Acts 1:8: Wednesday, September 19 -- Day 1 in the Bush

We got up early (5:30am) and were on the road by 6:15am so we could drive the 3 hours to Ihosy and meet helimission at the airport. I use the term airport loosely as it basically consists of a small paved runway, a windsock and an old semi trailer used for gasoline storage. There definitely weren't any security checkpoints at this airport! Wow, what a great experience riding in the helicopter is! I do want to say that the whole concept of helimission is just awesome! They provide air transportation for mission work to areas which are very hard to get to by foot or vehicle, thus saving days of travel time. Please check them out at http://www.helimission.ch/default_e8.htm. Our first pilot was Gerd, a great christian man from Germany. He flew us about 140 miles out into the bush to a village called Iaborotra. Everyone in the village was rushing to see the helicopter, we were definitely the best show in town. Once we got dropped off from helimission our next step was to locate the mayor of the village. He was not there at the moment, but we were welcomed into his house and stayed there for over 2 hours while we waited. Isn't it interesting that he is not there, yet we stayed in his house? I don't see that happening state-side! In the meantime we spoke with several deputies and met a guy who even knew a little spanish. Who would have thought that my 4 years of spanish would have come in handy 10,000 miles away from home! The mayor was in a nearby village and had sent "ambassadors" to welcome us until he could get there. He had seen the helicopter land and I guess knew that there were visitors. Once he arrived, we asked several questions about the village and also for permission to survey the villagers and to stay and camp for the night. According to the villagers, there had been 1000 zebu stolen recently so they were worried about our safety from the thieves. They wanted us to stay in their guest house but we insisted on pitching our tents. They thought that we were crazy to want to sleep on the ground in a tent verses a guest house.

The following are the types of things that we ask about the village from the king, mayor or spiritual parents... The village had a population of around 1000 and they were settled right next to a large river. They had sod houses with thatched roofs. A few houses (like the mayor's) were partly concrete with concrete floors. The village had a school that went through the 5th grade and if students wanted to study further, then they went to Betroka and rented a house while they studied. Most villagers did not read/write because the school had just opened. This is important to know because if people can't read or write, having the gospel printed in their language really does them no good. This village also had recently completed construction on a hospital and apparently had a doctor who stayed there. The most common illnesses that they see are cough, fever and stomach ache. There is a large, beautiful river that runs near the village where they get the water that they use for drinking and cooking. The girls take plastic buckets to the river and fill them, then balance the buckets on their heads while carrying the water back to the village.

There are no church buildings in the community, but there is a "house" church of about 10 members. Upon surveying several people in the village, it seems like the "church" may be a JW. The Bara tribe tend to worship rocks, water, trees and they disapprove of people not following their cultural traditions and beliefs. The community also has 5 witch doctors (ombiasa) and if you are sick you go to them first.

They also participate in the Famadihana celebration. When someone dies, they are buried. Then after 1 - 1 1/2 years they dig up the bones, wash them & put them in a tomb. They call forth the spirits to protect the tomb and offer sacrifices (usually of zebu) to them.

As far as the gospel knowledge of the village, we found that a few had heard the name Jesus, but usually from living elsewhere. Those that had heard, had it all mixed up and also still practiced ancestral worship. There was a lot of talk from several of the deputies about someone being there previously who was working on translating the Bible into their native dialect, but since few even read/write that really won't reach the ones who are illiterate.

The several people that I surveyed gave the following insight to their beliefs. It is taboo to eat goats or to pet yellow cows or pigs. If someone breaks the taboo, their neck swells, they get facial deformities and then die. If they don't die, they must go to the witch dr. to be healed. When building a new house they ask the ancestors or zanahary (pluralistic god) for blessings. Man comes from zanahary and when you die, your spirit goes somewhere up. Although there were a couple of people who knew a few facts about the Bible and had some exposure, I found no believers. These people have definitely not been reached.

We camped there for the night. I took some pictures of the children sweeping the school yard before school in the morning.