"Teacher, which commandment in the law
is the greatest?" He said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest
and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as
yourself.
Matthew 22:36-39
This week is the International Mission Board week of prayer for
international missionaries. Read these
stories each day and open your heart to these missionaries. Pray for them and their families as they are
accepting the challenge to do whatever it takes to take the Gospel of Christ to
the world.
Teacher,
which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "Love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like
it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:36-39
Matthew 22:36-39
This week is the International Mission Board week of prayer for
international missionaries. Read these
stories each day and open your heart to these missionaries. Pray for them and their families as they are
accepting the challenge to do whatever it takes to take the Gospel of Christ to
the world.
An unlikely partnership: It sounds like a fool’s errand: send a hearing church with zero
experience with the Deaf to share Jesus with a Deaf unengaged, unreached people
group. But that’s what happened when Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia,
chose to embrace the Deaf Malagasy of Madagascar.
Located off
Africa’s east coast, the island nation is home to 110,000 Deaf, less than 1
percent Christian. Most follow a centuries-old tradition of ancestor worship.
There may be a
“veneer of Christianity,” says Matt Spann, who leads IMB’s Madagascar team,
“but, in fact, they fear their ancestors more than they fear God.”
That’s what Warren
hopes to change. But Roger Henderson, the church’s missions pastor, knows it
won’t be quick, easy or cheap. There’s a steep learning curve to mastering
Malagasy sign. Roger anticipates sending multiple teams to Madagascar every
year. That’s a huge financial commitment, one that Warren has pledged won’t cut
into its giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which supports workers
like Matt.
Intimate with
Malagasy society and language, Matt is helping Warren navigate cultural nuances
and church-planting pitfalls, plus providing logistical support for incoming
teams.
“There was no
doubt that this is where God was leading us,” Roger says. “This is a testimony
that God can use anybody when you are willing to follow His leading.”
Pray that Warren
Baptist Church members will quickly learn Malagasy sign and be effective as His
heart, hands and voice in reaching the Deaf of Madagascar.
Scripture to Claim:
For this is
what the Lord has commanded us: I have appointed you as a light for the
Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth." Act 13:47
