Newsletter Jurgen & Katja May 2022

Dear friends,

We are now almost three months in Antananarivo (Tana), the capital of Madagascar. Are we still doing anything? Is there anything new happening? Well, hopefully we can take that question away with this newsletter.

In deze brief:

• A Cheerful Note
• Thinking
• Moving
• And more...

A Cheerful Note

It seemed as if the previous newsletter had been written by Grumpy of the Seven Dwarfs. And to be honest, it felt like that to us too. But we know we are the Lord is always there to care for us. Paul already wrote about it to the Corinthians: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13b). And that is what we can look forward to! The outcome that will be given by God.

Our ministry is in the south-east of Madagascar. Our heart goes out to the Antanala people. For the work, it would be very convenient to live nearby. Many conversations, it were mainly work orientated. What would be best for the work? Until the question arose what would be best for the family.

We had not asked that question yet (or rather, not often enough). We lived quite isolated in Maroamboka. That was no problem because the children had each other and together they regularly went on long hikes in the mountains and the rainforest. That was wonderful, they loved it!

Moving

Continuing the work from the village is difficult. We have done many of the things we planned to do. Some plans didn’t work out. This is because certain goals just don't work in our area and other ideas are very difficult to organise while living in the village. For the children's schoolwork and social contact, it would also be much easier to live in a bigger place.

First of all, we thought about various cities near our village. Of course, that would be best for work. But moving to a city (like the coastal city Manakara) would only increase the isolation for our children. There are no like-minded peers there, and they will not have the opportunity to go out into the forests or mountains (as there are none). They would be forced to stay in and around the house because there is just nothing to do in the streets. There is also more criminality, which means that it would be unsafe for them (as white children) to go out on their own.

Tana

We are now in the capital, and we see that the children are flourishing. They enjoy hanging out with friends, going to church and youth group. Their schoolwork has improved considerably. After 5 years, they have the opportunity (for the first time) to relax in their relationships with friends. For example, they do not have to rush an appointment because we are leaving again within two weeks.

I (Jurgen) went with the children one by one for an ice cream, That gave me the opportunity to hear their stories and opinions. They do miss Maroamboka! At the same time they all said that they were happy to be in Tana now.

Our hearts go out to the Antanala. At first, we were sad that we could not be with our neighbours and friends. But God is good, and He comforts us.

Together with the children, friends and leadership of Africa Inland Mission (AIM), we have come to the conclusion that we will continue our ministry from the capital. We feel that the Lord God has led us here, and from here we will develop new plans to reach the un-reached Antanala people with the good news.

While living in the village, we helped many people with health problems. We want to continue doing this but in a different way. Tanja Hock, who is a German midwife, set up a hospital here in Tana. She has offered to train someone from our area to be a health worker. We looked critically at who could qualify for that. We ended up with Sambivelo. A young boy who is very eager to learn and not entirely unfamiliar with the big city. He was enthusiastic, but wanted to finish his last school year first. The plan is to pick him up in July, so he can be trained here in Tana. The idea is that he will return to Maroamboka after his training, and stay there for at least two years. In those two years, he can help people with simple complaints and advice on health issues.

Now that we are in Tana, we also see opportunities to support the leadership of AIM-Madagascar. Several (leading) colleagues will stop this year. This means that there will be vacancy. We have indicated that we are available to help out if necessary.

Our first year in Madagascar, we also lived in Tana. At that time, we were actively helping other missionaries who, for whatever reason, had to be in the capital. That gave us great pleasure then, and we hope to play a role in that again.

Comprehensive Report

All right, I think it is best to leave it at this. The newsletter does not lend itself to extensive reporting of all developments. If you want to know more, you can read a report I have written a few weeks ago. That detailed report, together with the mission plan we wrote in 2020, can be downloaded via this link:

Report 2022

This report is no secret, but it is personal. We would therefore ask you to treat it with discretion. If you are unable to download it now, please let us know.

Thank You!

We hope that after reading this letter you, like us, are also looking forward to what the future will bring. We can make plans, but one thing we know for sure: “whatever the Lord has planned, will come to pass.” (Proverbs 19:21)

We feel privileged to have so much support in our work. Thank you for your prayers, compassion, support, and encouragements!

Together with you, we want to continue to trust in the Lord! For God is good, all the time! And all the time, God is good!

Many blessings

Katja & Jurgen
Vanya, Issa, Abbey, Dani and Simeon Hofmann.

Thank you so much for your interest in our ministry to the Antanala people on Madagascar. We greatly appreciate the love and support of the wonderful people that God has put around us. This ministry is much greater than our family, and we cannot do it alone.
You have either signed up to receive this newsletter or you have been an important part of our lives and we thought you would like to know about our journey. If at any point you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please unsubscribe