal, we learned about new oral Bible translation tools and saw firsthand how accessible it is to translate Scripture using simple mobile recording methods.

    As we trained alongside teams from other nations, it became clear that we are part of a much larger family of Kingdom workers committed to bringing God’s Word to people in their heart languages. During this time, we also reconnected with close friends serving cross-culturally and spent time with leaders involved in translation efforts among persecuted communities.

    This season felt deeply divinely appointed. God marked us in a fresh way for the global movement of Bible translation, and what began as vision-casting conversations quickly became reality. We are now working with tools that support both Scripture translation and God’s Story translation for disciple-making movements.

    Flood Week & Youth Evangelism Outreach

    Emalahleni, South Africa | July 2025

    In July, our teams at Fire & Fragrance South Africa participated in our annual youth evangelism outreach known as Flood Week. Our team had the privilege of serving in Emalahleni (Witbank), where over the course of approximately 11 days we preached the Gospel to more than 26,000 primary and secondary school students.

    We partnered closely with local church leadership, and throughout the week we witnessed thousands of young people respond to the Gospel, along with healing and freedom encounters as the Lord moved powerfully among the youth.

    During this outreach, students were also mobilized to reach their own schools and neighborhoods through The Send South Africa, a global missions mobilization movement launching nationally in 2026.

    Youth Evangelism Training

    Nkhata Bay, Malawi | August 2025

    During my first trip to Malawi in early 2024, I met a young local leader who has since grown into a strong servant of God helping lead an evangelistic ministry in Nkhata Bay known as Christ’s Messengers Malawi. Over the past two years, the ministry has started more than 100 small groups across eight villages, reaching many who lack access to local churches.

    In August 2025, I returned to Malawi with a ministry partner to provide disciple-making training and co-facilitate a youth evangelism conference. During our time together, we witnessed salvations, healing encounters, and were able to support the ministry with Bibles and hymn books.

    I am currently hosting a weekly coaching call with the core leadership team, walking through the book of Acts to discover how disciple-making movements multiplied in the early Church.

    Ministry Fruit & Stats

    Youth Evangelism Outreach — Emalahleni

    • People Gathered: 26,032
    • Salvations: 6,276
    • Recommitments: 143
    • Healings: 11
    • Deliverances: 12
    • Schools Reached: 31

    FFSA Prayer Room (2025)

    • 235 Days of Prayer
    • 705 Prayer Topics
    • 46,000 Hours of Prayer

    Bible Distribution — FFSA Teams

    • Total Bibles Distributed: 4,710

    God’s Story Translation Progress

    Translations started in the following languages:

    • Arabic (Fusha)
    • Sudanese Arabic
    • Afrikaans
    • Chichewa
    • Maasai
    • Moro
    • Lokoya
    • French

    Gratitude & Looking Ahead to 2026

    Thank you for standing with me through prayer, generosity, and encouragement. As I prepare to return to South Africa, I am filled with faith for what God will continue to do through Fire & Fragrance South Africa and Project 54—especially in disciple-making, Bible distribution, and oral Scripture translation across Africa.

    Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2026!

    Become A Partner

    To support Matthew’s ministry efforts financially, please click the link above. And thank you for your generosity!

    Subscribe to Receive My Next Update!

  • VISION AFRICA 2033– June 25′ Newsletter

    VISION AFRICA 2033– June 25′ Newsletter

    A Bible Movement in Every Language

    Earlier this year, I shared a vision with you—a deep conviction that God is calling us to End Bible Poverty Now in our generation, across the nations of Africa. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and partnership as we’ve taken our first steps into this calling.

    Today, I’m writing to clarify and build upon that vision. In this first half of 2025, God has sharpened the vision, and clarified the calling upon our team and what our role will be in that. What was once a bold dream is now becoming a clear, Spirit-led strategy, and is now starting to bear fruit!

    Vision Africa 2033

    We’re now running with a bold, continent-wide strategy called Vision Africa 2033—and here’s what we’re contending for:

    • Grassroots prayer movements through PrayOMT—locally-led groups adopting languages, interceding weekly, and joining global monthly Zoom prayer calls.

