Greetings from Madagascar,
	 Below is a letter I wrote already one month ago.  Since I
was in the US at that time and Doug was in Madagascar (explanation
below) we had to email it back and forth to edit and approve.  In
the process, it fell off the priority agenda so only now are we
finally getting it sent out.  But we've decided to send it out late
as it is rather than changing it all since it contains a lot of news
that we want everyone to get.  Sorry for the delay.  Just an added
note; I am doing well and back in Madagascar and almost over jet
lag!   Monica

Dear Friends and Sponsors,
		 Feb. 20, 2008

	 I (Monica), bring you greetings today from snowy, chilly
North Dakota.  I am here in Valley City, North Dakota, watching the
mercury register below zero temps while Doug and the boys are
weathering the storms of cyclone Ivan in Madagascar which dumped a
good bit of rain on them.  I am in the USA for gall bladder surgery.
Global Mission approved a trip back here for that surgery which was
successfully completed last Monday, the 18th.  It was done
laproscopically which meant I was in to the operating room at 8:30
am and out of the hospital by 2 pm.   Not quite drive-through
surgery, but close.  Everything went very well and I am now at my
parents' house recuperating nicely.

	 The hardest part of this surgery is the time away from Doug
and the boys.  They are doing well though, carrying on with their
regular routines…minus Mom.  Doug reports that both of the boys have
been very helpful around the house to allow Doug more time to work.
He is busy on a report for the president of the Malagasy Lutheran
Church.  At a recent meeting with the president, Doug was asked to
write a report of the activities of Muslim missionary groups in
Madagascar and his recommendations for the Lutheran Church in light
of these activities. He has been doing a good amount of research on
that topic and continues to do more.  Unfortunately our laptop died
(second one within a year) recently so he lost a good bit of
information that was saved on that computer.

	 While my surgery in the States and Doug's report are news,
there is actually much bigger news that prompts us to write today.
One of the questions we have most frequently been asked by sponsors
and friends over the years is how long we are planning to stay in
Madagascar.   Our answer has always been that we didn't know.   When
we initially joined the Division for Global Missions in 2000, it was
with the understanding of a 7-8 year commitment.  Now, 8 years
later, that initial commitment has been fulfilled.  As this time
approached we have been praying for discernment about whether we
should renew that commitment for a longer period or prepare to
return to the US.  After much prayer and discussion, we have
resolved that it is the right time for our family to end our service
in Madagascar and return to the USA.

	 We thank God and all of you for the opportunity to serve as
missionaries in Madagascar.  Our experiences here have been a
blessing to us in many ways and we leave with very mixed feelings,
knowing that we will deeply grieve leaving Madagascar.  Yet we feel
that the time is right for our boys to live in their own culture and
country and to be able to put down roots in one place for many
years.  This time in Madagascar has been very good for them, yet
filled with constant changes and adjustments.  In addition to
stability, we are hoping to let them see extended family more often
now.

	 Doug is also feeling called to find his niche for ministry
in the US.  The need for his skills and passion are great in this
country too and he hopes to find an opportunity to share that in
some way here.  We are not sure yet if he will need to work towards
that vision gradually over the coming years while serving as a
pastor in a congregation, or if a specialized ministry focused on
Christian-Muslim relations will present itself right away.  So we
are currently looking at possible opportunities in the US and are
starting to wrap things up in Madagascar.

	 Fortunately Project Shalom has strong support from the
Malagasy Lutheran Church as well as several mission partners
(including ELCA Global Mission), so Doug is leaving with confidence
that this ministry can continue to have a positive impact in
Madagascar.  Research Doug is documenting right now will be used by
those who will continue this work.  Doug has also been instrumental
in introducing a new ministry partner into Madagascar who has been
doing ministry across Africa for many years.  They will bring rich
experience and a wealth of knowledge to this ministry in Madagascar
which will be very valuable in the years to come.

	 We are not as confident about the future of the ministry of
Manna for Madagascar.  As you may remember, we have been
experiencing a great deal of difficulty in the past months because
of the president of the board of Manna who has essentially sabotaged
the organization out of her own jealousy and selfishness.  It has
been very sad and discouraging to watch, yet for the producers whose
livelihood has come to depend on this, it has been devastating.  It
is out of compassion for those producers that we are currently
looking at starting a new organization that can continue the mission
of Manna for Madagascar but with a new name and new structure.  Two
Malagasy women who have been deeply involved in Manna are hoping to
run the organization and I may continue to volunteer to help them
from this side of the operation.  There are still many questions
about the specifics of this ministry, but the goals would be the
same as that of Manna for Madagascar; to provide income generating
opportunities for women while also offering learning and
transformational opportunities to empower them to bring about
positive changes in all aspects of their lives.  To accomplish this,
the shipments of handcrafts for sale in the US would continue,
although all the specifics of that are still unclear.

