Pray that in many towns and villages, Bara people will come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Pray that the Lord will gather them together into Christ-centered churches. Pray that those churches will multiply and plant more churches. Pray for a mighty movement of the Holy Spirit among the Bara.

Zaona is a good friend of mine and we have known him since 2013. Back then, he was a cattle thief and witchdoctor’s son. However, he converted to Jesus when he was sick and no witchdoctor could heal him. He took a step of “last hope” and came to the church in 2013. He was healed and became a follower of Christ. A real one! From that time on, we have challenged him to read the Bible and share about Christ in his own village (Mbebakaka) and with family. For some years, he was afraid and timid. As time passed, he learned more about Jesus and since the Jesus Film was shown in his village, he has started to more openly share about Christ.
The result? 4 people of his village have decided to follow Christ and to baptized! This is a miracle. Also, the King of the village has given him land to build a church. Praise God. Praise Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

One Bara village has decided that they are tired of witchcraft and of witchdoctors taking their money, so they burned all their witchcraft charms! They have asked the churches and pastors to come tell them about the Good News. Fernando will join those going from the church and will show the Jesus film. Please pray that the Spirit will move in hearts of the villagers and that a real transformation will take place in this village.

More than 70 villages have already watched the Jesus film! Could you pray that the Holy Spirit will remind people about the movie and enlighten their hearts, making the seeds planted through this simple but powerful presentation of the Gospel grow and be fruitful?

Anjiry is the worst region of Bara lands. It is far away, full of cattle thieves and witchdoctors. The Jesus film was broadcast there by a Lutheran team of pastors. Could you please pray for this dark land- that the light of the Gospel that has been shown upon them would be seen and believed.

Almost 300 children have come to our Bara children program. Many of them are Bara. Pray that Jesus will convert these children and use them to witness in their villages and families about the great love of Jesus.

This week the Lutherans are having a conference in Betroka about Mathew 28:18-20; could you pray that the Great Commission mandate of Christ will get deep into the heart of believers and they will really engage in evangelism to the Bara?

We have been invited to broadcast the Jesus film in many Bara villages. So please pray that God will use this very simple but powerful evangelism tool to change hearts and to make people think about their worldview.

There have been many kidnappings recently in Bara areas. The poverty and the culture are forcing people to do this in order to find money. Please pray that God will open their eyes to the truth of the Gospel and they would be saved.

This week we are involved in a Children Ministry Conference with 40 Children’s teachers from the Lutheran church and next week the Lutheran TOBY Conference, where we are invited to talk about the mission of the church. Please pray for a revival in the church and also that the Christians would understand deeply their role as the Church of Jesus. That they understand that missions and evangelism is not for the pastor only but for everyone who knows Jesus.

Please pray for the pastors: Haja, Emanoela Blandino, Albera, Tolotra, Tomoeira, Boto Filemon and Jemarí, and all the 80 Evangelists and Bible Teachers that we are training in missiology and strategies for reaching out to the Bara. Pray that God will bless them, that God will support them (financially and spiritually) and that they may become bold to share Christ to Bara people. Pray for holiness, for the Fruit of the Spirit and a fruitful ministry.
Pray also for the Church in Betroka, that God brings a revival, and the church would love Jesus with all her might.

We have been invited to broadcast the Jesus film in many Bara villages. Pray that God will use the simplicity of the Jesus film to attract many Bara to Himself. We have shown the Jesus film together with Pastor Emanoel Blandino to more the 50 villages! Pray the people would think about Jesus, and his Salvation. We hope that the Jesus film opens doors to the Evangelists as they come and preach, and also to make people think about their own beliefs.

One of our Evangelists came to us and reported that in one Bara village, he has started sharing the Pictures of Bible Stories that we offered to him in the training last month. He told us that many people came to see the pictures and to listen to the stories of God. The people have started to ask questions and say: “Oh! This is Adam and Eve? Ow! What happened next?

Please pray that our team of 80 Evangelists and local pastors, trained in Bible Story Tellers will be bold to go into the bush and tell people about Christ using the book of pictures they received.
Pray also that God will work throughout this very simple way of evangelism, and bring Bara people to Himself.

We’ve started again, after a few months during the rainy season, showing the Jesus Film. Please pray that the film works in the hearts of Bara people, and the church of believers who watch may be strengthened, and the Bara saved.
There are many villages we want to go to. Pastor Emanoela, from Lutheran church, our partner, has taken on the task, he is going to show the Jesus film as well. Pray for him also.

We have received many invitations to come to villages to broadcast the Jesus Film. Could you please pray that the name of Jesus remain glorious in the hearts of these people when they watch the Jesus Film? Can you pray also for those that have already watched the Film, that the Holy Spirit will remind them about Christ and his perfect sacrifice, his love and also the condemnation that will follow those who don’t believe in Him? Pray that God enlightens many hearts to the truth of the Gospel.

