What are the Chances?

I was in the grocery store today. I had Phyllip and one of his friends with me. They were behind me. I turned around to ask the boys to get me a cart. I called Phyllip.

An older gentleman was passing by me as I said Phyllip's name. He said, "What?" I looked at him puzzled. Then he says, "My name is Phillip." I started laughing and said, "I'm sorry. I was talking to my son behind you." He said, "I was wondering because I've never seen you before!"

What are the chances of that happening? About 1 in a million?!!!

This and That in Madagascar

Thursday, April 10

We hadn't been able to exchange money for a couple of days because the machine that links to the US banks wasn't able to get a connection. Imagine being a missionary, needing money, going to the bank daily to get it only to be turned away because of technology. We know how that feels because we experienced it. We went to the bank 3 days in a row before we were able to get money.

A little side note - while in the bank I saw a Malagasy man walk in wearing a purple shirt and hot pink tennis shoes! Nothing wrong with that - just a little odd!

Ja needed to pay a bill after we were done at the bank so we walked from the bank. An elderly man that had visited the church several times just so happened to see us walking down the street with Ja. He told Ja he needed some money. Keep in mind that Ja was incredibly sick and to have this guy following us talking and talking and talking just added to Ja's exhaustion. He followed us to the shop, waited til we were done, and walked back to the car with us.

On the way back to the car we stopped and talked to a couple of young ladies. They had helped Ja find a piece of land that he would like to purchase for the church. Ja was just saying hello to them. The man that had followed us the whole time proceeded to tell Ja that he (Ja) needed to pray with them. It was like this old man just knew what these girls needed! Anyway, he still followed us back to the car and begged Ja for a ride. The only seat available (even if Ja was willing to give him a ride) was in the back next to me. Ja told him no. If Ja started giving 1 man a ride and word got out, he'd have to give everyone a ride. So the answer was no.

The mid-week church services are on Thursday evenings. Ja was incredibly sick with pneumonia so he asked another missionary, Richard Jertberg, to preach. Great message!

After church, I was talking with some of the Malagasy women and girls (through an interpreter, of course). Around me was Madame Bertine (pronounced Ber theen), Oly (pronounced oo lee), Ephrazee, Lucy, Adriana, and others. Madame Bertine was at my cooking classes. She wanted me to teach her how to make pizza. Anyway, she made the following comment. "If I eat your American food, I will become fat like Pastor Ja!" I was absolutely appalled, offended, etc.! I couldn't believe the nerve of this woman to say that about her pastor! I told her that I would NEVER tell that to him! She was laughing!

Well. I found out a little later that Madame Bertine was actually complimenting Ja because the Malagasy people actually want to put on weight and be "fat." Can you say 'odd, weird, over the top, etc.'? I'm not sure I could ever get used to someone calling me fat and it being a compliment.

I was still talking to the girls at church and they asked me my age. Earlier in the week, LuCein had asked me my age and I was quite uncomfortable telling him - but I did. I didn't want to tell them my age. I mean, after all, a lady doesn't tell her age, ya know! Richard Jertberg overheard the conversation and said that it's a custom to tell your age there. And the people are proud of their age, too. I thought, "Custom or not, I don't want to tell them!" I compromised and whispered it in several girls' ears which made them extremely giggly.

While talking with the women and girls of the church they asked me my name and Walter's. I told them and you should have seen them try to say it! It was so funny! They had the hardest time putting the sounds together! But they tried and tried and tried and finally got it, kinda.

This is my friend, Oly. I tried to take a picture of us together. Didn't work too well.

I tried again. Still didn't work too well.

So, I had to have Walter take a picture of us to get a decent one.

A Trip to the Hospital and Much More

Wednesday, April 9

Lots of things happened on this particular day.

Walter and I decided to take a pousse to the Pritchards home instead of walking. On our ride, we passed by some drivers sitting by the road with no work at that moment. I noticed one of them point to me and say something to the other guy. The other guy looked at me and whistled at me and both were smiling! Awkward to say the least!

Our morning started out with a trip to the bank to convert money. However, the machine that connects to the USA was broken. So......no money. It was a good thing we still had some!

We went to the "good" hospital in Antsirabe. Ja was very sick and needed to be seen by a doctor. Turns out he had pneumonia! The hospitals there in Madagascar are not where I would want to spend ANY time! That was the first hospital I've ever been to where live chickens roamed the hallways! It's also the first hospital I've ever been to where the hallways were outside, too!

If you enlarge this picture you will see the chicken! Notice the maternity sign.

