First Impressions

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

                                                                        1 Timothy 2:1-3

            Upon returning to Madagascar on Wednesday, January 9, 2008, I was met at the airport by two Christian men (Tina and Robert) from the Ambohimarina congregation. Both of the men were happy to see me and help me out to the taxi with all of my luggage. I was happy to see the men, however, after not sleeping properly for two plus days before my arrive at the Ivato airport I am afraid that I was not very good company. I remember asking both of them how things were going. Of course both of them said everything was going well with them and the congregation at Ambohimarina. You see, the Malagasy people will never tell you how things are going up front in a casual conversation. When you ask them if there is any news about things in their lives they will always quickly answer that there is no news. This can happen even if there was a major sickness or death in their family. In order to find out the real news and events in a Malagasy persons life you have to sit down with them and spend time together in conversation. Even then you may not find out everything. This can be difficult, especially when you are trying to guide them in their Christian walk. Sometimes you only guess at what needs to be done, often times finding yourself being expected to do something without actually knowing exactly what you are supposed to be doing.

            Once I finally arrived home and got settled in, it did not take me long to start catching up on the news of the local congregation and Betikara Orphanage. For the most part the congregation is about the same. There were over 100 in attendance on January 13th for the Sunday morning worship service. As usual, the women far outnumbered the men that were in attendance. Some of the men that were regular in attendance before I went to the United States did not even “darken the door of the building” as the expression goes during my prolonged absence.

            I expected this to happen and wrote even before my departure from Madagascar back in May and June about the need to pray for the spiritual strength of the congregation at Ambohimarina while I was reporting to the stateside congregations that support the Betikara Orphanage and His Work in Madagascar. The responsibility of the three men that could preach and teach for the congregation in my absence quickly fell onto the shoulders of one Christian man by the name of Rasolofo. Before I left Madagascar in July there would always be someone that could preach or teach so that Rasolofo would not be required to do both each Sunday. Upon my leaving that quickly changed. Many of the “faithful” men did not come on a regular basis. Rasolofo began to carry the whole load of teaching and preaching each Sunday.

Rasolofo and Helen

            Some of you may remember that Rasolofo was baptized on March 20, 2005. (Rasolofo’s wife Helen was baptized January 20, 2004.) Since his baptism Rasolofo has shown his dedication to the Lord in many different ways. Rasolofo has written several songs, likes to teach singing to the youth and the adult members of the congregation, preaches, and understands the need to visit the Christians in the congregation in order to strengthen their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord willing we will be able to nurture this type of servant attitude in the other men of the congregation.

            What lies ahead for the Ambohimarina Congregation? First, there is a need for constant prayer. We ask that you join with us in prayer for each and every member of the congregation. Pray for those who are weak so that they can be strengthened and return to Him. Pray for those who are strong so that they can be good examples to others about the faith and dedication that we need to nurture every day.

            Second, there is a need for house to house visitations among the Christians of the congregation. Please pray for us as we start to reach out on a personal basis to those who do not see the need to serve our Master every day. Pray that we can encourage them to be faithful to Him.

            Third, there is a need to further teach and nurture a better understanding on the part of the members of the Ambohimarina congregation. They need to realize that their faith is a personal faith that they are responsible to maintain that faith on a daily basis. They need to realize that they are accountable to God on the last day for those things they have done or not done in His Kingdom.

            Pray that the Malagasy Christians will all understand the need to pass on the things we have learned and come to accept about our faith in Him to other people, so that they might also teach others about the faith that we all share through the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.