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His Work Go ... and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:19 |
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Volume
22, Number 3 |
March 2008 |
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The Barry Rosie family
have worked on the mission field in Africa for more than 23 years under the
oversight of the: |
Fraley’s Chapel |
Elders Mike Whitehurst -
662-287-7631 |
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Needed - Maintenance
Mentality?
Having recently returned to Madagascar from the states I soon found
myself looking at the way things were run, or better stated, not run at
Betikara while I was overseas. When I left Madagascar in July of 2007,
everything was operating normally. I made sure that all of the lights were
working, for instance, and that there were enough supplies in the store
room to carry on the weekly distribution of cleaning products and needed
food items save for rice which could not be stored for the duration of my
absence. This plan of course was contingent on the fact that the number of
orphans that were at Betikara did not increase during my absence. I made
sure that the electricity was paid via an automatic transfer out of the
bank account each month in order to save someone having to run to the
electric company to pay the monthly bills. I also made sure that there
were sufficient funds to cover all foreseeable
expenses.
Upon returning to Madagascar, I soon found that there was still
sufficient money in the bank. However, the store room was empty, several
of the fluorescent lights were not working, and only one of the four pumps
for getting water up to the orphanage building was operational. I found
out about the pumps when the final working pump went belly up and they
could not get it working. So, I took three pumps to be repaired, which
should have been done as soon as each pump stopped working. At least that
is what I have tried to teach them for the past two and one half years.
Needless to say, I was less than happy. It seems so easy to us as
Americans since we, for the most part, have a mentality for maintaining
equipment. We even have a saying for this that states, “A stitch in time
saves nine”. This maintenance attitude seems to be beyond not only the
Malagasy people, but for the most part most of mainland Africa. We
experienced this same maintenance attitude while we still lived in Kenya
between the years 1985 and 1997.
As Americans we consider running water and electricity to be two of
the basic needs of daily life. Many of the Malagasy people living now will
never have running water and electricity in their homes. So, you would
think that if running water and electricity are provided for them and they
see the benefits of these two items that they would enjoy their use and
try to maintain them. It just does not seem to work that way. They are
quick to return to kerosene lanterns or candles and water buckets in order
to provide for their daily needs of life.
So, it should not amaze me as a missionary when I repeatedly see
this happening over and over in the daily lives of both the Kenyan and the
Malagasy people. What does amaze me, however, is how long it took for this
“developing world” or “third world” maintenance attitude to sink into my
thick skull. It is only now that I am starting to realize the correlation
between the physical mindset and the spiritual mindset. If the people we
are trying to help both physically and spiritually cannot grasp what we
consider to be basic knowledge for their physical lives, that is necessary
for their survival from day to day, how can we expect them to grasp the
spiritual needs of their lives?
At first glance it would seem that we are fighting a losing battle.
After some reflection I would have to say that we are winning the battle,
but not in great strides. Another saying that is often used in America
would be appropriate right now, “Rome was not built in a day”. I can see
improvements that are taking place in the lives of the Malagasy Christians
that we work with daily. I can see how they are trying, but they still
lack the maintenance attitude that we have known for so many years. It is
the same way with the spiritual lives of the Malagasy people. They see the
difference that Christ can make in their lives. They try to follow Him in
their daily walks, but they lack the biblical teaching that we have
enjoyed for so many years. I should not expect them to have the same
outlook on life or on their faith as I do, because I have enjoyed the
advantage of growing up in a Christian family and receiving biblical
training at a Christian university. As far as the Malagasy Christians are
concerned, some of the “older Malagasy Christians” have only known Christ
for a total of 10 years or so (where as I have known Christ for 40 years,
four times longer), and they do not have the advantage of having grown up
in a Christian family. After all, they are the first generation of
Christians in the Malagasy church.
I need to follow the words of one wise man by the name of Solomon
when he said, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 This advice is good for
both the physical growth and the spiritual growth of the people in
Madagascar. The Malagasy people and the Christians in His church still
need training in order to carry on the work that is set before them. Work
still needs to be done in training them to have a maintenance attitude for
their lives.
Please join with me in prayer for the church of Madagascar. Pray
that the Malagasy Christians can learn to follow the Savior and to put
their trust in Him instead of in Men. A lot has been accomplished in the
short time that His church has been in Madagascar, but this is only the
beginning. His church still needs to learn to depend on Him and to
champion His cause in their daily lives. They still need to learn to trust
the Savior instead of things on this earth.
Matthew 6:19-20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal: (20) But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal:” KJV Did You Know . . .
. . . that as time passes we are seeing some changes in the
Malagasy culture and the mindset of the Malagasy people. However, the
changes that we are seeing are not necessarily for the better of the
country or the Malagasy people. Back in 2001 and 2002 we were so proud of
the Malagasy people during the political crisis over the national election
for president. The Malagasy people decided that they wanted peace instead
of taking sides with the two presidential candidates. For the most part
the internal violence was minimal.