	 We have been amazed at all that has been accomplished
through Manna in the past years and we hope it will prove to be only
the beginning.  We appreciate all the support you have provided
through hosting Bazaar Kits, fund raisers, donations, and many
prayers.  We would like to encourage you to continue that same
support and join us in a network of "Manna supporters" with whom we
can continue to stay in touch, even when our Cox Family ministry
newsletters have ended.  As we have more information available we
will share that with you and would encourage you to prayerfully
consider continuing your involvement with this ministry in the
future as well.

	 As you can probably imagine, it is an exciting but stressful
time for our family.  Jeremiah is excited to get back (among other
things to see snow which he doesn't remember at all) while Ben is
determined NOT to move back to the US with us.  We are very
concerned about this very major transition for both of our boys and,
indeed, for all of us.  We have heard from many missionary families
that returning to the US after mission service is harder than the
initial culture shock of going overseas.  Doug and I have both
experienced this phenomenon as singles but not with children.  We do
so now with great concern for our boys, knowing Ben has been
sheltered in many ways that American kids are not.  He will be
entering 6th grade, not an easy time anyway.  We face uncertainty
about where we will live and what kind of job we will get, starting
over to furnish a home (and trying to remember where all we have
left things behind to try to gather together), and the daily
challenge of keeping our mouths shut when all we want to do is talk
about Madagascar to people who don't want to hear anymore.

	 We know there will be hard times ahead, yet we know that God
will provide and see us through.  So we can move ahead with trust
that things will work out and our family will make it through.  We
covet your continued prayers during this time of transition yet
again.

	 I should add that we will likely be leaving Madagascar mid-
June after the school year is over.  The boys' school has both 5th
grade and Kindergarten graduation every year so both boys will be
graduating before we leave.  We feel this is important for their
sense of closure at their school.  From there we hope to do a few
days of travel on our way back to the US.  Starting on July 1st we
have an apartment reserved at the missionary apartments in St. Paul,
MN where we can live until the end of December if we haven't yet
found a job during that time.  We would prefer to have that job
figured out by the time school starts so we can have the boys
settled in a school where they can stay instead of facing yet
another transition mid-school year.  We don't have control over that
though, so we move ahead in faith that all will work out.

	 We thank you for your support and prayers over the years of
our ministry in Madagascar.   We will be in touch again before we go
but we do want you to know how meaningful it has been to us to have
your encouragement along the way.  We will miss that in whatever
ministry opportunity we are called to next.

	 In Christ,
	 Rev. Doug, Monica, Ben, and Jeremiah Cox

Friday, August 24, 2007

Dear Friends,

It seems that an update is way overdue with many people wondering
how things are going for us.  As you probably know, we have been in
opposite corners of the globe for the last five weeks so are very
thankful to be back together again as of Sunday when I, Monica, got
back from a month in the USA.  It was a long time to be away from
Doug and the boys, who stayed behind and did a lot of traveling here
in Madagascar.

During my time in the USA, I was able to celebrate with my parents
on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.  In addition, I
took advantage of the trip to take classes and attend a training
conference.  One of the classes was about how to make unique books
and I'm hoping to share many of the ideas from that class with the
makers of antaimoro paper here in Madagascar so we can get some
creative new designs, including earrings in the shape of books.
The training conference was specifically about handcrafts and
marketing those handcrafts in the US.  There were a lot of
interesting things I learned as well as making some interesting
connections that may turn into future business partnerships,
depending on where the Lord leads.   I also had time to meet with
the board of Manna, USA, and speak with other people involved in the
ministry on the US end and other clients of Manna for Madagascar.

During my time there I received wonderful news from Doug about
events in Madagascar regarding the ministry of Manna.  You may
remember that earlier we had written that there were problems within
the Board of Directors of Manna.  It all stemmed from the president
of the board and her jealousy over my inviting my colleague, Lova,
to attend the handcrafts conference with me in the US.  The
president felt SHE should be the one invited to attend and when we
didn't do that, she set out to destroy the whole ministry of Manna.
In a very amazing way, most of the rest of the board has rallied to
address the issue and save the ministry.   They went against their
cultural norm of trying to maintain harmony and actually hired a
lawyer to get rid of the president when she wouldn't agree to
resigning.  It is nothing short of a miracle that the president did
agree to resign so we are praising God that the doors have been
opened again for work to continue.  As you can imagine, it was a
very discouraging time as we wondered what would happen.  It was
hard for me to see all our efforts to build a ministry being torn
down and especially for such a selfish reason, yet my grief was
nothing compared to what the producers felt as they saw their future
hope being ripped away from them.

