"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart."

– 2 Corinthians 4:1

Africa

• Praise God for the successful conviction of a man in Uganda. This man attempted to strangle his partner when he came home drunk one night and she refused to give him money to go buy more alcohol. This was one incident in a pattern of abuse, and the woman immediately reported the attack to police. Less than a week later, police referred the case to IJM, and just four months after that, the judge convicted the man for his abuse, sentencing him to three years in prison. Praise God for the strong partnership between IJM, the local police and the justice system to work together and bring swift justice in this case. Pray for the woman who survived this violence, for her complete recovery and peace of mind.

Latin America

• Give thanks for a great initiative of the Ministry of Education in Guatemala to hold a Film Festival to encourage students to speak up about sexual violence. Over 50 screenings in 12 school districts reached over 7,000 students and staff with a film called Aullido — an award-winning film created in collaboration between CIY and IJM to empower survivors of violence to speak up. Please pray for all students who reflected on and discussed this material, and pray especially that survivors of violence who attended these events will find the courage to break their silence and ask for help.

South Asia

• Praise God for a proactive police unit that helped free 97 people who were in the process of being trafficked for labor. These officials come from a common source state for trafficking, where IJM has been increasing our trainings over the last several years to prevent the trend of abuse. Police eagerly attended these trainings and then applied their learnings just a few days later when they heard about these 97 migrant workers. Pray they would keep up this amazing momentum, and pray that these rescued families could stay safely in their home community and find good work.

Southeast Asia

• Please pray that God will continue to lead our IJM Bangkok team to new cases so that we can continue to support rescues for people trapped in forced labor slavery in the Thai fishing and seafood industry.