Big Week in Madagascar … July 11 - July 17, 2016 Welcome to another wonderful week in Madagascar….. Well some very interesting things happened this week. One of them is funny/sad/ funny. Ron went to fill the car up with gas and fell back over the curb, caught himself with his hand, but hyperextended, and sprained his middle finger on his right hand. It’s pretty bad to have the middle finger on your hand big, and swollen, and unable to bend. Here is the offending curb, and the offensive

finger. We wrapped his fingers together to mitigate the damage-both physical and visual. He is feeling better. He wanted to wrap them with duct tape—you know Ron—but, thankfully, we found some surgical tape. This week Steve Rossiter came to visit—sadly without Michele. It has been fun to have someone else in the house to talk to:) He is here to follow up on business ideas he worked on for some Malagasies who have started businesses and demonstrated an ability to make a business plan, keep financial records, and save money. He is now here as a private citizen-not a missionary—and is free to help in ways he could not as a missionary. He, like many others, thinks Madagascar is ripe for progress. 1 of 7

We like him because he is fun—and, he does dishes! His wife also sent a wonderful treat—something we cannot get here:

red vines and gallon, freezer ZipLock bags—oh the little things… Thanks Michele!! Also- Steve brought the ghastly news we will not be getting a nurse any time in the near future. What are they thinking leaving me here totally on my own with all kinds of deadly African diseases? Speaking of that— Mada Elder 1 has had foot issues since he came on his mission. This is a mission where missionaries need to plan to walk 10-12 miles per day. This wonderful elder from Rwanda tried but couldn’t, so he needed to have extra taxi-fund to get him around. He leaves in Sept, so President Foote gave me permission to take him to an Orthopedist—we could only find one in Tana—to get an actual diagnosis. Turns out this doctor thinks there is nothing wrong other than he probably hurt his foot as a 2 of 7

little boy and has been walking on it funny ever since. He recommended some physical therapy and an orthopedic shoe for awhile. I am so thrilled; hopefully, this will be the answer for him, so he won’t have to spend the rest of his life as a partial cripple. This is an amazing young man as are many of our missionaries. He is all alone in the world —no father or mother. He has one older sister and her daughter whom he baptized before he came on his mission. He really goes home to nothing, but, hopefully, a branch that will love and support him.

And, this is another load of stuff for the Mada Mission Mart. Hopefully we will be able to start distributing it soon. I am going to use it as a carrot—“When your apartment is clean and can pass inspection, you can have some new apartment stuff.” I wonder if I will still have it when I leaveha! 3 of 7

Every morning when we walk to the university, we pass a couple of tennis courts. They have been in total disrepair until the last couple of months, and things have started to happen. They have put in lights; they resurfaced the courts, put in bleachers, etc. etc. We finally found out Madagascar was hosting 11 countries in the Davis Cup trials. Those tennis matches were this week end. We have never really followed tennis, but it was incredible to see Madagascar rise to this level of competition. So we had to attend.

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This is the refurbished tennis court. It is actually quite amazing and spectacular for Madagascar. And, it was so fun to watch the match. Here Madagascar is playing Namibia. This player in the green shirt is the best player in Madagascar. His name is Edal— all over you could hear shouts of “Allez (go) Edal”—

Elder Tanner says you can always tell the Madagascar players because they have the crummiest uniforms, the most beat-up shoes, and the oldest rackets, but they win. That was certainly the case for this tournament.

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We think this is the Malagasy 1%—the other 99% percent are outside carrying baskets on their heads.

Below are the Namibian players—better shoes, uniforms and rackets.

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And, Madagascar for the win—big week!

We’ll close with one of the beautiful Malagasy sunsets as seen from our balcony. Once again, we are grateful to be serving here. Culturally, Madagascar is 180 degrees from where we live, but the hearts and minds of the people are so similar to ours. They want the same things we want: health, happiness, and security for their families in this scary world. We always come back to the same thing. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only solution for the world’s problems. We are grateful to be serving here and supporting missionaries who are trying to bring the gospel to all the world. 7 of 7