Footprints
Mission Newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antananarivo,Madagascar March, 2006

In our correspondence we prefer to use "friends" or people of
a "different faith" as pseudonyms for the people with whom we
minister. This way we hope to avoid unnecessary complications from
certain groups who may monitor email and other communications.

Dear Friends of Mission in Madagascar,

In this issue of Footprints:
"Is it January Already?"…..news about big changes coming our way
Project Shalom Work Continues…..news about Doug's involvement with
Project Shalom
Mosquito Nets for Malaria Prevention…news about project to prevent
malaria
"Spring Packs" on Their Way….news about Manna products available
for sale
Sewing Machine and more…news about contributions helping Manna
centers
PACWA Center Gets a Great Start…news about a new Manna center in
Diego Suarez


"Is it January Already?"

They say time flies when you're having fun, but we've been finding
that time flies when you're trying to make decisions as well. In
fact, we've been making so many decisions that time has pretty much
escaped us. We're feeling ready for January any day now, and here
it is March and Lent already! December was laden with so many major
unanswered questions about our future that we decided to wait on a
Christmas letter until we could at least report where we expected to
be in 2006. By the time we finally knew what we would be doing, it
seemed too late so we've given up on the whole idea of such a
letter. So forgive us for not sending any Christmas greetings.

The recent soul-searching and decisions have focused around where we
feel called to be doing ministry and where we feel is the best place
for our children for the next few years. After much prayer and
discussion, we finally decided that Ben needs to be in an English-
speaking school. He has been in French schools ever since he was 4
and as a result is very fluent in French. That is an incredible
gift for him. Yet to better prepare him for life in the English-
speaking world, we feel he needs to start now to get an education in
English. Thus, we asked for and received permission to move to the
capital, where he can attend the American School of Antananarivo.
The next question was whether to go ahead with our home leave this
year in the midst of the moving process. Again, much prayer and
discussion finally led us to decide we will do that.

The result is a very hectic few months of packing for a move across
the country and preparations for home leave. It is an exciting
time, and we are looking forward to all the fun of being back in the
USA and the excitement of settling in to a new routine in a new area
of Madagascar when we return.

We are currently receiving requests from churches that would like us
to visit during our two months of home assignment visitation, and
are starting to try to schedule those churches' visits. If you have
not received notice from us or Global Missions about this and would
like us to visit, would you please contact us ASAP at
dougmonica@... to get the request form. Given the
situation with our full agenda right now, we also ask your patience
if we're not as organized as we'd like with all these
preparations.

Project Shalom work continues

The move to the capital will have an impact on Doug's work with
Project Shalom, but he will continue to travel up to Diego several
times a year in order to visit the Shalom sites in the countryside,
teach, and maintain contact with other Project shalom staff, synod
leadership, and those of another faith who are interested in
learning about Christianity. To facilitate his colleague's
continued work without Doug here, he is trying to buy a motorcycle
with Level II donations. Thus, Pastor Rapetera (Doug's colleague)
will be able to travel to the sites in between Doug's visits as
well.

In addition to returning several times a year to Diego, Doug will
continue work on tract and video production which he can do from
home. He is also eager to get to know the many people of another
faith in Antananarivo. We will be living in an area of town very
close to the biggest place of worship for people of another faith in
Madagascar, so Doug should have many opportunities for contact with
people there.

Mosquito Nets for Malaria Prevention

Thanks to a generous gift from St. Paul's Lutheran, Durham, NC, two
projects of mosquito net distribution for the prevention of malaria
are underway. One project will provide 1,300+ families with
mosquito nets over the next 12 months through rural health clinics
which are a part of Project Shalom. The other project provided
mosquito net cloth to women at the PACWA center who organized
seamstresses to sew them into nets so they can earn a salary, and
then sell them at an affordable price in the city of Diego Suarez.
Many thanks for the wonderful gift that will give hundreds of
families hope of avoiding one of the major killers in Madagascar.

"Spring Packs" on Their Way

2006 has started out with so many orders for Manna for Madagascar
products that we have been struggling to keep them all straight.
The women are so thankful and excited because they have not had any
breaks so far in their work time. We hope this can continue so that
they do not have to go for periods of time without income.

The last order to be shipped was what we are calling Spring Packs.
We received requests from synods to have products to sell at synod
assemblies so we have put together 20 Spring Packs with $400 of
merchandise in each one. There is also a great deal of extra
merchandise which can be ordered along with the basic kit. If you
are interested in learning more or would like to order one or more
kits, please contact Lea Mulqueen at lea_mulqueen@... . These
can be used for Synod Assemblies, Vacation Bible Schools, summer
craft fairs, or church sales. There is a lot of new, fun
merchandise!!

Sewing Machine and more

In other news, Manna purchased an industrial sewing machine for
Section Raphia, who make raphia bags, placemats, etc. They were
excited to get a machine that will be able to reinforce stitching
they had done by hand before. This machine was purchased due to a
gift from Emmanuel Lutheran in Bethesda, Maryland. Emmanuel also
provided gift money that has been used to purchase two "snap
machines" to attach snaps on clothing (for ILOFAV and Section
Raphia) and kitchen equipment for the new center in Diego.

PACWA (Pan African Christian Women's Alliance) Center Gets a Great
Start
The Diego PACWA center is up and running with classes in sewing,
accounting, cooking, and secretarial skills. Every student
participates in Bible study, classes on AIDS, health, social
virtues, and nutrition in addition to their regular classes. Madame
Berthine, the director of the center, has commented that she has
already seen amazing changes in the students as a result of the
Biblical and social classes. She, along with the entire group of
women who started the center pray constantly that these students
would come to know Jesus and give up the lifestyles so many of them
have. Another component of the center is production of merchandise
for sale locally and through Manna. Women who have little
opportunity for other income are able to receive orders and thus
provide for their families. Manna has supplied fabric for the
students, embroidery thread and fabric for production, in addition
to the kitchen equipment.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We would appreciate prayers
at this time for all the details associated with organizing home
visits, packing for the move to Antananarivo, finding the right
house to live in there, and that the ministries of Project Shalom
and Manna for Madagascar could bear much fruit in the work of God's
kingdom. THANKS!!

Contact information:
e-mail us at dougmonica@...
or write us at: BP 471 Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) 201 MADAGASCAR
or contact us through: Robbie Cox 2101 Copeland Way Chapel Hill,
NC 27517

visit our website at www.projectshalom.org
If you know someone who would like to receive our newsletter in the
future, encourage them to send a blank email to: projectshalom-
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