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.