BP 5196
ANTANANARIVO 101
MADAGASCAR
Via France
jpitterle @ psu.edu
(261) 020 22
48155 - home
Dear Friends and Family:
The big news in Madagascar is the ongoing
political crisis that started with a disagreement about the
December 16 elections. There have been: many peaceful
demonstrations sometimes with hundreds of thousands of peoples
(see above photo of part of the crowd along the entire main
street), election problems uncovered by international monitors,
strikes, no mail, roads from the main ports to the capital are
blockaded, little or no fuel in the capital, a peaceful coup, two
presidents and two governments, some violence/deaths, national
state of emergency, martial law in the capital (although not
enforced), and more. We are privileged to be part of
His-story making times in Madagascar. Please pray for the
precious people of this nation.
Madagascar is, in general, a very peaceful
country. We do not know any missionaries who have left and
we do not feel that we are in any danger. The U.S. Embassy
has recommended that we avoid large crowds and we have done that.
Grace is indeed amazing. She has a
very powerful ministry of encouragement as she smiles at us and
brings joy throughout the day. Stephen and Leigh continue
with home schooling. They should finish third grade in late
May.
We completed the computer version of the
third Malagasy Book of Hope. The junior high and senior
high versions are now in Florida being prepared for the printer.
We expect to review these and then we hope to have the finished
products here later this year.
John started the year teaching English at
the Bible school but later trained the students about Book of
Hope (BoH) distribution. This went well and was finished in
March.
Books of Hope have been distributed in
Tamatave and a few in Antananarivo this year. A
particularly encouraging story is about Pastor Mirana who moved
to Antalaha (on the northwest coast) in November. He
distributed approximately 5,000 books and now has 300 children
meeting on Saturdays. All in a few months and in a new
town! Jesus is awesome!!!
On April 3, we plan to do Book of Hope
training for some directors and teachers of the schools of the
largest protestant denomination in Madagascar. The primary
schools of this denomination represent 35,000 children who will
be able to receive the good news of Jesus in their very own
child-friendly book. Your prayers for this training would
be appreciated (and remember, before your clocks spring forward an
hour, we are 8 hours ahead of the East Coast/EST; and after that, there will be a 7 hour difference).
Under normal circumstances, we would be
doing more BoH distributions and preparing to go to two new
provinces/cities, Fianarantsoa and Mahajanga, for training and
distribution. Although the schools have reopened, the fuel
situation and ongoing political turmoil significantly limit our
efforts at this time. Please
pray
for 2 Chronicles 7:14,
peace, and the Lord’s resolution here.
We are still in the process of raising
support for our next term of one year that will begin in July.
As we have said before, this ministry to the children of
Madagascar is a team effort and we can not do it alone. First,
let us emphasize that our greatest need is for people who will
regularly pray for the people of Madagascar and also for us.
Secondly, we have to raise support for our budget. Thus,
commitments for both regular monthly support (which could be
lumped together bimonthly, quarterly, etc.) and for one-time
contributions are needed and extremely important. Every donation
is helpful and appreciated. And it would be helpful if the pledge form could be filled out and
returned to the address on the form. If you are unable to
download this form or if you have any questions, please contact
us.
Lord willing, we plan to return to the
States on June 4. Please use the above e-mail address (jpitterle @ psu.edu) until maybe the end of
June. We hope to finish raising our support so that we can
return in early September when the school year starts again.
You may want to pray for John’s driving when he returns as
he has learned how to drive like the majority of the people here
(for example, “close” is defined by the thickness of
the vehicle’s paint).
For our time in Pennsylvania this summer,
there are several practical items we could use. A very low
cost vehicle to rent or perhaps purchase for 2 ½ months would be
helpful. We are also interested in a low cost,
semi-furnished apartment in State College to stay in (possibly
sublet) from mid-June to the middle or end of August. There
are also several baby items that we could use like a crib and car
seat. If you have any suggestions, could you please contact
us? This would be very helpful and much appreciated.
We especially want to thank everyone who
has prayed for Madagascar and for us during this time as well as
everyone who has contributed to this mission. We really
appreciate your partnership! Together with your
partnership, the lives of more than 51,000 (perhaps up to 70,000
since 19,000 books have not yet been reported) precious children
have been impacted for eternity. With your continued
involvement, we can continue to work in equipping the Malagasy
believers to reach the more than two million remaining students
and children of Madagascar. May you experience the new life
of Jesus as we celebrate His Resurrection.
In His infinite awesomeness
and awesome infiniteness,
John, Leigh, Stephen and Grace
P.S. If you would like us to e-mail
you a very good article about what has been happening here in
Madagascar, please contact us.
P.P.S. We think we may have
corrected our previous web page newsletters
so that everyone can now see the digital photos.
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