CMF Grant

Victor has been approved for a grant from the Christian Ministries Foundation (http://www.cm-foundation.org/). CMF is a U.S.-based charity that provides support for missionaries and pastors with a clear calling and passion for missions. We thank God for CMF’s willingness to partner with Victor’s ministry in Madagascar and pray that the Lord will continue to provide for the Madagascar Missionaries’ needs.

MALAGASY SOUNDS LIKE SWAHILI

Dear brethren,
I greet you in the name of Jesus. I hope that your week is going on well and that you have been blessed by the Lord.
I am doing fine here at the coast having a new experience everyday. Tomorrow will be the Independence Day here and everyone is preparing for the BIG DAY! Business is now high. Today businesses close at 3pm; celebration begins at 6p.m until 6p.m the following day.
We have been really up and down the previous days as we looked for a house. I am thankful to God for enabling me to find a house.
It’s fun learning their language; we have been having classes everyday for 2hrs in the morning but the practice is all the time. As at now, I am proud to say that I can understand a word or two. I realize it is closely related to Swahili because there are words like tarehe which means date in Swahili but face in Malagasy, alika which is to invite in Swahili and a dog in Malagasy!
Here, all businesses close at noon (lunch break) and reopen at 2.30pm then finally close down at 5pm so if there is anything to be done, it must be done in the morning because sometimes in the afternoon, they might not open at all. By 6pm, it is dark and the town is deserted.
I have so far been to 4 churches out of the 7 that are there and I hope that in a few weeks time I shall have visited the 3 remaining churches.
This week, we will go to Tana to witness the consecration of our new Bishop. Pray for us to have a safe journey. We will also have a youth mission week the following week pray with us that many will make decisions for Christ and be committed to walk with Him all the way.
I also thank God that we have gotten a residence notification letter and they have given us an initial 2years so we will need to renew again in June 2010.
I hope you have read my newsletter (May-June edition).I will be sending a newsletter every two months just to update you on what is happening here. You can always check my website and find more details anytime.
Lastly, I thank you so much for allowing the Lord to use you to be a blessing to the nations by supporting my ministry financially as well as spiritually. Your periodic words of encouragement are most welcome and your support is highly appreciated.
In Christ,
Victor.

Africans for Africa (Victor's May - June Report)

The charge:

Our arrival in Madagascar on May 1 was a long awaited for dream to come to pass both in the history of the Anglican church in Madagascar, Kenya and the entire Church Army community. The reaching out and making disciples of all nations as in Matthew 28:19-20 came to a reality.

Strategic people:

We were received by Bishop Todd who is the Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Antananarivo based in Toliara in the Southwest of Madagascar and the Provincial Secretary Rev. Samitiana Razaf. Our host, Vicar Rev. Stephane Raharajuona was more than happy to receive us as well. We also had a chance to meet with the SOMA team of which there was Alice Wangui from Vanguard-Kenya, Rev. Musaasizi, Missions Coordinator of Mityana Diocese in Uganda, and Rev. Don Brewin. We were happy to also meet one Rev. Kingsley Ogbanda who is a Nigerian missionary in Toliara too. All these people we met at a provincial SOMA conference at IFLA in east of Antananarivo.

The transition:

We were based in the capital city for about 7days, living at the bishop’s apartment as we prepared to go to Toliara. The journey to Toliara took us 17 hours by road though it was an exciting experience. We travelled with 3 members of the SOMA team as well (the bishop joined us later). We were involved in teaching and praying with them for one week then they left us. The following week the bishop also had to leave us. Our only rescue by now in terms of the language was Rev. Stephane who could speak English and help in interpretation, but he also had to go to the city to participate in the election of the new bishop! That put us in a tight corner and forced us to learn Malagasy in the shortest time possible so that we can communicate with the people. That was a good problem.

Identity crisis:

By the complexion of their skin and type of hair the people around actually do not consider themselves as Africans! We guys from the mainland are the Africans so we are getting used to being called “the Africans.”

The work:

In St. Luke’s parish (where we are based) there are 7 churches quite far apart, like 120-160km. All these churches apparently need the attention of this one priest. At the moment we are concentrating at the town church as we learn the language. Duncan is in charge of Christian Education and I am in charge of Creative Worship and Music. We already have started English classes and we have 2 classes of 12 students each! As we learn Malagasy songs, both new Swahili and English songs are filling the air as well, and people are excited to see this. Our number has doubled in two weeks! One English teacher came with all her students in our Saturday service and they commited to be coming every Saturday. Word is still going around. I have prayerfully selected three young men who I will disciple for at least one year and train them to also train others in the subsequent years. Realising the great task ahead we have developed a prayer guide map of the Toliara town. So, once every week we go for a prayer walk in the city to claim it for God. Surely the Lord is at work in Toliara and we are happy to be a part of what he is doing.

Praises:

• Safe arrival in Madagascar
• Warm reception by the people
• Started Malagasy lessons
• We already have residential waiting cards

Prayer requests:

• Quick processing of our documents for residence.
• Quick learning of the Malagasy language.
• The Lord to grant us favour with the people of Toliara.
• The Lord of the harvest to draw people unto himself.

Upcoming events:

• A youth evangelistic mission to Antananarivo.
• The consecration of our new bishop.

RICE 4 LUNCH &DINNER

Hi! this is the tenth of June 2008 and I am here in Toliara, Madagascar. Every Saturday, l am either leading or preaching in an English service at St.Luke's Ankilifaly. Last Monday I started teaching English to eleven students and only one of them is a member of the local assembly! This is an evangelistic strategy. As you might know, here in Madagascar only Malagasy, French and indigenous languages are spoken but the president here wants the citizens to know English. I started learning Malagasy formally last week. My teacher is called Nardy, a high school student who knows English. He teaches me and Victor for two hours daily from Monday to Friday.

I am preparing notes for teaching a new believer's class that I intend to teach. I have no choice but to learn Malagasy since even in banks, few employees know English. Getting a house is still difficult so I still stay in a house in church but am expected to leave as soon as possible so prayers are still needed. Guess what? Here, I eat rice for lunch and dinner and I enjoy- that is their culture!

There is no local English newspaper so these days apart from the internet, I am reading biblical literature avidly.
I am still waiting to know my fate about my request for visa extension so continue to pray.
God bless you and shalom.