Jesus’ kids!
January 2005 Volume 8, Number 1
"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with
the poor." Proverbs
22:9
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Jesus’ kids! January 2005 Volume 8, Number 1 "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with
the poor." Proverbs
22:9
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He was so proud. I was sick at heart, but I couldn’t let him see it. I wonder if the smile on my face looked like it was pasted in place. I hugged him and slapped him on the back for good measure and I tried to congratulate him heartily, but underneath, my heart was crying, not just for Andry, and not just for the Lambs, but my heart cries for every child in every Malagasy school in this country. Andry was our lamb who was abandoned by his parents in the streets of Antananarivo in June of 2000. He hasn’t seen them or heard from any of his family since then. When the court awarded him to Betikara’s care, they assigned him a birth date of 1992. That was it, no month, no day, just 1992, which blessed him with the age of 8 years old, and allowed us to get him into the Malagasy public school system. We all knew at that time, that Andry was more like 12 instead of 8. That makes him more like 16 this year, instead 12. Four plus years ago, when Andry first arrived at Betikara, he started at the very bottom of the school, never having seen or experienced a school setting before. This year, his first year at the school in Ambohimarina (just 12 miles from the school in city center where the orphanage housed the lambs for 5+ years), he is studying in grade 5. Try to put yourself in Andry’s place for a moment. He’s sixteen years old and towers over the children in his class who on the average are ten years old. In the school in city center (one of the best Malagasy public schools in this country) Andry placed last or next to last in his class level in every set of tests and in every report card he received. He reads with hesitation and can barely write. He has some basic addition facts memorized but forgets where to start (right side or left) when adding or subtracting two, three, or four digit numbers. Last August, we moved Andry out to the new home in Ambohimarina and placed him in the public school. Mind you, this new school is only 12 miles from one of the best public elementary schools in the country where Andry placed last in every assessment. Just before Christmas, Andry was tested by the new school along with the other children and placed SECOND in his class in report card rankings. I have to ask myself how this can possible happen! How can a fifth grader, who can barely read and cannot even sign his name legibly, place second in class ranking? And that’s why my heart cries.
Andry is a wonderful
boy. When he first came to Betikara, he broke many windows with head
and fist in his frustration at being abandoned by his family and because
he struggled so hard in school. He still struggles in school, but
Andry is a changed boy. He is clean, neat, and polite. He knows
his Bible and practices being like Christ. He treats others with
much respect and he is a good helper. I cry for him because he struggles
so much in school, but I cry even more for the Lambs and the other children
in this country who at grade 5 still cannot add multiple digits, who can
barely read and who cannot write.
Thanks to you, we are already constructing the physical setting
for a school, and we hope to have it finished before the end of 2005.
We have a dream for an actual school here in Madagascar where the children
will be in school all day everyday for at least 180 days of the year, and
where the children will have proper seating, proper chalkboards, proper
lighting, proper class size, books, and especially teachers who are dedicated
to helping a few Malagasy children to have a future without poverty, but
we are walking and working in faith towards its completion. We need
your fervent prayers to help bring it all into reality. Please join
us in this work of prayer for the Andrys, for the Lambs, and for the community
children of this country.
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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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