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Fraud
This last month has turned out to be a hectic month to say the least. Besides
all of the normal daily activities that we are involved in, there has come
a time of testing and prayer in my life and the lives of some of the Christians
here in Antananarivo. On Wednesday July 11, 2001, I received an e-mail
message with the subject line stating, "Kind Offer". In that message I
was told by a person named Frankline Reany that she wanted to will her
fortune of $12,500,000.00 to the church and the Betikara Orphanage to help
orphaned children around the world.
All I had to do was contact her lawyer, who then would tell me how to contact
the company that was in charge of Mrs. Reany’s estate. Upon contacting
this person via e-mail, I was given the name of a company in the United
Kingdom, along with a telephone and fax number. I was instructed to call
this company, which would then tell me what to do in order to complete
the process of receiving the above mentioned money. Sounds simple, doesn’t
it?
Upon calling this company I was told that they needed proof of my identity
as well as a statement from me concerning the amount of money that I was
to be receiving on behalf of the church and Betikara Orphanage. I was to
send a fax with a copy of my passport and a short note mentioning the above
amount of money. I sent the fax and then received a fax from this company.
In their fax, it was stated that in order to claim the money I would have
to pay more than $25,000.00 up front. I sent another fax to this company
asking them to send me the Name, address, telephone and fax number of the
bank that was supposed to be holding a certified bank draft made out to
my name. Stating that I would like to contact this bank personally. I am
still waiting for the information on this bank. I really do not believe
that the money or the bank exists.
Then, on August 4, 2001, I received another e-mail message from a totally
different person. The subject line for this message reads, "Inheritance
Right". This message states that the Betikara Orphanage has been mentioned
in the will of the late Dr. Berger A. Indseth of Indianapolis, U.S.A. the
orphanage is one of five which are to receive an inheritance from the late
Mr. Indseth. The amount that the orphanage is supposed to receive is $1,800,000.00.
This message even mentions a will number, but once again I do not believe
that the money exists.
Where are these messages coming from, and how are they getting my e-mail
address? The first message is linked to Nigeria (a country in Africa),
and the second to Abidjan, (a city in the Ivory Coast) Africa. They are
getting my e-mail address from the www.madagascar-mission.org web site.
In the near future I will be changing the format of the orphanage page
of the web site, stating that any inheritance or willed money should directed
to the Indiana Church of Christ. Also, stating that any messages via e-mail
will not be accepted as valid messages concerning funds for the Betikara
Orphanage. In the future all correspondence needs to be mailed through
the postal system (registered mail or certified mail), and contain return
addresses for the sending individuals. It is to easy to send a message
via e-mail, and I have already found out that fraud is rampant via the
Internet. Please pray for us and the Betikara Orphanage.
School Days
School is scheduled to start for the Betikara Lambs on September 4th.
So with the trip to Mahajanga from August 12th to August 18th for the Lambs,
and getting everything in order for opening day at school, we are going
to be very busy at Betikara. Books, notebooks, paper, pens, pencils and
clothes are just a few items that we will be getting ready for the coming
month. Princy will not longer be going to the private school he has been
enrolled in for the last two years. He will not be going to school at the
Ankadivato Primary School along with the Betikara Lambs. Toky, however,
will be staying in the private school at least for this coming year. Hopefully
we can get a handle on his problem and help him advance in his schooling
and educational abilities. Please pray for all of the Lambs as we get into
high gear for the coming school year.
Betikara Home progress
While we were
visiting among your congregations in the United States, I mentioned that
we would have to purchase gravel to use in the cement work for the floors
of the Betikara home. I was wrong! What we have done instead is to hire
a few people to make gravel for our needs.
You read it correctly: "make gravel". These people are collecting all of
the leftover bits and pieces of rocks and then pounding them with hammers
to break them into gravel sized pieces. You would be amazed at the amount
of scrap that you can get from extracting rock from the ground. To date,
there is more than 30 cubic yards of gravel, and the workers are far from
completing their task.
The number of
rocks that we will be using for building in the future also continues to
increase. At last count on Saturday morning there were over 45,000 rocks.
This number is expected to top 60,000 before all of the rock on the Betikara
land is extracted or excavated. The greater the number of rocks that can
be extracted, means an increase in the number of cubic yards of gravel
that we will have for building the Lambs new home.
Presently, the
terracing work at the Betikara land is almost finished. At least the portion
of terracing that is necessary to give us a big enough level area for building
the Lambs new home. All we need now are the plans for the home, and approval
for a building permit, before we can start digging the foundation. Please
pray for this effort as the months of construction pass, and as moving
the Betikara Lambs into their new home becomes more of a reality instead
of a dream. |
