At some point missionaries need to turn over the workings of the church to the members of the church.  The members need to rely on themselves and their faith. 

          I assume that the question is, what plans do we have for subtracting ourselves from this work?
  I'm glad someone asked this question.  It's a wise question, one that every missionary and every supporting church should be asking.  We are happy to answer it, but please forgive us if the answer is long and tiring, because it is a difficult question. 
          To begin to answer, we must go back a ways to our work in Kenya, because in Kenya, that's exactly what we did, we subtracted ourselves from the work.  First of all, we were second generation missionaries in that work in Kenya.  The original team worked for 16 years before we arrived on the field.  We shared a year with the last family of that team who had already worked for 16 years.  The Rosie family worked in that area for an additional twelve years, planting some new churches but mostly maturing churches that had been planted a long time earlier.  It was only after 28 years of working with multiple congregations and church leaders that it was generally felt we could leave the work to the local Christians and that it could continue to succeed.  Succeed is what the church in South Nyanza Kenya has done.  Just a few months ago, Barry was back in that area for a visit and saw local Christians still on the front lines as the fight for Christ continues.  Those Christians begged him to come back and live and work with them.  You must know in all this, that in Kenya there were almost 50 different mission families in almost as many different areas.  The churches in Kenya scatter across the country and the Christians in each tribe have other Christians in other tribes with which to fellowship and grow.
          In Madagascar, the picture is completely different.  We are not the second generation missionaries here.  There was no church in Madagascar when we made our first trip to this country in 1994.  Barry baptized the first two correspondence course students in 1994.  Barry made additional trips to Madagascar in both 95 and 96.  It was not until 97 that our family moved to Madagascar and the church actually began to worship together at that time.  We spent almost one year with that first congregation and when we felt that they were ready to stretch their wings, we, along with a few members of that congregation moved on to begin the second congregation in Madagascar.  We worked with that second congregation for almost four years.  It was during the time of the political crisis and when fuel was nowhere to be found in this city, that we were forced to begin a third congregation in the area of our home.  This third congregation moved to the orphanage land and expanded in 2003.  We have worked with them for just short of two years. So, in fact, we have already subtracted ourselves and our presence from two congregations here in Madagascar leaving them with local leadership, local preachers, but no elders to date.  However, we are confident that those congregations can carry on without us and will eventually have elderships. 
          The third congregation is a bit of a different story, because now we are outside of the city limits and are working with people who are generally functionally illiterate.  We expect that it will take longer before this congregation is ready to stand on it's own.  And when it is ready to stand on it's own, there is a whole island here larger than the size of Texas, with many areas that can only be reached by plane or helicopter.  Our dream is to first see a congregation in each of the major cities (9) in Madagascar before we can even begin to move into the remote areas.  Remember, Madagascar does not have 50 missionary families in almost as many different areas.  It only has the Rosie family and some very dedicated and talented local Christians.
          Our original commitment to Madagascar was for 12 years in the capital city with a re-evaluation at the end of those twelve years.  Our dream has been to move to the remoter areas at the end of the twelve years if all is well with our family and our health.  We have completed 7 1/2 of those twelve years. 
          Do we have a plan to subtract ourselves from this work?  Yes.  That plan is already in progress.  Will we do it quickly?  Probably not.  One family can only do so much.
          After this long conversation concerning the church, we still have the orphanage to think of.  The new home for the orphans is built.  The school attached to the orphanage is only half built.  The orphanage team has a four phase plan, two phases of which have not even been started.  We are at the very beginnings of training a team of Malagasy people to carry on the day to day workings and directorship of the orphanage.  This too will take time. 
          We deeply appreciate your ongoing support.  The work is in progress.  The local Christians are growing daily.  There will be a time in the future when the Rosie family will subtract themselves from this third congregation and from the orphanage.  We have trusted in God to guide this work and we know that He will fix the time when our leaving is appropriate and when it will leave behind a successful and growing church, led by local Christians. 
          Please do continue to ask questions.  We value your interest, your support, and your guidance.  We pray for you as you work for the Savior there in our homeland, and we ask your continued prayerful support of this work for Him among the Malagasy people.
 

• Pray for us, and the Christians here in Madagascar as we grow together and prayerfully plan for the future of the Lord’s work.
• Pray that we can work with the Christian men of the Ambohimarina congregation and help them be more faithful and dedicated to His cause instead of their cause.
• Pray for the women’s classes that are continuing.  Pray that the women can be a light that shines for their husbands, in the community and helps the congregation to grow for Him.
• Pray for Havilah as she attends school here in Madagascar.  Pray that she can adapt to the school situation, and that she can fit in with and be accepted by the other students at the school.