They are the first to arrive at the building each Sunday morning, the children of the Ambohimarina congregation.  They come ready for a Bible lesson with notebooks and pens in hand.  The older children are usually faithful to carry their own Bibles that they earned themselves through faithful attendance to Bible class and worship and because they did exceptionally well on the Bible test.  Each older child carries a younger brother or sister in arms.  They line up quietly outside the door until the building is unlocked.  They all come forward to greet me and shake hands as soon as I step from the car, right down to the littlest ones.
          There are three congregations of the Body of Christ in Antananarivo, this capital city of Madagascar, and each one has its unique personality.  The Ambohijatovo congregation in city center is the oldest congregation.  It’s members are middle class Malagasy.  Most of them are adults and some bring one or two children to worship with them.  The children’s classes are small.  The second congregation is the Ankadivato congregation situated just a short ways from city center.  Ankadivato congregation meets in the building that used to house the lambs of Betikara orphanage.  It’s members are mostly young unmarried adults who are still in school, university, or involved in some type of training course.  Until the new home for the Betikara lambs was finished, the lambs met with the Ankadivato congregation on Sundays.  The newest congregation of Antananarivo is the Ambohimarina congregation situated about 18 miles from city center in very much a rural village setting.  The members of the Ambohimarina congregation are very different from the middle class members of the two inner city congregations.  They are poorer, less educated, village-dwelling Malagasy and they have very large families.  Most of the adults of the Ambohimarina congregation are married couples who both are faithful to worship and who bring all of the children in their large families to worship with them. 
          The Ambohimarina congregation has averaged upwards of 50 children every Sunday for Bible class, and now that the Betikara lambs have moved to their new home, the Ambohimarina congregation has jumped to 70 children for Bible class each week.  Because Ambohimarina is the newest congregation, most of the adults have very little Bible knowledge.  They are growing in Christ daily, they want to teach their children, and most of them don’t have a clue how to go about it.   What they hold to firmly though, is the promise of God . . . “He gave some to be teachers . . . so that the body of Christ may be built up.”   Ambohimarina does have a precious few faithful souls that are forging ahead and giving themselves to teaching the children at the same time that they themselves are learning.  They have no teacher training, no experience teaching, very little experience with the Bible, and no prepared materials, but they do have tremendous faith and trust in Him, and so they teach themselves during the week so they can teach the children on Sundays.  We are so proud of them and we stand in awe of their faith and courage. 
          Ambohimarina divides the Bible classes into three age groups.  The bitty bitty children (ages 3-8) number about 25 each Sunday.  They meet in the girl’s dormitory room of the orphanage sitting on adult sized plastic chairs placed between the beds.  Their teacher is Rivo’s wife.  She has just begun teaching and is insecure about her teaching ability, but her faith does not lack and she’s doing a terrific job.  We supply her with the Bible story and small rectangles of paper with a picture to color that re-enforces the Bible story she teaches.  The children stand in front of their chairs and use their chairs for desks when it’s time to color.  I’ve stopped some of those children after class and asked questions about their pictures.  They can, in fact, recite the Bible stories.
          The middle group ranges in age from 9-12 and numbers about 40 each week.  Their teacher is Rivo’s older sister, Vololona.  She obviously has no fear of a large group of children.  She walks around the class carrying a big stick but I’ve never seen her use it and often times when I enter the class, if I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish the teacher from the children.  Vololona is very small and sometimes she’s more like a kid than an adult and she’s a very fun teacher.  That class has a lot of fun.  Those kids are the best singers and can they recite memory verses!  I love to question that group about the Bible story when class lets out each week.
          The third group is the teenage class plus Havilah.  They range in age from 13-20.  (Havilah is only ten but she knows too much Bible to be in with the younger group.)  There are about 10 students in the teenage group and Rivo teaches the class.  He’s determined to give those teenagers the foundation of Christ with a firm understanding of the Old Testament and why God had to send His Son.  They are a small group, but very loud, and they too sound like they have a lot of fun.  They meet in the orphanage storeroom. 
 These teachers need your prayers.  They well realize that they cannot accomplish anything with these children without God’s help and your prayers prompt the Father to send His help.  We also need your prayers so that others will be brave and make the big step in trying to take a part in teaching the children of this fledgling congregation.  We could use six teachers even now and only have three, but we know that if you ask, He will help others to be filled with faith and brave to boot.  Please pray.  Thanks. 
 

Barry in Kenya
Barry, Kit, and Havilah boarded the plane on August 30th.  They are off to Kenya.  School orientation is August 31st, and classes start on September 1st.  Barry is spending three days at the school getting them settled in and then he heads up country in Kenya to visit the Luo brethren and the churches we worked with while living in Kenya.  He will be three weeks teaching and encouraging old friends and family in Christ who live in western Kenya, and whom we haven’t seen for several years.  On his way back into Nairobi, Barry will be able to stop by the school for two days and check up on our two new boarding students.  He flies back to Madagascar on September 27th. 

Rosie Furlough
It’s election year and summer Olympics year.  The Rosie family have completed another four year term in Madagascar in August 2004, and the time has rolled around again for our regular furlough visit with family and friends in the States.  We should already have our bags packed and be looking forward to five months living out of carry-on suitcases and traveling through 23 states in our 22 year old Honda Civic on our usual tour of reporting.   It should be pretty obvious by now that the Rosie family is not going to be able to take a furlough at this time.  We are very sorry about that.  It’s been so long since we’ve seen you and since we’ve had an opportunity to share His work with you in person.  It’s been so long since we’ve heard about your work for Him, and it’s been a long time since we’ve shared a meal or a cup of tea together.  We can’t take that furlough because Kit and Havilah will not have a long enough school vacation to allow for a furlough and the school requires that the parents of the children be in Africa while the children are at the school.  We are asking you to understand why we are unable to come and report to you in person at this time, and we ask you to pray for us as we continue the work here.
 

• Pray for Tefy as he continues to adjust to the Malagasy way of doing things.  After two years in America, Tefy has seen that Madagascar is so different, and that he no longer fits into the Malagasy norm.
• Pray for Kit and Havilah as they start their studies in Kenya at Rift Valley Academy.  They will have a month long break in December when we will once again be a family.
• Pray for the teachers of our bible classes here in Madagascar.  All of the Christians are relatively new in Christ.  The oldest being only 8 years.  They need your prayers for strength and encouragement as they continue to plan and teach others about His kingdom in this world.