March 2016 Newsletter

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

“I am going to Him whom my soul loveth, or rather who has loved me with an everlasting love, which is the sole ground of all my consolation.”

John Owen

Troubles and tribulations. The world seems to be more and more filled with them as time goes by. This month we have seen so much of the evil and the effect of evil in what has been going on in the world. There were the terrorists’ bombings in Ankara and Brussels, the shootings on a touristic beach in Ivory Coast causing 22 deaths, a suicide bombing in Irak during a soccer game, 4 Wycliffe translators killed for their faith and a pastor in India, Sumati Prakash, got beaten severely for his beliefs. We also grieved about the brother of one of our friends in Mauritius who had his hands cut off by robbers. Closer to us, we are saddened to hear about the illnesses and trials some of our family members in Madagascar have been undergoing.

All these things can be quite discouraging and even overwhelming. Yet, in the midst of those events, we celebrated at the end of the month the central event of our faith: the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the pivotal point of all human history, a proclamation of victory and supremacy by God. Reflecting on the reality of the peace I enjoy because of the security of my salvation in Christ, I would like to share with you the three dominating thoughts in my heart and mind:

· Thankfulness: When thinking of Christ, who was completely innocent yet chose to take on Him the fullness of God’s wrath for my sins, so that I can now stand acquitted before God on the day of judgment, how can I not be thankful? I am thankful because of the hope, joy and peace I have in Him, which are thus not circumstance based.

I am also thankful because He provides daily demonstrations of His love and sovereign care. A few weeks ago, a young couple, Scott and CJ Nelson, have expressed their desire to come serve the Lord with us in Madagascar as part of our project to train pastors in God’s Word. Scott is currently at TMS as well and will finish his MDiv at the end of this year and will then continue for another year to get a Masters in Theology. They have 2 children, and a third one on the way. We praise God for such an answer to prayer and are praying for the road ahead.

· Prayerfulness: By nature, the future is uncertain. Yet by faith, through prayer, we learn to rely on God and trust He will take care of His own like He always has, and as per His promises. We are currently facing an unexpected situation with a financial source we thought we had that didn't come through. We trust in the Lord’s sovereign plan, as He has done so much for us already; so much more than we ever expected. But we are prayerfully considering the steps we need to take from now on as, in the current configuration, we will run out of money by the month of June. We thus would like to ask you to pray with us, for God to graciously provide a means for us to stay so I can finish my studies.

· Oneness: In difficult times, and in a day and age when Christianity is increasingly stigmatized by society, it is refreshing to see the solidarity and unity of the body of Christ at work. It is such a joy to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is beautiful to see the body of Christ coming alongside those who weep or determinedly stand on biblical truth when it is being opposed. I think though that we need to continue be even more intentional and reach out beyond racial divisions, opinions or preferences so to attain an even greater unity, and by doing so displaying the power of the gospel and the wisdom of God (Eph 3:10). With the world seemingly going increasingly wayward, it is important for believers to display a brighter image of the only hope for humanity, found in Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone.

Faly

We have many reasons to praise God this month. Praise be to God for His abounding love and grace manifest in our lives bringing joy and peace in our family, no matter the circumstances we face every single day. Praise be to God for His provision, especially of a school for Daniel for his Junior High next year. Daniel has been enrolled into a very good public middle school, the best one in the district. We are still amazed thinking about how he got accepted, and marvel at the work of God in his life. We are glad to see our son so excited for his future school for the next school year!

Praise be to God for His grace and mercy as, despite the fact that Faly had a very high load during his semester with 18 credits, we are glad and praise God that Faly has straight A for all his subjects so far, and we know that he couldn't do it by himself but only through God who granted him knowledge, for His glory alone. We are glad that it is Faly’s most heavily loaded semester as he will have 13 credits to do during the summer, then 15 credits for both semesters until he finished. We thank and praise God for the spring break we enjoyed this month where Faly got one week off from school.

I'm so glad that we started our break with the celebration of our Savior's work through His death and Resurrection, and the opportunity it was to rejoice and be reminded as a family of the importance of these events. It brings us down to our knees and humbles us to know that nothing we can do will never be acceptable or will satisfy God in order to save us; only the work of Jesus Christ can make us right before the One and Just God. Through Christ’s Resurrection we can be assured that He is our Advocate in Heaven, for us who have been saved, so therefore we won't be afraid to stand in front of God the right Judge. Pondering these truths, I pray to God that we will be always grateful for His love, compassion and mercy towards our family and that He may use us as instruments into His hands for the advancement of His kingdom. I pray to God that none of the trials we may face in this life will ever turn our eyes and focus away from serving Him. We have seen that His grace into our lives abounds more than any trials that happened.

With that in view and mind, I would like to ask you to pray with us, and at the same time trust God to work in an amazing way, as we are relying on God once more to provide for us for the next 2 semesters until Faly finishes his studies. It seems the seminary will not be able to support us financially so we need to find another way to cover our living expenses. In the midst of that, our rent increased from $1.785 to $ 1.905 a month (life in California!) and so did a few other bills such as for internet or insurance. Yet, I want to continue to trust in the Lord my Savior who not only saved us from our sins but also cares for us. Up to now He has been always providing for our needs and there was not even one single day when we were in lack. God is good and with the 5 children we rest in God's goodness and we won’t allow any trials happening into our lives to rob the joy we have in Him.

Lily

Our prayer requests:

- Praise God for the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection

- Praise God for Scott & CJ Nelson and their willingness to consider serving in

Madagascar

- Praise God for Daniel being enrolled in Rancho Pico Junior High for next year. He is excited!

- Praise God for the improvement of the situation on the kids bullying

- Praise God for an amazing, historical Shepherd’s Conference for TMAI.

- Praise God for the Spring break week, during which Faly was off and thus could enjoy time with family; the kids have one more week of holidays.

- Continue to pray for Faly & Lily to have strength and diligence in their studies.

- Pray for us as we start to plan for our return to Madagascar next year and start discussions about our future project.

- Pray for Faly’s trip to Louisville to represent TMAI at the T4G conference from April 10th to 15th. Pray for Lily and the kids in his absence.

- Pray for our financial situation. Pray for us as we are re-applying for the Kerusso Scolarship to pay for our living expenses for the year of studies we have remaining. Pray that God will extraordinarily provide as He has always!