Previous Prayer News
Prayer News 20 May 2004
Dear Friends
"So
shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11
"Let us
not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not give
up". Galatians 6:9
We are grateful
to those who do not grow weary in reading our letters and praying! We have a
number of particular encouragements to share that remind us of the Lord's
faithfulness in keeping His promises.
BIENVENUE is a stonemason (stone
cutter) from Antananarivo, where his father and numerous brothers shared the
same trade. About 15 years ago he moved here with the French construction
company who were building the road to Mandritsara. Here he met Eudoxy, a young
woman from Ile Sainte Marie, off the east coast, who was also here with the
construction team - she was the French foreman's cook and housekeeper. When the
building company left, Bienvenue and Eudoxy stayed on to guard things that had
been left behind in the house the Frenchman had rented (a big house which now
belongs to the hospital, and where several of our missionaries stay). They
lived together and had a baby boy, Edouard. In 1993 we and the Coutignys moved
to Mandritsara and into the house and Eudoxy and Bienvenue started to work for
us. Edouard was a babe in arms. When he was about one he became seriously ill
with fever and diarrhoea. For 3 weeks he hovered on the brink of death. That
was before we had the hospital, so he was being treated at home.
At that stage
Eudoxy was attending meetings with the Jehovah's witnesses. When we had almost
given up hope, Edouard began to recover. Eudoxy was very touched by the Lord's
goodness to her and grateful for those who had prayed. She attended the women's
meeting that Ann and Jane had begun, and later started coming to church. Then
she put her trust in the Lord and has been faithfully following Him ever since.
A few years ago Bienvenue and Eudoxy were married in the Town Hall. Whilst we
were very happy about that, Bienvenue still showed no sign of spiritual
interest.
A couple of
years ago David ran a Bible study in John's gospel for the hospital workmen and
Bienvenue came along. He started to come to church (with their 5 children now!)
and it seems that some months ago the Lord opened his heart. It was a joy to
see his big smile as he gave witness to his faith at his baptism.
RASOAZAFY is a young woman from a
village a few kilometres from here. In July and August 2001 we held the annual
Children's Holiday Bible Club in a village some distance from hers. She somehow
heard about the club and brought along her children and other children from the
village. She was absolutely delighted with the teaching she heard, the visual
aids the children took home and the songs they learnt. Julien, our pastor, took
her, and a few other adults who came, and gave them some Bible teaching. From
then until now she has walked in faithfully each Sunday for church, bringing a
group of children with her to Sunday School. What a joy it was to see her too,
testifying to her faith in the Lord Jesus.
MATERNITY PROJECT
We have often
written about the desperate need for good maternity services here. In order to
set up a maternity department in the hospital we need a building and midwives.
There has been progress in both of these areas.
BUILDING
In our last
letter we mentioned our request to the Dutch Evangelical Broadcasting
Association (Metterdaad) for financial help with construction of the maternity
unit. We are extremely grateful to Derek and Brenda Alcock who spent most of
April with us in order to prepare a financial report for Metterdaad. After
Derek's report had gone in we received this reply from Holland: "Greetings
from Holland! What we received from Mr. Alcock was what we need. If everything
goes as planned the Committee will decide about your request in their meeting
of 1 July 2004." Please pray about that meeting.
Our next big
need will be for a mission builder to come and direct the construction. We have
a good Malagasy building engineer who will supervise the technical aspects,
supplies etc, but what we now need is a hands-on builder. That would be much
better than employing a local building contractor.
MIDWIVES
Dorith Liniger
is a Swiss nurse who has worked here for several months in the past. For almost
two years she has been patiently and determinedly applying for the necessary
permission to study as a midwife at a rural hospital in South Africa (Mseleni/Manguzi).
She wrote on 14 May: "the nearly unbelievable thing has happened, I
received my study permit yesterday! Praise God and now it opens the way to get
the required registration paper to then start the training in July this summer."
Please pray for
Dorith, and pray for other midwives that we will need.
NEW STAFF
Hilde
Vlaminckx, a nurse from Belgium who worked here previously, has arrived
back and is living in the house next door to us. She has taken over
responsibility for the ward and we are very grateful for the stability and
experience that she brings.
Esther
Kaempf,
secretary/administrator from Switzerland, is settling in and gradually taking
over many of David's administrative tasks - sending emails, keeping the mission
finances, organising the MAF flights, looking after the Bible bookstall - she
is more or less on top of all that now. We hope she will soon be able to keep
the website information regularly updated - liasing with Caroline Bunting in
London who actually puts the information up there.
