by “But for you who fear my Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall!” (Mal 4:2)
Healing from numerous difficult years since we last were together is ongoing. After four years of separation and only limited electronic contact, we could finally take hands and celebrate together how good the Lord has been to us. Hungry for fellowship, with gratitude and excitement we came together for two weeks at Lovasoa, in Antsirabe, Madagascar. Sixty mother tongue translators from nine language regions across Madagascar and ten facilitators and consultants from near and far. Without any promise of funding for it, we booked a venue for 70 people, and started planning the programme, sending out personal invitations. God, our faithful God has provided in the minutest detail and the workshop just took place during the first two weeks of June.
Some teams travelled by bush taxi for 37 straight hours on very bad roads; others flew with our friends and long-standing supporter Mission Aviation Fellowship. In everything the Lord’s provision was visible: He worked miracles so that dates, numbers, the venue, travel, and funds, synchronised and came together in amazing ways.
Everyone came excited, full of joy and expectation, and left satisfied, strengthened in our faith and calling. Large volumes of translation work had been drafted and tested during the pandemic and could now be verified and further developed towards publication and recording.
The sense of unity and mutual support and encouragement was tangible during every meeting, as the group sang and prayed and laughed together, and reported back on what had been going on in their regions during the last three years.
This time, instead of asking each team to present one report for the whole team, we asked every translator to spend three minutes answering three questions: What kept you going in this work during the last three years of the pandemic? What effect has this work had on your own life? What effect has this work had on your community?
Some of the responses:
- “When people hear the Word of God in Masikoro, it goes straight in, no-one has to translate it for them. It is tangible. They’re saying: ‘Hurry up and give us the whole Bible in Masikoro!’”
- “I never thought I would be chosen to do this work. This work has changed my life. During the last three years, we didn’t even think of stopping, no matter the problems. If we hadn’t carried on, it would have made us sick. It is clear that this is God’s work. It’s wonderful. I don’t even have to preach anymore, I just read the scripture in church, and everyone goes, ‘Mmmmh!’ I read, and they go, ‘Mmmmh!’”
- “I had been recording the Sunday gospel readings for the radio every week. Then my computer was stolen and I had to stop it. People had started calling me ‘Father Gospel’. When the readings stopped, people were saying, ‘Where is Father Gospel?’ They were looking for me, they really wanted to hear the readings in Ntandroy. They said, ‘This work is keeping our language and culture alive, they will not be lost.’”
The Lord has blessed us beyond measure with this gift of all of us meeting. These were two very full weeks. Filled with activities, filled with joy and harmony among us, filled with profound moments when we shared what God is doing in our lives.
We thank the Lord and we thank each one of you who have helped support the event. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support and donations.
