“The soul that sinneth”

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”  (Ezekiel 18:20 KJV)

            One of the hardest ideas to get across in a third world culture is the idea of being united in Christ, but standing alone when it comes to what we do or do not do with our spiritual lives. The Malagasy people feel secure in their physical family relationships. Everything they do from birth until death revolves around the family relationship. Being a part of the family is so important to the Malagasy people that they do not want to “rock the boat” with respect to the cultural norm of the Malagasy family. You have to be married in a certain way to be accepted in the family. You have to be a part of the family and its decision making process if you want to feel secure about having a place in the family tomb when your time to leave this life finally arrives. Your place of worship is a major part of the family and a major factor in deciding if you will be placed in the family tomb.

            This idea of family is so strong that many Malagasy people are fearful of leaving the “traditional ways” by striking out on their own in the area of spiritual beliefs. A person is born into the family church, grows up in the family church, marries within the family church, and is finally buried in the family tomb that is often times located on the property of the families church. This way of life has been a part of the Malagasy people for so long that they do not question why, they just follow the traditional family ways without question. The Malagasy people even have a Malagasy proverb about life and death that says, “Velona iray trano, maty iray fasana”. Translated the proverb says, “Alive, we live in the same house or under the same roof.  Dead, we rest in the same tomb.” (Here is a recent website link that will help you better understand the Malagasy mindset of family life and family death: http://www.afriprov.org/index.php/african-proverb-of-the-month/42-2009proverbofthemonth/459-proverbofthemonthapr2009.html ). Family unity is very important to the Malagasy people. So, when we teach that we are united in Christ the Malagasy people quickly see this unity and are quick to put on Christ in baptism so that they can be a part of His family and Kingdom. They feel secure in the family setting. However, many of the Malagasy Christians still depend on their physical families place of worship when it is time to be married or when a person is to be buried.

            When we start teaching that each Christian has a responsibility to take care of his own life this is a new and hard concept for the Malagasy people to grasp. The Malagasy people are used to allowing the family to take care of their physical, and many times, their spiritual needs. Many times it is one “fortunate” family member with a monthly income that quickly becomes responsible for the physical wellbeing of many of his relatives. This “fortunate” individual has to pay for the needs of the remaining family members. This is why it is hard for us to teach the Malagasy Christians to be responsible and take a leadership role in the church. They are indoctrinated that the “family” is supposed to take care of them, and Christ’s church has now become their new family.

            We are trying to show the Malagasy Christians that they all have a responsibility to take care of their own physical and spiritual lives, as well as the spiritual lives of those they come in contact with on a daily basis. Those responsibilities are seen in the book of Ezekiel. God started out by telling Ezekiel that he has some responsibilities. In the third chapter of Ezekiel we read about God giving Ezekiel the responsibility of speaking for God to the Israel nation. “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel: so give ear to the word of my mouth, and give them word from me of their danger. When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; and you give him no word of it and say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his evil way, so that he may be safe; that same evil man will come to death in his evil-doing; but I will make you responsible for his blood. But if you give the evil-doer word of his danger, and he is not turned from his sin or from his evil way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing; but your life will be safe.” (Ezekiel 3:17-19 - 1965 Bible in Basic English)

            Ezekiel had a responsibility to be God’s mouthpiece and tell the Jewish nation what they needed to do to keep themselves pure. God even went a step further in what he required from Ezekiel. If Ezekiel did not teach the people then Ezekiel was responsible for their deaths. With the Malagasy people living in a fatalistic society this is really a hard concept to get across. Death happens to everyone and death is not something to be feared, rather, death is often anticipated and longed for so a person can take their rightful place among the honored dead. After all, if the family took proper care of them they should not die. It is the fault of the family (church family) if a person is not taken care of properly both physically and spiritually. The individual takes on no responsibility whatsoever.

            I agree that the church has a responsibility to care for and look after the flock of God. However, each individual also has a responsibility to himself and the flock of God. This is why it is so important to teach the Malagasy people concerning what God said in Ezekiel. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”  (Ezekiel 18:20 KJV)

            Each person has a responsibility for the wellbeing of his own physical life and spiritual soul. If a person sins, then it is their sin and not the sin of the family or the church. The Malagasy people are trying to hide in the comfort of the family of God. They are trying to let the church care for them and their physical families. This is what their physical families have done for them, and it is what they expect the family of God to do for them.

            Please pray for the Malagasy Christians and the Malagasy nation as we continue to teach them concerning what God has in mind for both their physical and spiritual lives.

Did You Know . . .

. . . that there is a second round of political talks taking place in Maputo, Mozambique? This round of talks has hit a brick wall. There is consensus on the lower level of the political situation concerning the parliament and ministries. However, there is no consensus as to who will be the president, vice president, and prime minister of the transitional body that will eventually lead up to presidential elections in Madagascar after a 15 month period. Neither Rajoelina or Ravalomanana want to allow the other to head the transitional body. The talks, that were originally scheduled for only two days are now in their third day with no end in sight. Please continue to pray for Madagascar, the political situation, and especially the spiritual atmosphere that will allow this country to get back on an even keel.

Miniature Missionaries

This and That

High Vehicle Maintenance Month

             August is usually a month that shows high vehicle expenses. Each year we pay our annual vehicle insurance premiums for all three of our vehicles. This year, however, the amount for August vehicle maintenance expenses is even higher than most years.

             I had the relatively new Toyota Prado into the Toyota garage three times this last month. It all started with an air conditioner that would only emit hot air no matter what I did with the air control settings. I saw that the compressor was still working, but there was not any cold air. So, I took the vehicle into the garage. They said they would check for leaks and add refrigerant.

            I got the vehicle back with an air conditioner that was blowing cold air. However, within one week the air was hot again. I left the vehicle at the garage for three days and upon returning to pick up the Prado I received quite a bit of “sticker shock”. The repair bill was about $1,200.00 and I found the evaporator coil of the air conditioning system laying on the floorboard of my vehicle. I was told that there were two leaks found in the coil that would normally last the lifetime of a vehicle. This coil was just three years old. Needless to say I was not happy.

            I was even less happy after paying for the repairs and going home only to find that my air conditioning quit working for the third time within a week of leaving the garage. I took the vehicle back to the garage for the third time with the very expensive evaporator coil in hand. I complained profusely and told them they needed to take the evaporator coil back and return my money.

            After a short while (only two hours) I received a call from the garage stating that my air conditioning was once again working. I went to pick up the vehicle ready to argue about the evaporator coil that evidently did not need to be replaced since the system was still not operating. This time I went directly to the head of the garage employees. I demanded to be told exactly what they did to fix my air conditioning system this third time around. We went out to the vehicle and I opened the engine compartment, only to be told by the head of the garage that the only thing that was wrong with my air conditioning system was a loose wire that did not get plugged in properly the last time that they worked on the system.

H1N1 Virus Confirmed

            The Madagascar news reported just yesterday that there are five confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in Madagascar. We know of one confirmed case that is a parent of a child at the American School of Antananarivo. The school is taking all types of precautions due to the large number of students from so many different countries that attend the American School. The teachers are overseeing the activities of the students to make sure that they stay safe distances from each other on the school campus and in the classrooms. The teachers and staff are also careful to wash down all surfaces with bleach water or alcohol.

            Everyone at the Betikara Orphanage is flu free to date. We have laid in some medicine for fever and coughing. We are also instructing the children to keep safe distances from each other at the orphanage and as they go off Betikara property. Right now schools are still not in session, so this is helping us with our efforts to keep the children in a safe environment. Please pray 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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