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His Work Go ... and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19 |
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Volume
22, Number 5 |
May 2008 |
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The Barry Rosie family
have worked on the mission field in Africa for more than 23 years under the
oversight of the: |
Fraley’s Chapel |
Elders Mike Whitehurst -
662-287-7631 |
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Needed
Prayers James
3:1
(CEV)
“My
friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will
be judged more strictly than others.”
Maybe your can remember reading about Rivo in our past newsletters. We featured an article concerning Rivo and his appendicitis operation that was carried out without anesthetic. Rivo is in many of the pictures of the Betikara building project as we worked side by side to complete Phase I and Phase II of that ongoing project. You may have noticed that in most of the pictures of people that were baptized over the years Rivo was present and involved in the baptizing of many of the Ambohimarina Christians. Rivo baptized his father, mother, sisters, bothers in law, grandmother and his wife Fano among many other Christians that worship with us each week.. Over the years many good things have come about for the furtherance of His kingdom due to the personality and teaching ability of Rivo.
We were not present for Rivo’s baptism, having arrived in Madagascar in
April of 1997. Rivo was baptized by Romain Rakotomalala the previous year
(1996). We were, however, present for Rivo and Fano’s wedding on June 28,
2003, which took place in our front yard while I preformed the ceremony.
Rivo and I spent many hours talking together and travelling together. We
visited Christians in their homes. We attended many weddings and funerals
together. We studied together concerning God’s plan for marriage, and Rivo
and Fano were a part of the weekly teaching that was held at Ambohimarina
for over two years concerning marriage and the family. Needless to say, if
I had a right hand man in the work of the Lord in Madagascar it would have
to be Rivo. Looking back over the years, I would have
to say that I spent more time with Rivo than any other Malagasy Christian.
For a time it looked like fruits that were being produced in the
Ambohimarina area were going to continue increasing, and that the
congregation at Ambohimarina was on its way to being a bright shining
light in this world of darkness and sin. At one time we had 4 men that
were willing to preach and 3 men willing to teach the adult bible study
group each Sunday. The orphanage was continuing to grow and new children
were being added every summer.
All was going well, until about January of 2006. At that time the Betikara
Lambs were already moved into their new home (August 2004) and the
building project for Phase two was well on its way to completion. Some
changes were being made due to the increased number of Betikara Lambs that
we were caring for at the time. Rivo was put in charge of all of the
workers involved with the children and Tina (another male worker) was put
in charge of the completion of Phase II of the Betikara project. At that
time Rivo started acting different and became more reserved and drawn
within himself than I had ever seen him in the 11 years that we have known
each other. It seemed that no one could do anything right and Rivo would
wind up “missing” for days at a time even though he was supposed to be
overseeing the daily care of the Betikara boys. It was reported to me that
Rivo was found drinking, and upon asking Rivo he verified those reports.
Things were going from good to bad to worse very
quick.
When the W.W.Y.C. volunteers came to Madagascar in July of 2006 Rivo would
hardly speak to anyone or have anything to do with the bible teaching in
which we were all involved. We had a husband and wife team come from
Tanzania to teach a marriage course in April of 2007, and even though Rivo
and Fano attended most of the classes it was easy to see that Rivo was not
himself. I continued to try and encourage Rivo. We often talked and
prayed, but Rivo was on a different journey at the time. A journey that is
still progressing to this day and continues to get worse as time passes.
Rivo chose to leave the congregation at Ambohimarina as well as his work
with the Betikara Orphanage in June of 2007 just before I left Madagascar
to visit the states and report on the progress of the Lord’s
work.
I tried to encourage Rivo to hang in there and to wait until I returned
from the states in January of 2008 before he made a final decision.
However, Rivo did not listen and we had to hire Solofo and his wife Tina
to take Rivo and Fano’s position as Betikara caregivers. Since Rivo left
Betikara I have only heard bad things concerning Rivo. Many times he has
talked to the Betikara Lambs, and continues to keep things in an unsettled
state at Betikara. Right now Rivo is not even living with Fano and his son
Diary. Fano and Diary and staying with some of Fano’s family in
Ambohimarina close to Betikara, and Fano is working at one of the clothing
factories in the Antananarivo area trying to support herself and Diary.
Rivo comes around just enough to tell Fano what she can and cannot do, but
is unwilling to be together with his family. Just the other day Fano
showed up at the Betikara Orphanage. She came because two of her sisters
work for Betikara and Fano wanted to talk to them about her problems.
Fano broke down and cried to her sisters concerning the way Rivo is
treating her these days.
Because Rivo was instrumental in teaching and baptizing a majority of the
Christians at Betikara, his recent lifestyle and actions are causing an
uneasy feeling to come over the congregation of God that worships at
Ambohimarina. Rivo is telling Christians he baptized that they can no
longer worship at Ambohimarina, and he is telling extended families of
some of the Betikara Lambs that their children can no longer be a part of
the Betikara Orphanage. Rivo says that since he signed the children into
Betikara and he is no longer working there that the children have to
leave.
