All posts by Sue Babbs

Cyclones, Famine, Water Shortage

Cyclone update message

Dear PRP board and Friends,

I went and visited some more areas today. The water seems to have subsided considerable since Monday. But electrical Telephone lines are still down. I drove around town tonight and it looks like approximately 10 % of the population has electricity. It looks like it may be another month or so before electricity is all straightened out.  Roads are slowly being cleared away for traffic. 

Today, I visited the house of the president of the Ankilifaly church. He is one of the more successful business men in our churches. His wife is the head of the Mothers’ Union. As soon as she saw me walk into her house and she came to greet me she could bare the pain of the last five days and began to cry uncontrollable for at least five minutes. Her pain was very real, everything in her house had been damage or destroyed. Her husband told us the story that at 8 am on Saturday people came running to them saying the dyke had broken. People where running down the street with there belongs on top of their heads. The water was only 200 yards away. Within 30 minutes their house had 4-5 feet of water. They had to evacuate their house but not until they found someone to watch their belongings.

She then told us about things which had been destroyed such as their important papers, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, motorcycle paper, pictures and etc had be destroyed. She then said as she wept, “Look at our bibles” which had tripled in size due to the water. I’m not sure how people in the west would have cried over a water logged bible being ruined. We would have just gone out and bought another one. We would have thought of it another material possession which can be replaced. That wasn’t the case for this woman. It was her bible which had special meaning to her life. It was something in her home, maybe the only thing in her home which had a sense of sacredness which was now ruined. Lord help me to learn from my parishioners.

I heard a story today about a women who had the equivalent of $1,000 in her home. About 10 months salary. When the rains came it destroyed the money. It’s useless now.

One sad things through this all has been the looting. The house behind them had been evacuated from 9-12 noon. By the time the owners came back the thieves had taken most of their materials, electronics and furniture.

A hardware shop owner whom we buy most of building supplies from to me, he shop was broken into just after the storm had passed around midnight or so. They stole money and checks from the cash register.

Thank you for your continuous faithful prayers during this disaster. It kind of reminds me about creation. In the midst of chaos God created something good. I believe he will do the same for us in the new diocese of Toliara.

Another side note which has become very frustrating has been the lack of local government authorities and organization assisting the people and responding to the cyclone on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was not until the president arrived on Monday that we saw the regional and city authorities begin to work. The police where scarce and difficult to find over the weekend. I did come across some local utility company working on Sunday afternoon. It seemed that their emergency relief and response was based on whatever was coming out of Antananarivo. 

Since Monday there seems to be more of an action plan in place. As of Wednesday morning, the govern still had not declared an national declaration of emergency. Not sure why?  we could have 

Serving Christ Together even during the weary times,

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Todd A. McGregor

Bishop Elect

Diocese of Toliara


	

	
	




	
	

				

			Cyclones, Famine, Water Shortage
		

			
Another McGregor update from Toliara.

		

			 		

	


		

		
The city has been without electricity for three days now and a majority of the lines are down all over the city. Most likely power will continue to be off for several days.  Good thing the Malagasy are still used to cooking with charcoal! Water came back after 48 hours. 


We are sending this from a friend's hotel (the Hyppocamp) as Anita has invited us over for dinner to share news, exchange stories and help put an American guest at ease. We prepared this group email before hand and then sent it at her place as she has a generator. We are still able to check individual emails at this point so please understand if we have not gotten back to you.  Please pass this on to others as we are depending upon you all to pass the word.


We drove around parts of the town which were passable yesterday and today and have seen a lot of damage and a great deal of flooding. The dike broke and the north side of the town is underwater from the stadium. That explains why our Ambohitsabo church is under water. The priest was checking it early yesterday morning when he heard someone running, and blowing a whistle, telling everybody to run, for the dike broke and water was coming. Thinking he had a few more minutes, he continued checking the church, only to realize that it was coming much faster than he realized. Grabbing his bicycle in one hand, Rev. Noely helped a woman with her young baby with the other, forming a chain to get to safety, watching his shoes float away. 


