Among the Malagasy People of Madagascar
Go ... and make disciples of all nations
Matthew 28:19
November 2009
| His Work Among the Malagasy People of Madagascar Go ... and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19
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| Volume 23, Number
11 |
November 2009 |
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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 |
Bowing Down to Christ
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
[things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; And
[that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11 (KJV)
These past couple of months were spent on teaching and preaching about the
different characteristics of Christ. We talked about Christ’s relationship with
the people that He came in contact with every day. There were many examples
including Zacchaeus the tax collector, the rich young ruler, the Samaritan woman
at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the woman who anointed Jesus feet
with oil in preparation for His death, and the woman with the issue of blood to
name a few of the relationships.
In the lives of the people that Christ happened upon daily we see that as He interacted with these people. Christ found that there was always some change that needed to take place in their lives. In one instance, “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.” Matthew 19:21 (KJV) And in another place we read, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore [him] fourfold.” Luke 19:8 (KJV)
These days at the Ambohimarina congregation, we are talking about
Christ’s relationship with us. We
are starting to see how Christ can influence and change OUR lives. We are
seeing how we have to change and let Christ rule in our lives, just like He was
able to change the lives of people in the past and then rule in their lives. We
are seeing that this required change of life often times does not come easily or
without a price. In one of our recent discussions about the necessity to change
a Christian man at the Ambohimarina congregation commented, “That is very
difficult”. Granted, it is a steep uphill battle for Christ to work and live
within us and for us to change our lives. However, change is demanded if we are
to have a relationship with Christ and our heavenly
Father.
The Malagasy culture and the “chain of command” that is adhered to in the
Malagasy family setting makes it impossible for the Malagasy people to follow
Christ. They are so wrapped up in the ancestors and the need to honor the
ancestors that the Malagasy people often serve the ancestors as their god
instead of serving the creator God. Everything is done to and for the ancestors.
This is often why the Malagasy people are so poor. All of their time, money, and
energy is spent on the family and adhering to the family code of ethics or
honor. The only way for the Malagasy people to get out of this “chain of
command” is to make a total break from family customs and set out on their own.
However, very few Malagasy people are willing to step out on their own. They
fear reprisal from the family, and they fear not being able to be buried in the
family tomb of their ancestors.
The Malagasy sense of duty to the family organization and to the ancestors is
very strong. The Malagasy people show this sense of duty in many different ways.
For instance, the Malagasy people often live in sub standard living conditions
and rundown dwellings. The Malagasy people will live in a dirt walled house with
a grass roof in the countryside of Madagascar. However, the family tomb has to
be very ornate and sturdy. That is why the Malagasy people will spend thousands
of dollars building a stone tomb for the burying of their ancestors, but they
would never dream of building a stone house for
themselves.
The Malagasy people willingly “bow down” to their families demands and the
perceived needs of the ancestors. There is quite an elaborate ritual that is
adhered to for the burial process that involves wrapping the deceased in
expensive silk cloth and binding the silk cloth with seven cords in the proper
places before that body of the ancestor can be placed in the family
tomb.
We constantly teach and admonish the Malagasy people and the Malagasy Christians
to break off from their traditional ways. We teach them that Christ is to be the
center of their lives and that the only worship that they can give is the
worship that is to our Father in heaven. We continue teaching them that to bow
down to anyone or anything else is not God’s way, rather it is man’s way that
has erred from the biblical way of serving God and having no other gods before
Him. God said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that
love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6 (KJV)
The Malagasy people are really dedicated to their families and their ancestors.
If we can redirect that dedication to God and His church, then we will have a
strong and viable body of Christ in Madagascar. Please pray with us that the
Malagasy people can learn to depend on Him and to give their lives totally to
Him. If the Malagasy people can bow down to God, and only God, with the same
dedication that they have for their ancestors then His church will grow
immensely in Madagascar.
Did You Know . . .
. . . that the political situation in Madagascar is unchanged. Even
though life in general is stable, and we are able to move around the country
unhindered, we are finding that the ongoing political indecision of the country
and government is weighing heavily on the Malagasy people. There is not a day
that goes by that we do not hear about the political stalemate that is prevalent
in Madagascar. Many of the Malagasy people are getting restless due to the
increased cost of food and other items in the country due to the devaluation of
the Malagasy Ariary. Even though the U.S. Dollar continues to weaken worldwide
we are finding that the number of Malagasy Ariary that we receive for each U.S.
Dollar in Madagascar is actually climbing. Before the Malagasy political crisis
we were receiving about 1,600 Ariary to the Dollar. Now we are receiving over
2,000 Ariary to the Dollar. This is good for us as Americans, but it is really
putting a strain on the Malagasy people.
Miniature Missionaries
Havilah and the Betikara teenagers are in the early stages of
preparing for the Christmas season. They are planning some skits and songs that
they will perform for our annual Christmas gathering with the Ambohimarina
congregation. It is still too early to know just what they are going to do.
