For some time now (about six months), I have been getting up daily at about 5:15 a.m. and passing through the door of the house, not to return until sometimes 7:00 p.m. in the evening. A lot has been accomplished in those last six months. A lot of teaching, praying and working at the Betikara land to name just of few of the things that we have accomplished. Now it is time for a change of pace. Not willingly, rather forced. You see, for over two years I have searched for the needed engine parts for my Daihatsu Rocky. The engine was burning about 5 liters of oil every two weeks. The mechanic at the garage said it needed an overhaul. So, I said go ahead and overhaul the engine.

Well, it was not that simple. First, this is Madagascar, and the vehicle was bought in Kenya. So, upon opening the engine the mechanic informs me, "we have the rings for your engine, but we do not have the pistons or the cylinder sleeves that we need to complete the job. Your engine block is a different number and we do not have those parts in stock." The mechanic stated that replacing the rings would work for a while, but since the cylinder sleeves are worn badly it would be just a matter of time before the engine would need more repairs. Upon asking what I wanted them to do, I stated that they could put in the rings, and I would try to get the needed parts from Kenya. Well, that was easier said than done.

I have corresponded with Ryce Motors (the Daihatsu dealer in Nairobi) in Kenya for several months now. I found out that they have the needed parts, but I have not been able to get them to tell me how to pay for the parts, or get them from Kenya to Madagascar short of going to Kenya myself and carrying the parts back to Madagascar. So, one day I was in the Daihatsu dealer here in Antananarivo buying other parts for the vehicle. I happened to mention that I needed to get parts from Kenya to fix my engine, and the parts man began to ask me questions about the vehicle. I told him that the engine had been opened by the garage here in Antananarivo in the past, and that the needed parts for my engine were not available in Madagascar. He asks for the model of the vehicle, and punches the information into the computer, only to show me that they have parts for all the different makes of Daihatsu diesel engines including mine. For the other models of engines they had twelve of every part in stock and for my model of engine they had four of every part in stock. Since the engine is only four cylinder, four of every part would suffice nicely. Well, needless to say, I went to have a talk with the mechanic in the garage. At the same time I scheduled a time for the engine to be overhauled. Two years of searching for parts and they finally show up here in Madagascar where I started looking for them in the first place.

Thus, the change of pace, since the old Daihatsu from Kenya is now in the garage for an engine overhaul. The mechanic assured me that the overhaul of the engine would take one week. I delivered the vehicle to the garage on Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. expecting to pick it up on Friday at 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m.. Upon going to check on the status of the work last Wednesday morning I was informed that the vehicle would indeed be ready on Friday afternoon. The only drawback being, it will not be this Friday afternoon, rather next Friday (two weeks instead of one week) afternoon.

What have I been doing with all of my (spare) time between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. now that I am grounded at home without wheels for two weeks? First, I have tried to catch up on some sleep. Instead of going to bed at 11:00 p.m. or 12:00 p.m. I am getting to bed at 9:30 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. and sleeping in until I wake up (usually around 4:30 a.m. or 5:00 a.m.). Going to bed earlier seems to cause me to wake up earlier, so I do not know if I am really catching up on some sleep or not. Second, I am trying to get caught up on some much needed office work. I have a lot of information to get entered into the computer concerning our finances, the finances for the work and for Betikara. Third, I am trying to spend a little bit more time around the children. Since they are waiting for Kit’s school books to arrive from the states before starting their next year of schooling, we are able to spend some more time together. And fourth, I am trying to piece back together our notebook computer that we purchased in 1996 while on furlough. It seems that the hard drive is wanting to give up the ghost. I have transferred all for the directories and files into the big desktop computer for safe keeping and am contemplating a format of the hard drive to see if that will help the problem. Running Scan Disk using the thorough setting keeps finding more bad clusters on the drive. So, I have contacted a computer place in town to check on the possibility of getting a compatible hard drive for the laptop computer. Not an easy order in Madagascar.

Along with the laptop computer that needs fixing, I have kept myself busy with some other items around the house. For instance, fixing kids bikes, kids radios as well as other toys, fixing kitchen sinks, washing machines and electric floor buffers. The latest project will be the freezer downstairs in the kitchen across from the office. The freezer was bought by us second hand when we first went to Kenya back in November of 1985. For the past couple of months I have noticed that the freezer is running constantly, and now the items in the freezer are not getting frozen. They are just staying cold like in a refrigerator.