MEDICAL WORK
Since we last
wrote we have had a number of unusual cases. One was a young man who says he
was calling on his girlfriend in town about midnight when he heard someone
shout out "thief" before firing a shotgun at him. He was completely
peppered with small lead shot - including several in both eyes. Sadly he will
probably lose all sight.
We had another
very sad case - Josephine, a girl of 16. She was perhaps 7 months pregnant when
she "fell down" (always a euphemism for we don't know what - but
implies a criminal abortion). She then went to someone for the abortion and he
badly traumatised her and removed one arm of the baby (macabrely she brought it
in her bag like a chicken drumstick). She was in great pain and trouble when
she arrived and becoming seriously infected. We were able to deliver the rest
of the baby in theatre under spinal anaesthetic - the other arm was also almost
completely detached. She recovered well physically - but psychologically and
spiritually needs immense help.
LAND ROVER
The vehicle
that we brought with us in 1993 is still going quite strong, but we feel it is
time to add another new vehicle to our hospital "fleet" (two Land
Rover station wagons, a Land Rover pick-up and a tractor), particularly since
the other station wagon - the one used by the Community Health team - is having
recurrent breakdowns. We are grateful for personal gifts that have been
received that will cover half the cost. The total cost including spares and
shipping will be around £20,000. Please pray for supply of the rest of the
funds. This also means that we expect to have a container leaving Unimatco at
the beginning of August. If anyone has old sheets, towels, children's clothes
or push lawn mowers that they do not need, please let us, or Bryan Lumb know.
ANTSIRAMBATO
If you walk
from our house in the direction away from town, the first village you come to
is Antsirambato. From the distance it looks very peaceful - nestling under a
hill and surrounded by coconut trees. Two of the hospital labourers come from
there. One has had two young children die and his house burnt down in the past
3 years. The other has had recurrent illness ending in bladder cancer. At
Christmas he had bad shingles down one leg and subsequently suffered severe pain.
He became progressively anaemic from the bladder cancer, and finally died last
week. He leaves a widow and four young children between 1 and 10. We are
seeking to find ways to help them. We also feel burdened to bring the gospel to
the village. Neither of the two workers have ever shown any interest in the
gospel and we understand that the village, despite its peaceful appearance, is
in fact very pagan. Jane and Dr Francis would very much like to have this
year's holiday Bible club there - please pray about this possibility and for
wisdom in all the planning.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- INAUGURATION Next Saturday, 29 May, will be
the dedication/inauguration of our new operating theatre block. Many
officials, including the President of Madagascar, have been invited. We do
not yet know who is coming, but our maintenance team is very busy
smartening up the gardens, paths and paintwork.
Please pray for Paul Rakoto, the president of the Association of
Bible Baptist Churches, who will have the privilege of preaching the Good News
to these visiting dignitaries.
·
AIDS 2004 The Community Health team has a special "Aids
awareness" thrust in Mandritsara this week. David prepared a message for
the radio that was broadcast yesterday and again today based on Romans 8:37. We
hope to get it (in English) on to the web site in due course.
·
EYE OUTREACH TO MANANARA David and Dr Hanitra are planning to go to
Mananara, on the east coast, with MAF on 9 June to examine eye patients. The
idea is that those with operable cataracts will then be transported by MAF to
Mandritsara for operation. We are hoping this might also open gospel
opportunities in Mananara.
·
DEVALUATION One British Pound has been worth around 10,000 Malagasy
Francs for several years, Since the beginning of the year, however, the
Malagasy Franc has slid badly and there are now 17,000 to the pound. This has
very serious implications for us. Since we buy almost all our drugs and medical
supplies in Europe, we would need to increase our prices to patients by 70%.
This would be crippling for most people. The alternative is to rely more
heavily on donations. We need much wisdom in tracing the best path to take.
·
BUILDING PLANS The Community Health team's application to
Tearfund for help with construction of the office/centre complex was turned
down. The need is quite critical with (at present) eight men all crowded into
one office!
·
Our FAMILY are all well. Rebecca and Chris are planning
to visit us for 3 weeks in July and August. Ruth and Neil were able to get away
for a holiday in Dorset, and Neil has started to go in to his office on a
voluntary basis once a fortnight. Rachel is praying about applying to AIM for a
short-term (2 years) team project. Reuben has been encouraged with friends
coming to evangelistic discussion evenings in his church, and also with the
student Bible studies he helps with.
With our sincere thanks
for your prayers and support.
David and
Jane Mann
Gifts for the project should be sent to:
Mr Derek Alcock
email: derek@mandritsara.org.uk
Friends of Mandritsara Trust
244 Obelisk Rise
Northampton
NN2 8TW
Please make out
cheques to "Friends of Mandritsara Trust" (F.O.M.T.) Gift Aid forms
are available.