Please join us in praying for the Missions Conference which will be held July 5-7 2019. We expect 100 evangelists from the Lutheran church to come. We will be talking about the Glory of Jesus in Missions, The Work of an Evangelist, The mission of God, and Strategies to Evangelism – Story Tellers. It will be three days of intense work and learning. Pray for the local Pastors that will be involved: Pr. Emanoela; Pr. Tolotra. Pr. Haja and Pr. Tomoeira (a Bara pastor). Please pray for those who will come, that they may be awakened by the Holy Spirit towards the evangelization of Bara and that they use the new learning and strategies. Pray for revival and for hearts to burn for the salvation of the Bara!

We showed the Jesus film and the number of non-Christians who watched was great. I think that more than 200 came to watch the film in Bara language. Our prayer request is that God envisions His church here in Bara areas and makes the Christians bold to share about Christ, especially with those who watched the film.

We asked a Bara believer why is it that the Bara People are so attached to Troba and Doany [two demons that control every aspect of Bara society]. ‘Because they are Friends!’, he answered me. The Bara have a relation of friendship with those demons [they call them “the ancestors”]. Bara people beg them for blessings, and the demons ask for sacrifices to not harm them. In some rituals, the witchdoctor will sing: “Come friends, come friends, stay with us…” What a deep deep spiritual prison! Could you please pray that the Bara will find out how those demons really have deceived them, and how bad they really are instead of being ‘friends’? Pray also that God may shine his Glory in the midst of them, showing that the One True Friend we have is Jesus Christ.

Please pray for an awakening and revival among the Christians that live around Bara lands. Pray that God would blow the wind of grace and the Holy Spirit would change hearts, minds and behaviors. (We have a widespread and dangerous nominalism among those who go to the church, and this is a barrier to Bara coming to Christ as well.)

In the Village of Marolima, southern Madagascar, in the middle of the mountains, many have turned their backs on their religious beliefs and have become followers of Jesus Christ!
One man’s wife and son became sick. His wife was possessed by demons. They did everything the witchdoctor said. They gave many cows in sacrifice to one of the evil spirits that command their village. Nothing happened. So he went to a doctor in town. Nothing happened. He thought “The last chance is the church”.  But he was Bara. Bara don’t pray to the god of the white people. At last he ends up in the church in Betroka and asks for help. The pastor prayed. His wife was set free from the demons and was healed!
They became Christians and another 100 followed them! The church of Jesus Christ is being built in this village. Praise God!

The Bara people of southern Madagascar have been hearing the gospel through the Jesus film and one on one discipleship initiatives. Several evangelists are reaching out far and wide amongst the Bara. Praise God for His moving amongst the Bara! Pray that God will continue to move and prepare Bara hearts, like good soil to plant God’s word and see fruit spring up.

We are in the rainy season in Bara lands. That means: A lot of rain, plantations growing, food, water to drink, but also, malaria. Malaria kills people in the South. Children are the most affected. Because of Bara rituals, they usually don’t go to the hospital. And 90% of Bara villages don’t have access to health care. In most cases the hospital is hours from the village. Another problem is the corruption (fake medicine, high price of injections) among doctors… So, please, pray for this time, that God protects people from Malaria and also that they discover in Jesus Christ, the help in time of need.

We have seen some Bara people coming to Christ in a miraculous way. Could you pray for them that they will grow in faith and in the desire to know more the Lord Jesus? Pray that the Holy Spirit will help them not fall into syncretism or some kind of misunderstanding of the Message of the Gospel.

God bless you

Thank you for praying for the training. Please pray for the 60 Evangelists from the Malagasy Lutheran Church and 1 Pastor from Assembly of God Church that were taught new strategies of Evangelism towards Bara People. They were taught in Farming in God’s Way Program and Story -Tellers Program, and were given the Bara language Bible in audio form.
Please pray that God will burden their hearts for Bara People, and they will  share boldly about Jesus.

Please join us in prayer. Today we will have 3 Farming God’s Way training and 1 Story-Tellers Training: Evangelism strategies. We are receiving 24 Evangelists, 6 Pastors and 22 Bible Teachers from different parts of Southern Madagascar. They are from Lutheran Church and work in Bara area. Our desire is that the Lord will help them to look beyond towards the Unreached Bara people and use the stories as well as Farming to reach out to Bara people. May God grant us grace to teach well and grace to the 5 Malagasy Co-workers we have: Pr. Emanoella, Pastor Haja, Pastor Tolotra, Justine and Armand. They will also teach. Thank you.

“Fernando, our people are thirsty. Could you come to our village to broadcast the film Jesus?”
People are becoming tired of their old ways, specially when they see that all the witchcraft they use isn’t able to protect them from evil. Demons keep attacking many Bara villages. Could you pray that God would touch their hearts to turn to Him? That God would manifest his power and love among Bara people so they would leave behind all their witchcraft practices and become followers of Christ?

Syncretism is the mix of religions. We saw many times in the Bible that even Israel practiced this: “… they pray to the Lord, but also sacrificed in the hills…” Could you pray that those Bara that are turning to Christ, will be changed in a such way, that their old religious practices will be thrown aside and only Jesus will be exalted, consulted, and worshiped!