If I had the proper equipment, I could use my old training in heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration to check out the freezer and possibly add some refrigerant to the system. Since I do not have that equipment, I will just have to take the freezer to the local refrigeration person (that works out of a wooden shack along the side of the road), and keep a close eye on what he does. If the refrigeration charge can be increased, we have saved the freezer that is already well over 16 years old. If adding refrigeration does not help the problem, then we will have to "bite the bullet" as the expression goes and buy a new freezer.

It seems that "A Change of Pace" is getting rather expensive with an engine overhaul and a possible new freezer all in one month. But, "that’s life" as the expression goes. I am just happy that being in a place as remote as Madagascar, we are able to get the things that we need to continue serving Him. Now it is back to the mess in the office that I’ve needed to straighten up for quite some time now. A change of pace is nice for a while, but I will sure be glad to get my wheels back and be able to continue where I left off before the Daihatsu went into the garage. Take care and God Bless you for everything you do to make this work possible for Him.

It was one of the big types of Chameleons that we found out close to the Betikara land just last week. He/she happened to be crossing the dirt road that we were travelling on. The small Chameleons can cause quite a bit of pain if they happen to latch onto your finger with their mouth. So, it was with quite a bit of care that we caught this particular Chameleon and gave him/her a new home at the Betikara property. We broke off a small branch from a nearby tree and then coaxed the Chameleon to climb up the branch. Once at the Betikara land, we held up the branch to a "Betikara" tree, and waited patiently for the Chameleon to move himself/herself onto the branches of the tree.

Why transplant a Chameleon? Chameleons are like Frogs and other reptiles. They are known for their ability to eat large numbers of insects, including mosquitoes. If we have a large number of Chameleons living on the Betikara property, that means less mosquitoes and less malaria for the Betikara Lambs.

The only drawback to their coming is that they will only be here for about one week. We are trying to make a plan to let them do a little bit of everything that they are interested in doing. The key phrase being "a little bit" seeing that they will not have much time here in Madagascar. Keeping them busy will be no problem. It is just that only one week is not enough time to hardly get off of the plane before they will have to get back on and continue their journey.

Lord willing this visit will whet their appetites for a return trip in the future, where they will be able to spend more quality time and get to know the Christians in the Ankadivato and Ambohijatovo congregations better. Please pray for their continuing plans as they get ready to visit the Lord’s church here in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Government Paperwork
First, it is almost a sure thing that the visa paperwork that is sitting in the government offices is going to be there for quite some time into the future. The government is making new policy and scrutinizing visas. This is not only affecting the Rosie family visas, rather all missionary visas in Madagascar at the present time. Rumor has it that many people are coming into Madagascar under a visa for church related work, and then doing other things that are not allowed under the "church" / "missionary" status visas.

Second, there is the upcoming presidential election. All that anybody is talking about is the forthcoming elections on December 16th. Everyone is unwilling to do anything government paperwork wise until after the elections. Everyone is talking about one of the candidates that is running for president this time around. He is one of the four mayors that was recently elected for Antananarivo. He is the very rich owner of "Tiko" the milk and dairy product company here in Madagascar. Everyone likes what he is doing as mayor and it looks like he will be elected as president in December.

Third, there is the waiting that comes along with a new president after he is elected. Ministers, cabinet members and other government officials must be chosen. So, to make a long story short, I would not be surprised if we do not get our new visas until sometime in the month of March. That would make them only one year past due. As long as we keep being granted extensions on the present visa, I guess all we can do is try to wait patiently. :-)

• Pray for 12 visitors that are planing to come from Paris, France to Antananarivo in January of 2002. Pray that they will be able to finalize their travel arrangements, and that they will have a safe journey to and from Madagascar.
• Continue to pray for the Rosie family as we continue to serve in His kingdom of Madagascar.
• Pray for the growth of the two congregations that are in Antananarivo. Pray that they can continue to find ways to serve together and to compliment each other in the coming years.
• Pray for the completion of the Rosie family visas. It has been over 8 months to date and still no favorable reply from the Malagasy government.

Please pray not only for Claude but for his family as we try to influence them to follow God’s word. At the present time the young members of the family are eager to listen and learn, but the adults are still holding on to past traditions.