Southwestern team shares the Gospel in Madagascar

A team of students from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and Texas Baptist College (TBC) recently took the Gospel to Madagascar to change lives and were changed by the experience themselves.

Dean Sieberhagen, dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, led a group of students to Madagascar June 25-July 6 to work with Southwestern graduate Nirintsoa Mamitiana (’18, ’22), founder of Fort Dauphin Baptist Theological Seminary. The Southwestern team trained church leaders in preaching and biblical counseling and hosted a Vacation Bible School for more than 170 children.

“The summer trip to Madagascar was a wonderful example of Global Engagement at SWBTS where the team was able to represent SWBTS in an ends of the Earth ministry,” Sieberhagen said.

Kristen Priddy, who is pursuing a Certificate in Professional Missions at Southwestern, said the team heard stories from a missionary who has served there for many years and learned some of the history of International Mission Board (IMB) efforts in the region.

“I was struck by how much has been accomplished in the last couple of decades,” Priddy said. “They have gone from unengaged to having multiple successful and healthy church plants in the region we were in. As a result, we have several Malagasy students at [Southwestern] who are preparing to continue the work.”

Mackenzie Barrett, a Bachelor of Intercultural Studies student at TBC, said the Malagasy people were interested in talking to her because she was a foreigner, “so that opened the door for Gospel conversations.” She added that people were hungry for the Word.

“They asked more questions after my Gospel presentation than anyone else ever has,” Barrett said. When they shared the Gospel with a local merchant, she added, “multiple people rededicated their lives to the Lord. At [another location], a large group said they wanted to receive Jesus as their Savior and we prayed together. Praise God for the changed lives and pray that the seeds may be watered and grow!”

Barrett said she was struck by the need for Bibles in the region.

“Bibles are expensive there, and many people can’t afford them,” she said. “Talking to people that just want to read the Bible but can’t was heartbreaking and makes me cherish my Bibles so much more.”

Cody Hall, a Bachelor of Christian Studies student at TBC, also was struck by the people’s hunger to learn and to apply what they learned, noting that, “By the grace of God, the Christians are strong and ready to serve.”

Hall also noted the poverty in the area but said it didn’t seem to have an impact on the faith and hope of the Christians he met.

“The Christians that I had conversations with, though they were in poverty, they had hope in the Gospel,” he said. “They were so encouraging and joyful, no matter what their circumstances. They don’t find their hope in their circumstances; rather, they find their hope in Jesus.”

Hall recalled a time when he and Rickesh Patel, a PhD in Preaching student at Southwestern, saw Mamitiana on a beach talking with a group of surfers.

“Mamitiana has a church member who has already been planting seeds of the Gospel into this surfing club,” he said, adding that, when prompted by the Holy Spirit, he asked Patel to go with him to talk to them.

“After about three minutes of meeting, I decided to ask questions about who do they think God is and if they’d heard of Jesus,” he said. “They asked some really hard questions and I’m thankful for my training at TBC [that] has helped me to be better equipped to deal with such questions and leading all things back to Jesus and Scripture.”

Hall said he and Patel asked the group if they wanted to come to the church, and they agreed. “They ended up having to work and not make it, but praise God seeds were planted,” Hall said.

Hall said the trip reminded him that,  “though we want to be on the field, the Lord has us in the season of learning at the seminary, which will benefit later on.”

For Priddy, the trip “just reinforced my love for being on the ground in the African region, serving the people and the church in any capacity. I also have a deeper understanding of the importance of a holistic, long-term missions strategy that includes not only evangelism, but planting healthy churches, discipleship, and training leaders to handle God’s Word rightly and serve their communities well, always with the view of exiting and leaving healthy, vibrant churches in the hands of the nationals.”

Barrett said she gained a new family and a new home.

“I already knew my calling was missions, but now I am just so much more sure that this is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing: Telling people across the world about Jesus. Leaving is hard, but I trust God and continue to share the Gospel wherever He takes me, even on the plane rides home.”