The picture above is where you have to go to pay before any services will be performed. Ja had to go there and pay for his x-ray before he could have it done (a mere $3.50).

After we left the hospital, we went to the market again. Remember, it's an open-air market. Nothing refrigerated. Not sure that I could get used to buying fresh meat that hasn't been refrigerated. Know what I mean?

We moved on to the area that sells grains, pasta, sugar, etc. First of all, the people are short. I felt like a giant in that part of the market because I had to keep my head ducked so I didn't hit the roof all the time. While we were waiting for our items, I looked over my shoulder to see a small "cafe," if you will, behind me. I noticed one of the customers. I looked at his plate to see it overflowing with rice (I mean, rice piled very high) and on top 2 small bites of meat. That's their diet. They must have rice with every meal. The Pritchards housekeepers were much smaller than us and they ate about 3 times as much as Walter! We tried to tell them they need to eat more vegetables and protein and not so much rice and they said, "No. We must have rice with every meal."

From that area of the market we moved over to the fruit. We passed by a small shop that sold what I think was cooked meat of some kind. All I know is the smell was AWFUL! There were more flies on that meat than on the raw meat and the smell was WORSE than the smell of the raw meat! It actually made me want to vomit!

I admire all the missionaries there in Madagascar and around the world who are willing to live in countries where this is normal everyday life. I can tell you that I was willing to live there if the Lord would have led that direction. These kinds of things didn't sway us in either direction as far as our decision. We would have learned to live with it and get used to it.

The day before, I had given out recipe cards translated into Malagasy to the church ladies that attended the cooking class. We decided to have them laminated. Funny thing is that you don't have things laminated in Madagascar. You have them plastified! Hence the picture below.

I saw this sign in the "Kodak" store and thought it was hilarious and had to get a picture! This is where I sent Rado to have the recipe cards "plastified!" The ladies loved the "plastified" ones but the ones I did in English were taken much faster. I made sure I got one of the "plastified" ones to bring home with me as a souvenir.

On to my second cooking class. I was teaching how to make potato pancakes. Since the Malagasy people don't usually have electricity, I couldn't show them how nifty a food processor was in shredding potatoes (I used Rachel's food processor before my class because it was so much easier than the Malagasy tool). So....I had to go to the market and find the tool they use to shred vegetables. Not sure what they call it but it only cost 50 cents. Thankfully I had Sophie with me so she could get it. I just handed her the money and away she went!

I decided that since the interactive cooking class was such a hit the night before that I would have the ladies do everything again. I told them they needed to wash their hands (sad thing that you have to tell grown women to wash their hands but....I don't want to get sick!). Lickety split, they were all at the sink washing their hands with soap and water! I showed them everything; Sophie interpreted; they took over; we had a great time! And the best part - they LOVED the recipe again! Enjoy the pictures below of the class.

Sophie interpreting for me



The ladies had a great time. They had smiles on their faces the whole time we were together.

The ladies enjoyed this recipe so much that they asked Ja if they could make them and sell them the following week during Walter's creation class that he was going to be teaching! I was very flattered! Ja told them yes and that's a whole other post!

Cooking Class and Preparing for a Creation Class

Tuesday, April 8

I decided to give each of the church ladies a copy of each recipe I was going to teach. I printed them up and put them on 3 x 5 cards. Only one problem. I forgot that most of them don't read English! So.....I had Sophie translate them into Malagasy. Then her husband, Rado, retyped them in Malagasy for me. Then we decided to give them both the English and Malagasy recipes.

I was incredibly nervous about teaching! I'm the person that likes to blend in with the wallpaper on the walls. Not the person up front doing the speaking! *grin* And then to have an interpreter on top of that makes one already nervous person incredibly panicked! I had to pray really hard. And the Lord blessed and everything went better than I expected.

The first thing I taught them was cleanliness in food preparation. The Malagasy people aren't very careful when it comes to raw meat and fresh fruits and vegetables. Either they don't know about the risk of becoming sick when there's cross contamination or they don't care. I'm not sure which is correct. So....I spoke to them on that. Basically, I just reenforced what the Pritchards have been teaching them.

On to teaching the ladies how to cook pancakes. I showed them the ingredients and put it all together and then had them come up to where I was to watch me pour the batter into the pan. The ladies loved it! I can't tell you what a relief it was to see them want to take over and cook themselves! I told them "go for it" and they did. Better yet, when they ate the pancakes, they loved it!

