"Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." (Ps 127:1b NIV)
Psalm 127 was our reading together on Monday evening after tea. After that we both worked in our studies and just before 10pm Jane went through to the kitchen to get a drink before going to bed. She noticed some boxes placed rather randomly and cupboard doors open - and thought that David had been looking for something, But at that moment a man in black with a scarf on his head appeared from the back door. He approached Jane brandishing what looked like a gun and she backed rapidly towards the bedroom to call David. As she called out, the man suddenly turned and ran off. We called the watchmen to come from the hospital and began to go round and see what had happened. It seems that at least 2 men had broken in through a window. They had then found our door keys and opened the back door for their escape (or to let someone else in). They had been in the fridge and eaten the cheese, a banana, and drunk the milk! The only items they seem to have stolen were our set of kitchen knives, a garden machette, and David's flipflops. One of these we recovered at the fence where they had climbed over in escaping. (We are keeping our eyes open for a man wearing just one flipflop!). As we sat and recovered ourselves we remembered the words of Psalm 127 and our hearts were overflowing with praise to the Lord for His protection.
Last year it was drought. This year has been very different. 45 inches of rain since the New Year, and 14 inches in just 4 days last week! The small river that passes under the road going from the hospital into town (a mile away) has flooded on several occasions, making it difficult or impossible for our staff to come to work. This week a lorry bringing cement got stuck in the mud and after it had been extracted the road was completely impassable.
On Wednesday evening, while Jane was at the Sunday school preparation meeting in the hospital classroom, there was a massive downpour. This prolonged the meeting as the participants could hardly hear one another talking. The rain was accompanied by a very strong wind and was actually the first horizontal rain of the year (those who have lived in the tropics will understand). It poured into our house through the (closed) windows and David had mopped up 3 bucketfuls of water in the sitting room and bedroom before Jane returned.
Sometimes we seem to be running just to stay still! We would appreciate your prayers that such "interruptions" in life would not deflect us from the purpose the Lord has put us here - to bring the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
At this time of year the hospital is noticeably quieter than during the dry season. People are busy working in the rice fields and non-urgent medical conditions take a low priority. Financial resources are also low, the price of rice rises, and people are unwilling to commit themselves to expenses they can ill afford. The third reason is that most of the roads are impassable and the only way to the hospital is to walk or be carried like the paralysed man in Mark 2. Two memorable patients were carried in from Marotandrano (30 miles south) recently. Clarisse is a lady of 32 who was hoping for her second living child (others had died). The baby was lying obliquely in her womb and when labour started the baby's arm came out. That was on Tuesday evening. They could not find a team to carry her until the next morning and it was only Thursday mid-day when she was carried exhausted into the hospital. By this time the baby had long been dead, but amazingly the uterus had not ruptured. Recovery from the subsequent Caesarean Section was slow, but Clarisse is now doing well. Fidelis is a strong man in his mid 30's. He had been suffering from abdominal pains, and began to develop signs of intestinal obstruction. His family gathered a team of strong men and they managed to cover the 30 miles in one day. Fidelis's abdomen was very distended and he was in great discomfort. He was apprehensive - he had obviously never been anywhere like our hospital before, nor heard anything of the gospel message. At operation he had a tuberculous mass at the junction of the small and large intestine, so we had to perform a by-pass anastomosis to allow the intestinal contents to pass. He has been a model patient, cared for by his devoted mother (his wife and 3 children are back in the village). He has taken everything in - the care, the gospel messages and the daily life in the hospital. Please pray for him, for Clarisse and many others that we see every day, that the Lord would turn them from their idols and ancestor worship to trust in Him.
This is a village 10km away that Zoky Solo has been visiting every fortnight. Around 100 people are meeting there to hear the Word of God. There has been no Christian witness of any sort there in the past and the whole village has followed the way of the ancestors. On a recent visit a couple asked Solo what they should do with all their fetishes as they wanted to leave the old ways and follow Jesus. The best thing would be to burn them, Solo said. This would show real commitment and be a witness to the rest of the village. A bonfire was held and they burnt everything. Solo said that the sense of freedom in their faces was a joy to behold. Another lady came to Solo and said she had done the same thing a few weeks previously - not burning the fetishes, but throwing them all into the river!
With our love,
David and Jane
Gifts for the project should be sent to:
Mr Derek Alcock
Friends of Mandritsara Trust
244 Obelisk Rise
Northampton
NN2 8TW
email: derek@mandritsara.org.uk
Please make out cheques to "Friends of Mandritsara Trust" (F.O.M.T.) Gift Aid forms are available.