“We constantly pray for you…that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified.” 2Thess.1:11-12

One of the features of the Mandritsara project for which we constantly give thanks to the Lord is that the message of the good news of Jesus permeates everything. Each department and ministry has as its object the proclamation of the gospel. If you pray for Mandritsara, or send a gift for the work, you can be assured that you are helping, not just to do good, not even just to do good in the Name of Jesus (which is of course good!) but you are helping to make known the wonderful message of salvation from sin through our Lord Jesus.

Here are some items for praise and prayer:

Surgical Department

The surgical department of the Good News Hospital has a vision to be “A surgical department staffed by a generation of qualified Malagasy missionary surgeons who share the hope of Jesus with every patient they encounter, provide compassionate surgical care to meet the large burden of surgical disease in the Mandritsara district and beyond, and train the next generation of Malagasy missionary surgeons to follow in their footsteps.”

In seeking to meet this vision, the hospital has recently been recognised as a training centre for surgeons by the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS). Two Christian Malagasy trainees have been appointed – Dr Tefy and Dr Rado. The course will officially start in January 2022. This is a small, but hugely important step forward in meeting the need of those living in rural Madagascar. Most people live far away from surgical facilities, with poor road access, poor communications and no ambulance service. But here is high quality care delivered in a loving and caring spirit to accompany and attest to the truths of the gospel which these Christian surgeons proclaim.

There are now three qualified surgeons in the team – Ted Watts (UK), Jesh Thiessen (Canada) and Marco (Madagascar). Please pray for two other missionaries preparing to join the team. Joel Chin is an anaesthetist from Cambridge who is hoping to join the team with his family for a year in January. The plan is for him to set up a high dependency unit. Jeremy Aitken from Australia is an operating theatre nurse and his presence will be vital for the development of the new operating theatre complex. Jeremy and Felicity and their 4 boys are currently seeking to raise support to go first to France for French language study. Please pray for the Lord’s supply. This is a big step of faith for them.

Community Health

Community Health work has been difficult during the Covid pandemic, but the team has persevered and things are much easier now. Most of the work they have done in the past has been to the west and north of Mandritsara, and a little to the east. The villages to the south have not really been touched, either by the community health work or by efforts to evangelise, so it is to these villages that the team have recently turned their attention.

Andry, the team leader, writes: “We have noted the bad practice of defecation in the river as well as the very high rate of bilharzia around Marotandrano (a large village 40km south of Mandritsara), so we have decided to target our activities on the nearby village of Andrafia.”

The health work is always accompanied by evangelism and Andry writes: “We want to thank God for the evangelization campaign carried out with the hospital evangelism team in the villages of Antsiraka and Andrafia, south of Marotandrano, last week. We saw the blessing of God and his work in the wider family of a young man named Theodore. He was in our EPA youth group in Mandritsara from 2012-2015. He is now a family man and is not only the source but also the pillar of our church planting projects and other activities south of Mandritsara.” EPA is ‘Espoir pour l’Avenir’ (Hope for the Future) – a gospel-based ministry to older High School students in Mandritsara organised by the Community Health team.

Andry continues: “At the end of my sermon there on Sunday 14 August 2021, a man of about 50 accepted the Lord and also shared his testimony. This man comes from another village called Ambodimadiro and he has already invited us to evangelize his village. To summarize Theodore’s family story: God willing, we hope that Theodore could be the leader of the future Church in Antsiraka, one of his uncles could be leader in Andrafia and his other uncle that of Ambodimadiro.”

Ecole Bonne Nouvelle

Mme Faniry, director of the Good News School, writes: “Since I arrived in Mandritsara, I always feel the hand of God which supports me and supports his project. I am grateful for your prayers, especially in difficult times. I really see the hand of the Lord working within the school. Despite Covid, we can still continue to bring the gospel of the Lord Jesus, not only to the pupils, but also their parents.

It has been a great joy for us to have been able to complete this school year to the end, unlike last year when the students were out of school for 7 months. Exam results have been good this year. 28 out of 32 pupils passed the primary school leaving exam, including the top two marks in the Mandritsara district. The 12 students doing BEPC (GCSE equivalent) all passed and we were in second place in the district.

