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August 3, 2018

Worshiping the Master in Madagascar

Madagascar is home to more than twenty-five million souls, a place where many are hungry to be fed the truths from God’s Word. It’s a country that has been through political and religious change to a degree that is difficult for most people to imagine. Politically, the island has transitioned from being an independent kingdom, to a French colony, and then through a series of democratic regimes. These changes have brought about a great deal of instability, as well as varying degrees of religious freedom. Even in what seems like a difficult environment, the Lord is at work, transforming lives and building His church on this African island nation.

Recently, in conjunction with a regional TMAI conference, my son and I traveled to Madagascar to visit with Faly Ravoahangy. Faly has been associated with TMAI for some time, having served with our office during his time at the Master’s Seminary. Last summer, Faly and his wife Lily—along with their five children—returned to their island home of Madagascar with a passion to serve the Lord and the church there. Faly is an extremely passionate and gifted man and has a particular desire to see men trained for the ministry in Madagascar. During our visit, Faly was able to give me a close-up view of the need.

As we traveled the countryside, what caught my attention was the people’s practical love for Christ and His church—they transformed their simple items into incredible instruments of worship. Mud buildings were made into worship centers and even pieces of metal were constructed into a full functioning drum set. And it really sounded like drums! The commitment and passion of the people, that they would take simple items and turn them into a means of praising the Lord, was striking and encouraging.

But beyond the people’s own passion for the Lord, I also saw the great hunger of local village pastors for training. These men love their churches and want to serve them well. They also humbly recognize their need to learn how to study and teach God’s Word. We had a chance to interview Pastor Hada, who told me the following (translated from Malagasy):

“I became the pastor of this church last year but I now realize that I need help in pastoral ministry, specifically to grow in my preaching, shepherding God’s flock, and evangelism. But this need is not only in my church; there is a great need for training in this area and in the entire region. We need help and we need the tools to protect the flock against false doctrine. There are more and more false teachers coming into our area, and we need training to protect God’s people.”

His humility and his desire to grow as a shepherd and preacher was so encouraging to me. He’s a prime example of the need for training in Madagascar. To meet these needs, Faly travels (often by foot) many miles for training weekends, where he teaches from sun up to sun down, with eager village pastors who feverishly take notes. Such scenes continue to fuel Faly’s passion for training church leaders. But Faly’s passion to pass on what has been entrusted to him stems from not only his own love for the Gospel, but it’s also rooted in his father’s passion to make Christ known in Madagascar. Faly’s passion for the Lord is a result of biblical discipleship from his father, who alone ministers to 25 village pastors and is now passing on the responsibility and privilege of training these men to his son. He’s fulfilling the biblical command of 2 Timothy 2:2. The baton is being passed.

By the Lord’s grace, Faly and his family are not ministering alone in their home country. Haja is a graduate from Christ Seminary, TMAI’s member school in South Africa, who recently moved to Madagascar to help. Haja now pastors Ankadivato Biblical Baptist Church in Madagascar and assists Faly with the growing training demands. In addition to Haja, Faly is working closely to provide training to the local denominations, which represent over 357 churches and gatherings in Madagascar. Together, they desire to see a TMAI training center in Madagascar to further strengthen their leaders to teach solid, biblical theology and to build up the next generation of the church. These men are working tirelessly and praying hard for the Lord to provide the resources to pass along the baton that has been faithfully entrusted to them.

At TMAI, we often receive requests from people who desire to have training centers in their church, town, village, or country. TMAI has received over 50 requests to start training centers in their countries.

Madagascar is a country with over 5,000 villages that have never heard the name of Christ, with 65 to 70% of existing countryside pastors that have received little to no formal training at all. In addition, there are very few good theological resources available, and unfortunately the culture is ingrained with syncretism, which is the combining of various beliefs, traditions, and religions into one.

Madagascar, while certainly unique in many ways, isn’t alone in its need for access to sound, biblical training. At TMAI, we often receive requests from people who desire to have training centers in their church, town, village, or country. TMAI has received over 50 requests to start training centers in their countries.

The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray for the workers. Pray for men like Faly Ravoahangy and Haja who are giving their time, resources, and efforts to serve. Pray for the Lord to continue to build His church and raise up more workmen to pass on the baton to the next generation. Pray for TMAI, as we continue to train men around the world and consider the best way we can help meet the training needs in places like Madagascar. Lastly, pray as to how the Lord might have you come alongside and support His work around the world.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.