The same priest was leading a baptismal service today in  Andranomena, on the south side of town and six miles from this church. During the service someone came running to say the water which broke the dike was now coming into one of the parishioner's homes. Several people left the church service to help assist the newly baptized church member evacuate her things which she had just put into her father's house yesterday because her house had gone down in the cyclone. 


The president of Ankilifaly church has water up to his chest in his home because of the same incident of the dike breaking.  We have not yet heard from our Administrator, but she lives on that part of the city and we are concerned that her home has undergone a lot of damage as well. These are only some of the stories of what is happening here in Toliara.


We are still trying to schedule a flight for Patsy to Mauritius. We are hoping she is able to go on Tuesday and will keep you posted.


Thank you for keeping all of us in your prayers. If you know of any relief agencies which might able to give assistance and aide, please contact them on our behalf.


The Rt. Rev. Dr. Todd A. McGregor


Assistant bishop of Antananarivo 


Area bishop of Toliara

	

	
	




	
	

				

			Cyclones, Famine, Water Shortage
		

			
Message from Betsy Wenzel

		

			 		

	


		

		
 Hello again to friends of Patsy and Todd,


Todd and Patsy were able to get a call to Corbi, their daughter, before the last of their phone battery died.   Patsy and Todd are thankful for their lives, however, it is “really bad” in Madagascar right now.  No running water, no electricity, no communication.   Churches and homes of parishioners are flooded, damaged and destroyed.


Prayer requests for the McGregors, the clergy, evangelists, parishioners and the people of Madagascar:


God’s hand of protection from looting 

Their health (no running water, probably not much food and the stress of it all)

The people in Morombe where the cyclone came ashore.

Wisdom in what to do and who to help first, etc.

Cooperation of the people to work together to rebuild and the finance’s to do it.

For God’s Grace and Mercy


And anything else that the Holy Spirit lays on your heart.


Blessings to all of you,

Betsy Wenzel

(Patsy’s sister)

	

	
	




	
	

				

			Cyclones, Famine, Water Shortage
		

			
Message from Todd and Patsy

		

			 		

	


		

		
February 23, 2013


 


Dear Friends and Family

 

First of all, thank you for your prayers during Cyclone Haruna. We are fine and recovering from the storm. 

 

Rains began through the night on Thursday and Friday morning at 10:30 the cyclone began to hit. 12:00 noon the winds were high and continued to 11:00 pm, calculated to be gusting at 230 km/hr. The house survived, although we thought a few times the roof was going to blow off and Patsy abandoned ship and went downstairs while Todd mopped the incoming rain which was leaking through the roofs, windows and underneath the doors.  We were so thankful that the roof remained intact and the loud creaking was coming from the gutters, of which some did blow off. The largest part of the damage was from the south side as the storm circled around. At 4:00 pm the kitchen window blew out and went flying through the kitchen, frame and all, miraculously not shattering nor hurting either Todd nor Pierre as they were only a few feet from the window, nor breaking any dishes. We called in two other men and Patsy to help place a large board in front of the window, which took over an hour to configure how to secure into place with the large winds and rain howling.

 

11:00 pm the winds began to subside, but since the electricity had already been out for a day and we did not hear any news since the night before, we were not sure if it was the eye of the storm, or if the storm was leaving. Fortunately for us, the storm was moving across Madagascar heading, we heard, to Ft. Dauphin.

 

Other than that, the Gathering Place faired well except one large window downstairs which shattered. In Andranomena, the fence was completely destroyed, the shed roof and wood ripped apart, Victor’s roof and two doors ripped off the hinges, the guard’s door ripped off and the overhang to the guesthouses torn off. Thankfully the dormitory, educational building and newly constructed dean’s house are fine but we heard that many parishioners’ houses have been destroyed.

 

Regarding Toliara, we took a morning drive to Aubin (translator) and Tahiry’s civil wedding (which still took place at the Village Hall!) and saw many trees down, roofs blown off, electrical and phone lines down and buildings shattered. We have been informed that the dike of the river that runs north has broken and the north side of the city (where one of our churches is located in Ambohitsabo) has major flooding. Rev. Noely, in Ankilifaly, is taking caution and moving his things upstairs to where we used to live and other parishioners are already suffering heavily.

 

There is no electricity in Toliara, no water to the Gathering Place and limited petrol supply. We thank the Lord that no one we know of at this point has been injured and we continue to pray for God’s healing, strength and courage as we reconstruct the surrounding environment. We have not heard from any of our clergy in other parishes nor our evangelists. We are most concerned about Morombe, where the cyclone first came on shore.

 

If you get this email is it only because we have just a little bit of battery power on our back up system. We have extremely limited contact because everything is shut down, so please pass this email on to others because we are unsure when you might hear from us again.

 

Patsy was due to go to Mauritius on the day the cyclone hit Toliara (Friday 22nd)and her flight has been postponed until Monday or Tuesday. We will see when flights are leaving Toliara and will keep you informed.

 

Again, thank you for your prayers for protection for us. Truly our safety is a witness of the love and mercy of God. Please continue to pray for the community as we rebuild what has been lost.

 

Serving Him Together,

+Todd and Patsy+

	

	
	




	
	

				

			Short-term Mission Trips
		

			
Diocese of South East Florida Missions Trip

		

			 		

	


		

		
diosef2010mission


Mission Team 


Our mission team consists of 13 members from the South East Diocese of Florida. Team members include:





 


Travel Journal 




DAY 1 – September 16, 2010

Our trip began without any trouble. We all met at Miami, checked our bags and after a slight delay we were in the air for our first over night flight. The flight was comfortable, although crowded. We touched down in Paris at 9:00AM and managed to collect all (26) pieces of our luggage. We found the check-in counter for Air Madagascar and we were told we would have about a 1 hour wait until it opened. Well…. after waiting a little over an hour we were told we were waiting in the wrong place. We went to the next check-in counter


read more

	

	
	




	
	

				

			Short-term Mission Trips
		

			
Our Latest Updates from the Mission Field!!

		

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Please continue to keep the McGregor family and their ministry in your prayers as Patsy and Todd are now back in Madagascar once again serving among the Malagasy people.


Here are a few special updates:  


This summer, Andrew Somers, an Elon University student and member of the Chapel of St. Andrew’s in Florida, is joining Patsy and Todd in Madagascar as Todd’s assistant.  He will be shadowing Todd to gain experience working with the priests and evangelists, overseeing projects and programs in the new diocese, and helping to define and update the ministry vision and mission.  He will be assisting with the two agricultural co-op projects in Betaola and Sakaraha and assisting with plans for the Miaraka Resort and Spa as well as the new school planned for the area. 


My Summer Plans–by Andrew Somers


http://andrewpssomers.blogspot.com/   Be sure to follow Andrew on his blog!!


               This up-coming summer, I have the most unique, fitting, and incredible opportunity to work alongside Bishop Todd McGregor in Madagascar and do interning research related to economic development in developing countries. I have had so many amazing experiences in my life already, many due in part to this scholarship fund, from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to building relationships in Honduras. However, I feel confident in saying that this opportunity has more than enough potential to be my most memorable experience yet. I am so blessed to have such a distinct opportunity this summer, when my original plans were to simply stay home and eventually figure out if I were going to work or not. It is amazing where God is pushing me sometimes.


               What I intend to get out of this summer is, besides general experiences of living in Africa for over a month, to gain a better knowledge of how economic development can improve in developing countries. Once out of school, one of my long-term goals is to help open up the global business market. From research that I have already done about the issue, it seems that most developing countries do have a need for business – if done the right way. Although many people think that they have nothing to spare, many of the people in those countries just do not have opportunities to either buy or sell anything, and therefore I want to help give people that opportunity. The research we will be doing in Madagascar, I am sure will give me more than enough information to figure out the exact direction of my career.


               I know none of these experiences are simply given to me and for that I am so extremely grateful towards the JCW Fund for allowing me to, essentially, build my career. It should seem impossible for someone of my economic status to be able to do the things that I have done. I am certainly not poor, but I am certainly not wealthy either and it is this realization that only leads me to thank God for everything that I am able to do.


Andrew Somers – JCW Travel Fund Scholarship – 2010


Please pray with us for Board Members, Syd and Laura Verinder, who will be traveling in  August to Madagascar.  They will be focusing on


    

  • Helping McGregors move the diocese offices to their new location;
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  • Review progress of two women-managed agricultural cooperatives; evaluate the experience of the past growing season and needs for moving ahead; discuss any Charter revisions for the coops; review ways to make the businesses better, meet training needs; encourage the women of Betaola for their next crop; and talk about steps to prepare for starting savings groups
    • 

  • Establish another cooperative and conduct a Christian business principles training course; formalize a Charter for the new business (funding pending)
    • 

  • Being in community with English language classes and church services
    • 

  • Participate in final phases of planning for construction of the new Soalara secondary school
    • 

  • Explore possibilities/needs for starting a bakery business and other small business ideas in Toliara and possibly Fort Dauphin
    • 

  • Explore possibilities of starting a savings group as the initial step towards a microcredit program at St. Luke’s Church, Toliara
    • 



Have you ever felt a calling to go to the “ends of the earth” to work for the spread of God’s kingdom?  The Verinders are open to the possibility of leading a small mission team for all or part of their journey.  Contact Syd at sverinder@hotmail.com for more information.


In addition, with great thanks, we welcome Rev. Howard and Peggy Hess from Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, TN, who will also be traveling to Madagascar in late July and early August.  They will be a great encouragement to Patsy and Todd as they work alongside them in the upcoming weeks.  Additional teams from  St. Mark’s, Geneva, IL and  Ursinus College will visit this summer as well as a team from SE Florida will be with the McGregor’s from 9/18-9/30.  For additional information on the SE Florida mission team trip, please visit http://onesteppublishing.com/madagascar. Praise be to God for these wonderful short-term missionaries and their love of the Malagasy people!!


The Gathering Place construction continues to go well with the outside shell and 2nd floor now complete as well as the foundation now laid for a 3-room building to house student evangelist and clergy trainees.  The roof work began the week of March 26th and now is near to completion (end of May).  Patsy and Todd held Easter service inside, with a confirmation ceremony and two churches coming to worship together.  Prayers and praise also for the groundbreaking on March 27th for the Ft. Daulphin church plant, called St. Gregory’s.  The first service consisted of 25 baptisms and confirmations, with many families coming to Christ together.  Pray for the construction over the next 8 months. Photos are included in our photo gallery.  To God be the Glory!


Please continue to keep the new Diocese in your prayers as meetings, approvals and paperwork processes continue to unfold in the coming weeks.  


Here’s a link for a u-tube video of Todd preaching regarding ChurchArmyAfrica, as they prepare to bring two missionaries from Africa to work in Madagascar.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_aLm2GeqAU




Pauline’s Travels (by Patsy) March 27, 2010


Somebody recently has given me great advice for the next 3 months of travelling – to think of myself as Pauline spreading the gospel everywhere I went. So on this trip to Ft. Dauphin my travels began. On the plane the lady next to me asked me to pray for her as her sister just died and she was going to the funeral. As we held hands and prayed, I remembered the advice I was given. She must have had the clue that we were Christians from the big cross around my husband’s neck.


And also yesterday, when the car broke down for the 5th time and therefore we walked into a rural village with only a few bamboo huts and were greeted by singing Christians who normally walk over 10 miles to church. They were estatic as this time we came to greet them in their village. In that village, there was a child, under 1 year old, suffering from what must have been water on the brain or something like that. She had a head the size of a helium baloon and her eyes went back into the back of her head and all that I could see was the white of her eyes. It was so sad. I thought of Corbi and the papers she has been writing for health class. We prayed for her and asked God to meet their needs even when a situation seems hopeless. 


Afterward we went to a park and saw many sifaka and brown lemurs and fed them out of our hands with guava we picked off the tree. It was cool.


Today was a very busy day. Beginning at 8:00 am going to lay the cornerstone for the 1st Anglican church in Ft. Dauphin. From there we went to have a baptismal service for about 20 newly baptised chirstians, finally finishing morning services at 1:00 pm. During the service I was amazed to think that whole families are coming to know Christ. Father and sons, mothers and daughters were being baptised together. Serving Christ and seeing His work in people’s lives is such a priviledge. 


Then we went over for rice and chicken with cucumber and carrots marinating in vinegar at the priests house and enough time to take my shoes off and lay down on the bunk bed and sleep for 20 min before the ecumenical memorial day service at 3:00 pm. I am glad I was the bishop’s wife and not the bishop as I could come back to the house and rest and shower. My husband on the otherhand had to listen to two more hours of confessions before tomorrows confirmation service!


So that is an update on the Pauline travels thus far.  We serve an awesome God!


 Our Visit to Morondava (2/3/10)



Just this week we are in Morandava where our experiences have been a true adventure.  This past weekend, Todd baptized 88 persons and confirmed another 59 and performed a beautiful wedding ceremony.  Patsy stood for hours as she held the Bishop’s staff, helped preach, assisted with communion and prayed over the children.  Between those services, we were the two key speakers for a women’s conference, teaching on Faithful Women in the Home, Faithful Women in the Church, Women in Evangelism and How to Respect Your Husbands.  


We have seen lots of friends who have walked over 18 miles to get here. Todd has met with clergy, church leaders and evangelists and had a 3-hour interview with Malagasy elders for his Doctoral research thesis.  We have endured a tropical depression, had to make a bridge through the water to get to church, worked around 3 car breakdowns, eaten lots of rice and loaka in rooms full of flies and been hosted by a loving Malagasy family.  It’s amazing how much the Bishop can pack into 72 hours!


 


 


 

	

	
	




	
	

				

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THE ANGLICAN CHURCH ARRIVES IN FT. DAUPHIN

		

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The Anglican Church Arrives in Ft. Dauphin  by Rev. Patsy McGregor





God is causing revival to spark in Madagascar!!





In April, 2009, one evangelist and one deacon traveled 3 days by truck to Ft. Dauphin to scout out the possibilities of planting a church.  A month later, they were followed by a team of 12 clergy and evangelists for an evangelistic mission.  Much like the biblical accounts of Joshua and Caleb, they came back with the reports of a promised land.  After an announcement on the radio, the first Sunday began with 17 adults and eight children and from that moment the church began to grow.  The second Sunday gathered 25 adults and several more children.  By the time the evangelistic mission team came back to Toliara two weeks later, 50 were gathering for worship and were promised a visit in August from Bishop Todd, Rev. Patsy and a visiting priest, The Rev. William Roberts and his wife, Ingrid, from St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, Deerfield, IL.





Upon our arrival in August, over 100 people had gathered at the airport to meet us–carrying two large banners with the logo of the Anglican Communion and announcing the beginning of the Anglican Church in Ft. Dauphin.  They brought us into the VIP lounge where we gave thanks to God for gathering us together, and from the airport we went to the local primary school classroom where they currently worship and with the large group, had a short time of greetings and prayer with the congregation.  After lunch we looked at various pieces of land to build a church, finding a large piece overlooking the mountains.  The combination of ocean and mountains causes the landscape in Ft. Dauphin to be quite beautiful.





The Sunday service was lovely.  Almost 200 people were in attendance, approximately 25 of them being visitors.  53 of these people were baptized, small babies, young people and elderly men and women, all surrendering their lives to Christ.  The mayor and his wife were in attendance and Patsy sang a beautiful song in Malagasy and English before Todd preached.  Unannounced and unknown to us, Anglicans have been waiting for several years for a church to built in Ft. Dauphin.  One man has literally been carrying around The Book of Common Prayer in his pocket for 15 years, waiting for the day he could worship with other Anglicans in Ft. Dauphin.  He had tears in his eyes when he expressed his gratefulness for this new church plant.  The Anglican Church continues to grow, prosper and be blessed by our Lord.