His Work Newsletter - October 2009

�And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.� (1 Corinthians 9:20-22 KJV)

After almost 24 years of living in Kenya and Madagascar I still sometimes wonder just how to apply the verses that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22. How does one become as a Jew, or under the law, or without law, or weak? As many of you know, we spent 4 years in Kenya living in the bush. At that time we did not have running water and we did not use electricity from the Kenya power company. We often slept in the homes of the Luo Christians and more times that we can number we ate the same food that our Kenyan brothers ate.We learned the customs of the Luo people, as we are now learning the customs of the Malagasy people.

However, no matter how hard we try we will never be seen by the Kenyan or Malagasy people as truly Luo or Malagasy people. We can copy their customs and follow their traditions, but when it comes right down to it have we become Luo or Malagasy people in the way that the Apostle Paul meant in the above verses?

Even Paul was not hesitant to mention his background as we find in the following verse, �I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.� (Acts 22:3 KJV) At the same time, however, Paul was quick to say that he gave that all up to follow Christ in the book of Philippians as we can see in the following verses, �Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.� (Philippians 3:5-7 KJV) Yet another time Paul used his Roman citizenship to save himself receiving a beating at the hands of the Roman soldiers in Acts 22:24-27 where Paul seemed to be prideful in the fact that he was born a Roman citizen.

Then what exactly do I need to do to become a Malagasy in the way that Paul became a Jew (1 Cor. 9:20)? Just how much do I �give up� for Christ when I leave everything behind (Phil. 3:7)? When is it acceptable to say, �I am an American� in the same way that Paul said that he was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25). If one can believe what the Malagasy people say about us, then we are already Malagasy because we have lived in Madagascar for 12+ years, we speak their language, we eat their food, and we know their customs, even if we do not follow those customs. The Malagasy people even have an expression that they use when they talk about people with all of the above attributes. The Malagasy people often say that we are �Zanin� Tany� (Children of the Land).

While this is often an ego building statement (�Zanin� Tany�) coming from a Malagasy person, it is also often empty words. We realize that it takes more than living in Madagascar a long time, being able to speak the Malagasy language, eating Malagasy food, and knowing the many Malagasy customs if we truly want to become a Malagasy to the Malagasy in the way that Paul became a Jew to the Jews. We need to understand the Malagasy mindset in order to really become Malagasy. It is this understanding of the Malagasy mindset that is necessary if we want to express Christ to the Malagasy people in a way that they will be able to understand Christ and what they need to do to truly commit themselves to Christ and leave the Malagasy system of values. If we cannot express the need of Christ to the Malagasy people in a way that they can understand, then everything else that we have accomplished is in vain even if we are considered to be �Children of the Land�.

I am reminded of one Star Trek: Next Generation episode. In this episode the starship Enterprise comes in contact with an alien vessel. The people on the vessel are trying to communicate with the crew of the Enterprise to no avail. Finally Captain Picard and the alien are beamed off of their ships by the alien ship. Picard finds himself on a planet with only one other person and he has to try to understand that person. Picard at one point stated that he understood the words the alien was saying, but that he did not know what they meant. Picard did not have a historical knowledge of the alien�s background, so he could not understand what the alien was saying to him.

This is how we often feel. We understand the Malagasy language, but without knowing the history of the Malagasy people we often hear the words, but the words do not have any meaning for us. The Malagasy people have a book that is devoted to their Malagasy proverbs. We own one of these books of Malagasy proverbs, but we cannot understand what many of these proverbs mean until we ask a Malagasy person to explain the proverbs to us.

After 12+ years we have come a long way towards understanding the Malagasy people and their background. However, we still have a ways to go in order to say that we have become Malagasy to the Malagasy people. The more we experience and learn of the Malagasy lifestyle, the more we will be able to better relate the story of Christ to the Malagasy people in a way that they will be able to understand and embrace that story. We ask you to continue to pray for us as we go through this continual learning process. We feel honored to be called �Zanin� Tany�, but we would really like to be able to understand fully the Malagasy mindset, and be able to be one with them in mind and soul so that we may win some for Christ. Please pray for us.

. . . that Madagascar was recently invited to the U.N. meeting of 192 nations that was held in New York? Mr. Rajoelina was scheduled to speak, but in the end did not speak due to a called vote of the nations that were present at the time of the vote concerning whether or not Andry Rajoelina should be allowed to address the assembly since the interim government of Madagascar is not formally recognized by many nations. The vote was 23 nations against Mr. Rajoelina speaking, 4 nations for Mr. Rajoelina speaking, and 6 nations that abstained from voting from some reason. Many of the 192 nations were not present at the time the vote was taken. Here is a link to an article concerning the U.N. voting procedure if you are interested:

Mr. Rajoelina returned to Madagascar on October 1, 2009 and was all business stating that he was ready to press on with the work of his interim government seemingly undeterred by the vote of no confidence that he received in New York.

With the recent baptism on May 31, 2009 of RANDRIANTSOAVANA Jules who is the director of the Betikara school we are now working together to teach the Betikara school students and teachers about His will for their lives. I was recently invited to teach on Wednesday mornings during the schools time of devotion to the Lord. Thus, the title for this section, �Captive Audience�. Lord willing I will be able to both encourage the students to study well academically and to help them learn about God, Jesus, and their need to follow the savior. This will also give me a great opportunity to reach out to the parents of the Betikara school students that will in turn hear from their children about what the �Vazaha Be� (big white man) is teaching them.

The teachers, on the other hand, are not a captive audience. Since the teachers started teaching at the Betikara school they are expressing that many of people in the surrounding communities are questioning them about the school and His church that meets on the Betikara property. The teachers, for the most part, are not able to give sufficient answers to the people of the community so they have requested that we get together for at least one hour every Monday for teaching about His church.

Please pray for the hearts and souls of the Betikara students, their parents, and the teachers that work with the children on a daily basis. Pray that His church and the Betikara school can have a good impact on the people of the local area. This is only a beginning point. There is still much work to do.

We are finding that Saturday afternoons are not working out well for the men of the Ambohimarina congregation to meet together for continuing bible study. We scheduled a time for Saturday afternoons at 2:00 in the beginning. This time was then pushed to 3:00 and we are now finding that 3:00 is not working well. It seems that there are too many family funerals and weddings that the Malagasy people are involved in on Saturdays. Therefore, we are now searching for a better time that is more acceptable to the majority of the group. This is turning out to be difficult to say the least. Please pray that His word can come first in the list of the various priorities that the Malagasy people have on a daily basis.

There is a three congregation fellowship planned at the Ambohimarina congregation on October 11, 2009. The Ankadivato and Ambohijatovo congregations are both in the city and they are looking forward to the chance to get out of town for a day. For some time now there has been talk of another gathering, but the present political crisis in Madagascar has made the planning of such an event difficult. We will all gather for a time of bible study and worship. After the worship we will all take part in various activities, games, and singing that should prove to be quite an uplifting and encouraging time of fellowship. This time of fellowship will also give the Ambohimarina congregation a chance to hear some other Christians teach and preach on that day. I, for one, am looking forward to the event and a chance to fellowship with others.

EXPENDITURES SEPTEMBER
Diesel	$ 273.00
Vehicle maintenance	135.00
Rent and Utilities	961.49
Office	587.29
Travel	0.00
Misc.	20.59

Total expenses	$ 1,977.37

� Please continue to pray for the island nation of Madagascar. We are still seeing daily signs of discontent. There is always something in the local news about how the different political parties are vying for position. The news on the radio still mentions the present political crisis, so the Malagasy people do not consider their political problems as being past tense.