Why do we want to go back to Madagascar?

Many people ask us why do we want to go back to Madagascar. Its a good question! They know that life in many ways is harder for us over there than it is in New Zealand. They have heard about the fleas, the mosquitoes, the many times we get sick and they wonder why? Especially, since we will be going over with 4 young children (one a newborn). Many people think we are crazy! So let me tell you why we want to go back.

In spite of all the hard things about living in Madagascar, we actually do, most of the time, love living over there! You learn to adjust to a different way of living, like walking on the roads and dodging chickens, carts and wagons, learning a new language and a new culture. The other missionaries who live over there are so supportive and welcoming, they know what its like to live in a culture completely different from your own, and they help you settle in, and welcome you into the ever-changing community of missionaries living in a third world country. We had/have wonderful friends over in Madagascar and we miss them and look forward to seeing them again.

There are no footpaths in our village!

I think the biggest reason we want to go back, is that we feel compelled by God to go back and share His love with the people of Madagascar, and especially our precious Iris kids. We miss them, and when we came home last time, it was for a medical emergency, and we felt our work at Iris was not finished. We strongly believe, that as followers of God, we need to be open to His voice leading us and directing our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6) and therefore, it is hard for us, to ever create 5 year plans, as God usually only tells us the next step - go here, go there. So many times in our lives, things have not worked out the way we thought they would, be we know, that we have always tried to be obedient to His calling, every time.

Also, it is actually something we really love doing. We love being a part of helping to rescue children out of horrible situations, where children are living on the street, being abused, abandoned etc. We don't just get to donate money (which is amazing and thank you to everyone that donates money to us as we need it to be able to go!) but we get to be there, doing it. We get to love on children, who haven't been loved before. We get to be the hands, feet, arms, legs, tongue and heart of Jesus! Hugging children, who haven't had much love before; snuggling babies who have been abandoned; giving out Christmas presents to children who have never received gifts before - there is so much joy in that! In fact, my favourite Christmas ever, was the Christmas we had at Iris in Madagascar, where I got to give out presents to the Iris children, for the newer kids, who hadn't had a Christmas at Iris before, it was beautiful, to see their excited, amazed faces, that the whole shoe box of presents could be for them - their own. Wow!

It is such a privilege, to bring up kids in a third world country. Sure they may not have playgrounds and it is harder for them in a lot of ways. They are stared at, pointed at and sometimes even touched on the head, because they are white. They cannot understand the main language spoken around them, and people don't understand them. But, they have the opportunity to minister alongside Mum and Dad at the local rubbish dump, giving out biscuits at our lunch time feeding programme and learning to befriend a child of another culture. Our children have the opportunities to grow immensely in compassion, evangelism, generosity, understanding, appreciation for what we have and how much God has blessed us. They see first hand God providing for us and for Iris, and Him answering prayers. They grow culturally, where they are, on a daily basis, interacting with others of another culture and language, and they learn to get on with all types of people.

I have found that we have an opportunity, also, to grow closer as a family unit. Our children are home-schooled, and the little ones don't go to a preschool, as there are no English speaking preschools and schools in Madagascar. They play more with their siblings than anyone else, as they are around them so much more. Gerhard also comes home for lunch each day and we are able to spend more time as a family, than we would in NZ, when he works long hours as a teacher/Principal.

Baking is always an enjoyable home-schooling lesson!

We often focus on the negatives, as people expect there to be, with living in a third world country. But there are so many positives about living in Madagascar! The weather is a lot nicer for one thing, the sky is almost always blue and 9 days out of 10, it is sunny and warm. There are delicious tropical fruit like mangoes and liches and the fruit and veges are a LOT cheaper than New Zealand. We also get to do new experiences, like seeing lemurs in their natural habitat, eating freshly caught seafood by the ocean or celebrating the Madagascar Independence Day with the Iris children by walking the streets at night with paper lanterns lit up.

Madagascar Independence Day

Lastly, God has given us the great commission, to go into ALL the world and preach the good news. We are commanded to go everywhere, and everywhere can hardly be staying in one's own town or country all one's life. We are inspired by stories of missionaries from the earliest apostles eg Thomas going to India to today's Heidi Bakers (founder of Iris Global). It is a great privilege to be able to partner with God and many others to serve in another country, loving the poorest of the poor.

The village where we live.

From Taumarunui to Madagascar

AN UPDATE FROM GERHARD, REBEKAH, TABITHA, MARY-BETH AND IMMANUEL

In short: Gerhard is working as a teaching Principal; Rebekah is homeschooling Tabitha, and our two youngest children, Mary-Beth and Immanuel, are enjoying kindy. We are expecting our forth (living on earth) child, due end of January and hope to return to Madagascar, God willing, in April 2017 to once again serve as full-time missionaries with Iris Madagascar. To do this, we need to have enough support pledged to us, that we can live over there with our family of six. As our work is 100% voluntary, we rely on others and God to provide for our needs. It is an exciting time for us!