There are ongoing discussions at present. Once they have decided on what they
will be doing Havilah and the teenagers will be spending weekends and the
Christmas break rehearsing for the upcoming Christmas
gathering.
Kit wrote a short e-mail just the other day. Faulkner will be having early
enrollment for the Spring 2010 semester in November. Kit sent on the financial
expenses for the Fall 2009 semester in his message since this needed to be taken
care of before Kit can enroll for his Spring 2010 classes. The Fall 2009
semester tuition and room and board was not paid yet due to getting our taxes
filed later this year and waiting to see about the status of the Faulkner
University Missionary Child Award (80% reduction in tuition and room and board
costs) and the Pell Grant. I am sure that all of you that have kids in
university understand about multitude of forms that need to be filled out each
school year. Due to receiving the Pell Grant, the Faulkner Missionary Child
Award, and a very generous donation from a Christian couple we were blessed to
find out that Kit’s Fall 2009 semester at Faulkner University was totally
covered. We thank God for all of the help we continue to receive towards Kit’s
university education.
Kit did not write much, but at least we know that he is still well, and still
studying. He has not found a job to date and is a little discouraged. Please
pray that he can stay focused and continue his studies in Criminal
Justice.
This and That
Betikara Christmas
Since the Betikara newsletter for this month is overflowing with pictures
let me use this space to talk about the upcoming Christmas season. Many of you
may be wondering what to do, or if packages can be sent to Madagascar. Presently
the postal system is working. We are receiving a few packages from the states.
However, there does not seem to be any clear system in place for paying customs
duty on the packages that arrive in Madagascar.
For instance, just the other day I went to the post office. Upon checking the
mail I found that there were two papers in my mailbox informing me of the
arrival of two items at another post office in town. I drove to the other post
office to find that one item was a fairly large box (about 10 inches by 12
inches by 18 inches). For this box of toys I did not have to pay any customs
duty. However, the other item was not a package, rather there was a normal sized
envelope with a musical greeting card inside for the upcoming birthday of one of
the Betikara Lambs. In order to receive this greeting card I had to pay $1.50 in
customs duty. I was not happy about this turn of events. In reality the card
should have come to my mailbox and I should not have been required to go clear
across town to pick it up and pay duty for this greeting
card.
If you want to send something small to your Betikara Lamb, then go ahead and do
so. We will try our best to get them through the customs department of the post
office with as little duty as possible. We can always say that the items are for
orphans for Christmas and since Madagascar is having this present political
crisis the orphans need some things from their sponsors to help brighten their
day. Who knows, maybe it will work. :-)
Three Church Fellowship
The three church fellowship is now history. However, the three church fellowship
turned out to be a two church fellowship. One congregation was not able to
attend. We did have bible classes and worship together. It was rather nice for
me, since men from the other congregation were responsible for the teaching of
the adult class and the preaching. :-)
After worship was over we settled into the task at hand. Devouring all of the
food that was in sight. All of us ate until we were full and then we had some
time to fellowship with each other. We even were able to get a couple of much
needed meetings out of the way.
As the men met together we were able to discuss several items. One of those
items was the ongoing need for Andry’s medical care due to his dialysis that is
a three day a week event. We discussed several possibilities for further medical
care and it was decided that the best thing to do right now is to continue
trying to get duty free status from the Malagasy government so that medical
items can be shipped into Madagascar for Andry’s health
care.
We are not only trying to get this for the benefit of Andry, but we are also
trying to get this duty free status so that other items can be shipped into the
country to help His church, the Betikara School and the Betikara medical clinic
that we pray will be opened sometime in the future. Please pray that the
paperwork will be approved and that we can have duty free status.
|
EXPENDITURES OCTOBER | |
| Diesel |
$ 277.65 |
| Vehicle maintenance |
23.53 |
| Rent and Utilities |
911.41 |
| Office |
312.45 |
| Travel |
0.00 |
| Misc. |
8.82 |
|
| |
| Total expenses |
$ 1,533.86 |
What
can you do?
You can pray!
¨
Pray with us for the nation of Madagascar, and especially our
Malagasy brothers and sisters in Christ as they continue to learn just what it
means to totally give themselves to Christ.
¨ Pray with us concerning the many struggles that the Malagasy
Christians are dealing with daily as they try to live their lives for Him. Pray
that they can bow down to Him as they continue to be pulled towards the
ancestral ways of worship by their families.
¨ Pray for us as we continue to teach and try to reach out to the
Malagasy people, and as we show them what Christ is like and what they need to
do in order to be like Christ both physically and spiritually.
We welcome you to join us in this work for Him . . .
| Barry, Stacy, Kit and
Havilah Rosie B.P. 7554 101 Antananarivo Madagascar Tel. 011-261-32-02-081-14
|