As the time that we spend on the mission field continues to pass, we see just how much wisdom king Solomon had when he made the above statement in the book of Ecclesiastes. Sure there may be different variations on a theme, but for the most part "what has been done will be done again". While living in Kenya it was very evident that the lifestyles and customs of the Kenyan people were basically all driven by one of two factors, fear of the ancestors or the local witchdoctor. Sometimes it was a combination of these two factors, that controlled the lives of the Kenyan people.

Maybe you can remember the newsletter that was written about Clement Kasuku. Clement was sick, and there was nothing that his father or family was going to do to help Clement get well. Try as I may, Clement finally died. Why, because of the control that the witchdoctor had over Clement’s father. Clement’s father wanted to receive something from the witchdoctor. The price for that item being the sacrifice of the life of Clement.

Then there was the young woman that wanted to come and study bible at Caleb Onyango’s house one Wednesday afternoon. Caleb asked me if I could go and pick up a certain person with my vehicle. He said that the person could not walk, and wanted to come and study God’s word together with us. When the class was finished and we were getting ready to leave, one person spoke up. He said, "this young woman cannot walk or talk". I said that I was aware that she could not walk or talk, since I was the person that brought her to Caleb’s home in my vehicle. The man continued to press the issue, stating that the reason that the young woman could not walk or talk because she had been cursed by the witchdoctor.

Bingo! The light finally came on and I realized what I needed to do. So, without further delay, I preceded to teach about the two opposing powers in the universe. The power of good that comes from God, and the power of evil that comes from the devil. I stated that the power of God is always stronger than the power of the devil, and if we will have faith in God, then the devil can no longer control our lives. Then I asked a simple question. "Where does the power of the witchdoctor come from, God or the devil?" Everyone was quick to reply that the witchdoctor received his power from the devil. Then I asked the young woman, "do you believe that God’s power is stronger than the power of the devil or the witchdoctor?" She shook her head yes, stating that God’s power was indeed greater that that of the devil or the witchdoctor. So I said we need to pray and ask God to increase your faith in His power, so that you can be freed from the power of the devil and the witchdoctor. We all stood, including the young woman who was supported by two men, one on either side of her. Then I prayed asking God to increase our faith in Him and his power to overcome the power of the evil in this world.

When we finally closed the meeting that day, I took the young woman back to her home in my vehicle and told her once again that she needed to have faith in the power of God that was able to overcome the power of the witchdoctor. It was two weeks later that I returned to Caleb Onyango’s home to teach. I had already forgotten what had happened during my former visit. I drove into Caleb’s village and was met at my vehicle by a smiling young woman. I greeted her, and then she said, "you do not remember me do you?" I said, "no, I do not remember you." She then proceeded to tell me that she was the woman that I talked to and prayed for two weeks past and now she was able to walk and talk. Did the healing come from me? NO! It came from the faith of a young woman in the power that the Father of this universe has over the devil and his helpers.

There was also another time that I was in Burkino Faso on a survey trip. Roger Moon was with me, and we were visiting a local village with our Burkino Faso guide. Roger proceeded to climb up onto the flat dirt roof of the house where the different kinds of grains were laid out in the sun to dry. This seemed to be a good system, since the local farm animals could not get up onto the roofs of the houses to eat the families food. But the flat roofs of the houses also served another purpose. Since the food was dried on the roofs, there were usually two thatched circular tops that could be easily removed. Down below inside the house were built two grain storage bins. So, when the different grains were finished drying it was easy for the family to lift up on of the small thatched tops and put the grain down into the storage bins. Roger wanted to look inside of one of the storage bins, and that is when our problems started. There was no physical difference in the two tops, so Roger reaching down proceeded to lift up one of the tops. Oops, wrong top! Roger just by chance lifted the top of the storage bin that was for the food to be sacrificed to the ancestors. One of the women that was on the roof began screaming and yelling in a language which neither of us understood, but we were quickly told by our guide that it would be best for us to leave the village immediately. We were also told that a curse would possibly come upon the family because the grain storage bin was opened by a stranger. The people in Burkino Faso continually live under the fear of their ancestors.

