All posts by Sue Babbs

Short-Term Mission Teams setting off this week

Please pray for 2 short-term mission teams consisting of members of the Friends of Toliara Leadership Team and others from Churches with Parish Links, which are going to the Diocese of Toliara this week.

Will, Cheryl, Faye, Andrew and Erin (from Florida) leave today, and will be visiting Morondava, Mahabo and Toliara, with Bishop Samy. In Mahabo, they will be going to see the school which was built with funds raised on Deacon Faye’s retirement.

John and Jane (from the UK), Carol (from France) and Jacky (from Florida) will be setting off to arrive in Antananarivo on 5 June. They will be visiting Fenoarivo parish, the Cathedral Complex and possibly the mission church and women’s center at Mangily.

Jacky will be staying on until early August, and will be establishing links for her church in Florida with the Parish of Ambohimahavelona.

Please pray for safe and straightforward travels for everyone. Also please pray for them all as they seek to do God’s work, support the Diocese, and build up relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ in the areas they visit.

May the guiding hands of God be on their shoulders,
may the presence of the Holy Spirit be on their heads,
may the sign of Christ be on their foreheads,
may the voice of the Holy Spirit be in their ears,
may the smell of the Holy Spirit be in their noses,
may the sight of the company of heaven be in their eyes,
may the speech of the company of heaven be in their mouths,
may the work of the Church of God be in their hands,
may the serving of God and our neighbors be in their feet,
may God make their hearts His home,
and may we all belong to God, our Father, completely.

Adapted from the Lorica of St. Fursa (Fursey), 7th Century.

Prayers please

The people are beginning to start the journey to Toliara for the Synod Meetings at the Cathedral Compound which start on July 20th, and for the 10th Anniversary Celebrations the following weekend.

Please pray for safety on the roads, which do not make for easy travelling (an understatement!) Some are travelling by motorbike, some by car, some on taxi brousse.

Rev Gaston, Rev Tovo and Rev Yvon, along with Rev Antsa’s husband, Liva, set off on Tuesday to travel 310 miles from Ambovombe area to Toliara. They are taking two days for this 12 hour journey by motorbike so that they are less likely to have an accident from being overtired. They are stopping overnight in Ampanihy.

Pray for strength and stamina for all travellers, especially the motorcycle riders as a long distance on bad roads can be very exhausting. Pray too for all vehicles to remain in working condition during the journeys.

Please pray for the discernment of God’s will during the Synod.

And finally, please pray for good health during the meetings and through the anniversary celebrations, and for God’s blessing on all activities.

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10th Anniversary of the Diocese of Toliara

Dear friends 

Greetings from the Diocese of Toliara

We would like to invite to pray for the Diocese,  to celebrate God-with-us, so that the Diocese of Toliara during this 10th year will be renewed spiritually, will offer more disciples and servants to Christ, and be able to stand by contributing joyfully.

May the Diocese be a loving and a living family of God.

May all the leaders, laity and clergy recommit  themselves for God’s mission in this one of the world’s most vulnerable situations.

Blessings

Bishop Samitiana
Toliara, Madagascar

Newly Baptised at Mangily!

Thanks be to God! Rev Delphin baptized 38 people on Sunday 23rd April in Mangily, on the coast just north of Toliara town.

Newly baptized, with their baptism certificates

He asks us to pray that God will continue to strengthen their faith because there are a big challenges in Mangily. Since he joined the Diocese of Toliara last year, he has baptized 102 Christians in Mangily, and also asks our prayers for him and his missions in Fenoarivo Parish.

Church members at Mangily

In January, he asked for your prayers for his wife. He is very happy to report that, after six months of treatment, she is now fine.

Continued prayers please

We have heard more news from the Diocese and received more photos. Please continue to hold everyone affected in your prayers.

News from Fenoarivo

More than 1,200 Christian had their houses damaged due to Cyclone Freddy in the parish of Fenoarivo. The crops have been completely destroyed, and people have been killed by the flooding by river and sea. We need your prayers.

Please pray too for the wife of the Parish Priest, Rev Delphin, who is very sick.

Church at Ambohimahavelona

Photos from Betioky Parish

Morombe Church

Cyclone Freddy has returned!

Most unusually Cyclone Freddy, which had already crossed over the island of Madagascar and reached Mozambique, has returned to Toliara and hit the Diocese really badly.

The Cathedral is flooded, the churches in Ambohimahavelona and Analaiva have collapsed and many homes have been destroyed, including at least four homes of Christians in Sakaraha. Flood water is rising in Morondava.

Crops have been destroyed and the price of food is escalating. News is still reaching us from the affected areas.

Please hold the Diocese and all the people of Toliara in your prayers, as they recover from this devastation.

Thank you for your prayers

The Diocese is very grateful for your prayers, and sends their thanks. Cyclone Freddy weakened in strength by the time it reached the Diocese, and even Fort Dauphin on the east coast in the south of the island was not harmed.

As you will have seen on the world news, Mananjary on the east coast in about the middle of the island was badly affected, as it was last year by Cyclone Batsirai. At the time of writing, the storm is over Mozambique and heading for Zimbabwe.

Cyclone Freddy hits Mananjary

Cyclone Freddy has made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar, and is heading across the country for Mozambique. Winds are in excess of 80mph and torrential rain is falling. Please continue to hold the people and their crops in your prayers, especially for those living in Mananjary which was badly hit by Cyclone Batsirai last year.

You can find more news on the internet. Here is the BBC report.