Author: falyravoahangy

After two days of travel, the first from 2 am to 2pm, the next from 5 am to 8:30pm due to boat delays, broken cars, overheating engines, late buses, etc. we finally arrived in Tana. The team was exhausted but still in a jovial mood. After a quick dinner, everyone went to rest to be ready for the Lord’s day.

Today, we visited Ankadivato Biblical Baptist Church, our home church. What a joy it was to be reunited with the body of believers we grew up with and we served prior to going to seminary. They gave us a heartwarming welcome and immediately adopted Dave, Ashley, Scott and CJ as their own.

The youth leaders kindly offered on the spot us to take over the Sunday afternoon youth meeting. Dave had the opportunity to share his testimony, encouraging the teenagers and young adults in attendance to examine their own hearts to determine who was the Lord of their lives. Scott then taught from 1 John on the zeal for sanctification through confession and repentance as being a test of the genuineness of one’s salvation. A spontaneous Q&A followed suit and we were able to leave only after many one-on-one conversations, hugs, and pictures.

Dave and Ashley are leaving Madagascar tonight, while Scott and CJ leave on Tuesday. It is very difficult for us to see them go.

We are praying that the time they were able to spend here would help them to ascertain the Lord’s will for them and see the great need for biblical teaching on our island. We are praying that the Lord will provide for all their needs, spiritual and material. We are beseeching the Lord of the harvest that they will come back soon. Here, the workers are few.

The past 3 years have been grueling on our family. The move to America, seminary studies, fundraising, ministry, moving back to Madagascar, it all seemed like an unending succession of straining happenings one after the other. After a week and a half of ministry in Madagascar, we are so happy to have this time of debriefing and relaxation, as a team and as a family.

These few days on the beautiful island of Sainte Marie allow us to catch our breath, nurture mutual bonds and seek the Lord’s guidance on the way forward.

The team particularly had fun to learn the skill of balancing bags on their heads as locals do.

We also have had the joy of watching the humpback whales passing by on their way to the southern pole.

Please pray that the team will be refreshed physically, morally and spiritually. God “has made everything appropriate in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), times of activity and times of rest. May He be glorified in all instances.

 

We held a pastoral training conference for over 90 people in Ampitambe. Here is our new vlog with some clips from our sessions!

It is truly fascinating to notice how easy it is Christians to connect and enjoy fellowship with one another despite diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, lifestyles and even languages. Under the headship of Christ, we have been brought into one body. We experienced it firsthand this weekend as we visited 3 churches on the lush green east coast of Madagascar.

On Saturday, we first went to Antanimenakely Biblical Baptist Church. Pasteur Pierre and his flock graced us with a warm welcome. David preached from Isaiah 66:1-2 on the nature of true worship, then we fellowshipped and shared a simple meal with them.

After the service, some of the church members took us to their village, opened their homes to us, fed us to satiation with coconut juice, and even showed the ladies how to make Malagasy baskets.

We then visited Antanambao Nosy Be where Pasteur Julien ministers faithfully to a flock of 7 adults and 24 children. Scott and Dave shared their testimony and gave a few words of encouragement. I also gave a short exhortation to value Jesus more than anything else from Matthew 26.

The day ended with a visit to my 98-year old grandma and the celebration of my brother’s 18 birthday, rejoicing in God’s goodness at all stages of life.

On Sunday, we worshipped with the flock at Salazamay Biblical Baptist Church in Tamatave. It was an emotional time for me as I have attended this church in my childhood and have fond memories. During their equipping hour, I encouraged them to display the graciousness that is to characterize all believers from Philippians 4:5; then during the sermon, I exhorted them from 2 Timothy 1:13-18 to guard the truth and to fulfill their God-given ministry.

Paul says: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” (1 Cor 12:13) We are so thankful for the unspeakable privilege of being part of God’s universal church.

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.” Psalm 115:1 (NASB)

Praise be to God for the completion of the Pastors Conference in Ampitambe. Pastors representing around 25 churches attended the training. They listened to 14 messages on the whole book of Titus and a final charge from 2 Tim 4:1-8. Every day ended with a Q&A taking us to the late hours of the day.

Around 90 people attended. Many ladies came along with their husbands and some other joined simply because they heard that some training was offered.

During these three days, Ashley, CJ and Lily provided more training than what they had prepared for to meet the ladies’ hunger for God’s Word. Some friendships were also developed.

We are so thankful for the many people who labored tirelessly behind the scenes to make this training possible.

We are grateful for so many of you bathing the whole event in prayers. We marvel at the power and sufficiency of God’s Word to do His work. And we are humbled that He would choose feeble vessels like us to carry out His purposes. May the teaching of His Word bear eternal fruits in the lives of many, and may the name of Christ resound in every part of our island.

 

 

A vlog of our activities in Sakalava. (You can also read about them!)

More vlogs are coming!

