H ello everyone!
Our last time speaking at a church in the US this year!
Sorry that it has been SO long since we’ve written! We’ve had a very busy time since May, traveling all over the US (almost 20,000 miles!) to visit churches, friends, and family, with never more than a few days in-between trips. Despite the busyness, we’ve had a great time with so many opportunities to share about the work of God in Madagascar, to encourage those we’ve shared with, and to be encouraged as well.
We want to give a big thank you to all of you who’ve so warmly received us, given us beds to sleep in, meals to eat, and who’ve joined us in the work through prayer and giving. We especially want to thank Lora’s aunt and uncle for giving us a car to drive during this time and a home to stay in between trips. We praise God that through the generosity of so many of you, we now have 100% of our regular monthly needs met as well as all of our short-term needs (that we wrote about in May)!
Lora and Matimu both taught kids at a VBS. Matimu did a great job and was an enthusiastic presenter!
N ow our time in the US is quickly coming to an end. If we didn’t get a chance to see you and meet with you this time, we’re sorry! There’s always next time. We plan to be in Madagascar for about three years this time and we hope for a return visit to the US in late 2020.
We head back to Madagascar in just a few weeks! We’ll be leaving the US on Sept 18th, then stopping in South Africa to meet and strategize together with our YWAM Frontier Missions leaders there. Then we’ll be arriving in Madagascar on Oct 10th to rejoin the work on Nosy Mitsio. We’re excited to get back soon, to join our teammates, the Orners, who’ve returned before us, and to see all that God has been doing in our absence and to see what he will be doing soon. We trust that soon the Antakarana people will be transformed by the Good News of Jesus, and we hope to see that happen within the next few years.
Our friend Nuckiline, helping with Antakarana Bible story translation
W e have a great praise report from Madagascar that we’re happy to share with you! We have a good friend in Ambilobe (the town on Madagascar’s mainland where we shop for supplies), who has been a huge help to our team over the last few years. Her name is Nuckiline and she’s a Christian Antakarana lady, but she grew up outside of traditional Antakarana practices. The Christianity that she’s known and practiced before has always been in the official Malagasy language and in French (two languages that most others in the Antakarana tribe don’t know). Through working with us and our team, Nuckiline has begun using Antakarana language to pray to God, she’s helped us in our Bible story translations, and she’s developed a heart for reaching her fellow Antakarana tribesmen with the Gospel. It’s been exciting for us to see her grow in this area of her faith over the years.
So this is the praise report: while all of us have been away from Madagascar, Nuckiline has met another Antakarana lady there in town (Ambilobe) and she’s led her to Christ! Not only that, but this lady has also been set free from the “tromba” spirits (the evil spirits that possess nearly half of the Antakarana people we know). This is a great testimony, because everyone on Nosy Mitsio believes it is impossible to be freed from the tromba spirits without dying, and they believe that if you even try to get rid of them, that the tromba spirits will kill you. Both Nuckiline and this new Christian lady have said that they want to come out to Nosy Mitsio to join our team in the ministry for the whole month of December, to help testify to the truth of Jesus and his power to set them free! We believe this is a powerful answer to prayer and that it can be a powerful testimony to the people of Nosy Mitsio! Please continue praying with us, that there will be no obstacles to this time in December and that this will be the beginning of us seeing God’s Kingdom established among the Antakarana on Nosy Mitsio!
Our son David being dedicated by our good friend Preston at Sacrament Church.
W e’re also excited to tell you that a young lady, Amelia Delorenzo, will be joining our team to help with homeschooling our children! This will be a great help to our team, as it’ll free up the time for the mothers on the team to be more engaged in outside-the-home ministry. Amelia will arrive in Madagascar in October and will be with us for the next seven months. Please be praying for her, that she’ll receive all of her necessary funds in time, and that she’ll have peace and be freed from anxiety as she’s preparing to do something she’s never done before.
Thanks again to all of you for being a part of the work of God to reach the Antakarana of Madagascar. We thank you for your faithful prayers and support as we head back to Madagascar next month. Please don’t forget to check our prayer requests page regularly for updated prayer requests. We’re looking forward to sharing more stories from Madagascar with you soon.
In Christ,
Adam, Lora, Matimu, and David Willard
P.S. If you’d like to listen to an audio recording of one of the sermons we’ve shared as we’ve traveled to different churches, you can listen to one here: AUDIO – Waiting Faithfully
Matimu and David enjoying the rocks on the beaches of Lake Superior. Both of our boys have had a great time with all our traveling in the US. Matimu’s a great big brother to David and they both love being together no matter where it is!
