New Beginnings
After what has seemed like an incredibly long time in limbo, we’re finally getting a fresh start....
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The In-between Time
Sorry that we’ve been silent and without an update for so long. I’ve wanted to begin this letter...
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The End of a Season
Early in September, we were away from home for one week. When we returned, we learned that our...
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Moving Forward
In every instance, in every worry or every concern, God’s taken care of things. Now it’s time for me to fly to Madagascar to continue this process; to prepare the way for our whole family to return to Madagascar soon.
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When Things Fall Apart
Sometimes, even in ministry, everything just falls apart. The foundation has crumbled, the walls have collapsed, the seed has rotted, and the sprouts are choked by weeds and burnt by the sun. Sometimes by the end, there’s nothing to show for our years of efforts.
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Our Double Lives
Where we are now is about as close as we can come to being on the exact opposite side of the world from where we were just a month ago. Sometimes that’s what it can feel like, going from one side of the planet to the other – like we’re standing upside down…
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Treasure
How could I take a 9-month-old, and a 2 ½-year-old and a 4-year-old to a place where they could get sick or hurt and be days away from medical care? A place with no schools, where my wife and I would have to struggle to educate them, where they would be exposed to demonic activity and where child trafficking happens? I was ashamed of myself that I was not strong enough to pay that price.
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Visiting the US Next Year!
That’s what our last few years have been like here on Nosy Mitsio: exciting! Challenging! Full of promise, hope, struggles, loss, and gain. In it all we see God at work. He’s maintained us, given us strength and perseverance when we’ve needed it most, and he’s opened our eyes to see…
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As a Child
Can you imagine being born again? Everything you see is for the first time. The world is bright and the sights are strange. Everyone’s talking at you and they’re clearly excited to see you, but none of it makes sense: it all just sounds like gibberish…
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The Faithful Foreigner
The past year and a half has been a life of transience for us. During this time we’ve traveled over 40,000 miles! We’ve stayed for over a week in 11 different places including 5 different countries, traveled in 15 planes, 4 boats, hiked probably a hundred kilometers, and have…
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Latest News
Sorry it's been so long since we've shared an update! We finally feel like we're getting started with "new beginnings" here in the US - I'm starting a new job on Monday, and we've finally found a long-term house to rent (in Northwest Arkansas) starting at the end of the month. Read here for more news and photos.
madmissions.com/2021/07/new-beginning/
New Beginnings | Madagascar Missions
madmissions.com
Now the old is finished. We’re in a new beginning in a new place, and we eagerly look forward to see what God has in store for us!
It's been some time since we've had an opportunity to speak with Nuckiline on the phone, but we were able to do that this morning. She shared some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that she's continued to translate some new Bible stories into Antakarana language and to share them with the discipleship group in Antanamazava. The Holy Spirit has led her to select stories based on the specific needs and circumstances of the members of the discipleship group there. As a result of translating and sharing the Jonah story with them, they've has taken a greater interest in sharing the Bible stories they've received with others they believe need to hear them - and now they have two men who've joined the discipleship group as regular members! Praise God for that, as it's long been a challenge to have men show consistent interest, and hopefully this will be an opportunity to have a broader impact in the local community and in villages further away (because in Antakarana culture, men are the ones who more often do the most frequent traveling).
The bad news is that a coronavirus variant has spread in Madagascar in the last few months and this "second wave" was worse than the first one. As a result the government has created much stricter travel and meeting lockdowns than previously. Not only that, but several people died as a result of covid in villages not far from Antanamazava (and several more from Ambilobe also). So Nuckiline wasn't able to visit them for the last few months, because of the risk of spreading this deadly disease during the time that it was spreading rapidly. However, the second wave of covid seems to have passed in their area by now, and the rainy season is also ending there (meaning the country roads and paths are easier to travel again), so Nuckiline is planning to go there and start visiting regularly again beginning next week.
Please pray that the group has been doing well and continuing to meet regularly amongst themselves over the last few months, even while Nuckiline was unable to visit and be with them. Pray that the stories they've received will have by now been passed to many more people in the area, and that many others will be feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, drawing them to follow Jesus and commit themselves to him. Please pray for continued good health for Nuckiline and her family, for her to have continued motivation and perseverance in this work, and for continued wisdom and discernment by the Holy Spirit to know how to lead these disciples into greater knowledge of and obedience to God - that they will multiply far beyond themselves and that it will result in many generations of Antakarana people (and beyond) following Jesus.
This last year has been pretty tough on most people I know. We've had some tough times in our family too, including right now - trying to determine new careers and new lives here in the US (something we never planned on) and even by this point still being not at all sure how that's going to end up.
But that's one thing that's so amazing about this holiday today, Easter. It's the declaration that one man's defiance of the natural order of things: accepting a punishment he didn't deserve, submitting to a death he could've easily avoided, and demonstrating that death itself has no lasting hold over him - that this declaration applies not just to him but to *all* of us who find life and identity in him. Jesus did these things as a foretaste of what *all* of us can have in him.
Life is tough. Even the best of us are brought low by the natural decay inherent in this creation, and by the combined apathy and antipathy of others - no matter how hard we might struggle against it. The story of Jesus acknowledges that fully - there is no denial there. But Jesus has a different response than most of us would - instead of fighting against all this as if it's a struggle he could possibly win, he chooses to let it go, and let God his Father take the reigns and take the glory, and in so doing he defeats death and decay itself - not just for himself, but once and for all, and for all of us.
So in this tough life, and in this tough year that so many of us have experienced (and so many have had it harder than my family has), I take comfort that we're living with the continual hope of Easter. That Jesus's resurrection is a foretaste of what's to come. That death and decay has its moment (and so many of us are living in that moment right now), but it's only momentary. If we choose to be in Jesus, we can release our struggles to him, knowing that in him resurrection has the final say.
I hope that Easter this year can be a transition point to a gentler year, one with a renewed and more realized hope in each of our lives. I think we have at least a few reasons to expect that might happen. But even if that doesn't happen for all of us, or for any of us... at least let Easter remind us that these trials and these challenges will not have the final say; it's neither our responsibility nor in our strength to fully overcome these things ourselves. But in Jesus we *will* have resurrection. That much, at least, is already determined.
We've been back in the US for just over 2 months now, and it's been a bit of a rough start. Thank God though that we are currently in good health and have all of our immediate needs met. Here we share what's been happening, how we're doing right now, and what we're looking forward to.
madmissions.com/2021/01/the-in-between-time/
The In-between Time | Madagascar Missions
madmissions.com
So many have faced some of the biggest challenges of their lives during this season, but even this time is not wasted. God is using these challenges to shape and form us
We spoke briefly with Nuckiline this morning and she said things are still going well there with the discipleship group in Antanamazava! She said that tomorrow they'll be starting a new Bible story set, one that Nuckiline will be starting the translation for (into the Antakarana language) herself. We're excited to hear Nuckiline taking the initiative to move forward into the next stage of ongoing discipleship with the people there! We were also able to connect her with colleagues of ours that are doing similar work in eastern Madagascar, so they can visit and encourage one another.
After being in the US for several weeks now, it was so great to hear her voice and hear that things are going well!
So good!