 

Mark Tatlock,

President, TMAI

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Cherif Arif

Cherif Arif was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. He got an MBS from the National Theological College and Graduate School (NTCGS) in Cairo, Egypt; an MDiv. from Maranatha Baptist Seminary, Wisconsin; a ThM from TMS; and is now working on a PhD at TMS. He has served as a professor at NTCGS since 2011, both in Cairo and other locations: Jordan and Lebanon. He is now working on an exegetical/pastoral commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes in Arabic. He desires to continue serving by equipping pastors and leaders and writing exegetical/theological works in Arabic for the church in the Middle East. “My heart is that many in this area of the world come to the saving faith in our God and Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rodney Andersen

Rodney Andersen is grateful to have grown up at Grace Community Church (GCC) under the ministry of John MacArthur. After working as an engineer for many years, Rodney left that career to pursue missions. After graduating from The Master’s Seminary in 2012, he and his family were sent by GCC to serve as missionaries in China until 2018 when he was called to return to GCC to train new missionaries. He currently serves as the Director for Grace Ministries International (GMI), the international missions department of Grace Community Church (GCC).  Rodney and his wife, Glenna, have two children.   

Aleksey Kolomiytsev

Over the last 30 years, Aleksey Kolomiytsev has been involved in pastoral ministry in Russia and other Russian-speaking countries. He has also led Word of Grace Bible Institute for 22 years and has served as senior pastor at Word of Grace Bible Church or the last 18 years. Aleksey’s focus in ministry is spreading the influence of expository preaching, as well as preparing preachers in the Russian-speaking world. His wife Tanya has been faithfully supporting him in ministry over the last 35 years.

Nick Kalena

Nick Kalena has been serving in Berlin, Germany, for six years. He moved with his wife, Jodi, and their six children from Mission Viejo, CA, in the summer of 2014 to work for the European Bible Training Center. Since then he has been serving in and is now the director of the EBTC’s Biblical Counseling Program. Alongside of EBTC ministry, he joined a church planting team in 2016 that started the Eckstein Gemeinde Berlin. One year later, Nick and the two church planters from the planting team were ordained as elders.  Nick’s ministry focus at the EBTC and at the Eckstein Gemeinde is counseling and discipleship. He enjoys bringing people to God’s Word to help them grow in their knowledge of the Son of God. 

Alexey Prokopenko

Alexey Prokopenko has served as a professor at Samara Center for Biblical Training since 2007 and as pastor of Transfiguration Baptist Church in Samara, Russia, since 2012. He has earned degrees from Medical University of Samara (MD) and The Master’s Seminary (PhD). Alexey has authored several books in the Russian language, including commentaries on Genesis and Ruth, as well as annotated translations of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. He currently serves as pastor of a new church plant in his home city. Alexey and his wife Kate have two beautiful children.

Joshua Mack

Joshua and his family recently moved back to the United States after serving for 14 years in South Africa, where they planted Living Hope Church, began the African Bible Training Center, and started the Muphamuzi Baby Home. He now serves as pastor at Cornerstone Bible Church in Fullerton, California, while continuing to mentor teachers at various African Bible Training Centers. He is particularly passionate about providing solid theological resources in under-resourced areas. He is the author of Compasssion: Seeing with Jesus Eyes and the co-author of several other books. He received his M.A. and M.Div from The Master’s University and Seminary, and D.Min from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Dave Beakley

Both David and his wife Carol were raised in Arizona, and after following David’s career in High Tech manufacturing, the Lord called David to ministry and he graduated from The Master’s Seminary in 2002. Six weeks after graduating, David, Carol, and their four children were sent out by Grace Community Church as missionaries to South Africa. David was eventually selected by South Africans to serve as the Academic Dean of Christ Seminary, as well as an elder at Christ Baptist Church. He then earned his PhD at the University of Potchefstroom in 2014. His wife Carol also serves in Christ Baptist Church teaching various women’s Bible Studies and discipling women. He also serves as the TMAI African Regional Coordinator and the GMI Regional Missions Shepherd for Africa. 

