Jurgen and Katja Hofmann serve in Madagascar, reaching out to the Tanala people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ancestor worship and spirit veneration are deeply ingrained in the local culture and the spiritual battle is very real. Jurgen recently led a team of Malagasy Bible students on an outreach trip to the village of Maroamboka, where there are at least 15 witch-doctors, some known for cursing people to death. On the first day, a woman came asking for help because several people were very sick.  “Sick” can mean many things, but in this case, it was demonic possession. They found a young woman in her twenties, who had been perfectly healthy three days earlier, but was now unable to do anything but growl and was paralysed in the legs. During prayer, she started kicking, hitting, and contorting, but “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). After much prayer, the demons left. Within an hour, she was calm. She was placed under the supervision of a local believer, to teach her about the Lord Jesus, so she can follow Him instead of returning to ancestor worship. The next day, the group continued ministering to the other “sick” people, all of whom were freed in the same way! Praise the Lord that people are being released from a life of fear and are learning that freedom is only found in the Gospel.

Jürgen and Katja Hofmann serve in Madagascar, reaching out to the Tanala people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise God that boxes of the translations of the Gospel of Luke, the Book of Acts and the story collection will be sent to Vohipeno, Ikongo and Irondro. Pray for the ongoing translation of the Book of Genesis. It is a lot of work because the language used in Genesis is very different from that used in the New Testament books. Chapters 1 to 6 have been completed, so only 44 chapters to go – please pray for strength and wisdom for the team working on this.

Jurgen and Katja Hofmann serve in Madagascar, reaching out to the Tanala people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Earlier this year, Jurgen and a friend went on an exploratory mission to the remote valleys of Midongy & Befotaka. The people groups there (Antaisaka & Bara) speak a slightly different dialect to the one Jurgen speaks, but despite this he was able to explain the gospel and several villages indicated they would like to hear more about Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. In other villages, small groups are now gathering to study the Bibles they have received. The people are hungry for the gospel. In August, Jonoro, a Malagasy pastor who recently joined AIM, and several other ministers, trained some Malagasy Christians to go to this area. In September, they travelled to the remote villages to stay there for 28 days. They went as far as possible by car, but then had to walk for another three days. Please pray for these brothers (and, reportedly, one sister) and pray that the Malagasy in the remote areas may come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour!