Among the Malagasy People of Madagascar
Go ... and make disciples of all nations
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Among the Malagasy People of Madagascar Go ... and make disciples of all nations |
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| Volume 19, Number 2 | February 2004 |
| The Barry Rosie family have worked on the mission field in Africa for more than 18 years under the oversight of the: |
Church of Christ c/o Phillip Young 140 C.R. 170 Corinth, MS 38834 |
Eugene Holland - 662-287-1721 Jerry Bates - 662-287-3351 |
| I remember a
day twelve or more years ago. We were still living in Kenya at the
time, and we were the “experienced” missionaries, if a missionary is ever
experienced. I was returning home from a women’s meeting in the far
reaches of the bush country of western Kenya. Next to me in the passenger
seat sat a new missionary.
Sue had just finished teaching one of her first lessons to a women’s group. Her lesson was great. It was what happened afterward that had frustrated her so. I had kept in the background most of the meeting letting my new co-worker handle the class. Just as soon as her lesson finished, a woman brought in a child. The child was filthy and looked half-starved. Her face and arms were covered in the oozing sores of impetigo. The women explained that this child was an orphan and they wanted to know what this new missionary was going to do for the child. I recall being very impressed with Sue’s response to this predicament. With gentleness but firmness, she explained that soap and water would take care of the impetigo and love from a serving group of Christians would take care of the rest of her needs. Sue’s answer should have brought the matter to a close, but it didn’t. For several hours the women argued that the child was the missionary’s responsibility while the missionary tried to explain that the child was the local church’s responsibility. We left that place with sad hearts, never having convinced the women of their responsibility. On the way home the car was very quiet. I could feel Sue’s disappointment. Suddenly She turned to me and said with much frustration in her voice, “Can’t they see how offensive their attitudes are to God?” I thought a long time about that one as I drove home. I only came up with one answer and it was just another question. “Don’t you think, Sue, that maybe we too do things unconsciously that offend God?” I carefully answered. Sue was quiet for a few moments and then agreed. It’s so easy to see the offensive things others do, but even with a lot of Bible study and a life given to God’s work, still we probably all do things that are offensive to God. We agreed right then that prayer for ourselves and for the Luo women both was much needed. Since living in Madagascar we have come across several of those offensive things that are so easy to see in others. This recent one has really stumped us. It involves a marriage problem that exists in this country and a solution that has been drummed into the heads of the Malagasy people by church leaders in this country. We first ran into this problem when the Ambohimarina congregation was started. We noticed quickly that several men were baptized very quickly. Their wives were faithful in attendance, but as we tried to encourage them to put on Christ they would just shake their heads and say they couldn’t. We didn’t understand why and maybe we didn’t question enough, but eventually we learned that those women had been taught they couldn’t be baptized because they had no officially recognized marriage license. Lala and Lisi are a good example. They have been married for more than 15 years. Their marriage was an agreement of two families in the Malagasy traditional style complete with witnesses. They have been faithful to each other all these years and have several children. What they don’t have is an official civil marriage license. Lisi was born in the far south of the island. She never had a birth certificate. Lala and Lisi cannot complete a civil marriage because they need her birth certificate to complete the paperwork. To get a birth certificate, they must travel to Lisi’s birth place. They don’t have money for that kind of trip, not to mention money to complete the government paperwork. Lala was baptized almost a year ago. Lisi was one of those women who shook her head and said, “I can’t.” She couldn’t, because some official in some church hierarchy passed down a decision that women who do not hold a civil marriage license cannot be baptized. We’ve come across several women in this same circumstance. They want to obey Christ. They want to put on their Savior. They have been married faithfully for many years, but they think they can’t because they bear the brunt of responsibility for marrying without an official government certificate. The men can be baptized but the women must have that marriage license first. Now, is that offensive, or not? Since learning of this issue, we have patiently taught for many months, pointing out that God does not require an official government piece of paper to recognize a marriage. This is not a matter of breaking the law. Madagascar does recognize traditional marriages. However, the children of a traditional marriage are not protected without a civil marriage license. We would be the first to encourage married couples to get that civil license in order to protect their children’s future, but we have found it very offensive to allow the man to put on Christ if he so chooses, but place the total burden of responsibility on the wife. It has been almost a year now and we have prayed and continued to teach realizing that our teaching was most likely falling on deaf ears and wondering if we would ever get through the wall of resistance placed there by someone who has gone beyond the limits of God’s Word. Prayer works though. It always does. The first of these women whose husbands have already put on Christ has taken a monumental step in faith and dared to defy the hierarchical leaders in obedience to the Savior she has come to love.
