Lord's Day July 12 2015

We had a gratifyingly full church Sunday morning and a decent number Sunday evening too. I preached on Psalm 103 in the morning. It is a wonderful psalm of praise and sort of preaches itself, if you know what I mean. We had a few visitors, including and Iranian man I'd never met before. All our student types are back too now before they scatter to the four winds on camps and beach missions, etc. It was good to have Liz Rajo and her children with us from Madagascar. I did a little interview with her over tea in the afternoon just to update us all on the needs there. I preached in the evening on false prophets and true, a warning message. Preaching is not easy. I found myself wondering at the end of the day if there was enough of Christ in it all. It's easy to miss the main thing.

Midweek Meeting December 3 2014

We had a change last night. Our friend Henikaja from Madagascar who has been studying at the John Owen Centre this term spoke to us about the work of the gospel in Madagascar. We have known about the situation for some years now, three students having been based with us while the studied at the LTS. It was good to get this clear overview of the situation among the Baptists, which is generally very encouraging with many men preparing for the ministry. There are needs, of course, such as translations into the local Malagas language. We were about 12 of us present, including my parent-in-law, up for the conference. I arrived late having been at another meeting in town before coming. We had a good prayer time, praying especially for Madagascar and our Meal & Message with Brad Franklin tonight.

Ravaka Rajo

We are deeply sorry to say that our good friend Ravaka Rajo*, pictured here with his wife Liz and the children Anna (9) and Jonathan (8) last year, has died. Ravaka who was a pastor and seminary head in Antsirabe, Madagascar, was hit by a motorcycle earlier this week and after a short time in hospital in Antananarivo was declared dead. He is with the Lord which is far better but we must pray for Liz and the children and the Baptist churches left behind.

Liz was a nurse in Madagascar, where she first met Ravaka. They came to London in 2002 and Ravaka trained in the London Theological Seminary and began studies in The John Owen Centre, transferring to WEST towards the end of his time. It was a delight to have them as part of the church at that time and to see God bless them with their two children, both born here. They had all hoped to be in England this Summer.

Ravaka was a gentle and intelligent man of God with a winning smile. It is hard to overstate what a loss he is to the Baptist churches of Madagascar. It is a reminder that all our days are numbered and that God sometimes moves in mysterious ways.

If people wanted to give to the inevitable financial need that will arise then I'm sure that the church here could see that gifts were passed on.
I understand that the funeral will be in Monday.

(Rahvak' Radzoo he would have said. In Madagascar they called him Doda.)

Farewell Service

On Saturday I courageously went south of the river to be at Summers Town Mission Evangelical Church in Tooting for a farewell service for Ravaka and Liz Rajo and their children Anna and Jonathan. The family do not actually return to Madagascar until September but this was a good time to hold such a meeting especially as veteran medical missionary to Madagascar, Dr David Mann, was able to preach (from Acts 13 and 14). David works at the Good News Hospital in Mandritsara. The meeting was chaired by the pastor Peter Bines. Summerstown is Liz's sending church. During language training she met Ravaka and for the last five years have been based here while Ravaka pursued theological studies. On their return Ravaka will become pastor of the church in Antsirabe with duties also in the nearby Baptist Seminary. It has been our privilege at Childs Hill to have them under our wing and we are going to greatly miss them on their return. Ravaka gave a presentation regarding the work both at Summerstown and then on Sunday evening at Childs Hill.