    • 6 OMT Hubs planted across Africa—training and launching translation teams. Nigeria has already started building a movement of translation with an OMT Hub, and South Africa is not far behind—we’re about to launch our first OMT translation and establish the OMT Hub in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

    • 12,000 new OMT Bible translations by 2033, focused on Africa’s oral-first, Bibleless languages. We believe every language in Africa will worship God in their mother tongue—on earth as it is in heaven.

    This expanded vision for Africa not only redefines the task for our mission, but brings the full scope of the Great Commission into clear view. Let me share a little bit on how we got here.

    From South Africa to Egypt

    In April, I joined our Project 54 team in Egypt to help multiply leaders of the God’s Story Oral DTS for North Africa and the Middle East. I expected a simple two-week training—a chance to learn and support—but God had more creative intentions.

    What began as a short visit turned into a three-week assignment from heaven. I stayed an extra week to help new leaders begin translating the 35 God Stories into their mother tongues—orally. God moved powerfully in our time together. These leaders in Egypt dedicated themselves to translating the Word for their students, their communities, and their nation.

    Doors opened for us to serve languages in closed nations, where professing Christians can be killed for their faith, and in war-torn places where many have had to flee. God is choosing to use everyday believers to translate His Word—as if their search for refuge has led them beside the still waters of Psalm 23, where they can engage with God and His Word in safety.

    Since our trip, we’ve received testimonies of the God Stories being translated into more than four languages from these unreached places. One translation multiplying into four new translations in a matter of months! These are seeds of movement, and they are growing.

    As these school leaders now walk their students through the God’s Story DTS, please pray for their protection and for a mighty move of God in the nation of Egypt. May the Lord release movements of discipleship and translation across the nations.

    Revelation from the Road

    What happened in Egypt was more than a breakthrough—it was a prophetic signpost. As oral translations began in mother tongues, we saw clearly: translation is not just a support tool—it’s how the Kingdom advances.

    Soon after returning, we gathered for training with Rej Mack—and it was there that God gave me a deeper revelation of ekklesia. Jesus isn’t building a static church service—He is establishing His Kingdom everywhere.

    And He’s given us the Book of Luke–Acts as our blueprint. In it, we see how Gospel-saturated movements of ordinary people who obey Jesus, multiply disciples, and bring transformation to entire regions are born and sustained by the Word.

    Nepal & the Word-Shaped Commission

    In Nepal, our understanding of the Great Commission was transformed.

    To disciple every nation and every people group, we realized that it must be measured at the most granular level. The late YWAM founder, Loren Cunningham said that the greatest vision he could imagine was to see every language on earth reached with the Gospel in their mother tongue…

    To finish the task Jesus gave us, we must get the Word of God into every language on earth—not just in writing, but orally, in the living speech of every tribe and tongue.

    That’s why we’ve agreed to join the global initiative of Every Language—a vision to end Bible poverty through oral Bible translation in every mother tongue. This is not just about literacy. It’s about access, identity, and transformation—and about finishing what Jesus started nearly 2000 years ago.

    …As Loren Cunningham said:
    “The Bible is the foundation for transformation. Until everyone has it in their own language, the Great Commission cannot be completed.”

    Join the Vision: Pray. Partner. Go.

    Thank you for journeying with me through this update. I know this is BIG—but I believe this isn’t just a good idea… this is a God idea, and the mandate of the Church.

    I want to personally invite you to join this movement through prayer, partnership, and presence.

    PRAY
    Visit www.PrayOMT.com to commit to weekly intercession for a mother tongue language.

    PARTNER
    We’re looking for individuals, churches, and teams to walk with us—to adopt languages, support hubs, and stand with us long-term.

    JOIN US LIVE
    I’ll be hosting a short Google Meet info session for anyone interested in hearing more. If you want to learn how you can pray, partner, or mobilize others, this is a great space to connect.

    Date: Saturday, July 12, 2025
    Time: 9:00 AM PST | 6:00 PM Johannesburg time
    Link to join: https://calendar.app.google/RpVd8XMmgvo15CCp7

    Let’s finish the race Jesus gave us—together.