The pots in the background behind me are the pots the Malagasy people use to cook with. Typically, they only have one pot. Sophie is next to me interpreting. The look on my face is weird to say the least. No, I was not mad at all. Walter snapped the picture at an awkward moment.

I consider myself a pretty good cook. But it was interesting to cook on something so different. I almost needed the ladies to show me how to cook on their "stove" (really a charcoal burner).

The pots would get so hot that we had to take them off the burner for a few minutes so the pancakes didn't burn. Hence, the picture above.

The ladies that came to the class. The one reading the paper is my interpreter's sister. Her name is Vula (pronounced Voo luh).

Walter gave a short Bible study/devotion with each cooking class I did. The ladies seemed to enjoy it.

Earlier in the day, Bro. Ja had asked my husband to have a sign made advertising the creation class that he would be teaching. He also wanted a flyer made up to pass out to the people on the streets. Ja went to the local radio station and had an advertisement put on the radio about it, too.

Walter found a nice piece of wood to have the sign painted on. Walter, LuCein and I set out on a walk (it was a very long walk) to the paint shop. Really, it was more like a shack. LuCein explained to the men exactly what we wanted done. They nodded their heads saying they understood the directions. Walter then had LuCein tell them that we wouldn't pay if the job was done wrong. They said ok. In the Malagasy culture if the people perform a job for you, you must pay even if the job is done wrong. Walter told them "no way" if you don't do it right. LuCein told us later that it was a good thing to tell them to do it right the first time!

Some pictures of downtown Antsirabe. Notice how the Malagasy are surrounding all the 'white' people. They are 'rich' and must give the Malagasy money!

This is an actual picture of the pizza delivery truck! I was surprised. What's even more surprising is that there are quite a few pizza places there. And the people love it, too. In fact, several of the ladies asked me if I would teach them how to make it. Even if I could figure out how to make it on their charcoal burners, the people couldn't afford to buy the ingredients. The pizza there is just ok. Nothing like what we have here in America.

Plantlife

I decided to take a little break from my journal today and just post some pictures of the beautiful plants that are found in Madagascar.

80% of the plants in Madagascar are found nowhere else in the world. As well, 70% of the animals (to include reptiles, amphibians, etc.) in Madagascar are found nowhere else in the world. The country is absolutely gorgeous (at least in the highlands where we were)! We saw pictures of other parts of the country and I think it looks beautiful there as well.

This is a giant poinsettia tree! They grow wild.

This is called the traveler's tree and it's huge!

Walter is standing next to some sort of a palm tree.

Giant azalea bushes

The first 5 pictures were taken on the property across the street from the Pritchards.

















This is a field of anana (pronounced a nuh nuh). It's greens the people eat. They are very bitter but the people really like it.

Most of the plants I don't even know what they are. But I think they're quite pretty.

Visitation in a Malagasy Home and Learning How to Convert English Measures to Metric Measures

Monday, April 7

Ja wanted to visit a lady that had come to the church a few times. He always takes one of the preacher boys with him for 2 reasons. First, to use them as interpreters and second, to train them for when they start a church. We took Rado with us.

So Ja, Rado, Walter and I piled into the car and drove over to her home. I hadn't yet been inside any of the homes of the poorer people so it was quite eye opening. The size of the home was maybe 10 feet long and about 6 feet wide. That's the whole house from front to back! And we here in America complain about having only 1000 square feet (for example). I think they have maybe 100 square feet.

Bernard and Madame Cecille were both home and they welcomed us with open arms and big, bright smiles. They got out their chairs for us and gave us their beds to sit on and Madame Cecille sat on a child's bed. Ja spoke and Rado interpreted.

Rado reading from a Malagasy Bible to Bernard and Madame Cecille

Madame Cecille sitting on a child's bed so we could have the "good" seats.

Bernard is in the background. Ja and Rado talking to him. By the way, we were sitting on bunkbeds.

Talking to the Malagasy people about salvation is completely different than here in America. The Malagasy have been taught by other religions about heaven. So if you ask them if they know for sure they're going to heaven they say yes. If you ask them if they know Jesus they say yes. They know all about heaven. But the one thing they don't know about is Hell. They've not been taught that they are sinners and are on their way to Hell. So that's where Ja starts out talking to them. He takes them all the way back to Adam and Eve and the story of the Garden of Eden and works forward to the Ten Commandments and then on to the story of our Saviour and why Christ died on the cross for us. He usually takes about an hour with each visit he makes just so that the people understand what the Bible says about salvation and why we need a saviour.

