Genesis 1-10

Sambivelo, who was trained as a healthcare worker, is a trusted worker in the community now. People are very happy with him. But it is difficult for him to help everybody. On top of that, Malaria is raging, and it is hard to get enough medicine. Pray for him.
The first 10 chapters of Genesis are ready to be checked and digitalized. Continue to pray for the translation work.

Bless the new pastor

The FJK church (Church Jesus Madagascar) in the area of our village just received a new pastor. Olive is his name, and he seems to have a very open attitude towards working with us. He gladly received our translated work. Let’s pray that he and his wife will be used by God in powerful ways to bless the church and the Tanala. Please pray for their wellbeing (spiritual and physically) as they settle.

Genesis translation update

Last week I finished the first round of correcting the first five chapters of Genesis in Antanala. Pray for the continuing translation work of Genesis. It is harvest time and the translator is very busy.

No longer king

Praise God the king is going to church with his family and growing in his faith. He is no longer king because of his faith, but he is happy he has eternal life!

Helping people

Praise God Sambivelo has finished his medic training and is back and has helped many sick people already. He struggles with jealous people, including one doctor. This doctor isn’t fair in his practice. He asks a high price for his service. But he is the only one in the whole area so people are afraid to say anything about it. Sambivelo helps people for a symbolic price. Pray God would change the doctor’s heart and would bless Sambivelo.

Young couple

I visited a village where I told all the Bible stories. In that village was a young couple who already believed in Jesus. They were frowned upon. This young couple decided to start worshipping in a church in our village (7 km walk). Soon after, more and more people from that village joined. Now, there are more than 20 Christians in that village, and they decided to build their own church. Praise the Lord that He is using this young couple for building His kingdom.

Genesis translation started

The translations of the book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke are being spread among the Antanala. Many already expressed their longing to have more books in their language. We are working on Genesis now and already finished the first 5 chapters. Pray for wisdom to make a good translation.

King meets The King!

Iaban’i Velotia and his wife have decided to become followers of Jesus! This man is one of the most respected kings in our area. I have visited him very often and shared the Gospel (through storying). One story narrates about demon possession and how we, as Christians, can pray for deliverance. The king never wanted to fully trust Jesus because that would mean that he has to step down as king (the king needs to teach the people about the ancestor worship). His son got possessed and whatever they tried (with the help of a witchdoctor), the demon didn’t leave. He must have remembered the bible story and went to get help from local Christians. They entered the house and saw all of his charms and magic stuff. They told him that they had to clean his house first. He agreed and they threw everything out. After that, they prayed for the boy and he was instantly delivered. After this event, he and his wife finally decided to follow the Lord! Praise the Lord that the local Christians were so bold to tell him to get rid of the witchdoctor stuff!! And praise the Lord that they are a huge testimony for their neighbours.

Translation progress

The translation of the book of Genesis in the Antanala language has started. Pray for this project.

Both the Gospel of Luke and Acts, and the Bible stories in the Antanala language are being broadly distributed. We have found Malagasy friends who work for Compassion and YWAM, who want to print the booklets. They themselves work among the people in the south-east (many Antanala) and are eager to spread the Gospel with these booklets.

Returning to be a blessing

Today Sambivelo will return to his village. We brought him to the capital city to be trained as a healthcare worker and he has completed his training. We gave a lot of medical care whilst living in the village. Sambivelo is ready to do the same. Pray he would be a blessing to his people.

To the printer

We have finished translating the book of Acts into the Antanala language. Both the Gospel of Luke and Acts are with the printer now.
Pray for the distribution and that many would read the Word and believe it!

Translation project

Menja and I are finishing translating the book of Acts in Antanala.
There is a lot of interest in the translated work. It turns out that many along the east-coast prefer the translated work over the official language.
Menja would like to continue translation of Genesis. That is a huge book to translate, but many have already asked for it.

Preparing to go

Many Antanala live in very remote areas. They hardly ever come down to the bigger cities and thus have no access to the Gospel. More and more missionaries (nationals and foreigners) are starting to focus on the Antanala and have asked me to help orient them. It is wonderful to see that God is preparing others to go. Pray many will go and find people ready to hear the good news.

Lasting suffering from cyclone

Crops were destroyed by the cyclone in February and many people are still struggling with famine and poor immunity from disease. Friends have died. We’re told some people are so desperate they are selling their children for food. Please pray for God’s mercy and provision for suffering people and for opportunities to share the Bread of Life.

translation update

The book of Acts is almost finished being translated into Antanala. Chapters 1-20 have been checked. Chapters 21 to 25 are now with Menja to be checked, and we hope to bring the last three chapters to him next time we visit. Praise God for Menja’s hard work checking and pray the Lord will guide him.