Immanuel (nearly 3) feeding Petal, our pet lamb

Mary-Beth (nearly 5)

Tabitha (nearly 7)

It has been a while since we have written to you all. Last year, in June, we had to unexpectedly come home for a medical emergency. Tabitha had crushed her finger in a door, and it developed into a nasty bone infection. Our insurance company and medical missionaries in Madagascar advised us to return home. In January of this year, her bone infection was finally gone. Gerhard has been working this year as a beginning principal at a small country school half an hour out of our home town Taumarunui in New Zealand. This has given him many new skills in leadership, that can benefit the team at Iris Madagascar.

During that time, it was hard for us to unexpectedly just pack up and leave Iris Madagascar, when we felt from God that we still had so much more to do there. God miraculously provided money for return plane tickets, a car for us in NZ, a teaching job for Gerhard and so much more. We really felt His hand of provision over us!

The months that followed our return to NZ, while amazing in many ways, were also very challenging. It was hard for us to come back to NZ, with no warning whatsoever. We also wanted to talk lots about our experiences in Madagascar, and found it hard when people seemed not interested in talking about our lives over in Mada (which we thought were so exciting, as they were so different!). We couldn't understand why people often acted like nothing had changed for us, when so much had! Maybe it was because people didn't know what to say, or just couldn't relate - how could they, when both worlds are almost opposites! Its hard to really describe what a place is like, unless they have lived in another third world country, and not many had!

Shortly after we arrived in NZ, we were excited to find out I was expecting again. Everything seemed to be going well, I had had less morning sickness than normal, but still enough that I thought everything was fine. It was a few days after our 12 week scan, that we got the news that something was most likely wrong with our baby. The next 3-4 weeks were really hard for us, as we met with different specialists, had more scans and worried about what might be wrong with our baby. We were preparing ourselves for the worst, but still held hope, that perhaps there was nothing wrong with our child.

In my 15th week of pregnancy, at a routine midwife check, there was found to be no heart beat. Our midwife tried to reassure us that there was probably nothing wrong, baby was just too small and could be hiding by my spine. The next night, we went to the hospital. It was to our extreme sadness that we learnt our precious baby had passed away. 

The next few weeks (and months) were really painful for us, as anyone who has lost a child or a baby can understand. We discovered from the post-mortem that we had a daughter, she had heart problems and was unable to keep growing with a heart that couldn't support her. We named her Rebekah Janice (my name). Although, as Christians, we believed we would see her one day and know her for all of eternity, it was still hard to see other pregnant women or newborn babies. In fact, even now, I (Rebekah) find it challenging and emotional to see other babies that are about the same age, Rebekah would have been.

At the end of 2015, Gerhard applied for and got a maternity cover one year Principal/Teaching job at a small country school half an hour out of Taumarunui. Our two youngest children attend our local kindy (the same kindy Tabitha used to go to before we moved to Madagascar). I have been continuing to homeschool Tabitha, as we felt this was the direction we were supposed to go, coming back from Madagascar, and having homeschooled over there (as there are no English schools in Madagascar).

In May, we were overwhelmed, excited, but also nervous to find out I was carrying again. Through out much of my first half of this pregnancy, I have been worried that every cramp was a sign that I was micarrying. However, having two positive scans now, and feeling baby move lots now, I know everything will be ok. 

Baby is due end of January. Gerhard is working Term 1 at his current job and we hope to return to Madagascar in April, 2017 if all goes to plan and we get all the support we need to be able to serve as missionaries again full time with Iris Madagascar.

Please pray for us

* Thank God for His provision for us while we were in Madagascar and since coming back to NZ and pray that we would get the support we need to be able to serve as full-time missionaries in Madagascar.

* Pray God's leading is clear for us over the next few months.

* Thank God for this pregnancy, and pray that everything will go well with the rest of the pregnancy, labour and birth of our baby (due end of Jan).

* Please pray for our family, for continued health, energy during the busy times, and a closer walk with God.

* Pray for closer relationships with people across NZ, and also with our Iris team members and friends in Madagascar.

* Pray for all the organisational aspects that need to happen before we can leave, such as, booking plane tickets, buying health insurance (for Madagascar), renewing passports, getting vaccinations etc.

* Pray for our Iris team in Madagascar, for unity, increased finances, protection and hearts focused on God and His will.

* Pray for our children in Iris Madagascar, for protection, health, and a closer relationship with our Saviour.

If you are interested in supporting us..

We would love to hear from you if you are interested in supporting us financially, in prayer, with encouragement or with moral support. Our work is 100% voluntary, and we need people to partner with us in this. 

Our bank details are: Account Name: RJ & GC Potgieter, Bank: ANZ, Account Number: 01-0755-0190834-47 Please put your last name as reference.

You can also donate to us through Pen Pal. It is free to create an account, you just need our email address: beks_gerhard@hotmail.com Pen Pal may be cheaper for overseas supporters. There will be a fee for sending or receiving international payments between 0.3-3.3% which varies by country.

Contact details

For more details or to go on our newsletter list, you can email us at beks_gerhard@hotmail.com or phone us on 0224387404. 

You can also view our blog at: gerhardandrebekah.blogspot.com 

Our current address for writing is: 5 East Street, Taumarunui, 3920, NZ.

Please let us know if you no longer want to receive these updates, or if you have changed your email address.

A video of our work in Madagascar

A video of our work in Madagascar 2 months after we arrived