At least 300 hundred people in the village of Benato and 200 people in the village of Matsiso have watched the Jesus Film this week. Could you please pray that the devil doesn’t take the seeds of the gospel away? And that God uses this ministry to bring people to Himself?

It has been 1 year now that we have been broadcasting the stories of God on the local radio. Bara people are used to listening to the radio, so it is a great strategy to reach out to the villages further away. Could you please pray that God uses these stories to speak to the hearts of Bara people? Please, cry out to God for their salvation. God bless you!

Could you join us in prayer that the Film Jesus would awaken the interest in the Bara people to know more about ‘Zañahary’ (The Lord) and His son?
We have shown the film in more then 12 villages. Pray that the Holy Spirit keeps reminding them of the love of God in the cross.

“Is there anyone still living in Betroka?” This was the question that Pastor Emanoela was asked last Friday while in a town far from Betroka.
The cattle thieves are continuing to steal. Could you please pray that the fear of ‘Zañahary’ ( the LORD) come over their hearts? Could you please pray for their conversion? May God have mercy on them! They are the very Bara people we want to reach out with the Gospel.

“Jana, I will tell this story in my village,” said a little Bara girl named Izaiah, when she heard the story of Creation. Could you please pray for the 160 children we have in the Coworkers Children Ministry Program? May God save them and change their hearts so that they become a light in their own families and villages.

Children are a great strategy for reaching out to people still unreached. We have in our Children Ministry more than 200 children that, every Saturday and Wednesday, come to listen to the Bible Stories. Please pray that those children will be changed by God, and serve as an instrument of sharing the gospel in their own villages and families.

The Malasos are Bara men that steal cattle. Armed with guns and ‘protections’ (witchcraft), they are still causing terror in Betroka and surroundings areas. Even the police are afraid of them. Their witchcraft is very powerfull.Just this week they stole more then 120 bulls, leaving behind sadness, anger, and people thirsty for revenge. Those who raised the livestock are getting more and more bitter.
Please pray for those Bara malasos – they are the very Bara we want to reach with the Gospel – that they can see the evil of their actions and feel the weight of sin, and also the beauty of Christ, who alone can change our lives. Pray that the church will engage in the evangelization of them and in the future, by God’s grace, we may see a huge harvest among these thieves.

“We are tired of the life we live … we want a new life a new way.” That was the phrase we heard from one leader of a Bara village. The evangelist of a local church has been working among them, and now the fruit is appearing!

We are seeing the work and power of Christ acting in the midst of darkness, bringing light to Bara people! More then 40 people accepted Christ, throwing out their witchcraft. Now we can say, “The land that was in Darkness has seen a great Light!”

The Church of Christ is flourishing in the most distant places among a people that did not know the Savior but now we have the same faith, the same love …. the same Cross!

Please pray for encouragement. The evangelists from the Lutheran Church that we work with are afraid of coming back to their own villages because of the insecurity. We have heard many cases of Malasos (Cattle thieves) killing people and causing fear in the villages surrounding Betroka. May God bless the work of those who went out in the Name of Jesus and bring many Malaso ( the very Bara people we want to reach out with the Gospel)  to Christ.

Please join us in pray for Zaona and his family. He is a Bara, close friend, and also a brother in Christ. Since he gave his life to Jesus, things haven’t gone well. His wife is trying to get pregnant but she can’t – children are very important in their culture. Some of their family have said that is happening because they are following Jesus.

After one week working very hard in the rice fields, Zaona harvested 3- 50 kg bags  of rice, but one night Zaona had his rice stolen by malasos. Again his family said it is because he is not following the way of the ancestors anymore. Other things have happened as well.

However, Zaona has kept firm in the faith. Please, pray that God grants Zaona and his family grace to face the challenges of following Christ without giving up, also to witness in their village about Jesus, in love, be the good perfume of Christ among his own people.

The community of Morarano watched the Jesus Film last Wednesday. Pray that the seeds of the Gospel remain in their hearts and a church be born in this place. More than 90 Bara watched the Life of Jesus. Pray that God protect this people, so involved in witchcraft, that the seeds of truth won’t be stolen by the Devil.

Please pray that the Jesus Film, shown in the villages of: Ambatomanga, Fandranarivo, Mananove, Ambatomasy, Lanabinda, Bararata, and Beharena, to about 800 people in total (most of them Bara), would continue changing lives and bringing people back to God through the Work of the Cross?

Pray also that God rebukes satan and his demons and prevents them from taking away the seeds of the Gospel sown in those hearts.

We showed the Jesus film in the village of Fanjanarivo, south of Betroka,  with Pr. Manoela, and Pr. Jean, and we are seeing a harvest. Last week, 10 Bara adults were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Thank God for his amazing work among Bara and for this fruit. Its HIM who loves this people. We ask you to intensify your prayers towards Bara. God will honor our prayers. He will bring many sons and daughters from Bara into His kingdom.