Mat and Katy Linley

with Phoebe, Jonah and Barnaby

Sent from Sutton Bonington Baptist Church, Nottinghamshire

Mat and Katy are currently in the UK on Home Assignment and are due to take up new roles with AIM’s Southern Region soon. Before their Home Assignment, the Linleys were working in partnership with AIM at the Good News Hospital in Mandritsara.

The hospital is a project of the Association of Bible Baptist Churches of Madagascar, with a vision to show God’s love and to bring the gospel to the people of this region, predominantly the Tsimihety people group. The hospital itself is a church planting project, seeking to establish new churches in Mandritsara town, in every town and village within the Mandritsara district, and in several district capitals between the east and west coasts of Madagascar (the main catchment area for the hospital). As well as the hospital and community health work, the project incorporates village evangelism, a gospel radio station, a French-speaking Primary School and a School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Phoebe, Jonah and Barnaby attended l’Ecole Bonne Nouvelle (the Good News School) in Mandritsara.

Working together with the local Baptist church pastor, Mat was involved in discipleship training and Bible teaching for leaders of around 70 village church groups that had started through contacts made with the hospital and the local church. He also led the multi-agency missionary team in Mandritsara and is a member of the project management committee and Board. Katy, a GP, was Head of Medicine in the hospital.

Mat and Katy are due to take up new roles with AIM’s Southern Region, based in Kijabe, Kenya, during 2020.

Mat will be taking on the role of Regional Administrative Officer (RAO) with AIMs Southern Region office, based in Nairobi. He will be working closely with the Regional Director in supporting AIMs work across several countries in Southern Africa – Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Madagascar and other Indian Ocean islands. The role includes developing new projects, overseeing special initiatives (such as the mobilisation of Malagasy missionaries) and overseeing AIMs response to crisis and conflict in the Southern Africa region.

Katy will work as a doctor at Kijabe Hospital and hopes to be involved in training on the postgraduate General Practice training programme for Kenyan doctors and sharing the vision to reach others through medical ministry.

Phoebe, Jonah and Barney will all attend Rift Valley Academy (RVA), AIM’s boarding school for missionary children. The school is located next door to Kijabe Hospital, and the Linleys are seeking local housing so the children can attend the school as day students.

Could you partner with the Linleys in this work?

Latest Prayer News

June 12, 2020

The Linleys are currently in the UK for Home Assignment. In summer 2020 they will begin new assignments in Kenya. “Despite the current pandemic, the hope is still that, later this year, Mat will take up a position in the AIM Southern Region office (in Nairobi) where he will be part of the team supporting AIM’s work across Southern Africa… We are hoping to live in Kijabe, a small town approximately 60km to the north of Nairobi where AIM run a school, the Rift Valley Academy… The plan is that Katy can work part-time as a volunteer doctor at Kijabe Hospital, which is next door to the school, doing a combination of clinical practice and training. The new position in Kenya is due to start at the end of August, in time for the beginning of the academic year. However, as is the case the world over, there is much uncertainty about how the coming weeks and months will work out… Give thanks that in this world full of uncertainty that God is in control. Pray that we would be patient and continue to trust that God’s plans for our life will happen in his timing.”

November 8, 2019

The Linleys are currently in the UK for Home Assignment and Study Leave. “We have been exploring a move to Kenya in August 2020, and this has now been approved by AIM. Mat will be joining the AIM Southern Region office team, which supports AIM’s work in Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, and several Indian Ocean islands including Madagascar. We hope to live in Kijabe, a town about an hour and a half out of Nairobi, where AIM run Rift Valley Academy, a school which we think will be a good fit for the children. Katy is hoping to work part-time as a volunteer doctor at Kijabe Hospital, which is next door to the school, doing a combination of clinical practice and training.” Please pray for the Linleys over the coming months as plans become concrete and they prepare to move to Kenya.

May 3, 2019

The Linley family are currently in the UK after having finished working in Madagascar. “We trust that God has something else prepared for us that will become clear in coming months. We’re currently exploring possibilities serving elsewhere in Africa with AIM, but may be back in the UK for about 12 months, during which time we hope to catch up with family, friends and supporting churches. Katy is also planning to take exams and work towards being re-licensed to practice as a GP in the UK.” Please pray that God would clearly guide them into where he wants them to serve next.

July 27, 2018

“We are very thankful for the new young doctor, Tefy who is working alongside Katy. He is doing really well. Work here can be brutal however, with lots of difficult and tragic cases. On Friday for example, four babies died. Yesterday, another baby died (tetanus) as well as an 18-year-old girl (malaria) and an older man (septicemia). We often see terminal disease in young people. All this suffering can be hard to adjust to for a new doctor and even for those of us who are more ‘used to it’ we must find the balance between clinical detachment and emotional over-involvement as we seek to serve with compassion. Please pray for compassion and Christ-likeness for all of our staff as we serve the people of this area.”

May 11, 2018

“Rivalde is 8 years old and a student at the Ecole Bonne Nouvelle (Good News School), in the class above Barney. His father, Velomila, worked as a security guard at the school but in the last few weeks became very ill and died. In the local culture, mourners visit and stay with the family from the moment a person dies until the body is buried. Many gathered upon the death of Velomila, and his wife and the people around her were crying, when Rivalde, this 8-year old boy, addressed them: “Don’t cry for father. He suffered much because of the sickness in his head. Jesus has come to take him with him. He accepted that. He is now together with God, with Jesus.” The people stopped crying and then he led those gathered there in a song of thankfulness to God.”

Kenya

Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963. Since then British tourism has been a key element of Kenya’s economy, however, unemployment, poverty and crime remain high. Whilst the majority religion is Christianity, Kenya’s ethnic diversity and vast countryside means there are still many unreached with the gospel. LEARN MORE

Support, Logistics & Pastoral Care

Seeing unreached people reached is fruit of the body of Christ in action. That can mean pilots, qualified counsellors, administrators, photographers all helping and supporting the task of making Jesus known. LEARN MORE

Healthcare

We long to see Health Professionals practising, modelling and mentoring competent, compassionate medicine, but doing so in places where they will influence unreached people groups for Christ. LEARN MORE