Spiritual Healing

“And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:” Matthew 15:30

             We are soon coming up on 24 years in His service in Kenya and Madagascar. We have experienced many different hardships and seen the Kenyan and Malagasy people face hardships numerous times. Some of these hardships over the years were self inflicted hardships.

            Kenya and Madagascar are not known in the international community as being stable democratic nations. In Kenya there is always tribal fighting, and almost every political election causes an eruption of hard feelings and fighting that kills many of the Kenyan people. Right now in Madagascar many Malagasy people have died needlessly because those who claim to be “Christians” cannot follow the lead of the Master and turn the other cheek or forgive some perceived fault in another person.

            Then there are the times that hardships happened that were not self inflicted. We have seen numerous famines in both Kenya and Madagascar. Flooding, cyclones, earthquakes, and other natural disasters continue to plague both of these nations. Then there are the thousands upon thousands that have died due to AIDS that they contracted due to no cause of their own.

            One would think that by now we would have a handle on life and the everyday things that pass our way. One would think that after a while we would become unfazed, calloused, or immune to the sickness and death that is so close to us every day. One would think that we should have a ready answer for every dilemma that confronts us. However, this is not the case.

            Just yesterday three things happened that brought me up short. I was at the parking lot of the hospital where we take Andry for his dialysis treatments three times a week. I had just finished talking to Solofo about some needed answers from the doctor concerning compatibility testing for kidney transplant donors. I returned to my vehicle to leave and go to the government offices that are close to the hospital in the center of town. As soon as I shut the door of the vehicle and was in the process of making a phone call an individual came up to the vehicle. I recognized this person right away, even though I did not know his name. He was a family member of one of the kidney dialysis patients that also receives dialysis three times a week just like Andry. That is why I recognized the person. Our paths have crossed many times in the last two and one half months. I pushed the necessary button to lower my window and this man started to talk to me.

            Knowing who he was connected to, and what he was going through financially and emotionally made my heart immediately go out to this person. We have struggled daily (with lack of availability of items) to make sure there is enough medicine and supplies to make it possible for Andry to have his dialysis treatments three times a week. We are blessed that we have enough funds for more than a year of dialysis treatments. I immediately felt blessed that we can provide for Andry, and I immediately felt ashamed that I knew why this person had followed me to my vehicle, what he was about to ask for, and that there was nothing physically that I could do to help him or his family member that is on dialysis.

            He stated that they are not able to keep up the treatments as scheduled by the doctor. Many times they can only afford one treatment weekly instead of the three that are required. It was then that he asked me if I knew of where he might find work as a driver. This request hit me hard. The amount of money this person would earn in a month of driving for an individual is only about 1/67th of the money needed monthly to take care of the dialysis expenses. He was only one person. Where were the other 66 people that would need to work (not taking any money monthly for themselves) in order to earn the necessary money to continue the dialysis treatments? Then I remembered that for many people this is a no win situation. If you do not have the funds necessary your family member dies. We personally know of four people in Madagascar that died never having started dialysis treatments due to the extremely high costs.

            I left the hospital and drove to a government office. I was sitting in the car in a section of town where many of the government offices are located. I had just finished what I needed to do, and was waiting for Dinand to finish in another government office. I had not been sitting there long before a man and a woman approached the drivers side of my vehicle. I vaguely recognized them, although I could not recall from where. They, however, knew me well, calling me by name. They were seeking funds for a family member that was a patient at a hospital in Madagascar that “specializes” in treating patients with tuberculosis. They were asking for money for food that the patient would require for the next couple of weeks. I decided to help them with the equivalent of about $7.00. They left the vehicle only to return after a couple of minutes. They said that they just received a call from the hospital and their family member had died.

