"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor."         Proverbs 22:9

          Just to remind you of the size of this project, let me give you the measurements for the classrooms and the main auditorium once again.  (You must also consider that all of the construction work was done on site by hand.  Even the trusses for the main auditorium were constructed by our own workers.  They were not prefabricated and just set in place.)  There are ten classrooms total.  Five on one side of the auditorium and five on the other side of the auditorium.  Each classroom is 21 feet (6.4 meters) by 20 feet 4 inches (6.2 meters) inside dimensions.  The main auditorium is 105 feet 8 inches (32.2 meters) in length and 54 feet 2 inches (16.1 meters) in width.

          Yes, a lot has changed physically in the past five and one half years.  But more importantly, there continues to be a lot of change spiritually.  The congregation that meets at the Betikara complex continues to grow and reach out.  When we first started meeting for worship at the Betikara land we were only 8 individuals.  That was back in March of 2003 (3 years 3 months ago).  Since that time we are now well over one hundred in number every Sunday, and for one Sunday on New Years day of this year we topped 200 in attendance.  We still have a lot of work to do in order to grow spiritually.  We continue to encourage the Ambohimarina members that meet at Betikara to reach out to their families and friends.  We continue to teach the congregation from the book of Acts so they can understand what Christ’s church was like in the beginning.  And we continue to encourage the Ambohimarina members to follow Him.
          We are all looking forward to the end of June.  This will, Lord willing, mark the completion of the work on Phase II of the Betikara building project.  The end of June will also mark a big transition for the Ambohimarina congregation.  The first Sunday in July we will officially start worshipping in the new auditorium.
          We will also be preparing for the first campaign that the Ambohimarina congregation has ever hosted.  In July, seven people from World Wide Youth Camps will use the new auditorium and classrooms to teach the Lambs of Betikara and the children of the surrounding communities of Ambohimarina and Ambatolampy.  We are looking forward to having close to 200 children between the ages of 4 years to 20 years in attendance.

School is Officially Out
          The school year for the Betikara Lambs is official out for the Madagascar winter.  The children are all happy that they do not have classes to attend at their various schools.  However, at Betikara, we believe that the children need to be further challenged.  That is why, for some time now, we have enlisted the help of a Malagasy woman to help the Lambs with their various needs as far as academic learning is concerned.
          Yes, there will be a winter break for the Lambs, but not as long a break as all of the other students in the surrounding areas will get.  School here is supposed to resume at the beginning of September each year.  However, due to the system and the way things work around here, the students many times do not start studying until the month of October.
          That is why we are trying to get the school for Betikara registered with the government.  We would like to see the Lambs schooled according to the Malagasy government system, but without all the days that are cut at the beginning and end of each school year.  Please pray that we can get the necessary paperwork completed and start to open our own private school this coming September.
          If we can get registered officially, then many of the younger Lambs will stay at Betikara for their school studies.  If we cannot get officially registered with the government by September, we will have to send the Lambs back to the local schools for another year.  Even if we cannot open the school officially in September we would like to hire at least two more teachers that can help the Lambs with their school homework each afternoon, or on the days teachers decide not to show up for classes.  Please pray for the school.
 

  Indiana Church of Christ 
  225 East Pike Rd. 
  Indiana, PA  15701 

“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” 
                           Proverbs 19:17