Now, we are seeing a different Malagasy mindset. University
students are often rioting in the streets over what they consider to be
unjust actions taken by the university or the Malagasy government. Just
the other day their was another
riot in Madagascar. This time the riot was not caused by university
students. Rather, the riot was caused by the cancelling of a Sunday soccer
event at the national stadium. It was reported that the game was cancelled
because of one referee not showing up for the soccer match. The spectators
trashed the stadium and proceeded out into the streets to burn vehicles
along their path.
Needless to say, Madagascar is going through some changes, and we
ask that you pray for them. Please pray that the island nation of
Madagascar will not follow the path of so many African
nations.
Miniature
Missionaries
We are thinking about Kit and how he is going to fair over the
spring break this year. Many of you are with us in that you sent your son
or daughter off to college or university for the first time, and they are
experiencing life for themselves. We wonder how Kit is going to do, seeing
that he just recently got a drivers license for the first time and now he
has a car. Kit is looking forward to making a trip north from Faulkner
University via Virginia to visit an old classmate from Kenya. Then he will
be driving on to Pennsylvania to see one of his aunts in eastern
Pennsylvania and his mother who will be in the states until March 28, 2008
at Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania. The total calculated distance of
this trip is more than 2,250 miles that will be completed in 8 or nine
days (March 15 through March 23) with at least 4 of those days being
driving days. That is a lot of driving for a person that just received
their license about 4 months ago.
As with a lot of you, we are happy to see our child doing well at
university, but we are also concerned over what can happen when young,
inexperienced adults are on the roads for long trips during spring break.
Let’s face it, many university students never make it back to the campus
after spring break. While I was in the states reporting to all of you I
noticed a commercial on television that talked about this problem. The
commercial stated a certain percent of students that will never return
from their road trip. We ask that you join us in prayer for the safety of
all our children that are away from home and who will be travelling during
this season. this
and that A farewell to Brooke
McInerney
By the time you read this newsletter Brooke will have arrived at
Betikara and spent one month with the Betikara Lambs. Brooke lives in
Australia and is a member of a Church of Christ in
Perth. Betikara was not the only stop for Brooke on this trip. Brooke first stopped in South Africa to work with some AIDS children. As she leaves Betikara she is looking forward to another stopover on her trip that will take her to Singapore before arriving back home in Australia in about another month. Overall Brooke will be away from Australia and what she calls home for about three months.
Everyone at Betikara and the Rosie family thoroughly enjoyed having
Brooke around for the last month. We were pleased to find out how
dedicated and child oriented Brooke was upon her arrival at Betikara. We
have hosted many volunteers over the years and we feel that Brooke was
truly an asset to the work. Brooke was able to do several things to help
at the orphanage that you can read about in the March Betikara
newsletter.
It was so good to talk with Brooke and find out how the church in
Australia is getting along these days. We heard that Brooke’s mother was
the first person in their family to put on Christ in baptism and how
Brooke’s mother’s faith encouraged and changed the lives of the rest of
Brooke’s family. We are so thankful for the chance to get to know
Brooke. Stacy’s trip to the
states
Stacy left for the United States on March 10, 2008. Lord willing
she will return safely to Madagascar on March 28, 2008. During this trip,
that will be about three weeks long, Stacy will be fulfilling one of the
requirements for her Doctoral studies with the University of Phoenix.
During Stacy’s Masters degree all of her studies were online. However,
that is not the case with the Doctoral program. Stacy is required to be on
the university campus once a year in order to confer with her advisor for
her doctorial thesis and to take an “in class” course instead of an
“online” course.
Because this trip includes Easter weekend, Stacy will also be able
to visit with some of her family in Pennsylvania and also, Lord willing,
get to see Kit who has plans to drive north to Pennsylvania during his
spring break from Faulkner University. Please pray for their safety as
they travel both nationally and internationally.
What can you
do? You can
pray! ¨
Pray for the Malagasy
church so that the Christians can seek Him in everything that they do in
their daily lives. Pray that they might understand the commitment that is
required by Him and be ready to serve Him daily. ¨
Pray for Kit and all of
the other university students that will be on the national highways during
this Easter break from studying. ¨
Pray for Stacy as she
is in the United States studying at the University of Phoenix. Pray that
she will have safety in her travels via air and vehicle until she returns
here to Madagascar on March 28, 2008. ¨ Pray for Brooke and all of the other people who are so faithful in contributing their time and money to serve in Madagascar. |
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We welcome you to join us in this work for Him . . .
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Barry,
Stacy, Kit and Havilah Rosie Tel. 011-261-32-02-081-14 |