Aftermath

I have spoken with several Antanala brothers from deep within the district. At the moment, people are going through a very difficult time. The aftermath of the two cyclones are becoming evident now in the form of food shortage. The crops are small and late, there’s very little fruit from the trees, etc. Our brothers told me that mothers are malnourished and cannot feed their children. On top of that, many of the villages can’t be reached by cars, trucks, or even motorbikes because of the condition of the road. The brothers walked more than 100 km to get out of the area. Please ask for God’s mercy.

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke in the Antanala dialect continues to receive a lot of attention. Not only in our village but in the whole region people are eager to get a copy. Several Malagasy missionaries are looking into the possibility of using the booklets in their areas. Praise the Lord! Pray that many will believe the gospel message and be saved.

Suffering

The people of our district still suffer greatly from the two cyclones that hit in February this year. There is still no clean drinking water in many places, and food prices have gone up. Pray for God’s mercy.
We have started with the project to train a local young man to do the healthcare job we did  when we still lived in the village. Sambivele has arrived in the capital, where he is being trained in a hospital. Pray for him to adjust to city life and to do well in his training.

Using translation

Different Malagasy missionaries are planning to use our translations of the Gospel of Luke and the story set to evangelize the people groups in the south-east. Several other people groups (besides the Antanala) prefer the Antanala language above the official Malagasy. Pray for many to believe the message!

Looking to train

We are looking to train young Malagasy Christians to become evangelists and/or missionaries. We want to use our house in Maroamboka as place to do the practical teaching. Ask the Lord to call people to be trained.
We are going to get a young man (Sambivelo 19yrs old) from our village to Tana to be trained as a healthworker. When his training is over he will return to Maroamboka to help the people in the same way we did (Malaria, worms, infections, wound treatment). Pray for Sambivelo.

Bible stories

Telling Bible stories in the local language has been successful. Many have heard the Gospel in their heart language and understand the implications for their lives. Several kings in our area said that they want to follow the Lord Jesus. There is also a greater awareness of local Christians that they too can witness to their neighbours.
We have translated 41 Bible stories and recorded them. They are ready to be put on sd cards, cd’s or any other medium. Please pray for that process and for wide distribution, and for many to believe!

Evangelism

Working together with a young pastor and his wife (Dories & Alphossin) we have
taught some young believers to go out and evangelise. Currently, they are travelling
alongside Dories and Alphossin and are learning as they go. Pray for many open hearts to hear and receive the gospel.

Tsara Rano

It is humbling to witness the daily struggles of villagers here, who mainly worry about what/how they will eat the next day. Theirs is a life where small accidents can quickly become life-threatening. Pray for the Hofmanns, who are grateful that they can be here for their fellow villagers when things go wrong. Cases of malaria, worm infections, and many severely malnourished babies have been worse in the past 10 months than in the previous 10 years. Jurgen has started visiting a new village, Tsara Rano (“Good Water”)—praise God that the Bible stories are being well-received there, to the point where the King’s wife has been asking when Jurgen would visit them too! Pray that God’s love, peace and joy would bloom among the Tanala.

Beautiful truth

I have started to visit a new small village. For this I have made some changes in the creation story I share: I emphasize how beautiful God created us, our initial role in creation and the fact that we are made in God’s image. We have noticed that people don’t value life as a gift of God (they are very fatalistic). By emphasising this part, I hope they will understand that being restored and saved by Christ means that they can take their place as God’s ambassadors on earth. That is totally beyond their world-view now. Pray God will open their eyes to this beautiful truth.

Trust

Many people come to us for advise and help concerning their health. We are not doctors, but we can help them pretty often. We have been able to help young mothers with breast infections, young children with severe worm infection and Malaria. This was not the first thing we were thinking about when we came to Madagascar, but apparently the Lord decided differently. A good thing too! Because the people usually have difficulty trusting foreigners, but they trust us. This makes it so much easier for us to share the Gospel. Praise God and pray that many will put their trust in the Lord Jesus.

Tanala Luke widely loved

A local deacon from a Lutheran church took some of the newly translated Luke booklets with him when he went to a big meeting about 4 hours drive south from us. There were many Malagasy from other tribes (mostly from southern regions) at the meeting. They recognised the language as Antanala right away. Still, they could understand this translation better than the official Malagasy language. They said that they will save money to buy the Luke booklets and use them in their churches, Bible study groups, and when they go to unreached areas!

Luke

The Gospel of Luke is ready in the Antanala language! We have 100 booklets available at the moment. We do not give them for free but ask a small price (0,50 euro cents) so people value them more. Pray that many will read and believe the Word of God.

Gospel of Luke

Praise the Lord that the first printing of the Gospel of Luke in Antanala has been completed, and that work on the book of Acts has begun. Pray that as the Antanala read and hear God’s word in their own language, it would take root in their hearts. Pray that they would find eternal freedom from their deep-rooted fears by putting their trust in Christ as their Savior.

