From the Field

Our first congregation in Morondava and their building. From April 10-13, Ronald took a quick trip to Morondava, which is south of the capital of Antananarivo by about 14 hours’ drive. In terms of distance, it is only about 800 kilometers, or 500 miles, but our roads aren’t the greatest, so it takes quite long to drive there. Having said that, Ronald assured me that the roads are “not that bad” getting there. Hmmm…For many years, we have had 1 church in Morondava and in recent years a second one was planted. Both of these churches are pastored by women. Pst. Baku was one of our first ordained elders on the district and she has a very strong presence and is leading the first congregation in Morondava. Many years ago–around 2005–volunteers came from the USA and helped to build the church in Morondava on a very large piece of property that we bought. Conditions are harsh in Morondava with sweltering heat, oppressive humidity and, of course, the pounding sun that we get almost every single day of the year here in Madagascar. The church, while built well, is now starting to show signs of wear and tear 15 years down the road. Paint is peeling, concrete floors are in need of attention, etc. A view from the car window–baobab treeHowever, Ronald did not just go down there to look at the old building. The congregations there have been expressing a desire to continue with a media project they have started…
Source: Ronald's Trip to Morondava from Ronald & Shelly Miller

LoveWorks team plus Ronald and AbigailSince our arrival in Madagascar 4 1/2 years ago, we have hosted many teams. We have generally hosted teams largely dominated by adults, meaning people out of college. Twice now, we have hosted teams that consist solely of college students.For the last three weeks, we have hosted a LoveWorks Team from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Ca. This 11-member team consisted of 9 students and two adult staff from Point Loma, both veterans of other LoveWorks Teams to other parts of the world. The students were from varying fields of study, with several of them having just finished their freshman year.Ministering in Nosy Be with our church leadersThroughout their 3 weeks here, they got the opportunity to see many sides of Madagascar and also experience many different types of ministry while they were here. They left immediately for the far north and a place called Nosy Be, which is a popular European tourist destination, but also the heart of our child prostitution that is so common up there. Apparently, the child prostitution is so common that parents start calling their daughters “prostitute” around the age of 10-12. It is almost an expected profession for those young girls in order to help out their, generally, destitute families.The team commented often on how dark of a place Nosy Be was in spite of its amazing beauty, perfect beaches and sprawling resorts. Condoms in the rooms of the hotels, hiring of prostitutes out in the open,…
Source: LoveWorks Team from Ronald & Shelly Miller

For the past 30 years these hands have been the hands that have provided healing to thousands of patients in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.  They have stopped bleeding, removed cancer, delivered babies, straightened bones, reconnected tendons, removed infections, sutured lacerations and more.  They have also folded in prayer over many patients that have had surgery at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital. For years these hands have gone numb and have had some trouble in long surgeries, but most recently, the numbness has been constant and even the most basic functions they had been performing for years, were becoming very challenging.  Thankfully, God’s timing was perfect.  Not only was Jim no longer the only full time surgeon at Kudjip (Ben, Jim’s son is here doing surgery also), but Mike Pyle, a former Naz missionary in Swaziland, who has done a number of carpal tunnel surgeries, was also here volunteering.  Ben was willing to take a few more calls and Mike was willing to do Jim’s surgery, so to the OT they went. Mike put his hands of healing on Jim, prayed for the surgery and then went to work relieving the compression on Jim’s median nerve causing his carpal tunnel syndrome.  Praise God the surgery went very well, the numbness has already gone down, and Jim expects to be using his hands in healing once again very soon.  God is good.
Source: Hands of healing from Erin Meier – Asia Pacific