Since Rivo was instrumental in the baptisms of so many of the Ambohimarina
Christians his leaving the church and family are causing many of the
Ambohimarina members to question the validity of their baptisms. Needless
to say, we are spending a lot of time trying to assure the Christian
community at Ambohimarina that their commitment is to God and as long as
they stay faithful to God they are counted among His children. There are,
however, some that believe their faith is lost because Rivo for all
intensive purposes has left the Lord. Rivo was a good teacher and preacher for many years. It is our prayer that he can see the error of his ways and come back to Christ. We know that, “teachers will be judged more strictly than others.” James 3:1. Please join us in prayer for Rivo, Fano, Diary, and Rivo’s extended family. Right now Rivo’s family is divided. Only Rivo’s mother, one of Rivo’s sisters and her husband are worshiping at Ambohimarina. Rivo’s father (Daniel) no longer meets with us. He used to do such a good job of preaching. Pray that Rivo can be the leader in his family that God wants him to be, and that he can return and take an active role in raising his son to know and follow Christ. Pray for those who feel that their salvation is dependent on Rivo’s faith or lack of faith. Pray that the church at Ambohimarina can be strengthened because of what seems right now to be an insurmountable obstacle in the spiritual life of the congregation at Ambohimarina. |
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Did You Know. . . . . . that a husband and wife were baptized into Christ on May 11, 2008? Solofo and Tina came to Betikara in May of 2007 to serve as house parents. During the last year they have studied bible weekly with myself and another married couple at Betikara as well as attend worship. Please pray for them as they continue to grow in the Savior and become an active part of the Ambohimarina congregation. |
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this and that
Rasolofo
On March 20, 2005, Rasolofo was baptized into His Kingdom. Almost
from the beginning he wanted to teach and preach. Rasolofo handled most of
the teaching and preaching at the Ambohimarina congregation during the
time that I was in the states reporting to congregations and friends. In
just two short years Rasolofo served well at the Ambohimarina congregation
and in the surrounding community. Recently Rasolofo became sick and his body
started to retain water. The owner of the land where Rasolofo and Helen
were living told them they had to move. It was reported that the owner did
not want Rasolofo dying on his land making him responsible for taking care
of the body. So, about two weeks ago Rasolofo and Helen moved to live with
some of their children. On May 13, 2008 Rasolofo left this earthly life
and entered a better home in Heaven. He was 72 years old at the time of
his death. Please pray for his family and his wife Helen during this time
of transition in their lives. Container
update A 40 foot container that is filled with
medical supplies, clothing, furniture, bicycles and various other items is
now on its way from Spain. The container changed ships in Spain and is due
to arrive at the port in Tamatave on June 10, 2008. Please pray for the
safe arrival of this container and for us being able to quickly retrieve
the container from the port authority. Medical
Mission Three people are due to arrive in
Madagascar on the night of June 27, 2007. These three people, Lord
willing, will be able to sort through the container and make some
preliminary plans for the use of the goods that they shipped from the
states back in March of this year. Then on July 2, 2008 five more people
are to arrive and start getting things ready for the upcoming medical
clinic that will be held in two different locations. The first location
will be at the Betikara Orphanage and the second location with be
somewhere in the capital city of Antananarivo. If the container does not arrive in a timely manner, or if the container is held up due to paperwork at the port we do have a plan B. Children from the community of Betikara will once again be invited to come and participate in daily bible teaching and activities. The last time we announced bible teaching in the Ambohimarina area was back in July of 2006. At that time we had an average attendance of 450 students per day. Please pray for the arrival of the container and our other plans if need be.
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Miniature Missionaries
The end
of the school year already passed for Kit. Kit presently has an
accumulated grade point average of 2.81. He is now taking summer classes
so that he will not have to be enrolled at Faulkner longer than four years
in order to complete his degree in Criminal Justice. Havilah, on the other hand still has about 16 days left before her school year will be finished. Havilah will then be moving on to the 10th grade. Graduation at the American School of Antananarivo will be on June 7, 2008. Havilah continues to do well at the school making all A’s and B’s. Just the other day she came home with a paper from her Geometry class that showed 100% an a test. This is good news for Havilah, since Geometry is really not one of her favorite subjects. She usually gets 9/10 or 8/10 on homework or class work assignments and then gets 60’s or 70’s on her major tests. We of course told her that we were pleased with her accomplishment and that we knew she could do it if she just tried. Havilah said she was the first in the room and the last to leave after checking and rechecking her test paper several times. Please pray for her to be dedicated to her studies at the American School. Pray that she can also be a good Christian influence on the students that she comes in contact with every day. |
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What can you do? ¨Pray
for Rivo, Fano, and Diary. Pray that they can be united in marriage and in
Christ. Pray that Rivo can see the need to actively support his
family. ¨Pray
for Rivo’s extended family as they are no longer united in Christ due to
the things that have come to pass in their lives. Pray especially for
Rivo’s father and mother who are no longer united in worship to our
heavenly father because of this family problem. ¨Pray
for us so that we will have the words of wisdom that we need at this time
to teach the Ambohimarina congregation that their faith is in God and not
in the works of man. ¨Pray for the Ambohimarina congregation as they struggle together and grow in Him. |
We welcome you to join us in this work for Him . . .
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Barry,
Stacy, Kit and Havilah Rosie Tel. 011-261-32-02-081-14 |