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SUFFERING

     Thousands of miles and a whole continent in between are two women.  They don't know each other, nor will they while on this earth.  Yvonne and I know them both.  Both of them are suffering.

     Several weeks ago Yvonne was coming home after visiting a friend when she came upon Bernadette.  Wrapped in little more than rags, Bernadette was laying outside the doors of local clothing and jewelry stores, barely conscious.

     Though we did not know her name at that time, we've seen Bernadette before along with countless other beggars that roam our neighborhood.  We had never seen her in this condition.  

     Her lips were white, her eyes yellow and her hair speckled with grit from the street.  She sat in a puddle of air conditioning condensation and her own urine.  Without help she couldn't sit up, let alone stand up.  

     Someone nearby had given her a cup of water and a morsel of food, but she was too weak to lift her hand to put them to her mouth.  Two young women had stopped to comfort her, but really did not know what to do.  Mostly, people either just walked by or stood and stared.

     With the help of our translator, Gerand, we were able to extract enough information to know that if we didn't help her she was going to die.  The three of us were eventually able to lift Bernadette into a tuc tuc and transport her to the local hospital.

     Within a day she had regained much of her strength.  Within two days she was able to walk to a bathroom (without her cane) and bathe.  A week later she was able to leave the hospital.

     The curious thing about Bernadette is that she has family not far away.  They have enough to provide their sister food and shelter, but Bernadette prefers wandering the streets and begging.  We have seen her several times in the last week, right where she has been before.

     While it is apparent that Bernadette, who is 60 years old, suffers from some form of dimensia, it is also apparent that she has enough awareness to know she has a place where she could live in a semblance of dignity.  She prefers indignity.  Her family is well aware of her condition, but is unwilling to fight through Bernadette's obstinance to help.

     Back in the states, there is another who is suffering.  She did not grow up in squalor, but in middle class America.  As a young girl she contracted polio.  Now as a 74-year-old woman she is battling cancer.

     What we know about Jeannine is that she is a fighter.  She fought through polio and raised a family without the help of an absentee husband.  She persevered through adversity and was able to provide.  The ultimate fruits of her labor are two children of immense character.  

     Her son and daughter are the picture of what any parent's heart would desire; both accomplished and both with healthy families of their own.  Most importantly, they love their mother deeply.

     When we heard of Jeannine's challenge Yvonne and I really didn't know how to respond.  You see, Jeannine is a friend of ours.  We have shared Christmas and Thanksgiving together, but we did not know how to share in her suffering.  So, we prayed.

     Just recently we exchanged e-mails, and Jeannine said this: "I believe the only way I'll succeed in winning this challenge is with God's help."

     What I see from a distance is the success of Jeannine's suffering.  She has already won.  The rewards are her children and grandchildren, who are now at her side with love and compassion.  In return, Jeannine has persevered with courage and grace.

     No matter how pragmatic or accurate a doctor's prognosis, where there is God there is always hope.  And where there is hope there is love.  The Bible says, "...God is love...Now there abides these three; faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."

     You see, the difference between Bernadette and Jeannine is love.  Bernadette's family is ambivalent when it comes to her suffering.  There is defeat and separation.  There is no desire to ensure the one who is suffering any sort of comfort and in exchange they receive no comfort.

     On the other hand, Jeannine's family is tied together in love.  They are bound by compassion and mercy.  I suspect that though they might not even recognize it, that their hearts are set on the prospects of justice prevailing - that ultimately their hearts are united in eternity.

    So, one family is divided, the other united.  One is forlorn, the other hopeful. One woman suffers in bitterness, the other in love.

    We are reminded of a Savior, who's birth we are about to celebrate.  He lived, He suffered and He died...for us.  Then He was resurrected...for us.  

     Yvonne and I pray that you would know this love this Christmas.  That it would resurrect purpose in your life.  And once you know it, share it with someone who is suffering.  It is the greatest gift we could possibly give.

Evil

Mike Broadhurst

     The United States is not the only country in the world holding elections in just a few weeks.

     It is a presidential election year in Madagascar and the process is frighteningly painful.

     The little semblance of order that exists in a non-election year is completely void now.  The Malagasy constitution requires that if the acting president seeks re-election, he and his cabinet must step aside. 

      With that having occurred in September virtually every government office here is crippled because there is no recognized authority to enforce what few laws people here do respect.  Chaos prevails.

     In the United States we read about outrageous homicide reports in cities like Chicago, but for most of us there are no faces tied with the murders.  Here, the violence is much closer to home.

     If you have any business, big or small, or are perceived to have any kind of money, you are a target for robbery and murder.  Some of our close friends have first-hand connection to six slayings in just three weeks.

     Let us tell you about them:

·         A man selling phone credits (my guess is he takes in about $12 a day) was shot through the head for not giving up what was in his pocket to a couple of thugs.

·         In the span of one week, three community leaders who managed the proceeds from farm cooperatives were brutally slain over several nights.  By the time federal law enforcement officials showed up the gang had vanished into the jungle.  Being familiar with how cooperatives work, their lives were probably lost for not more than $1,000 each.

·         An industrious farmer came from a nearby village to Toamasina to purchase supplies for his plantation.  Thieves approached him in the middle of one of the city’s busiest bazaars, snatched his backpack and shot him dead.

·         A deacon at one of the local churches came to another bazaar to purchase supplies for farmers in the bush.  When his attackers were not happy with their haul, they killed the man.

     There is little hope that perpetrators will be caught and prosecuted because most of the military and police have little direction from superiors to quell the violence.  To put it bluntly, life here is cheap and personal integrity nearly non-existent.

     Does the world care?  In the Spring of this year the plague struck Madagascar and about 240 lives were lost.  It was a sexy story.  It was greeted with so much media fanfare that relatives in the U.S. were worried for our safety.  We can assure you that by the time Madagascar elects a new president, many, many more than 240 lives will be lost to criminal activity in Madagascar.  If you search the web (like I just did), you won’t find so much as a murmur.

     We can’t even begin to fathom how many lives have been snuffed out in the last 30 days across this broad country (25 million inhabitants, 38% larger than California).  The six deaths reported above come from close friends of ours directly linked to the victims.  We can’t attest for the countless murders that are occurring in the bush, in the capital city Antananarivo or elsewhere.   Yet, you won’t hear about any of this from the international news outlets.

     Perhaps the most alarming part of all of this is the overwhelming response from the common Malagasy.  Poverty has a way of draining people from any connection to hope.  The man on the street may not condone murder, but there is a tacit empathy for the motives of theft.

     The point of all this?  Evil flourishes when there is a lack of discernible law.  You don’t have to be an intellectual giant to see why it is so hard for the Malagasy to make progress.   There is little in the social or cultural fabric to stimulate a different outlook.  A nation that turns it back on the rule of law ultimately fades away into a pit of despair.  And that, our friends, is incarnate evil.

     It sounds bleak, and believe us, many vahasa come to Madagascar and conclude, “There’s no hope. Madagascar will never change.”

     Two thousand years ago 12 men experienced and saw something so incredible and life-altering that they gave up what little they owned to tell the world.  Their words, delivered in the face of great persecution, suffering and misery, ultimately freed millions of people from the heart and soul of the pernicious rule of the Roman Empire.

     One of the apostles reduced The Messiah’s message to but three simple components: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”

      By faith Yvonne and I continue to work against the chaos that appears insurmountable.  In hope we can see a future that puts desperation to death, once and for all.   Powered by love, we are certain that God’s will, will be done.

     With His help nothing is impossible.