Just the other day, John, Rivo and I were given the opportunity to talk to a sixteen year old male. He has not been able to sleep for some time now at night. Every time he falls asleep he has dreams that his hands and feet are changing into snakes, and when these dreams happen he has been know to take a large knife and try to cut off his extremities. Why is he having these dreams? Because of his fear of the ancestors and the witchdoctor.

We spent quite a bit of time talking to this young man, much the same way that I talked to the young woman back in Kenya several years ago now. We told him that God was more powerful than the witchdoctor and evil, and that if he would have faith in the power of God, God would give him peace in his life. When we finished talking we prayed for the young man and encouraged him to believe in the power of the God of this universe.

The next day Rivo and I were going out to the Betikara land to work. I asked Rivo, "did you see the young man this morning?" Rivo said that he had passed by the young man’s house on the way to my house, and that he was greeted by a very happy young man. You see, the night after we talked with and prayed for the faith of this young man, was the first night that he slept through the night without dreaming the bad dreams he was having every night in the past.

All of the above stories are variations on a theme. The devil through the lives of witchdoctors and the belief in the ancestors of families is able to control and keep people in fear of what they do not understand. Please pray that the Malagasy people can be released from the powers of this world, in order to serve God all powerful, who reigns in heaven on His throne.

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
                                                                                                                           (Eccl. 1:9)

W.B.S. Post Office Box Update
A while back I mentioned that we were at a standstill as far as trying to get a post office box for W.B.S. until John and Esther Ratovohery return from the United States. John and Esther returned to Madagascar at the end of July, and for more than two months now have submitted papers to the Malagasy post office trying to get a box for W.B.S. Just this last week John informed me that finally a box has been granted. 

The new address for W.B.S. here in Madagascar is:

World Bible School
B.P. 7602
Antanimena
101 Antananarivo
Madagascar

As I mentioned before, W.B.S. in the United States has agreed to pay the postage for students to study via correspondence. Lord willing this will make the outreach of W.B.S. grow here in Madagascar. In the past students were complaining that they could not afford to pay over $1.10 each time they mailed a lesson to their teachers in America. Now, the students will be able to pay the local postage rate (approx. $0.14) to mail their lessons to the new W.B.S. address, and we will then be able to forward the students lessons on to their teachers in the United States. Lord willing this will help the students and encourage them to continue studying via correspondence.

Rosies' Visa Paperwork update
I am sorry to say that not much progress is being made in getting new visas approved for the Rosie family. Can you remember the old saying, "one step forward and two steps back". Well here in Madagascar it is more like three or four steps back. Not only is the visa paperwork being held up pending the upcoming presidential elections, now the government is requiring a lot of extra paperwork from every individual. The government is trying to weed out the people that are here in Madagascar for valid reasons, from those who are not here for valid reasons. (Valid reasons being based on what the government of Madagascar considers to be a valid reason). The government is now requiring a lot of extra paperwork from each individual so that they can see what work the individual has done in the past as well as what the individual expects to accomplish in the coming years. Once this paperwork is submitted, the government is supposed to make a decision as to whether each individual is worthy of receiving a visa that will enable him/her to continue working in Madagascar.

I am glad that John Ratovohery has agreed to continue this visa process for us. I was growing weary of returning the the government offices weekly, only to be told that nothing had changed since my last visit. It now makes four months that our visa paperwork has not moved from one government office. Please PRAY!

• Please pray for our health as we continue to work in Madagascar.
• Pray that the Malagasy people can be freed from the power of tradition, their ancestors and the witchdoctor that continually prey upon their lives.
• Pray for the growth of the church of God here in Antananarivo.
• Pray for the students that continue to study God’s word using the W.B.S. correspondence course material.
• Pray for our visa paperwork that continues to be stuck in the government offices. Pray that things can get off dead center and that the government will grant us new visas for an extended period of time, once they determine that our applications are valid applications.