            Dinand returned to the vehicle. As planned, we headed out to the Betikara land. Dinand still needed to get some signatures to finish up the paperwork for the Betikara land. Then we were scheduled to attend a funeral that we were notified of the day before. I arrived at the funeral before Dinand, and waited for the funeral procession to arrive at the family tomb. During the time I talked with the sister of the deceased and found out the 66 year old man was a government employee that worked for the Ministry of Population. He had died from a stomach illness that is easily treated in the United States, but in Madagascar was beyond their medical experience.

            In just a few short hours I came in contact with three different illnesses: kidney failure, tuberculosis, and a stomach sickness. I felt overwhelmed. I was not prepared for what I experienced even after almost 24 years of living in this setting. What could I do? Not much physically. But then it is not the physical things that really matter in this life. It was the many sicknesses that brought people to Christ and allowed Him the chance to speak for the Father. Sickness is what gave Christ a chance to show the Father to the masses. I pray that as I continue to live in Madagascar, that I can show people spiritual healing that will give them an eternal hope that will overshadow their physical despair. Life is always overwhelming when we stand alone. With Christ all things are possible. Philippians 4:13

Did You Know . . .

 . . . that since the overthrow of the president of Madagascar the quality of consumable products in Madagascar has decreased greatly. Some of this is due to the fact that the businesses of the president are not being allowed to operate properly. However, we are seeing a decrease in quality in a lot of other companies that are not owned by the president. We often buy milk products and bring them home to find that they are either already sour or quickly turn sour after being purchased. We are finding that “Best Before” dates on packages can no longer be trusted.

Miniature Missionaries

This and That

E-mail Addresses

            We are now using three different e-mail addresses each. Stacy and I started out with Freenet.mg addresses and due to going to the states from time to time and needing to send e-mail from the states we both opened Yahoo.com accounts. However, we are finding that Yahoo is having trouble with attachments. I spent some time with a Yahoo technician using chat to find out that this is an ongoing Yahoo problem. So we have now opened up new accounts with Gmail. Here are our new addresses:

barryjrosie@gmail.com

stacyarosie@gmail.com

            For the time being, you can continue to use whatever address you want out of our three different accounts (Freenet, Yahoo, Gmail). I set up Gmail to access all of our mail and bring it into Gmail. So whatever address you decide to use we will still receive your messages. If you want to use our current default e-mail addresses please set our e-mail addresses to the Gmail addresses that I have provided above. So far Gmail seems to be doing a lot better job of sending and receiving attachments. Also, we were finding that our messages were being received by people two weeks late sometimes. So far, Gmail seems to be instant delivery.

Ambohimarina Congregation

            The Ambohimarina congregation continues to meet for worship. We are not growing during this political crisis, but we are seeing a stable attendance. The Christians that come to worship seem happy enough considering what this country is going through.

I am encouraged by some of the things that I am seeing. A while back new songbooks were ordered for the congregation. At the time the congregation did not have any money to pay for these books, so I paid for them. Two Sundays ago I was handed the last installment for the cost of the songbooks. It made me feel good to see the congregation take on the responsibility of paying for the books and then seeing them be able to complete the task.

            We are presently studying about Christ and his life. I am trying to show the congregation that while Christ is Gods’ son, that He was also a man that lived a human life just like the lives we are presently living. Christ suffered like men suffer, was tempted like men are tempted, and died like men die. Many people have heard of Christ, but they really do not know or understand Him on a personal level. I am trying to help the Christians at Ambohimarina know the Savior through His teachings so that they can understand Him better and hopefully have a closer relationship with Him.

            Right now we are looking at verses in the bible that talk about some of the things that Christ did while he was with us in the flesh. I told them that Christ walked, talked, ate, and slept just like us. It was during these times that He often struck up conversations with people and told them that they needed to change their lives. I am trying to express to them that while Christ was limited by a human body He was still able to accomplish a lot of things during His short life on earth. Christ did not allow His physical limitations to get Him down or keep Him from focusing on His spiritual mission. What an example for all of us!!!

What can you do?

You can pray!

We welcome you to join us in this work for Him . . .

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