United States

There are over 6.5 million Fula Jalon people, who are unreached in all nine of the countries where they are located. Most of the Fula Jalon live in West Africa between Guinea Bissau and Mali, but some live in Europe and the USA. Their main religion is Islam. The Fula Jalon do have the New Testament in their language, so please pray that this will be accessible to the people and that God will send Christians who can teach the Scriptures. Pray for work in those countries to continue and be sustained by the Lord.

The Shaikh people group are in nine countries. Pray for a breakthrough of the gospel among this muslim people group. There has been some progress made among the Shaikh in Canada and the USA, where there is 0.9% and 0.8% christian adherence, respectively. Pray particularly for more workers to share the good news with the Shaikh in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, as these nations need the highest estimated numbers of workers.

InterVarsity/USA are partners of everycampus, an initiative to see the gospel in every campus. They recently shared a prayer request for work among students in the fraternity houses, particularly in Sigma Chi, where two InterVarsity staff were able to get to know a student while prayer walking the UCLA campus. Praise God for encouraging conversations and ask God to work in BIG ways there this year.

The Soninke peoples live in countries in West Africa, in France and in the USA. Their main religion is Islam and these 2.7 million people only have portions of the Bible in their language. Pray for the translation work, which is still in progress. Pray for Christians to serve among them for the long term, and for resources via radio and the internet to be used effectively to share the good news of Jesus.

Pray for international students in the USA struggling with anxiety and loneliness to find peace and comfort in Christ. Pray that they would feel well supported during this time. With so much time being spent connecting with those back home, pray that Christian international students would be boldly sharing stories of Jesus with their family and friends.

Ross works with InterVarsity USA serving students at Kansas State University. In such a secular context, there are many challenges for Christian students sharing their faith, but also many encouragements. Ross writes: “We're seeing new students draw near to God, especially in the LGBTQ community, among arts students, and in fraternities and sororities [student societies]. Pray that our students would embrace sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.”

For a weekend, a week, or a summer, students step into the lives of those living in poverty in cities, to learn their stories and see the faces behind the social issues being debated in the USA. Pray for the students as they not just serve practically, but through reading scripture and examining life through the lens of the marginalised and oppressed, are brought to a place to confront their own sense of entitlement, materialism, greed and cultural prejudices. Pray that they would experience repentance, forgiveness, and healing in the context of community.

The Christian student movement in America is experiencing a new excitement about evangelism. In particular, many groups have been successfully using creative outreach ideas such as artistic displays designated to help initiate conversations on spiritual issues. However, one particular challenge facing InterVarsity/USA is the rising number of American students studying online, or commuting to campus and returning home each day. Pray for the leaders as they consider how to meet these students where they are.

Population: 323,127,513 (2016)
Literacy: 96%
Official languages: English
GDP (PPP) per capita: $57,220 (2016 est.)
Life expectancy: 79 years
Religions: 51% Protestant, 24% Catholic, 16% Agnostic or Atheist, 2% Jewish, 7% other religions