Also, the people are very gracious. They will gladly welcome you into their home. They will listen to you. They don't slam the door in your face like here in America. The people are very open to the Gospel.

So we were there for quite a while. It was a wonderful experience to watch Bernard and Madame Cecille as they came to an understanding of salvation. Just to watch the expressions on their faces change and you could see that they wanted to accept Christ as their Saviour was priceless! They both accepted Christ and were even more thankful we had stopped by.

Bernard and Madame Cecille gladly let us take pictures with them.

I think those children are their grandchildren.

Notice how much taller we are than Bernard and Madame Cecille!

Visitation went like that the whole time we were there in Antsirabe. Walter told me time and time again as he went with Bro. Pritchard and the preacher boys that people were getting saved. Getting them into church is a bit harder because the crime is pretty high. Not against the foreigners, but Malagasy against Malagasy. Families always leave 1 person home so that their belongings don't get stolen. There's a family in the church where the husband stays home so their only cow doesn't get stolen!

As we were leaving, we saw these children playing Zebu (cow) pulling a cart full of bricks. One boy was the herder with a whip and another boy was the Zebu. What was so funny to us is the boy playing the Zebu didn't realize that his bricks were falling off one by one as he continued down the path!

After we were done at Bernard's we stopped by the market to buy some potatoes. I needed 10 pounds of potatoes because I was going to teach the church ladies how to make potato pancakes and good old-fashioned pancakes. I was to do a trial run of cooking on the charcoal burner that the Malagasy use. I needed to experiment with that as well as get used to having Sophie interpret for me.

So we get to the market and Ja tells the woman running the vegetable market that we need potatoes. He converts pounds to kilos and the woman comes back with a very large bag of potatoes. Ja tells her it's too much but he can't remember the exact conversion. Walter and I told the woman it was fine. We ended up buying 17 kilos of potatoes. We could tell the bag was way more than we wanted but we figured we'd use them up quickly anyway. We only paid $7.50 for all those potatoes. When we got home, Rachel told us that we ended up buying 34 pounds of potatoes!

This is a little shop on the side of the road that sells the charcoal cookers.

The black stuff in the middle basket is charcoal that they make themselves to cook with.

Church

Sunday, April 6

After a terrible night's sleep and no hot water for a shower, we were needing to hear from the Lord!

We went to church and enjoyed a Malagasy Sunday school class. Ja preached with an interpreter. We were thankful to be able to understand the message.

Below are some pictures of the congregation at New Life Baptist Church.

Ja is preaching with LuCein as the interpretor and Nina (pronounced Ny nu) signing for their deaf ministry.

Then it was Walter's turn. He preached the worship hour - with an interpreter, of course. The interpreter's name was Ravo (pronounced Rah voo). He only preached for about 20 minutes. He said it felt a whole lot longer with an interpreter.

After church, Ja took up a special love offering for one of the families in the church that had just welcomed a new baby. It is Malagasy custom for the family's church and/or extended family to bring a special offering of money to the mother and father. It's kind of like a baby shower. So after the offering was counted, the church walked over to the family's home with the money and performed the traditional ceremony. Everything was said in Malagasy so I didn't understand it but I did get pictures of everyone walking to the home and pictures of the family. I only remember the wife's name - Madame Vula (pronounced Voo lu).

walking to the "baby shower"

the family was kind enough to pose for a picture with us

This picture was taken on the way to the "baby shower"
It's a Malagasy milkman! Walter, of course, had to have a picture!

The evening service was dedicated to the graduation of all the kids and adults that have been learning English at the New Life Learning and Educational Center that the Pritchards started.

It had been a warm day. The church building had both doors and all the windows open. They were expecting a large crowd of people. The building holds about 80 people. However, 144 people showed up! Nobody owns an air conditioner in a 4th world country! The building was stifling hot! I couldn't stay in there. It was unbearable! Not to mention the fact that the Malagasy people do not wear deoderant! The smell was horrible to say the least! So I stood in the doorway for most of the service. I did go in to take pictures of the crowd and then made my way outside.

After the jr. aged kids had graduated from their class, Walter taught them in kind of a jr. church setting with the help of LuCein. The funny thing about the Malagasy people is they don't ask questions. Walter would ask if they understood and they would shake their heads yes. He gave them the Gospel. He showed them from the Bible the meaning of salvation. He prayed with them as a whole class and they all repeated the "sinner's prayer." He asked them if they had any questions and they just looked at him with a blank look on their faces. It was so different from our own church kids back here in the states. They are full of questions!