Fifa & Jessica Rakotovao Newsletter (Winter 2024)

Dear Family and Friends,

We greet you in the precious Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We want to thank you for all of your continued love, prayers and support! God is doing wonders here in Madagascar and we are excited to share about the work of the Lord with you! 

First, our little family has been doing well. Fifa plays soccer with the staff and students, which he enjoys tremendously. He uses a little time afterwards to encourage and advise them on multiple topics. He has been struggling a little bit with some pelvic pain. We also celebrated our 4-year anniversary. Phoebe has been doing very well. She has grown so much and is looking more grown up. She enjoys helping in the kitchen and playing with her toys. We bought her a tiny kitchen set so that she can cook even when I’m not. She is also doing well in school. It makes us so happy to hear her speaking English more now at home. Juline is doing okay. She’s been struggling a lot lately in school, as well as other areas of her life. We are praying fervently for her to grow in her relationship with God, where He starts leading her and not her flesh. As she is only 13 years old, this time is critical for her life and faith. I am doing well. The baby and I are both healthy. March is right around the corner. We have chosen a name, but we’ll wait to reveal her name until she’s born. 

We hope that you all had a wonderful time with friends and family on Christmas and New Years! We were so happy to be able to spend time with Fifa’s sisters’ family during that time. 

Secondly, the ministry has been running smoothly. These past few months we’ve been focused on watering, weeding, and planting God’s Word into the hearts and lives of the staff and students. We are thankful for the opportunity to assist the coordinators as we are learning and growing in our walk with God as well. We believe that God has us here to aid and help them in every way we can. Please pray for clear communication, Spirit-led decisions and love for one another to bind us together to be a strong leadership for Jesus Christ and this ministry. Fifa recently went to Vangaindrano to hold a debrief with the staff there and I stayed in Mahajanga with Phoebe. We both felt that the time apart made our hearts grow fonder.

We want you all to know that we are praying for you and would absolutely love to talk or facetime whenever you have time to! May God continue to bless you by working in and through you!

A testimony from one of our first year Bible school students named Mino:

I give this testimony for the glory of God. The Devil drew me into hopelessness and deep depression to the point where I wanted to kill myself. I was so lonely and I felt no joy, but tears and sadness filled my days. I never saw either mercy nor forgiveness. These put me in a state of jealousy. I stopped telling the truth to my peers, I lied all the time.

I went to Boot Camp, and I was taught lots of things. But in one particular class, I was taught about my true identity. Thus, I was convinced that all my conceptions about myself were wrong and that Satan was just playing around with me. He did nothing but lie to me. Although God allowed all these inner tragedies to come, He wanted me to look at Him and come into His arms. He loved me so much with an everlasting love. Jesus worked in such a way in my heart and mind that I no longer want to commit suicide. I am not alone because He will never leave me nor forsake me. I am totally free, the moment I received Jesus. I have been delivered from my evil thoughts and Jesus replaced these with joy.

I made up my mind to follow Jesus and become His servant. Maybe there are dozens or so of young people that have the same situation as I had before. I want to help them to meet Jesus. That’s one of the reasons why I have chosen to do the BMW training and to become a missionary after. All the honor and glory go to God alone.

Fifa, Jessica and Phoebe