Strength, comfort, and the Word

Pray for strength and comfort as illness, disease, and death come in many forms such as malaria, diabetes, Covid-19 and even infant death. Ask Jesus to reveal himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life; ask him for protection from the enemy who comes only to kill, steal and destroy these people who tend to live in fear. Pray for their hearts which lack peace, that the Prince of Peace would become known to them. Praise God that the gospel of Luke in Antanala has been printed and is ready for distribution! The work on the book of Acts continues to progress.

Bible Stories

The 41 translated bible stories are being used to educated new Christians in a small church not far from us. Pray for their discipleship. This church has grown from 15 people last year to 60 plus now!
One village has gathered to hear all the stories and after that I would like to show the Jesus film. Pray for many to believe.

Transformed

In Ambodimanga village, the king & elders welcomed Malagasy missionaries who were allowed to preach the gospel. Pray that those who heard would be transformed and follow Christ. Pray for the elder who, like Nicodemus, came to the missionaries at night to give his life to Jesus and vowed to stop doing ritual sacrifices/ancestral traditions. Pray that the books of Luke and Acts in Antanala would be finished soon, and the church of 60 new believers could grow strong in the Lord as they study His word.

Malaria and Luke

Many people in our area are suffering from Malaria (the nasty type). We provide medicine and along with the medicine comes a talk about the Lord Jesus. Pray many would be healed spiritually as well as physically.
The Gospel of Luke translation has been digitalized and is ready to be sent off to the printer! Pray for God’s blessing on His word, that many would read it and believe.

Witch doctor came to church!

Jean Baptiste reported that he was very surprised last Sunday to see the witch doctor in the village coming to church with his family. People said one of the reasons is that the witch doctor sees the transformation in Jean Baptiste. He saw how Jean Baptiste stayed calm in the midst of trouble, not turning back when he had the opportunity to do so. Praise the Lord for this testimony and pray that the witch doctor will come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Jean Baptiste is not well and under treatment for tiredness. Please pray for the return of his strength and health.

Using local language

Pray for the awareness among pastors of the importance of preaching in the local dialect. We have finished 41 stories in the Antanala dialect, but pastors still think they should preach from the official Bible.

Translation work

Pray that the translation of Luke & Acts may progress. We wanted to finish the Gospel of Luke this year but Covid interrupted the work. Our friend has started on Acts.

Strength to Overcome Trials

J lost his father last week due to sudden death. This young servant of God really goes from trial to trial: house broken into, some family members giving him trouble because he is a believer, pursued with false cases, sickness and now losing his dad. It looks like the evil one is really roaring after him. Please continue to pray and support him. He is doing great work among his people group. Four villages have been reached with quite a few committing their lives to Christ.

More laborers

We praise the Lord that there are now three churches planted by local believers in three different villages around Ikongo, and two other villages are asking Jean Baptiste to come start a church in their villages as well. Jean Baptiste is the only Malagasy partner serving in this area at present and is asking for more labourers to come serve with him. The harvest is great but the labourers are few. He hopes to bring two or three believers from these three churches to the Malagasy training in April. Please pray for Jean Baptiste that the Lord will sustain him and strengthen him. Also pray for more workers to join him in this work among the Tanala.

Submission of Kings

The King of one village and his wife had decided to follow Jesus, but it wasn’t seeming to make much difference to their daily lives. A local pastor moved into the area and took the responsibility of going to preach in the village weekly despite struggles with their dialect. He was well received and the king has since been thinking seriously about the practical consequences of following Jesus.
Meanwhile the king in another village had a son who went away to study and then returned with news that he had become a believer and been baptised. The king has now decided that he and his family will also follow Jesus, having been convinced through the testimony of his son that the stories he had been hearing were in fact true!
Praise God! Keep lifting up the kings of these villages as they allow the gospel to transform every area of their lives.

Preaching across language barriers

Pray for Doris and Stanis. These two men each pastor a small church in two different areas. They are passionate about Jesus. Both are from a different tribe which means they still use a lot of ‘strange’ words while talking with people. Doris received the story set accompanied with recordings. This way he can practise the Bible stories in the Tanala language. Still, he and Stanis have a hard time understanding the need to use local dialects since the Bible is already available in the official (old) Malagasy language. They still assume that all Malagasy people understand the official language, but this isn’t the case for those in the villages who are unable to read and have spent their whole lives just hearing and speaking one specific dialect. Both men have been trained as pastors and as such have been taught that reading the Bible in the official (old) language is required.

Syncretism

Syncretism is a big problem among the Christians. Because of this they are still afraid of the spirits, which causes the unbelievers to doubt the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I have access to the kings and elders in the villages (among whom are several important witch-doctors). They listen to me and are surprised by the boldness of the Gospel. Pray that this fearless preaching will have an effect on the other Christians. Pray that they will repent from their syncretistic life style, experience freedom from fear in Christ, and share their testimony with others.