Humbled. This is the word most frequently mentioned by the team when sharing impressions about the day. We were all humbled to hear that some people walked 22 miles to join the training, leaving their village early morning and arriving by lunch time. The attendance has increased and we now have a total of 90 people at the conference.

 

We were also humbled by the eagerness to learn of the pastors. After 5 teaching sessions covering Titus 1:10 to 2:10, they still asked many questions showcasing that they were carefully listening and that they wanted to properly understand and apply what they have heard. They were also true “Bereans” and did not hesitate to challenge when they had doubts.

The discussions were also lively on the women side, with CJ teaching on the role of women in marriage, and the Q&A session covering topics ranging from disciplining your child to contraception!

Today is the last day of the conference already. Please pray that we will finish strong and that all teachers will be given clarity of thoughts, boldness of speech and wisdom from above.

Today was the first day of the pastoral training in Ampitambe. We had approximately 30 pastors representing around 20 churches who attended this first day. Each of us had the opportunity to preach, with Scott giving 3 messages, while Dave and I contributed one each. We covered in 5 messages the first 9 verses of Titus 1 and were all challenged to evaluate ourselves against the high standard of Scripture commanding church leaders to be “above reproach” (Titus 1:6). What a blessing it is to see their eagerness to study God’s Word and to be challenged by it. After an entire day of teaching, the attendees still asked many questions during the Q&A session which took us past nightfall.

Our wives had a wonderful time of fellowship with the pastors’ wives and other women who came to attend. CJ and Ashley shared their testimony and answered questions about life as a Christian woman in America. Then, Lily addressed the topic of the role of women in the church calling each woman to make Scripture their sole authority. A lot of questions were fielded by the audience demonstrating their interest and eagerness to learn.

Please pray for the next 2 days of training with some of our team members having some stomach issues. Please pray that God would grant us the strength and wisdom to continue to faithfully proclaim His Word.

How to put in words the events of the last 2 days? It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words so get ready for a very “wordy” post.

On Sunday, our day started at 4:30am with the packing of the things we needed for our stay in Sakalava, a village in the mountains 95 miles or so East of the capital city. The process took longer than we thought and we ended leaving later than intended.

Soon after our departure we received a phone call from the pastor of the church that the road was too muddy and our bus would not make it. The team, dedicated to the task, decided to walk the 6.5 miles to the village.

Despite being strained, everyone remained in high spirits, enjoying the beautiful landscape and the fellowship on the road with some youth coming to attend the event and people from the church who came to meet us and help us carry our luggage.

After a 2h30min walk, we finally arrived to Sakalava!

Many were still there to welcome us even though we arrived almost 8 hours later than what they had initially expected.

No time to rest as the pastor decided that we should still hold the church service we planned to do in the morning. Thus, David was up first, teaching the kids from Matthew 7:24-27 about the necessity of being doers of God’s Word, not only hearers. Then, Scott preached a sermon from 1 John 1:5-10 focusing on the test of confession and repentance as an assurance of eternal life for the believers. The night was falling already so we had to finish the sermon using our cellphone lights.

The church then served us a very hearty meal, with rice (of course! And lots of it! 😊) and a Malagasy chicken soup.

Soon, it was time for our American friends to discover the countryside-style potty room before heading to sleep, taking extra precautions for the mosquitoes.

Monday morning started with another rice-filled breakfast.

We also decided to give some candies and biscuits to the kids and the adults.

Then, the training session for youth started with 2 messages from me and one from Scott, focusing on stirring the youth to counting the cost of following Christ and resolutely pursuing Christ-likeness in every aspect of their lives.

It was then time to play soccer. We initially thought it would be pick-up games with the kids from the village but it seems they took it more seriously and organized a game between the church team and another team from the village. Scott dazzled with his prowess as a goal keeper, whereas David and I tried their best not to embarrass themselves.

Our team won 2-0 and I took the opportunity at the end of the game to share the gospel with some players and spectators.

Soon it was already time to say goodbye. The team sang “Amazing Grace” Then the ladies of the church graced us with a farewell song.

Our ride home was labelled by Ashley as the “Malagasy Uber”. It was a very old and unique Kubota tractor with a trailer. This is Africa!

 

We all jumped in and had lots of laughs on the way home, and safely made it back to the main road where our bus was waiting to take us back to the hotel.

 

We have so much to be thankful for, the warmth of the people of Sakalava, their hospitality, their sacrifices to provide meals for us though they barely eat themselves, and the fellowship we had even though coming from diverse cultures and backgrounds; all of these were a visible manifestation of the unique love and bond that believers in Jesus Christ enjoy.

Our departure for the Bezanozano region was delayed to this morning because some of the team’s luggage only arrived yesterday night. We woke up at 4:30am and started packing our luggage and the gears we need for the country side.

Shortly after our departure, we received notice from the church we are going to visit that we will not be able to make it by car because it has rained a lot in the past few days.

Thus our plans are slightly altered as we are now planning on walking the 9 miles of mud road to get to the church. The adventure begins. Please pray that we will all make it safely and that God will work His purposes in this situation.