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Pray for the unreached Tanala people

Who are the Tanala people?

The Tanala people, also called Antanala, live in the inland forests of southeastern Madagascar. Their name actually means ‘people of the forest’. With a population of 1,200,000 the Tanala represent 6% of the population of Madagascar. They are skilled woodsmen, food gatherers, and hunters. They trade beeswax, honey, and other forest products and grow rice as a staple food. Their traditional ‘slash-and-burn’ agricultural methods are being discouraged by the central Madagascan government, instead they’re being encouraged to use more modern methods to grow corn, yams and coffee. Living conditions in the smaller villages can be very difficult. Many of these small villages are hard to reach and often people are suspicious and afraid of foreigners, as well as of Malagasy from other people groups. 

What do they believe?

The Tanala hold deeply to their traditional religious practices, which are based on animism and ancestor worship.  They believe that there are spirits all around us in nature and that people must try to please the spirits. Like most Animists they live with a certain amount of fear that a spirit will be unhappy with them. 

What is being done to reach them?

The Tanala are considered to be one of the least reached people groups in Madagascar. However, recently three Malagasy missionaries have begun sharing the gospel in Ikongo (a Tanala settlement) and have already had the joy of baptising new believers. The Hofmann family from the Netherlands have also recently moved to Sandrohy to live among the Tanala with the hope of planting a church among them.

Prayer from AIM’s Daily Prayer:

The unreached Tanala people, also called Antanala, live in the inland forests of southeastern Madagascar. The effects of the two cyclones that hit Madagascar earlier this year are really being felt by the local people, with food shortages causing people to be malnourished and struggle to feed their children. Please pray that God would provide for their needs and that local Christians would be able to share their hope in Jesus with their neighbours in this difficult time. 

Jurgen and Katja Hofmann serve among the Tanala in Madagascar. In recent weeks Jurgen has been working to find ways to share Luke’s gospel which has been translated into their heart language. Praise God that this distribution will include Malagasy Christians. Pray for Elodie, Nathanael and Sedera as they hope to give copies away as part of their missionary work, and for JeanClaude as he involves his bookshop in the distribution. 

The unreached Tanala people live in the inland forests of south-eastern Madagascar. Missionaries working among the Tanala report that telling Bible stories in the local language has been successful. Many have heard the gospel and understood it, and several local kings have said that they want to follow Jesus. There is also a greater awareness among local believers that they can witness to their neighbours. Praise God! Please pray for the audio recordings of the Bible stories in Tanala, that they will be distributed widely and that through hearing God’s word many more Tanala will believe in him. 

Prayer from prayafrica.org

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