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| Did You Know. . .
. . . that Antananarivo did not escape the destruction spread by hurricane Elita when it ripped across the island of Madagascar twice in the first week of February 2004? She started in the Mozambique Channel and crossed the island from west to east, doing the most damage in the coastal town of Majunga. Thousands lost their homes in the fray. Elita headed into the Indian Ocean and then changed her mind, did a 180 degree turn, and ripped back across the island from east to west, leaving more destruction in her trail. We experienced nine straight days of rain, gale force winds, flying billboards and tin roofs, downed electric lines, and uprooted trees. All in all, we weathered the storm well. The Rosie home is in tact. Barry traveled out to the new orphanage home to check on things out that way and though it took two grown men to open the door of the new home against the winds he found that all was quiet and dry on the inside without so much as a squeak from the roof. It was a wonderful test. Our greatest worry was the Betikara children living in the decrepit house in town, but they weathered the storm well too and now we are all back to sunny weather. |
| this and that
Up and around a little more each day We are pleased and much relieved to report that Barry’s back is a little better. He’s still taking it a bit easy, but he’s up and around a bit more each day. He’s still using a chauffeur and he’s still spending a part of each day lying down, but there is definite improvement and for that we are thankful. A most difficult goodbye
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| What
can you do?
You can pray!
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| Miniature Missionaries
I’ve been watching her in worship services for the past several months and each week I’ve seen more and more to be pleased about from this miniature missionary daughter of ours. Vololona, the Bible class teacher, has been using Havilah as an assistant as she struggles with 40+ children week after week. She’s not the oldest child in Vololona’s class, but she takes responsibility for many of the youngest children in the class. I’ve noticed that several mothers also depend on Havilah during worship service. She chooses to sit beside the mothers of the more fractious children, usually taking an especially active one onto her lap during worship, but my rule is that Havilah sit where I can see her during worship and I see that while she is tending an especially fractious child she is also singing and taking part in worship, and dinner table conversation usually reveals that she’s been listening to the sermon too. When we ride to and from worship in the car each week, Havilah takes the most uncomfortable seat as a matter of course and rarely complains. She usually rides with two smaller children on her lap. I teach two Bible classes at the small school for missionary children here in the capital city every Monday afternoon. Havilah goes along with me and takes part in the older children’s class. She is the youngest child in that older group and last Monday while teaching, I invited her to come up front and teach the class for me because she was answering all the questions before I could finish asking them and wasn’t giving anyone else even enough time to raise their hands. She sings unconsciously at almost every task she attempts, she takes an active part in Bible studies in English in our home, she uses every opportunity to tell someone else (young or old) about Jesus. She’s a miniature missionary in the truest sense. She’s not perfect. She exasperates me daily insisting on doing everything her own way and on her own time schedule. She’s as scatterbrained as ten year old little girls usually are and even more. She has to apologize for just about every other comment or sentence that comes out of her mouth. She has to be called three and four times over to come and complete her chores. She talks back at times and has to be disciplined frequently. She’s a child. But, she is learning of Him and sharing what she has learned with others and this momma is pleased with her progress. |
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B.P. 7554 Antananarivo 101 Madagascar Tel. 011-261-32-02-081-14
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We welcome you to join us in this work for Him . . .
