Yes, it really has been about 5 months since I have updated this blog! This has been a crazy busy season of life and we are just now starting to catch up on everything...well, as caught up as you can be with four little kids! I wanted to give you an update on what God has been doing among the Mahafaly people in the last few months. It truly is incredible!
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| At a Baptism in May |
The 16 first generation leaders are continuing to grow as disciples, evangelists, church planters and leaders. It seems like every few days we are getting a call from the bush telling us about a new church planted or groups of people who have made a decision for Christ. They have grown to 187 churches!! 20 of those churches are in a neighboring unreached people group. The gospel is spreading like wildfire and we are doing the best we can to keep up. It's a good problem to have! Fortunately, we have a solid group of first generation leaders that are doing a great job leading and investing in the second and third generation of churches. Please pray for us as we continue to work with these men to create a structure that allows for continued theological education and accountability among the subsequent generations.
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| Praying for the Mahafaly Apprentices |
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One of the most exciting events this month was the selecting and commissioning of two of the 16 first generation leaders. These two men will be fully supported by the Mahafaly churches to continue studying deeper theology and leadership skills over the next year. These apprentices will spend much of that time in Toliara, with our missionary and national team, receiving in depth mentorship. With each passing month, the Mahafaly are becoming more and more independent and are taking more ownership of the Mahafaly ministry and the call God has put on their lives. Watching it has been one of the most rewarding parts of working here! July will be the first quarterly leadership meeting in which the Mahafaly leaders will be planning and hosting it all on their own!
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| A Church Planting Training at the Baptist Pastor's Retreat |
We are also excited about the continued partnership between the Mahafaly ministry and the national Baptist association of Madagascar. Much of the past few months has been spent navigating these relationships, casting vision, and training. These Malagasy believers have a common vision for reaching Madagascar through indigenous, multiplying churches. We are excited about this partnership and are already enjoying the fruits of working together.
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| Mahafaly Heading to a Baptism |
In July, we will be launching a hands on indigenous church planting training program for these national partners. Seminary students, evangelists, and pastors from around the island will come to Toliara for a month long training program. These interns will get classroom and on the ground rural church planting training. Our hope is that they will take back some tools to help them in their ministries around the island, but more than that, our prayer is that they will develop a deeper passion and burden for reaching Madagascar.
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| Nathan and Judy Hiking to a Baptism |
We have been blessed not only to get to experience all of these great things, but also to get to experience them with great friends and teammates. After several months on our own here, it was great to have the Sprankle family return! We also got to welcome back Nathan and Tessa as career missionaries to the Mahafaly. I am not sure we could have survived this year without them partnering with us in all of these projects! We were also able to host Bill and Judy Grimme for the last month. They have been great teammates for us over the past decade, and it is always a wonderful time of encouragement and re-focus when they are here. We are incredibly grateful for the investment they have made in us and in the Mahafaly over the years!
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