One Villager at a Time
One villager at a time. One village at a time. This is the philosophy that Haggai leader Sedera Voahary demonstrates in his everyday ministry, each day of the year.
Combining evangelism with medical expertise, Sedera and his team gain the trust and confidence of the people they treat. And thus, gaining the people’s attention as they see love in action. Not just love through words.
For instance, in a remote village in Madagascar, called Ambavala, Sedera and his team have reached these people through a young teenager named Flangi. For 10 years, Flangi had lived with large tumors in his mouth. Sedera met him two years ago, when they started to treat him by bringing him to a larger, capital city. There, they sought a Korean doctor for help, who took Flangi to Korea for surgery. Sedera shares, “Following his recovery, Flangi returned and made a big impact on his village. His entire family dedicated their lives to Jesus. Many people in the village were simply amazed and did not even recognize him. And because of that family of four, another village near theirs is now open to hear the message of the Gospel.”
Now that Sedera and his team at Jesus Family Kingdom have reached the village of Ambavala and the one next to it, they will begin to teach the villagers about discipleship and following Jesus. Some of the villagers will leave their homes for discipleship training for three months and then return to the village. Sedera’s team builds a school in the village and trains the teachers to provide a Christian education for the students. Before school starts each morning, they share a devotion and teach the children about the love of Christ. Sedera will also help the villagers start a fishing business to invest in the Kingdom to pay the teacher’s salary. And start a church so the villagers will no longer be considered unreached.
This is repeated with each village they gain access to through providing medical help. A lot of times it is through consultation and teeth extraction. Each month, the team goes by helicopter to a place where there is no church in the village. Sedera describes, “The places our team go to are usually very difficult to reach, consist of traditions of idol worship, and the people usually cannot read or write.”
One more example happened in the village of Paradisakely five years ago. After the school was built, the lives of many parents changed for the better. “One of them is Julien. He was a drunkard and beat his wife and didn’t seem to care for his family. After he received Christ, he changed inside. He became free from alcohol. He began to work hard to help his family and those around him, which makes his wife very happy. Now they serve the Lord together and most of their family has also joined the church, as they saw the change in Julien’s life.”
Change. One villager at a time.
Written by Valerie Dyke
One Villager at a Time
One villager at a time. One village at a time. This is the philosophy that Haggai leader Sedera Voahary demonstrates in his everyday ministry, each day of the year.
Combining evangelism with medical expertise, Sedera and his team gain the trust and confidence of the people they treat. And thus, gaining the people’s attention as they see love in action. Not just love through words.
For instance, in a remote village in Madagascar, called Ambavala, Sedera and his team have reached these people through a young teenager named Flangi. For 10 years, Flangi had lived with large tumors in his mouth. Sedera met him two years ago, when they started to treat him by bringing him to a larger, capital city. There, they sought a Korean doctor for help, who took Flangi to Korea for surgery. Sedera shares, “Following his recovery, Flangi returned and made a big impact on his village. His entire family dedicated their lives to Jesus. Many people in the village were simply amazed and did not even recognize him. And because of that family of four, another village near theirs is now open to hear the message of the Gospel.”
Now that Sedera and his team at Jesus Family Kingdom have reached the village of Ambavala and the one next to it, they will begin to teach the villagers about discipleship and following Jesus. Some of the villagers will leave their homes for discipleship training for three months and then return to the village. Sedera’s team builds a school in the village and trains the teachers to provide a Christian education for the students. Before school starts each morning, they share a devotion and teach the children about the love of Christ. Sedera will also help the villagers start a fishing business to invest in the Kingdom to pay the teacher’s salary. And start a church so the villagers will no longer be considered unreached.
This is repeated with each village they gain access to through providing medical help. A lot of times it is through consultation and teeth extraction. Each month, the team goes by helicopter to a place where there is no church in the village. Sedera describes, “The places our team go to are usually very difficult to reach, consist of traditions of idol worship, and the people usually cannot read or write.”
One more example happened in the village of Paradisakely five years ago. After the school was built, the lives of many parents changed for the better. “One of them is Julien. He was a drunkard and beat his wife and didn’t seem to care for his family. After he received Christ, he changed inside. He became free from alcohol. He began to work hard to help his family and those around him, which makes his wife very happy. Now they serve the Lord together and most of their family has also joined the church, as they saw the change in Julien’s life.”
Change. One villager at a time.
Written by Valerie Dyke
One Villager at a Time
One villager at a time. One village at a time. This is the philosophy that Haggai leader Sedera Voahary demonstrates in his everyday ministry, each day of the year.
Combining evangelism with medical expertise, Sedera and his team gain the trust and confidence of the people they treat. And thus, gaining the people’s attention as they see love in action. Not just love through words.
For instance, in a remote village in Madagascar, called Ambavala, Sedera and his team have reached these people through a young teenager named Flangi. For 10 years, Flangi had lived with large tumors in his mouth. Sedera met him two years ago, when they started to treat him by bringing him to a larger, capital city. There, they sought a Korean doctor for help, who took Flangi to Korea for surgery. Sedera shares, “Following his recovery, Flangi returned and made a big impact on his village. His entire family dedicated their lives to Jesus. Many people in the village were simply amazed and did not even recognize him. And because of that family of four, another village near theirs is now open to hear the message of the Gospel.”
Now that Sedera and his team at Jesus Family Kingdom have reached the village of Ambavala and the one next to it, they will begin to teach the villagers about discipleship and following Jesus. Some of the villagers will leave their homes for discipleship training for three months and then return to the village. Sedera’s team builds a school in the village and trains the teachers to provide a Christian education for the students. Before school starts each morning, they share a devotion and teach the children about the love of Christ. Sedera will also help the villagers start a fishing business to invest in the Kingdom to pay the teacher’s salary. And start a church so the villagers will no longer be considered unreached.
This is repeated with each village they gain access to through providing medical help. A lot of times it is through consultation and teeth extraction. Each month, the team goes by helicopter to a place where there is no church in the village. Sedera describes, “The places our team go to are usually very difficult to reach, consist of traditions of idol worship, and the people usually cannot read or write.”
One more example happened in the village of Paradisakely five years ago. After the school was built, the lives of many parents changed for the better. “One of them is Julien. He was a drunkard and beat his wife and didn’t seem to care for his family. After he received Christ, he changed inside. He became free from alcohol. He began to work hard to help his family and those around him, which makes his wife very happy. Now they serve the Lord together and most of their family has also joined the church, as they saw the change in Julien’s life.”
Change. One villager at a time.
Written by Valerie Dyke