We are praising God along with them today though as they are all
happily working hard on new orders that will be sent to the US next
month for orders as Bazaar Kits.  Once again, God has provided far
beyond what I had imagined was possible.  I really did not believe
we would get the Bazaar Kits out this year but the producers are
working extra hard to try to accomplish in a few weeks what we
usually would have done in a few months.  They are motivated and
thankful!!  If you have not ordered a Bazaar Kit, please consider
doing so to support this ministry and help these women.  You can
email Lea Mulqueen at lea.mannausa@...  or call her at  410-
667-9181.

While I was away, Doug and the boys had 2 adventurous trips in which
Doug was able to combine fun for the boys and ministry for him.
During the first trip up to Diego for two weeks he had our niece and
nephew along so they helped out a lot with Ben and Jeremiah when
Doug was busy teaching and in meetings.  Then on the second trip to
Manakara (on the southeast coast of Madagascar) he was especially
thankful for such patient boys who cooperated wonderfully even when
Doug's work time stretched out much longer than expected.  They
returned to Tana just a couple days before I flew back from the US.

Unfortunately they had heard about a problem in our yard while they
were away so were eager to get back and check it out.  The day after
they had left Tana for Manakara a fire was set to some bushes just
inside the fence of our yard.  The fire spread rapidly, in spite of
neighbors trying to put it out.  The greatest help was that they
called the fire station and, because of the Indian Ocean Islands
games being held just a few blocks away from our house, the firemen
working at the games were able to come quickly.  If not, we are sure
the house would have caught on fire since there were two trees in
flames very close to the house.  The firemen even said that within
as little as three minutes the flames would have likely spread and
we suspect the whole house would have gone quickly. Had the fire
trucks been at their usual location they wouldn't have made it in
time to save the house!

As we try to sort out what happened, it seems most likely that
someone purposely set the fire.  One neighbor speculated that it was
possibly someone trying to get revenge on our landlord since the
people around do not get along with him and he is very hard on his
employees.  Most likely we will never know.  But we will always be
thankful that our house did not burn down even though our yard is
looking pretty bare and ugly right now.   The biggest negative
though is that the fire burned the telephone line running above the
trees.  As a result, our phone line was not working and normally,
one can expect repairs to take weeks or months in this country.  Yet
amazingly, the telephone company came the day after Doug reported
the problem and everything was fixed immediately and we're able to
use our phone and internet at home again!!

We had expected to be going to the American School frequently to
check emails from there but it's great to have this ability at
home.  We figured we'd be spending a lot of time there anyway since
the boys already went back to classes last Wednesday.  Jeremiah is
very excited about being in Kindergarten this year and we are very
thankful he will have a wonderful teacher.  Ben is not as excited
but we are praying that he will slide into the routine much easier
this year since he has one year of English schooling under his belt
and one year of experience at this school so he won't be the new kid
yet again.  He IS excited about one aspect of school: he will be
starting band this year but does not know which instrument yet.  The
summer has been a good one for Ben.  We appreciate all the prayers
for him after our last news was sent out with our concerns about
him.   We appreciate your ongoing prayers for him, especially as he
starts a new school year now.

We also appreciate your prayers for the ministries of Project Shalom
and Manna for Madagascar, for our own discernment about what they
need and how to proceed in each.   Please also pray for the country
of Madagascar and its people as they seek ways to help the country
progress economically and alleviate poverty.  Also, for those who
still do not have freedom in Christ, we ask for prayers that they
might put their trust in the Lord.  We continue to be inspired by
the many true stories of those around us, of miraculous healings and
conversions.  God is working and God is good all the time.

We'll share more news about wonderful developments in Project Shalom
in our next update.

Blessings,

Doug and Monica

December 6, 2006

We returned from visiting the USA in mid-August, quickly rented a
house in the capital city, our boys started in a new school, and by
Sept. 7, I was driving north to Diego for a 3 week journey packed
with work, re-connecting with friends and colleagues, and many
moments of both inspiration and challenge.

