Among the Malagasy People of Madagascar
Go ... and make disciples of all nations
Matthew 28:19
| His
Work
Among the Malagasy People of Madagascar Go ... and make disciples of all nations
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| Volume 21, Number 4 | April 2007 |
| The Barry Rosie family have worked on the mission field in Africa for more than 21 years under the oversight of the: | Fraley’s Chapel
Church of Christ c/o Phillip Young 140 C.R. 170 Corinth, MS 38834 |
Elders
Eugene Holland - 662-287-1721 Jerry Bates - 662-287-3351 |
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The 2007 Marriage Seminar that Fielden and Janet Allison taught in Madagascar is now history. We have a lot of pictures this time, because we would like you to pray specifically for each Christian husband - wife couple that attended the seminars. Fielden and Janet were only here for one week, but they touched a lot of different lives. Pictured above are some of the people that attended the marriage seminar from two different congregations in the Antananarivo area. We were blessed with an attendance of 16 people (5 married couples) at Ambohimarina for the marriage and family teaching that covered three days for the adults. The teaching on marriage and family for the Betikara Lambs covered two days, and 23 were present each day. The Saturday seminar at Ankadivato was attended by 16 people. There were two married couples. The rest of the people that attended were young single adults.
We are thankful
for all of the work that Fielden and Janet did during the week. We are
also thankful for Tefy and the time that he spent translating all of the
marriage teaching material that was in English into the Malagasy language,
and for the time that Tefy spent with us each day as he translated for
the Allison’s as they taught the marriage seminar. Tefy is not married
presently, but he received a lot of good teaching just as the others who
attended, and were richly blessed. Please remember to pray for Tefy and
Felana as they plan their future lives together in the Lord.
Tiana and Hanitra
& Solofo and Tiana were two couples that attended every adult session
of the marriage seminar at Ambohimarina. At the end of the seminar on Tuesday
afternoon they each received a certificate of completion from the Allison’s.
The other married couples that attended (but not every session) did not
receive a certificate, but they did receive God’s plan for their lives
in Marriage.
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| Did You Know. . .
. . . that there is an interesting website that shows all of the cyclone paths for the 2006 - 2007 Indian Ocean cyclone season? You will see how the cyclones traveled and how some of them came close to, and hit Madagascar. Just copy and past the following link into your web browser or click below if you are interested. |
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A Far Reaching Malagasy Custom Some of you may already know that my mothers youngest brother died on March 6, 2007. My uncles name was Jerry Williams and he was only 56 years old, and the youngest of four children. He left behind a wife, children, and grandchildren. His passing did not come as a surprise, since he was sick for several months. During Jerry’s sickness I was able to talk to the Christians at Ambohimarina about some of our American customs for sickness and death. I told them that I was not expected to be present at the funeral, seeing that my family understood that I was living so far away at the time of Jerry’s death. These discussions often led to the Malagasy Christians talking about what they do for families that are in need of help during sickness and what they do for deaths when it is impossible for the Malagasy family members to visit their families when there is a death. The Malagasy people do not spend a lot of time on funerals, at least not as much time as is given to funerals by the Luo people in Kenya. The Malagasy do believe in ancestral worship and they do feel strongly that they need to honor the family and dead family member. This can be seen by their custom of famadiana “turning the bones” for the ancestors that have gone on before them to another life. So, what do the Malagasy people do when someone dies and they cannot attend the funeral personally? How do they honor the family and the dead family member? The Malagasy people have a custom of paying their respects, even if several years have passed before they are able to get together with the family. This custom is often carried out at the home of the deceased, but not always. We observe this custom regularly at the Ambohimarina congregation. If there is a member of the Ambohimarina congregation that has suffered the loss of a family member an announcement is made to the congregation. The proceedings to “visit” the family always take place at the end of the worship service and after the closing prayer. The family members that are present are called to the front of the building and are asked to sit down. If a husband or wife is not present at the time of the “visit” a Christian is designated to sit in for the absent family member. Then male representatives from the congregation get up and talk to the family of the deceased. There is a formal way of addressing the family. Many times a prayer is said for the family and sometimes even a song is sung by those present. During this time, Malagasy custom is followed in giving the family members an envelope that has a token amount of money inside for the family. The whole proceeding only takes about five minutes, and is done in place of the congregation going to the family home. We have experienced this custom for ten years now, but until recently we did not realize just how deeply rooted or far reaching this custom is in the Malagasy peoples lives. You can imagine how shocked we were when Stacy and I were asked to come to the front of the building and sit down. We had no idea that the Malagasy custom concerning death was going to be followed on our behalf due to the death of my uncle Jerry in America. We feel deeply honored that the Ambohimarina congregation considers us a part of their family. Please pray for our Malagasy Christian family in Madagascar. |
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| Miniature Missionaries
Havilah continues to reach out to the Lambs of Betikara. Almost every Saturday, Havilah is ready to get in the car with me and go to Ambohimarina. I am always busy with the weekly men’s meeting. Havilah, on the other hand, is always ensconced with the Betikara Lambs. They spend their time together practicing singing in three different languages. They are busy practicing songs that they hope to be able to put on a CD for your listening pleasure later this year. School for Havilah continues to improve. We just received her latest report card. Although there is still some room for improvement, the teachers are all praising Havilah for her social skills that continue to blossom at the American School of Antananarivo. We thank you for your past prayers on behalf of Havilah and ask that you continue to lift her up to the Father as she matures into a Christian woman. |
| Rosie Family Furlough Plans
Things are shaping up as the time draws closer for our trip to the United States. Stacy and Havilah will, Lord willing, be leaving the United States on August 6th from Washington Dulles International Airport. Kit is required to be at Faulkner University by the evening of August 10, 2007 for the start of Freshmen Orientation (August 11, 2007) that will finish on August 17, 2007. That leaves only four days for Kit and I to get to Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. Most likely we will pass by Three Chopt Road congregation in Richmond, Virginia for Wednesday night bible study on August 8, 2007. Kit and I will need to leave Thursday morning, August 9, 2007 to continue our journey on to Montgomery. Don’t worry, I intend to get back to the Richmond area in my future travels. Most likely I will pass through Richmond again after I finish visiting my family and our supporting congregations in the state of Florida. Faulkner University encourages the families of freshmen students to attend the freshman orientation. That means I will be worshiping somewhere with Kit in Montgomery on Sunday, August 12th and August 19, 2007. At the present time, once orientation is over I will making my way towards the Corinth, Mississippi area. This area is where our sponsoring congregation is located as well as several congregations that support the Madagascar work and the Betikara Orphanage. Lord willing I will be at Fraley’s Chapel Church of Christ on August 22, 2007 for the Wednesday night bible study. Once I have reported to all of the congregations in the Corinth area, I will head up into Tennessee and report to churches in Tennessee. Then from Tennessee on to Arkansas and further destinations west. As you can see, this plan is still sketchy. We seek your continued prayers as time gets closer for our visit to the United States. |
| What can you do?
You can pray!
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We welcome you to join us in this work for Him . . .
| Barry, Stacy, Kit and Havilah Rosie
B.P. 7554 101 Antananarivo Madagascar Tel. 011-261-32-02-081-14
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