Christian Andresen

Christian and his wife Sheryl moved back to Germany over twenty years ago and started the European Bible Training Center (EBTC) in Berlin to train up nationals for pastoral and missionary work and strengthen the local churches. As president of the ever-growing EBTC, Christian oversees the school in Berlin and its extensions in Germany, Switzerland and Austria as well as its publishing ministry. He also serves as one of the pastors at Eckstein Gemeinde Berlin, a four-year-old church plant at the heart of Berlin, and is eager to invest in church-planting ministries across Europe through his role as Regional Shepherd at Grace Ministries International. Christian and Sheryl have four wonderful grown-up children and several grandchildren.

 

Carlos Montoya  

Carlos Montoya is President of Ministerios Evangélicos de Las Americas (MEDA), a TMAI pastoral training center located in Siguatepeque, Honduras. MEDA’s main program is The Seminary for Expository Preaching (SEPE) where its motto is Training men to Preach Christ with Power, Passion and Precision. He also serves as a pastor at Iglesia Bautista Betania. 

He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He then studied at Dallas Theological Seminary, receiving his MABS in 1989, and married his bride Lori the same year. After several years, Carlos felt the need to study the original languages, leading him to attend The Master’s Seminary, graduating in 1999. The Montoya family moved to Honduras in 2001. He and Lori have 7 children and 5 grandchildren. 

 

Faly Ravoahangy

Faly Ravoahangy, a graduate of The Master’s Seminary currently enrolled in their Doctor of Ministry program, is the founder and Managing Director of Madagascar 3M, a ministry started in 2017, aiming to come alongside the existing structures and to be involved in identifying, training and equipping men to study, obey and teach God’s Word. Ultimately, Madagascar 3M desires to open a Bible-teaching seminary, focusing on expository preaching, so to develop a new generation of godly church leaders in francophone Africa.

Faly is also part of the eldership team and a teaching pastor at Ankadivato Biblical Baptist Church in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar. He is married to Lily and they are blessed with 5 children.

David Robles

David Robles serves as the teaching pastor of Iglesia Evangelica de Leon and is the founding president of Berea Seminary, Spain. He has a wide teaching and preaching ministry throughout Spain, Europe, Latin America and the USA. David is a graduate of Multnomah Biblical Seminary and The Master´s Seminary. He and his wife, Loida, have three daughters.

Ruben Videira

Ruben Videira graduated from The Master’s Seminary with his M.Div. in 2011 and Th.M. in 2014. The same year he moved to León, Spain, with his family, to serve at the Evangelical Church of Leon and the Berea Seminary. At the seminary he serves as the Academic Dean and professor of Hermeneutics, Bible Exposition and Theology, and at the church his ministry focuses on preaching and discipling. He has been married to Jenn since 2010, and the Lord has blessed them with Oliver (2013), Eden (2015), Caleb (2016), and Zoe (2018).

 

Greg White

Greg White was sent out by Grace Community Church in 1992 to serve the Evangelical churches of Ukraine. Over the past 28 years he has had the privilege to be a part of 2 church plants and the start and development of 2 seminaries. Greg is pastor of Grace Bible Church, Chief Academic Officer of Grace Bible Seminary in Kyiv, Ukraine, Regional Pastor of Eurasia for Grace Ministries International and Liaison & Consultant, Eurasia for The Master’s Academy International. Beside his administrative responsibilities, Greg also is a professor in the area of New Testament at Grace Bible Seminary and the European Bible Center, Berlin, Germany. Greg is married to Hue Chon and has 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren who live in Southern California.

Dave Beakley

Both David and his wife Carol were raised in Arizona, and after following David’s career in High Tech manufacturing, the Lord called David to ministry and he graduated from The Master’s Seminary in 2002. Just six weeks after graduating, David, Carol, and their four children were sent out by Grace Community Church as missionaries to South Africa, where David served as a lecturer at Christ Seminary in the city of Polokwane. During that time, David eventually was selected by the nationals to serve as the Academic Dean as well as an elder at Christ Baptist Church. He also earned his PhD at the University of Potchefstroom in 2014. His wife Carol also serves in Christ Baptist Church teaching various women’s Bible Studies and discipling women. The children were all raised in South Africa and are now living as adults in the USA. Currently, David is the Senior Pastor (teaching pastor) of Christ Baptist Church, the Academic Dean of Christ Seminary, teaches various courses in Christ Seminary, and he also serves as the TMAI African Regional Coordinator and the GMI Regional Missions Shepherd for Africa. He and his family have been serving in South Africa for over 18 years.

 

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