One highlight comes from a little fishing village called IRONONA.
As I visited with our evangelist there he asked for help in
establishing a church, the first ever in that village.  But the
story began earlier in the beginning of 2006.  That's when Bruno,
one of our Shalom evangelists, began visiting this village weekly.
The 18 kilometer walk didn't stop him nor did the fact that almost
100% of its inhabitants are people of another faith - the focus of
Project Shalom.  A few others are strictly animists, focused on
idols, spirit possession, and worship of their ancestors.  Soon
Bruno began discipling one such family who live at the entrance to
the village.  Earlier this year they asked to be baptized in the
name of Christ.  Their baptism itself was a huge event for the non-
Christian community.  But then, as a concrete mark of their
repentance and new life in Christ, they carried their idols, charms
and traditional "holy" clothes used in worship to a Shalom health
clinic (18 kilometers away) and burned them.  Traditionally, pieces
of wood, candles, small baskets with "sacred" paper or charms, and
all sorts of "things" become idols, which people believe help
satisfy the ancestors and guard against being cursed by them.  The
local people believed wholeheartedly that burning these artifacts
would mean that this family would be cursed and grow sick and die.

In fact, after this they still struggled against spirits which they
perceived to be troubling and possessing them.  Bruno brought them
to the Toby in Diego (a Christian camp for spiritual healing) to be
spiritually cleansed.  Their neighbors in IRONONA were now sure that
this family would be killed or driven insane by the spirits
(called "TROMBA") that they were rejecting.  Just over a month later
all 6 returned to IRONONA healthy, free of the TROMBA, and
overflowing with enthusiasm about their new life in Christ.  They
live on the main path into the village.  Now as people in the
village come and go, many stop to hear their amazing story.

Meanwhile the people in IRONONA had already been asking Bruno to
help them build a house of prayer.  He offered to help them build a
church, to worship the one true God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Now with the witness of this family, Bruno and a donation from one
family in the USA, the village is actively cutting wood and building
the first church ever in their village.  We invite you to pray for
the people of IRONONA along with these new believers.  Please pray
too for the evangelist, Bruno, and his wife and children.  God is
moving in people's hearts in IRONONA.  Yet, pray for wisdom and
spiritual protection so that this isolated Christian community can
effectively share its faith and grow in Christ, in spite of
opposition.  Please pray for the community of people from another
faith, that many may discover the truth in Christ and find new life
and freedom from all that binds them spiritually.

Another highlight is the free mosquito net program just recently
begun in Shalom health clinics around Diego.  Women who give birth
in the health clinics and children who get the 5 recommended
vaccinations before age 1 are entitled to a free mosquito net!  This
is thanks to a large money gift from one US congregation.  The
program helps fight malaria, promote vaccinations, and assist in
educating and caring for pregnant mothers and their babies.  Before
the program began, an average of 5 - 6 women a month gave birth in
each country clinic.  In the first month of the program each clinic
had over 20!  In addition to the obvious medical advantages to this,
there is also a spiritual value.  Contact with the clinics means
contact with the love of Christ…through the healing ministry of our
Christian medical staff and direct exposure to Bibles, worship
services, Christian posters, etc., Shalom clinics become local
centers for engagement with Christians who are ready to gently and
lovingly share their hope in Christ.

In addition to these two highlights there are many others: adding a
new evangelist to our staff, opening a new clinic, adopting one
primary school into Shalom and establishing another, children of
another faith being led to Christ through the witness of teachers
and Christian "grandmother" figures…and the list goes on.

Thank you for your prayers…we are seeing the answer to many prayers
in Northern Madagascar.  One of the hopes now is to help begin this
type of ministry in the capital city as well.  That is the request
of the Malagasy Lutheran Church and generally my (Doug) new job
description.  We are already seeing indications that God has been
preparing the way for this for a long time.  We'll have to share
more about the work in Antananarivo in another edition
of "Footprints".

One last note that Manna for Madagascar sent 50 Bazaar Kits
available for churches to sell to support the producers in
Madagascar.  There are still a few left.  Please consider whether
your church could order one or more kits to sell before and after
services or at a special event where these items could also be
sold.  To order a kit contact Lea Mulqueen at: 410-294-2986 or
lea.mannausa@... .  To learn more about the ministry of Manna
and the Bazaar Kits, visit www.mannamadagascar.org .

Prayer Requests:

• For many in IRONONA to put their faith in Christ and
discover new life in Christ.
• For wisdom for all of us witnessing to people of another
faith here in Madagascar.
• For Manna for Madagascar to grow in its impact on the 200+
women currently benefiting from its ministry as well as growing more
independent of missionaries.

