June 1996

His Work Among the Luo People Of Kenya Go ... and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19
June 1, 1996

This last month has been very busy for us as usual. Stacy has been able to finally finish her work on a children's Bible curriculum that has taken over 3 years to complete. The finished curriculum consists of 126 Bible lessons, that if taught one lesson each week during Sunday School, will give the churches over 2 years of practical teaching for the children of their congregations. Stacy had extra time to work in the month of May, since I was not around for her and I to compete over who gets to use the computer. This happened when I found myself blessed with the chance to return to Madagascar and visit the Malagasy Christians. I left Kisii to go to Nairobi on April 30 using the Akamba Bus Service, leaving Stacy with the vehicle in case of any emergency. My stay in Madagascar was from the second until the sixteenth of the month.

Madagascar is one of the 18 poorest countries in Africa. In the capital city of Antananarivo, many people are homeless due to the economic state of the country. During a night time walk from a bus stop to the house I saw hundreds of homeless people curled up in gunny sacks trying to sleep on the streets. The countryside of Madagascar continues to lend itself to the idea that there is not good economic stability. Many of the roads are in disrepair, and big potholes are in abundance. When it comes to crossing a river, you ride over metal "temporary" bridges, that fill in the gap that remains when the concrete bridges wash away during heavy rains and seasonal typhoons that plague the country. I say "temporary" bridges because many of these bridges have been around for several years due the lack of funds needed to repair them properly. Two of our teaching appointments happened to be at a town that was 80 kilometers (50 miles) away from Antananarivo. The trip was on "paved" roads all the way and it took us almost two and one half hours to reach our destination. Due to the bad roads this short trip in kilometers turned out to be a two day excursion. When my host and hostess asked how the roads in Kenya compare with the roads in Madagascar I replied, the roads in Kenya are just as good as the roads in Madagascar. This caused much laughter as they realized that the roads in Kenya are also in disrepair.

Most of the population of Madagascar is subsistence farmers. For many years they have practiced "slash and burn" farming to raise enough food to feed their families. Slash and burn farming consists of cutting and burning all growth to plant their crops. Since the Malagasy people do not use fertilizers to replenish what their crops remove from the soil, they move to a new area and start the whole process again to survive. This practice has destroyed both the primary and secondary forests, leaving only grass growing on a majority of the landscape. Since no new trees are able to grow in these areas, firewood is becoming scarce throughout Madagascar. Many of the people raise rice as a staple food source. However, a majority of farmers do not use insecticides and fertilizers so their crop yields are only one sixth of what some farmers are able to produce. Those who see what benefits can come from good farming practices are loath to change their ways, some because of years of farming a certain way and others due to the lack of money necessary for the initial outlay for fertilizers and insecticides.

During the fourteen days of actual time in Madagascar I taught 10 scheduled Bible teaching appointments, and hosted numerous visits by Christians and non Christians in the home of which I was staying. During many of these visits we answered Bible related questions. It seems that the denominations that are present in Madagascar have really indoctrinated their followers. Some say that we can not baptize people since we are not priests (Revelation 1:5,6). Others say that we are not worshipping properly since we do not keep the Sabbath worship (Hosea 2:11,23; Ephesians 2:11,13-16; Colossians 2:16). Many people became confused since they had already been "baptized," and now we tell them that they need re-baptism into the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 19:1-5; Romans 6:3-6). Does any of this sound familiar in any way at all?

Since I do not know any Malagasy or French, I did all of my teaching by using an interpreter. My host (Romain Rakotomalala) is the one who chose this person. The interpreter was well versed in the English language. However, his lack of knowledge concerning our Lord and Savior Jesus is why he got the job interpreting. It did not take long for him to confess that he needed Jesus in his life, and we baptized him and three other people during my short stay in Madagascar. There are also five or six other souls that desire baptism, and Lord willing they have already become members of our Christian family.

Please pray for the Malagasy Christians (30+ in number) as they continue their journey with our Lord. The person that has been a Christian the longest, has only been a Christian for two and one half years. This person is trying to serve two congregations that are 15 kilometers apart (9+ miles) by public transportation. He is teaching a one half hour radio lesson each Sunday morning. He also takes care of all the incoming World Bible School contacts and holds down a secular job. So far he and his family are doing well. Three of the four members of his immediate family are now Christians, and he has taught and baptized his mother and three of his sisters. Many of the other members are former World Bible School students of both the French and English languages.

You can also remember our family in prayer as we prepare to visit you in the United States. There are many items that need finishing before we can leave South Nyanza. First, we are trying to write lessons, and presentations in preparation for our time in America. Second, we are trying to complete the naturalization process for Havilah, as far as is possible from this side of the world. We have found that it is very difficult to travel with Havilah on Kenyan travel papers, since they need renewing at two year intervals, and the last time Stacy was home with Havilah she could not take Havilah into Canada to see the Christians in those churches. Once we get Havilah naturalized she will have a United States Passport and travel will be immensely easier on all fronts. Finally, there is our weekly schedules of visiting and teaching the Luo Christians.