Obedience to the Lord

Many times, in our lives we find ourselves having to make difficult, unexpected decisions. This past month has been really good for us and at the same time extremely difficult. At the end of January, we held our Madagascar team prayer retreat. This time of prayer and seeking the father was very fruitful and unifying.  However, as we were hearing from the Lord, He began to open doors to new opportunities. We were recommended for a new position within the IMB and at first glance thought “no”. Then, Suzie and I began to seek the Lord. As we began to pray the Lord did not tell us “no” and He said that we should follow after this new position. Honestly, this made us very uncomfortable. We love Madagascar and the work that the Lord allows us to do here. So, when the Lord did not say no immediately to this request, we became scared and we're asking questions as to why now, why leave? 

It became clear to us that the Lord was leading us away. Logistically and ministry wise this makes no sense. We weighed the pros and the cons and there are more cons than pros for this move. However, it was clear that God is asking us to be obedient to him and the next steps of life. The Lord clearly said that “our presence on the island will hinder future growth” therefore, we are saying “yes” to whatever God desires out of us. Our hearts are saddened because we have not finished the dreams that we have for the work here in Madagascar, but we believe that our obedience will allow us to see those dreams come to fruition. Just without us physically involved. 

So, we make this announcement, that we have accepted the position as Sub-Saharan African Affinity First Term Training Catalyst. This new role will require us to move away from Madagascar. We have not previously looked for anything new nor have we thought of leaving Madagascar anytime in the near future. But the Lord has spoken, and we must be obedient. Therefore, we will be moving in the month of July to Kenya. There is much to do before we leave, and we have already begun doing some work with this new position. We look forward to what God has ahead and we trust that he knows best. He is God and, as Isaiah 55 says, “his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts”.  We move forward in full confidence that God is in control. 

Please pray for us to be able to finish our ministry well here in Madagascar, to train up new personnel and Malagasy brothers and sisters in Christ to carry the torch to the next generations. The next few months will be very busy, and we will shed many tears. Madagascar is a part of who we are, and we will always love the “Red Island” and its people. Thank you for your prayers, support, and understanding. We don't have answers for all the questions, but we do know we are being obedient. We look forward to helping train new missionaries and see them be successful for the Father's glory. 

Prayer Request:

  • For us to finalize many things well here in Mada and grasp the new position
  • For upcoming training events and baptisms
  • For family in the States 
  • Pray for food and water help for the Androy region in particular.  They are really suffering
  • Lots of traveling taking place over the next few months.
  • Visas to be approved both here in Mada and in Kenya
Praise:

  • We have heard from the Lord 
  • We had several trips to the bush and things are going well and people are growing in their walk with the Lord
  • The new Baptist Church in Fort Dauphin is going well
  • We were able to see Baylee and our future home in Kenya

 Suzie visited Baylee in Kenya

 Adam and River were able to surprise them

 Baptisms with FBC Fort Dauphin

Sharing in the bush 

 Pastor having a church wedding






 Seven months ago, this church was just hearing about Jesus


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