MADAGASCAR
A
Mission Link with a parish in Madagascar.
The
Blean Church Madagascar group met on
17th March 2008 to discuss how best to
further
develop
our relationship with the parish of St
James in Madagascar and our response to
an appeal for assistance after the area
in which St James is situated was devastated
by cyclone Ivan.
Cyclone
A
recent meeting of the PCC agreed to top
up a series of collections from 
the
general fund, in order to send a total
of £500 to Rev Olivier.
That
money is expected to be used primarily
toward
alleviating some of the effects of Cyclone
Ivan, repairing the church and other
emergency action within the parish. Rev
Olivier has
promised to tell us how the money is
spent.
NB.
If anyone wishes to add to the Madagascar
fund, please make cheques payable to "Blean
PCC" and send them to: Blean PCC,
Church Office, 24 Tyler Hill Road, Blean,
Canterbury, Kent CT2 9HT, together with
a brief note stating that you wish the
donation to be applied to the Madagascar
Fund.
Lent Lunches
The
recent Lent lunches were very successful – so
much so, that further lunches are planned
at various different venues, starting on
10th April at the home of Sally Penfold.
The lunches have so far raised a total
of £235 and after discussion it was
decided to hold this money back for future
Madagascan projects, rather than add it
to the cyclone relief fund.
Prayer Cards
Durable cards are being designed, with
the idea of distributing them amongst the
congregation of Sts Cosmus and Damian,
and the congregation of St James in Madagascar.
The cards will be printed here in the UK,
with the Sts Cosmus and Damian link prayer
in English and Malagasy on one side and
the St James prayer on the other.
Blean Primary School visit and Summer
Fair
Eileen Routh enjoyed a very encouraging
visit to Blean Primary School Year 2. The
pupils were extremely enthusiastic about
life in Madagascar and will be producing
project folders that it might be possible
to display in church. There was also talk
of a plan to sell Madagascan goods at the
summer fair.
Helping St James parish to help themselves
A
lengthy discussion was held on the subject
of helping St James’ parishioners
to help themselves. The subject of ‘micro-financed’ initiatives
(providing seed money for local small-scale
business 
ventures in Madagascar) was suggested
and it was thought that this might be an
excellent idea if it could be managed in
Madagascar by a trusted charity organisation
already working in the area.
The
decision was made to explore the idea
further with
Rev Olivier in Madagascar, to find out
whether he thought the skills, connections
and incentive might be there to make
it work.
The
group decided in the meantime to make
contact in the UK with various
organisations thought to be working
in Madagascar, in the hope of obtaining
their
assistance in various ways.
Lambeth Conference Weekend
On the weekend commencing Friday 11th
July 2008, Eileen Routh will host the Bishop
of Antsiranana (Madagascar), at her house.
The Bishop will be taking part in the Lambeth
Conference, and whilst he is here, it is
hoped that there will be opportunities
for Blean and Tyler Hill parishioners to
meet him.
This should be an excellent opportunity
to find out what life in Madagascar is
like and perhaps hear a sermon delivered
by the Bishop - more news on this, closer
to the time.
Noticeboards and Weekly Sheets
In
order to advertise the work of the Madagascar
group, together with the progress
of the relationship between our local churches
and those in Madagascar, there will be
a dedicated notice board in Sts Cosmus
and Damian church and the weekly sheets
will continue to provide up-to-the-minute
news from St James’ parish.
Other ideas
The
group discussed how we could provide
further assistance to St James’ parish.
Ideas included 
exploring how medical and
sanitary aid might be provided in the form
of mosquito nets, soap, toothbrushes etc.,
although transportation of such items from
the UK might be problematic.
Jim
Appleyard has since written to Rev Olivier,
to obtain
further information that the Madagascar
group can use for planning purposes.
Website
The Blean church website will continue
to be updated with news and pictures, from
Madagascar to keep everyone abreast of
what is happening.
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Read
on about Blean Church's association with the
parish of St. James, Ambatondrazaka...
Please click on any of the photos to
view a larger version.
Following
our parish learning programme of what
it means to be a Global / Local Church
and after Eileen Routh's recent visit
to Madagascar as part of a Diocesan group,
Blean Parish
has been exploring the possibility
of making a link with a parish in Madagascar.
The
Canterbury Diocese has been linked with
Madagascar for many years, and it makes
sense to make the link here where we
have contacts and protocols for the working
of a link.
We
were put in touch with the parish of
St. James, Ambatondrazaka - about 280
km north of the capital Antananarivo,
and with their parish priest the Revd
Olivier Rajarison.
After
Eileen had given a talk in September
about the visit in June, people here
were keen to develop the link informally.
We have formed a group to explore how
we might do this to ensure
that it is
a lively link, which is about learning
from each other and supporting each other
through prayer and in practical ways.
The
Revd Olivier is very keen to develop
the relationship, and we want to involve
as many people as possible in both parishes.
We particularly want to avoid the link
being an ‘interest’ of a
tiny ‘mission- minded’ group.
St
James Parish has just had a confirmation
service for 25 people. They are also
starting an evangelism programme in a
village about twenty km from their main
church in November and they have asked
us to pray for this mission.
He
has sent us pictures of their Church,
which is badly in need of repair after
a massive hailstorm caused a lot of damage
to their roof.
Olivier is married to Zo and they have a daughter aged three.
Her name is Mirana which means JOY.
Eileen
is in regular contact with Revd Olivier
and would like to share an extract from
a recent letter sent to her from Madagascar:
"Dear Eileen,
Thank
you for your prayers for me, my parish
and the people who were confirmed last
Sunday. They were happy to hear your messages
and they thank you for your prayer for
each of them.
It is important occasion for us. I think
it is a wonderful ceremony.. There is crowded
people who came in the church as many as
to the grounds of the church. In fact our
church is too small for the numerous people
who came there. I think we may need a spacious
church. We pray to have it if God is willing.
. Our children in Sunday school are very
happy to hear that you prepare something
for them.
There is still the big activity for evangelism
in Manakambahiny. We ask you to pray for
it. I want to tell you that we always pray
for you each time of services in the church
(Sunday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday).
God bless you Eileen and pass my greeting
to your family and your parish.
Yours in Christ.
Revd Olivier."
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Watch
this space for news from Madagascar as
we receive it.
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St.
James Church, Ambatondrazaka
in Madagascar
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