Jesus’ kids!
December 2004 Volume 7, Number 12
A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9
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Jesus’ kids! December 2004 Volume 7, Number 12 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9 |
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The children and caregivers at the orphanage eat 60 kilos (132 pounds) of rice a week. When Barry left the country, the caregivers had a one week supply in their possession, and an additional 19 kilos (42 pounds) were locked into the orphanage storeroom. None of us had any idea of the scramble we would undergo just one week later. Barry left for Kenya on Wednesday. On Thursday, the rice lines started appearing throughout town. By Friday, rice was the topic of every conversation. On Saturday the price was more than double. Sunday morning, I checked the storeroom and found the additional nineteen kilos, but was unsure what to do. Barry returned to Madagascar on Wednesday and spent Thursday and Friday trying to procure rice with no success. We were starting to sweat, needless to say. BUT! Sweating is not how we operate at Betikara. Prayer is always the answer. We prayed. On Monday morning, the orphanage received a gift from the American School of Antananarivo. RICE, BEANS, and OIL! 43 kilos of rice, 20 kilos of dried beans, and 43 liters of cooking oil was placed into the back of my vehicle by some very proud students at the American School who collected the food for a Thanksgiving activity. They supplied six different orphanages with similar amounts of food. I wonder how much they realize that God was using them to save the Betikara lambs. Whew! We have one week of grace. The 43 kilos of rice they gave along with the 19 kilos in the storeroom give us exactly one week to find more rice. Barry hits the road again tomorrow in search of rice, but this time we are praying beforehand. The 20 kilos of beans that the American School students gave will provide 10 meals for the lambs and caregivers. Betikara uses 2 liters of oil each week. You can do the math. 43 liters of cooking oil is a 21-week supply for us, almost half a year of oil! He always comes through, and He always does is with so much grace besides. While we look for rice, we also wait for an answer from USAID concerning an abundance of rice that they have which is rotting in their warehouses. Several weeks ago, we were asked to write a proposal in order to receive some of this rice from USAID. Problem is, they don’t want to work with the little guys. Administration costs are too high to work with every little orphanage along the way. Not to worry. One of the larger mission organizations in this country has undertaken to administrate distribution of the USAID rice to all the “little” orphanages in Madagascar. Betikara is on the top of their list, and we are thankful that God is using yet another to see that our needs are met. She’s coming again!
Welcome Back, Angela.
They are arriving!
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If you would like to help with a monetary donation, write your check out to BETIKARA and send it to: Indiana Church of Christ
“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him
for what he has done.”
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Her name is Angela Schellenberg. She’s a student from Manitoba, Canada,
in training to be a medical researcher. She came to Madagascar in
July of 2003, when the children were still in city center and spent one
month with us at Betikara. We grew to love her, and now she’s coming back!