Here are items for which I would appreciate prayer: Spiritual growth for each member of staff – we receive a lot of teaching from the word of God, so pray for the Word to touch all our lives. Wisdom for me in the management of the school – it is not easy for me to manage about thirty people, mostly women. The total number of pupils is increasing every year which is a blessing for us but it means we need new classrooms. Please pray for funding to build new classrooms.”

The Voice of the Good News radio station

Diamondra, radio station director, writes: “There is Good News! Following the installation of the new transmitter and antennae in April, there has been a marked increase in the area of radio coverage. We have been amazed to receive messages and visits from listeners who live in villages very far from Mandritsara, such as Livelampy 110 km south, Ankarongana 90 km north, Anjiabe 105 km west, and Ambalahidambo 80 km to the east. We are even starting to receive feedback from villages in other districts, such as Antsakabary in the district of Befandriana, and Antsahandampy in the district of Maroantsetra. So it means that the number of listeners is increasing considerably.

The new equipment is working well, and we are very satisfied with the results. A big thank you to all those who have contributed to the realization of this great project, and a little special thought to the New Zealand team who wanted so much to come in Mandritsara to help, but have been blocked by the pandemic. Thank you to all of you!

Our next step in our "Radio for All" project is to fully cover the Mandritsara district. For this we need to place the antennae on a taller mast than that which we are currently using. We are starting to form the (very technical) dossier to request the use of this mast. Please pray for this future project which we expect to start next year. In the meantime, we are happy to testify to you that God is always at work in the hearts of our listeners!

Here is the testimony of a man who was baptised at the Bible Baptist Church in Mandritsara a few weeks ago:

My name is Frôlant, I am a teacher in Ambalahadambo. Like all my family I lived in idolatry. I had poor health and I looked for healing everywhere, especially in idolatry. I spent a lot of money and time on my idolatry, but to no avail, and my condition got worse! I was discouraged! One day a Christian invited me to come and attend worship. I accepted, and since then I started to be interested in God. Then I moved to Mandritsara. Here I could listen to the FVM radio. I heard the gospel through the radio programmes and I trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. After receiving Jesus into my heart, I was completely healed, both physically and spiritually. Glory to God!

Thank you for your prayer for God's work through the radio.”

"For the love of Mandritsara I will not be silent, For the love of the hearers I will not take rest, Until his salvation appears, like the dawn, and his deliverance, like a torch which is lit. "Isa 62: 1

Eye Department

Dr Hanitra writes: “I want to tell you about a lady I recently operated on. She is like many people who come to the Good News Hospital. She is about 75 years old and comes from the region of Mananara North, three days walk from Mandritsara. Her grandson brought her here on his bicycle.

Both eyes were operated on. The family paid half the amount of the operation. The other half is paid by a special fund for cataract operations. We praise the Lord that she can see well after the operation. She is very happy for the ride home as she can enjoy the beauty of nature on the bicycle with her grandson.

Like all our patients she, and her grandson, have heard the gospel while here. Do pray that the seed sown might bear fruit in their lives.

Please pray too that we can find enough funds for people (especially for cataract operations) because life is even harder here with the pandemic. For example, the price of vanilla is falling, the main source of income for people from Mananara. Some of the equipment in our eye department is now old and needs replacing. May God help us to find the necessary funds to replace them.

Pray for the entire medical team, for strength and good health, especially during this pandemic period. And pray for the need for doctors. May God touch the hearts of young doctors for work in a mission like Mandritsara.”

Getting to Mandritsara

For Covid reasons the Madagascar borders have been closed for many weeks for all but a few authorised travellers. Dr Nathan Lawrence has been on leave in the UK and should have returned in July. All attempts to get authorisation for his return have failed so far. Others are planning to return, or to travel to Madagascar for the first time in October. Please pray that the borders might re-open soon.

Finances

For the past few years income to the Trust’s general fund has been less than the budgeted subsidy to the work in Mandritsara. Thankfully we have had reserves, but we need an increase in general fund support of around 25% in order to maintain the same level of support of the work. We appreciate your prayers for the Lord to supply.

Prayer Day

The Northern Prayer Day is due to take place at Beeston Free Church in Nottingham on the afternoon of Saturday 25 September and will also be on Zoom. If you would like to join please click the button below to find out more.

Find out about the Prayer Day

With our love in the Lord Jesus,
David & Jane

News from Mandritsara - September 2021