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.

Snails on a Plane and Searching for a New Home

This is missionary Duncan Macharia in Toliara, Madagascar. It is now 19 days since I landed in this country from Kenya. That in itself was a miracle since I had never flown before and on 1st May, I flew in two planes from Kenya via South Africa. In the second flight I even ate a snail!...and enjoyed it. For the first week, Victor and I stayed with our host (Bishop Todd) in the capital Antananarivo because there was a conference taking place there of which, the Bishop was a facilitator. We shopped in the city and there were many hawkers we expected to find Kikuyus there but there was none SHOCK! In fact except for one Kenyan who was in the mission team and has already left, there is only one other Kenyan (an English teacher), that we have met so far.

Newspapers here, are either in French or in Malagasy, and in radio, you only get BBC inEnglish but in Toliara where I am presently, even BBC is not available. So to a great degree, I do not know what is happening in Kenya except bits and pieces through the internet. In Antananarivo, two things stood out to me: one, that I am black because most people here are light-skinned thus they stared at us often and two, that English is dreaded here, since most do not know it. So clearly, without a local guide things would have been even more comical. Sign language helped a lot. Enough about my experiences, I am now trying to settle in Toliara. I have made significant progress towards getting a long- term visa without which, we will be back in Kenya by the end ofAugust. By next week, my application form will be with the ministry of interior, who holds the key as to how long I will be here, so pray that he responds positively. Getting a house is proving to be tricky for the houses are either too expensive or we find somebody has moved in by the time we go to check the house. So pray that God provides a house as soon as possible. This week on Thursday, we plan on learning Malagasy. This will be done five days a week until we master the language reasonably. I had my first opportunity to preach last Saturday in an English service and am working on my ministry goals for the next four months. Pray that God guides me on this. Peace.

Beginnings in Toliara

Duncan and Victor have arrived safely in Toliara. They’ve been involved in missions efforts with a team from SOMA and have been staying with Bishop Todd McGregor. They hope to move into their own places later this week. Pray they find secure housing and a good location.

Duncan and Victor are continuing to learn and adjust to life in Madagascar. They have started their ministry work and are currently leading an English service on Saturdays in Toliara. Victor is in charge of the music and creative worship and says: "We went straight to ministry even with the evident language barrier. We will have a lot to do especially to continue what the Lord has already began here at St. Lukes Ankilifaly"

Madagascar Missions Video

Our Team

From left to right: Bishop Todd McGregor (Toliara),

David Chaves (Nairobi), Rev. Steve Maina (Nairobi),

Capt. Victor Osoro (Toliara), Capt. Duncan Macharia (Toliara)

Commissioned to Serve

On Sunday, 17th February, 2008, two Church Army evangelists were commissioned to serve as full-time missionaries in Madagascar. Duncan Macharia and Victor Osoro are graduates of Carlile College in Nairobi and are being sent as missionaries by the Province of the Anglican Church of Kenya. They will work in primary evangelism, church planting, and the training of evangelists in Toliara, Madagascar. Toliara is one of the poorest regions of the world and is home to many unreached people who have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. Duncan and Victor will

serve under Bishop Todd McGregor of Toliara region

and hope to leave for Madagascar in April of this year.

The Commissioning at St. Luke’s Church, Kenyatta, was a joyful celebration that inaugurated a new era of missions in the Anglican Church of Kenya. It marked the first official sending of full-time missionaries from the A.C.K. to serve in another Province. The commissioning was led on behalf of Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi by Bishop Dena, who encouraged the congregation to make a commitment to support the missionaries in their new calling. The service was run by Rev. Canon Dr. James Mwaura, Vicar General of All Saint’s Cathedral Diocese. Also participating in the

service were: Rev. Steve Maina, Secretary General,

Church Army Africa, Rev. Canon Rosemary Mbogo,

Missions Coordinator, Anglican Church of Kenya, Rev.

Cannon Dr. Balongo, Administrative Secretary, All

Saints Cathedral Diocese, and Rev. Patricia McGregor.

During his sermon, Rt. Rev. Todd McGregor expressed his gratitude to St. Luke’s for being willing to send missionaries and compared it to the Biblical church at Antioch. He acknowledged that the Anglican Church of Kenya was taking a major step in faith and that it would serve as a model for other African nations.

About Duncan

Duncan Macharia grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and developed a Christian faith with a heart for evangelism and a desire to see people come to Christ. He studied Theology at Carlile College in Nairobi and has extensive experience in parish ministry and open-air preaching. After much prayer, Duncan felt called to go to Toliara in Madagascar to train evangelists and do church-planting. He has been commissioned by Church Army Africa and appointed by the Province of the Anglican Church of Kenya and the Bishop of Toliara Region to do this work. Toliara is a remote place and the work there is demanding since the region is very large, over 1000 miles. Duncan is excited about serving the Lord in a new place, please pray for his ministry in Toliara.

Contact Duncan in Toliara, Madagascar at: duncanmacharia@yahoo.com