Pray, Do It for the Lord


PRAY, SING SONGS OF PRAISE, CONFESS SIN

Our pastor and his family have been under attack over the past few months.  His wife has been struggling with diabetes for a while now, but has not been on regular medication.  She became very ill in the end of August.  Praise the Lord, someone could pay for her to fly to the capital to receive treatment and a plan for her continued health.  It was a scary time for the whole family, but she is doing much better!  Pray she will have the discipline to stay on the daily medication and the money to continue to afford the pills.  A few weeks later, their oldest daughter was struck with appendicitis and rushed to the hospital.  Fortunately, she lives in the capital and had emergency surgery.  She is recovering well.  Finally, just last week, another daughter became sick and had to go to the doctor for treatment.  These three sicknesses have come one upon the other and although the family has received some financial help, there are still more bills to pay.  Pray they will continue to trust in the Lord to provide.  Praise God that their faith is continually being strengthened as they see Him at work in and around them.

Because of the events that have put added stress on them, we had a special prayer time during ladies’ Bible study at church.  James 5:13-16 says,

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

After praying over the pastor’s wife and their family, the ladies took turns sharing their hearts, struggles and sins with one another and had a sweet time of prayer.  We finished up the time singing praises to God and giving thanks for his goodness during trials and suffering.

WHATEVER YOU DO

At home, we continue day to day living and homeschooling.  Baylee works hard to get her work done each day and enjoys craft projects, sewing and reading in any spare time.  River will stop whatever he’s doing when he’s ready for his “shool.”  He is excited to learn letters, numbers and sight words.  He is also drawing, cutting and doing pre-reading activities in his workbooks.  He won’t officially start school for a while but is soaking up as much as possible.  Suzie stays busy teaching both Baylee and River as well as taking care of the house.  When Adam is home, he is hard at work on the computer.  He’s most recently been updating the job descriptions in hopes that more missionaries will join us in the field.  He’s also always evaluating how we’re doing things as a team and an island.  He had a great trip to meet with other IMB team leaders in Mahajanga and we’re excited at how the Lord is moving and hopeful in how He desires to continue as the gospel spreads.  He does an excellent job to balance time working and time with the family!  When Adam was preaching the other day, he had the whole congregation learn Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”  Of course, we learned it in Malagasy, but it helps guide each day whether at home or out and about to keep our focus on doing it all for the Lord!

Praises:

*Adam made it home safely after two weeks of travels.

*Brett & Katelyn, our new teammates, seem to be settling in well.

*Phoebe is doing well in her classes at A&M and settling in to life as a college student.

*Emma is keeping up with her studies and many activities that she’s involved in at boarding school.

*We have been generally healthy.

*There have been no cases of the plague in Fort Dauphin yet.

Prayer Requests:

*The month of November is full of bush trips (Matt. 28:18-20). Pray God would protect each one that comes and goes on the different trips and be glorified in everything!

*Brett & Katelyn to continue settling in and learn a lot on the bush trips and in their language studies.

*Phoebe & Emma to be motivated during this time of the semester/term when they’re getting tired but can’t “see the light at the end of the tunnel” yet.

*Adam to continue to have wisdom and insight as he casts vision, sets goals and meets with leaders in Androy this month.

*Baylee to find an outlet.  Pray she would find an activity or group that meets to become more involved in the community.

July 2018 – Feb 2019 We’ll be in the States for our Stateside assignment (STAS)

We’re ready to start scheduling visits to your churches to tell about the work God is doing in Madagascar!!

Please email us at asphailes@aol.com and we can begin discussing possible dates.
 Adam training our team in Fort Dauphin
 Baylee holding the "babies" during our trip to Toliara
 Suzie and Cecilia, pastor's wife, after church
 Team in Fort Dauphin being trained by Adam
 TEE (Theological Education by Extension) visit
Suzie's Thursday Bible study group

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