    With love,
    Matthew Forrest Akre
    Potchefstroom, South Africa
    Vision Africa 2033 | Fire & Fragrance | Every Language

  • Prayer Guide for End Bible Poverty Now!

    Prayer Guide for End Bible Poverty Now!

    Psalms 1 – February 2025

    This prayer guide is structured around Psalm 1 and related Scriptures, aligning our prayers with God’s Word as we seek His guidance, wisdom, and provision for the mission of Ending Bible Poverty Now (EBPN). Read and meditate on Psalm 1, praying through the prayer points as you go along. Related verses are also included to help guide your time reflecting on God’s Word. You can feel free to use this prayer guide in whatever way it serves you in your intercession time. Some suggestions would be to break it down into 6 days of prayer and fasting for the global End Bible Poverty Now movement, and pray through one verse per day for six days; or, you could even ask God for a particular nation or region of the world, and then pray these verses over the people of that nation. Have fun, and remember to enjoy Jesus!

    1. Walking in God’s Ways

    Psalm 1:1 – “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.”

    (Jude 1:24-25 – God is able to keep us from stumbling and present us blameless before His glory.)

    Prayer Focus:

    • Pray that EBPN workers, missionaries, and translators will walk in righteousness and integrity.
    • Ask God to protect them from worldly influences and discouragement as they serve.
    • Pray for wisdom and discernment in partnerships and decision-making.

    2. Delighting in God’s Word

    Psalm 1:2 – “But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.”

    (Romans 12:2 – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind to discern God’s will.)

    Prayer Focus:

    • Pray for a deep love for God’s Word among all believers, especially those receiving the Scriptures for the first time.
    • Ask for transformed minds and hearts as people engage with the Bible in their own languages.
    • Pray that those involved in Bible translation and distribution would personally delight in Scripture, drawing strength from it.

    3. Bearing Fruit in God’s Timing

    Psalm 1:3 – “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.”

    (John 15 – Abide in Me, and you will bear much fruit.)

    Prayer Focus:

    • Pray that the work of Bible translation, distribution, and engagement would be deeply rooted in Christ, bearing lasting fruit.
    • Ask for perseverance for those serving in difficult places, that they would not grow weary.
    • Pray that new believers receiving Scripture will grow strong in their faith and disciple others.

    4. Separating Wheat from Chaff

    Psalm 1:4 – “Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.”

    (Matthew 3:11-12 – Jesus will separate the wheat from the chaff.)

    Prayer Focus:

    • Pray for the power of God’s Word to bring conviction and transformation, leading people to repentance.
    • Ask that false teachings and spiritual darkness be exposed and removed.
    • Pray that people encountering the Bible will choose to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

    5. Standing in Righteousness Before God

    Psalm 1:5 – “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

    (Psalm 24:3-6 – Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Those with clean hands and pure hearts.)

    Prayer Focus:

    • Pray that entire communities will turn to Christ and stand as His righteous people.
    • Ask for godly leaders among the people groups receiving Scripture, who will shepherd and disciple their communities.
    • Pray for justice and righteousness to prevail in nations where the Bible is being translated and distributed.

    6. The Lord Guards the Path of the Righteous

    Psalm 1:6 – “For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

    (Matthew 7:13-14 – Enter through the narrow gate that leads to life.)

    Prayer Focus:

    • Pray for God’s protection over missionaries, translators, and those distributing Bibles in difficult regions.
    • Ask for guidance and provision for those serving in the EBPN movement.
    • Pray that those who receive the Bible will choose the narrow path that leads to life.

    Declaring God’s Promises

    Lord, we stand on Your promises and believe that Your Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). We ask that You bless and strengthen the work of EBPN, so that every people group may have access to the Scriptures. May Your Word transform hearts, families, and nations, bringing light to the darkest places.

    This prayer guide can be used individually or in prayer gatherings, uniting believers in intercession for Bible translation, distribution, and engagement worldwide. Let’s stand together in prayer to see God’s Word reach every tribe, tongue, and nation! Thank you for praying with us!

  • The 2024 Year-End Review

    The 2024 Year-End Review