“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”       Hebrews 11:1

          Recently in a letter, Jack Trent, a dear friend of ours, asked us these questions:  Do you see any easing of the grip of the traditions and superstitions of the people? How do the rest of the people look on those whom you have been able to convert?  These are good questions and I have just the story to answer them.

          His name is Daniel.  He’s a family man, has four married daughters and two sons.  He’s a new Christian.  He’s very near retirement age and up until now, he has counted himself fortunate, for the majority of Malagasy cannot boast of working for thirty years with the same company and receive no type of retirement compensation.  Daniel has worked for more than thirty years with the Malagasy Railroad System.  However, the Malagasy Railroad System has been slowly and steadily declining for the past twenty years.  They have not received one new engine in as much time, scheduled trips to other parts of the island average one per week, most freight and passengers are transported by truck, bus, or car these days, and this past political crises has all but succeeded in tipping the Malagasy Railroad System over the edge of the precipice.  They are hanging on by the skin of their teeth and Daniel, among other workers, is hanging on with them. 
          From January to September of this year, Daniel sat at home day in and day out with no salary and no type of compensation, victim of the massive layoffs and shutdown especially here in the capital city of Antananarivo.  Now Madagascar is recovering, and Daniel was called back to work at the beginning of September.  He was overjoyed to get back to business as usual and raise an income for his family, many others of whom were also laid off during the political crisis.  Daniel had another motivation too, for during the crisis and time of layoffs Daniel found his Savior and he was anxious to tell his work buddies about all he had learned. 
          Off to work he went happy to be busy again and with a heart full of faith and on fire for Christ, only to be laughed at by his friends.  He approached the subject at lunch one day, “I want to tell you all what I did during the crisis.  I studied my Bible and I’ve been baptized.”  He wanted so badly for them to understand.
          “Are you crazy?” they asked, “Why did you do that?  Why did you need to be baptized when you are old?”
          “Because I realized that I never gave my own self and my own life to Christ before I began studying the Bible.  I want to do what He says, I want to thank Him for dying for me, and I want to serve Him,” was Daniel’s ready reply.  They barely listened to his response. 
          “Aren’t the traditions of our ancestors good enough for you?  Don’t we serve our ancestors?  Why are you listening to those foreigners?”
          The following Sunday, Daniel’s admission of defeat with his friends was heart rending.  He wanted them to understand and they didn’t even try to listen.  The ancestors are good enough for Malagasy, even unto death, was the reply of one of his friends.  But.  Daniel hasn’t given up.  That first incident with his friends was more than six weeks ago.  At worship on Sunday he hears sympathy from fellow Christians and he fills up his spiritual fuel tank for the week, he studies on his own, he prays the most meaningful prayers asking for help to face the opposition of his friends, he smiles, and he tries and tries again. His friends continue to laugh. 

“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”            Hebrews 12:3

          That’s not the end of the story.  Here’s the clincher.  All of those men, Daniel included, have worked for the past six weeks without a single cent of pay.  They have much faith in man.  Everyday they wake up, ready themselves, and go off to work for yet another day knowing that the Railroad Company has already seen it’s day.  Yet they continue to work with no pay.  They have faith that man will come through for them, just as they have faith that their ancestors will come through for them in the day of judgment.  They can’t however, act in simple faith and obey a Savior who gave his all for them, because the ancestors are good enough for them.  They have faith and are assured of their daily pay so they go to work for the time being with no pay, and deep down they all know that not only will they lose daily pay not only for all those days they have worked without pay, but they also know they will lose thirty years of retirement pay just as Daniel will, yet their faith in man is as fierce as their faith in the ancestors. 
          When the crunch comes, as it is sure to come, those men will turn to the ancestors, and who will comfort them then?  Will the ancestors pay their retirement?  Daniel, we hope and pray, will turn to his Savior and will receive untold comfort, for . . . 

“he (is) was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”  Hebrews 11:10

Wednesday Afternoon Bible Activities
We meet from 3:00 to 5:00 every Wednesday afternoon for Wednesday Afternoon Bible Activities.  Schools all over Madagascar are closed on Wednesday afternoons, so we use the time to our best advantage.  It’s like a weekly Vacation Bible School.  Wednesday Afternoon Bible Activities were suspended during the political crisis for safety reasons and also for lack of fuel.  Wednesday afternoon Bible class however, did continue with the orphanage live-in children until they completed a year long study of the book of Genesis.  We have started the Bible Activities up again. In our first session we had 55 children and we’ve begun a study of the book of Exodus that will last about one year.  Here’s a little taste of the fun.  In the first half hour we are one big group with students ranging in age from 3 to 25 years old.  We sing in Malagasy, pray, learn a memory verse that ties in with the study for the day, read the Bible lesson directly from God’s Word, and learn a Bible song in English.  Then we break up into 3 groups roughly according to age.  One group studies the Bible lesson in Malagasy with a teacher, another group does a small art project (many thanks to Jenny Jensen, who spent a school year with the Rosie family and still labors to provide us with Bible art projects) that reinforces the lesson, while the third group studies the same Bible story in English.  Each activity is one half hour long and students rotate among the three teachers.  Often times we have adults sitting in on lessons also.  It’s two hours of pandemonium, but it’s great fun and the children are learning a lot about God’s Word while the English lessons help them progress in their regular schooling.  It is our hope and prayer that the kids take home with them what they learn in Wednesday Bible Activities and in their small way carry the Word of God to their parents.

• Pray for much needed faith of those who are receiving all of the bible teaching each week.  Pray that they may be receptive and leave following the traditional ways, the ways of the ancestors, in order to follow the Son of God who’s great power is evident in our daily lives.
• Pray that the miniature missionaries might have greater perseverance as they continue to play with, and encourage their friends to follow our Savior.
• Pray especially for Rivo’s father as he learns more about you each day.  Pray that we can encourage him as he grows in Christ, and help him to not waver in the face of doubt and ridicule from the people that he works so closely every day in Antananarivo.