John, Leigh, & Stephen Pitterle

BP 5196

ANTANANARIVO 101

MADAGASCA

Via France

jpitterle @ psu.edu (jpitterle @ yahoo.com)

 

 

Dear Friends and Family:

 

We are excited to be here in Madagascar (M’car)!!!.  We have been here for two months.   We spent our first three weeks in Antananarivo, the capital, and then we moved to Antsirabe, 3 ½ hours south of the capital, at the beginning of September.    

 

We assembled all the paperwork and approvals needed to request a long-term visa.  Then we received permission (Thank you, Jesus!) to stay here while our application for a long-term visa is being reviewed.  We may have an interview around the end of November (or later, although the week of Oct. 30 looks good).  The whole process could drag on for a few months.  Your prayers would be appreciated. 

 

Also during the first three weeks, we helped other missionaries and some Christians from Mauritius and Reunion Island who are helping with the Assemblies of God orphanage.  We have met several other English-speaking missionaries from various organizations and the unity among the missionaries is exemplary.

 

In Antananarivo (Tana), driving was usually an adventure with many people alongside the road, animals, taxi-vans, narrow roads, and very bumpy dirt roads.  Traffic jams were common but here in Antsirabe it is wonderful with little traffic. We do not yet have a vehicle here but, although it is one of the country’s largest cities, it is not too big and we are able to get around easily. We may purchase a used 4 door Nissan diesel pickup truck (with 4-wheel drive) from one of our supervisors at the end of October. 

 

For a while, we were not sure how we were going to learn Malagasy.  But we continued praying and the Lord strategically introduced us to key people with important information while we were helping someone move.

Although it was looking like we might not come here (to Antsirabe), we left at 4 AM on the first day of class to get in an 8 AM class that was "full" with 20 people on the waiting list. Well, John is in the class (along with our neighbor, a missionary with the Nazarene church)!  Jesus is so good!!!  Leigh is receiving Malagasy lessons in the afternoon with our neighbor’s wife.  We didn't know much about options to learn Malagasy but our neighbors did all the hard work of searching for a teacher and housing. With no notice, we just came into town and did just like they did.  We secured an apartment in one hour. What a major blessing! It's so encouraging to see the Lord's signature all over this!!!

 

We are very eager to learn Malagasy!  John has class 4 hours per day (Mon. – Fri.) and Leigh 1 ½.   There is so much new information almost every day that it's a bit challenging to keep everything straight. But we want to learn in a limited amount of time so this is good.  We would greatly appreciate your prayers!

 

We have been healthy and are doing well here.  We are so thankful to be learning Malagasy in Antsirabe.  This has been a desire of ours for 4 years.  (One of those rare occasions when your plans coincide with the Lord's.)  We have a great teacher who loves Jesus and has taught many missionaries over the last 16 years.

 

When we first arrived, it was (the end of) winter in M’car with temperatures dipping down into the mid-40’s overnight although many days were sunny with a high close to 70.  When the sun did not shine it was rather chilly (especially inside at night without indoor heat).  But spring has arrived and it’s already getting warm.  Although it did not rain significantly until October (because it was the dry season), we found that mosquitoes are here even during the winter. 

 

Here in Antsirabe, the elevation is higher and it is significantly cooler.  It is one of the colder parts of the island but fortunately we weren't here in June.  Now the weather is almost perfect and the lack of indoor heat overnight is no longer significant.  The other day we had our first just-picked mangoes for as little as 5 cents each.  They are so good!  Please stop by and we would be happy to treat you. 

We have a big apartment (with electricity, running water, and a flush toilet) here in Antsirabe.  For about 5 weeks, we heard that our phone line was going to be put in "rahampitso" (tomorrow).  Now we finally have a phone and our number is 44-49508.  (This will change when we return to Tana early next year.)  We think that 261-20, the country code and a local code, precedes the number.

 

We encounter beggars here almost every day. We are a bit handicapped since we can't communicate very well and often it is challenging regarding what to do.  Some Christians say not to give to them (and they have some valid points) but we looked in the scriptures and see much about giving to the poor, Jesus feeding the people, and healing the lame, etc.  To some we have given bread or rice.  We have prayed for many, including some lame people.  Prayerfully miracles will follow.  

 

Home schooling is going well.  Leigh and Stephen are having a good time.  Stephen made friends and played with some neighborhood kids in Tana.  Now Stephen has friends living next door. He enjoys playing with the daughters of the Nazarene missionary family in our classes.

 

Our upcoming plans include:

·         Spend the week of October 30 in Tana when we have a break from class. 

·         We may help teach a children’s Sunday school class starting in November.  One of the church members speaks English and could interpret when necessary, (which may be most of the time at first). 

·         Go on a retreat with the Assemblies of God missionary team at the end of December.

·         Continue learning Malagasy throughout the rest of this year and into the beginning of next year. 

 

We have news for you. There are no longer plans to distribute one million Malagasy Books of Hope.  Since blanket approval was given to visit the schools of this wonderful nation, it could be something like four million books (with pictures of Malagasy people)!  The first distribution is planned for Tana perhaps as early next year as February.  JESUS is so awesome!!!  He so loves the children and families of Madagascar and we believe He’s longing to set them free.  Jesus is doing great things and we can’t wait to see what He will do! 

 

The poverty and lack of sanitary conditions are significant here but it is the spiritual poverty that is (eternally) killing people.  Please pray for the people of Madagascar.  Pray for:

·         2 Chronicles 7:14

·         Reconciliation (among the denominations and among people)

·         Fear (respect) of the Lord, especially in leaders

·         Integrity

 

Thanks for your support.  We appreciate you.  Please do let us know if you have any prayer requests. (If you do not want to receive future updates, please let us know.)

                                                                      

            In His infinite awesomeness and awesome infiniteness,

 

                                   John, Leigh, and Stephen