Prayer Requests Applying to Both Tribes

One of the objectives for the trip that we took was to become an advocate for the Malagasy people. I pray that we will be able to fulfill this role and I hope that through our stories and my journal that you will be able to feel personally involved and connected to the people of this country.

Another thought that I would like to share is that we were "warned" through our preparation Bible Study (Basic Training for Mission Teams) that if you yield to God and ask for His guidance, He will use that time to create a work in you so that you will never be the same. That is so true. Everyone continues to ask if I have adjusted back to life here. And, yes, I have... but I will never be the same. I "see" things that I never before had insight to, and certainly I have a passion burning in me for missions. I don't know what God has in the plans for our family as far as missions are concerned. I'm sure that we will be participating in many more short term trips and I will be raising my children to be missions focused. I would love it if God called our family on a longer term basis. The people I have shared that thought with all kind of react the same, citing all of the negative aspects and focusing on what we would be giving up, etc. Well, I have thought about all of that, and I feel like I have a good understanding of what it would mean for our family, and I don't think that I am reacting emotionally ("because I'm a girl" like Byron keeps telling me). Anyway, it does create an entire new awareness as to God's calling on a person's life. Please pray for us as far as guidance in that area.

OK, I will get off my little tangent there and back to the main topic: general prayer requests for the Bara and Tsimiheity people. Pray that geography would not be a hindrance to the movement of the gospel and that the Father would show His servants how to reach the people groups of the island. Remember, we were flown about 130 miles out into the bush and then spent a few days hiking to reach the Bara villages we visited. In the Tsimihiety region we were flown 60 miles out into the bush and then hiked 5 days. Neither of the groups are "easy" to access geographically.

Pray that the Father would raise up people within the villages who would share their faith. Pray that God would send evangelic workers to create indigenous churches within the villages.

Pray that the churches already established in Madagascar would teach true theology and salvation by grace. Pray that those churches would mobilize themselves to reach the lost in their country.

Pray for the country's leadership: for their salvation and witness.

Pray for appropriate medical care and hygiene education in the villages.

Pray for families to be united by the holy spirit.

I want to thank you all so much for taking the time to read through this whole journal. And, again, I can't thank our family, church family and friends enough for supporting us through this journey. I pray that you all have been inspired and will have an attachment to the Malagasy people and the lost everywhere. Please get involved somehow. There are so many opportunities out there to serve that will fit everyone's lifestyle, schedule and talents. And I promise you, that if you choose to go, you will not come back unchanged. Praise be to God for allowing us to be a part of His work in Madagascar!

Specific Tribal Prayer Requests

I'm going to quote again from a journal entry that was cited in the Bible study we did in preparation for our trip. The mission trip that this volunteer was on was in an area very similar to the area we were in: the Last Frontier (an unreached people group with little or no access to the Gospel). She has the same thoughts and reflections as I do and I cannot say it any better than she already has, so I will quote her. Please know that this is exactly what I felt and thought during our time in the bush. I hope it will illustrate for you exactly what stage of the harvest these people are in.
I've found that our time here is not going to be like a normal mission trip. Some trips you think are fruitful because you get to work in the harvesting of souls. Some trips you may not see any new believers, but you planted many seeds, and you can tell you are in the harvesting process. For us I think it's a different story. We are in a barren land, a land that is the Last Frontier. As we travel to each area and spend time teaching and prayerwalking, we are plowing up ground that has never been broken before. We may not see anyone saved; we may not get a chance to even talk with anyone about Jesus, though I pray with all of my heart that we will. But we do get to speak the name of Jesus where it has never been spoken before. We get to pray God's Spirit over a people who are in a dry and empty land. We get to do this not because we're worthy, because we're not, and not because they are worthy, because they are not. But God is worthy to have people from every tribe and nation and language speak His name. It is a privilege for me to be a part of His plan for the nations.


The Bara tribe was a wonderful group of people who were very much tied to ancestral worship. Nearly all that I spoke to had some sense of the existence of an afterlife and all that I spoke with either asked ancestors or Zanahary for blessings when they built a new house. Pray that these ties to ancestral worship would be severed.

That being said, they did live in a state of fear: from cattle thieves (who had allegedly been stealing large numbers of cattle) and foreigners (who had allegedly been killing Malagasy people and cutting out their eyes). Pray that they would be given a sense of peace and hope in Christ so that they no longer have to live in fear.

Because of their strong cultural ties, I anticipate that once the gospel message has been sewed and planted there is definitely the chance of resistance to the message because their worldview will have to make a drastic change. Pray that fear of cultural change would not hinder the spread of the gospel.

The Tsimihiety people were also wonderful but there were definitely differences between the tribes. Although they did participate in ancestral worship, their worship of idols seemed to supercede that of the ancestors. What we saw was the worship of certain tree(s) although they also said that they worshipped rocks, water, etc. They were in an obvious state of spiritual oppression and darkness. The large majority of people I spoke with did not have a sense of an afterlife or hope. Pray that they would be released from Satan's lies and that they would find hope in eternity with Christ.

The false religion of Islam is geographically nearby. Pray that it would be prevented from reaching out to these people.

Pray that the people would see that there is no need for a human medium to have a relationship with Christ. This is because some of their worship and sacrifices are made to a "king" of sorts who then intercedes for them to the idol.

These are some of the tribal specific prayer requests for these people. I will list the requests that apply to both tribes in my next entry. Thank you in advance for opening your hearts to the Malagasy people.

How was your trip?

"How was your trip?" That, by far, has been our most asked question. But how do you answer that? Good, great, awesome, life changing, all of these and many more! How do you describe what we saw and what we did? Where do you even start?
Our original international trip (to celebrate our upcoming 10 year anniversary) was supposed to be a touristy excursion to Czechoslovakia. However, somewhere in those "plans" God began a work in our hearts for missions that we will never recover from (nor do we want to). We gave up our pleasure trip to the Czech republic and exchanged it for what came to be the adventure of a lifetime. Isn't this just an example of what God wants to do with each one of our lives? But we want to keep control, or we fear what may or may not happen and refuse to give it all over to God because we don't trust that what He has for us is better. So we hold on to our lack-luster lives and plans when what He wants to give us is a lifetime of adventure. We miss out on His blessings! I'm going to paraphrase an excerpt from a Beth Moore Bible study that I'm doing right now:
God has His divine plan; you can either be a part of the PROGRAM or a part of the PROBLEM, but His will is going to be carried out.

If you choose not to be a part of His program, you are missing out on an abundance of blessings. Byron and I would have NEVER been able to plan a vacation on our own that was as awesome, adventurous, life changing and spiritually building as the one that God laid out for us. So in answer to "How was your trip?" It was awesome in proportions beyond belief. Only our Heavenly Father could imagine, inspire and manifest such a blessing on our lives.

Sorry, I couldn't resist adding the wedding picture since the original intent was to do something "special" for our 10 year anniversary!