READY TO BE BAPTIZED
Jean & Diana Alexis
Missionaires in Madagascar
I have no words to thank God for everything He is doing here in Madagascar, I am still in awe of what has just happened these last few days. I (Diana) want to confess something to you, I want to open my heart to you who have been with me in this walk, praying to God together, going through the challenges we have had together. Yeah! You guys have been with me on that too.
MY CONFESSION
In February, I felt deeply sad, frustrated, discouraged and I could say very unoptimistic. All the visits in January and what I was experiencing in February made me feel unmotivated. Our groups of disciples were distant, cold, little quiet. We certainly met throughout January and continued to meet in February however, some were absent from several of the meetings.
In those weeks, I felt that they were not taking the Bible studies seriously, perhaps they were doing it to just check off their checklist and be ok with us. Their desire to be baptized had remained silent and I did not want to force anything. I honestly felt helpless and frustrated. I was giving my 100% but the fruits were not reflected.
I shared this feeling with Jean and we both concluded that we should enter into a time of fasting and prayer again, just as we did last year during October and November.
TIME TO ADJUST THE SPIRITUAL BELTS
This time of fasting and prayer was very necessary for us and at the same time decisive, since we had a very clear objective and the enemy would surely be very upset. We wanted to see our disciples truly commit to the Lord.
This time was full of crying, begging, and praying to the Lord for these disciples. It was also a time to renew our spiritual strength, remove all discouragement, and trust in God. We are doing this fasting time every Monday.
BIBLE STUDIES AND TRAININGS
We studied about baptism last year but in December we had to take a break because of Christmas holidays. This was our first break in almost two years of work and it was needed to rest and regain strength.
When we started the Bible studies again in January, I realized they no longer remembered anything. January was like a month of transition. In fact, everyone was still talking about what they had done at the end of the year. Well, long story short, our next topic was about "devotional time with God" and while I was preparing the draft of the topic I felt that God was leading me to return to everything we saw about baptism. And I said to myself "no well, not the same thing again" and I continued searching for the next topic but I did not feel peace until I realized that it was not my voice but rather the Holy Spirit leading me to make a review about baptism. So I obeyed.
Between those days, one of our disciples became terribly ill. Her hand became swollen and filled with pus. We had to end the meeting early and promptly take her to the hospital, 30 minutes from the bush where we were. We were very worried about this disciple's hand. It was so deformed due to the swelling that she could no longer straighten her fingers but rather curled them more and more. The doctor told her clearly that if she did not remove the pus she could lose her hand. That day I couldn't sleep well thinking about that situation so I diligently prayed that her illness would not get worse. Jean and I had to talk to her firmly to get him to obey and take the pills and medications that the doctor prescribed. Generally, they are not used to taking medicines. After two weeks, her hand was recovering and returning to normal size.
TESTIMONY
Jean and I realized that there was always something happening there in the bush during our Bible studies that made them stop, or finish them quickly, etc. After those events, the time of peace came and I was able to review again about baptism.
After reading the Bible and seeing the example of Jesus being baptized in the Jordan, I asked each one of our disciples (without expecting anything affirmative): are you ready to be baptized? They all said in chorus: Yes, we are very ready! So I responded: When are you going to be baptized? It's up to you, they said. I was amazed at this, and at the same time, I didn't understand why it depended on me. Then I asked again: Why is it up to me? Isn't it up to you all? To which they responded: "We are ready, it depends on when you are going to baptize us" WOWWWWW!!!!
Last year they had already told me that they were ready and I was waiting for them to agree and tell us the day to do this. Apparently, I was the one who had to decide the date and time. So this time, we decided to make it March 3, 2024. And this is how they were baptized:
"I WANT COUNSEL, I WANT TO FOLLOW THE LORD"
At the same time, during those weeks that we were busy at the hospital with our disciple, a Malagasy friend, who we met when we arrived in this city for the first time called us. He had told us that he was a Christian, that he had already been baptized but that his leaders had moved to another city so he was on his own spiritually.
After almost two years, he asked us for spiritual help because during all this time, it seems, he has not remained strong in the Truth but has had setbacks that he struggles with. This friend asked for help so that we advise him, disciple him to follow the Lord righteously. He told us that he wanted to learn from the Bible and that he longed to preach the Gospel to others.
We are now meeting on Friday afternoons to learn from God's Word, sing, and pray together. He is a guy with great potential for the Kingdom of God, I know that God can bring out the best in him and transform him for his heavenly goals.
EXCESSIVE HEAT CLIMATE
The hot season began in December and will last until May. Last year we already went through this season but it was not excessive as we are experiencing it now.
Especially the month of February has been extremely hot, making it impossible to stay home in the afternoons. My skin (Diana) has suffered a lot of irritation from the rash. I once had a rash when I was a little girl, but now as an adult, I have never had one. But this hot season here in Madagascar has made me resort to prayer to ask for healing. I have rashes all over my body, back, chest, belly, legs, hands, fingers, neck, absolutely everywhere.
This terrible irritation along with what was happening in the bush had me depressed. There have been times when I have felt like Job with his leprosy. Thank the Lord for my prayer team who has been very attentive and praying for all these situations. I thank other brothers and sisters who have also prayed for me specifically regarding the rash issue. I still have the discomfort, it hasn't gone away. This prevents me from being comfortable doing my work here but I am in God's hands.
ANKIZY SAROBIDY CHILDREN
The children's ministry is in all its splendor every week. I thank God for my husband who is in charge of this ministry. He has the gift to be with the kids and teach them.
Also, we have grown in number. We now have a new group of kids in town of almost 40 and we are meeting on Saturdays. The songs and the drawings to colour make everything exciting for them.
My husband feels that the children are learning each day through memorizing the verses. We continue to reward children who learn all the verses. We have 3 girls who are very participatory all the time and we can see them as leaders for others.
Additionally, we continue with our healthy breakfast project, bringing fruits, hard-boiled eggs, and hot soup.
In addition to this, we are teaching kids about hand washing and how they should do it. We talked about the importance of soap after using the toilet and before eating. We gave away a cleaning kit for each child.
We are currently ministering to 65 children between two groups in the city and one group in the countryside. Please pray to God for these children every day.
PRAY FOR
- The women who were baptized last weekend, for wisdom and boldness among their neighbors.
- The group of kids we have so they can learn all the Bible verses and share them with their families.
- The Bible studies during the week, for people who are hearing the Gospel so they can open their hearts, connect with God, and feel the Holy Spirit.