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

(Just before Christmas we sent out the following letter, but it was
jumbled because of some fancy formatting which we shouldn't have
used.  We're sorry for the confusion and hope this copy makes it
through more clearly. - Doug and Monica Cox)

Footprints mission newsletter from the Cox Family in Madagascar

Antsiranana (Diego Suarez)                     December, 2005

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,

Belated Christmas greetings from Madagascar!  Our "Christmas tree"
is blooming brilliantly right now with bright red blossoms.  Not a
typical Christmas tree but a fun tropical version of the symbol of
Jesus' life everlasting.  We have heard of cold and snow in parts of
the US which is making Ben wish to see snow.  Jeremiah doesn't have
any concept of snow so isn't missing it at all. We've started
decorating for Christmas but I don't think it will ever feel like
Christmas while we're sweating all day and night.  Then again, the
Christmas spirit is really in knowing Jesus as Lord and King…in hot
or cold weather.


Big Changes Ahead
Ben has had the opportunity to attend French schools ever since he
started at 4 years old in France.  He loves to say he has always
studied in French and enjoys being much stronger in French than his
parents, but we continue to have concerns about his lack of formal
English education.  After much prayer and soul-searching, we
resolved that it would be best for him to enter an English school by
the next school year.   Yet we do not feel that God is calling us to
leave our ministries and leave Madagascar at this point.  Thus we
sought and received permission from DGM (our mission) to relocate to
the capital city, Antananarivo, so that Ben can study in English at
the American School there.  We are still concerned about his
transition into that system since he is below grade level in English
reading and writing.  We would appreciate prayers about this as we
work through many related questions and transitions.

One logistical challenge in making this move is that we also expect
to do our home leave next summer, 2006.  That means we will be doing
all the scheduling of those visits and preparing for that trip while
we're also trying to pack up, find a house, and move.  Again, we are
praying for this major transition.

Yet we are also getting excited about the time in the USA.  We
enjoyed our visits with sponsoring churches in 2004 and look forward
to meeting many more of our sponsors in 2006.  We are tentatively
planning to be there mid May-mid August.  We have not yet started
scheduling but will be contacting our sponsoring congregations
soon.


A Kingdom Divided Against Itself, News about Project Shalom

Kings are not just something of the past in Madagascar; they are
living guardians of the culture, the ancestors, and all sorts of
spiritual power.  Today the authority of most Malagasy kings
stretches only within a limited region and most of them are little
more than figureheads.  Historic battles and contact with other
nations has given way to a national, democratic government.  Yet,
where we live, the Antakarana King still has significant authority.
He collects taxes and exercises both spiritual and physical claims
on his people.  His people are the majority of our neighbors.  They
mostly adhere to another faith and are thus the primary focus of
Project Shalom's ministry in the north.

Yet in early 2005 many elders publicly called for him to be
dethroned.  Another man has been selected by many of the people as a
NEW king of the Antakarana.  Yet the old one won't leave.  Tensions
have been rising throughout the year until just a few weeks ago the
old king was tied to a tree, beaten, had dog manure put on his head,
and may have been killed if the army had not rescued him.  Now many
of his loyal supporters are camped out in the palace, guarding him
as he heals.  Meanwhile, this brings to mind the words of
Jesus: "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined…" (MT
12:25).

This may be a unique moment in the history of the Antakarana
people.  As the kings shame each other, the authority of the kingdom
itself is shaken.  We believe that the traditions of the king create
a spiritual barrier or darkness blocking people from coming to
Christ.  (A simple example might help: One of our evangelists quit
and moved to another part of Madagascar outside the Antakarana
kingdom and continued evangelistic work there.  In his 4 years of
working with Project Shalom no one of another faith had come to
Christ and been baptized.  Yet within 1 year in the new place, he
baptized 70 converts and began a new church.)  If people lose
confidence in this kingdom, we have hope that hearts will be more
open to Christ.  We are preparing for a new day in evangelism here,
an open door unlike we've seen before.  A number of new converts are
currently "hiding" their new identity and may find a new possibility
for life.  Meanwhile we are training and sending out more and more
Christians motivated to share the Gospel to this people group,
distributing Bibles and other literature, etc.
Please pray for the Kingdom of God to grow as the Antakarana Kingdom
wanes.

Please also hold up two friends of another faith that Doug has been
discipling for around a year.  They are hungry, and one is already
believing in Jesus as his Savior.  As he left our home recently, he
glowed about how light and free he feels each time after studying
the Bible here.  He went on to say, "I know what it means when Jesus
says, `His yoke is easy and His burden is light.'"  We're hoping for
the greatest Christmas gift ever for him this year. Yet, there are
still many things that tie them to another faith.  Please pray for
them to find freedom and new life through faith in Christ.

The Cupboard is Bare; News about Manna for Madagascar
You may remember that we wrote in our last newsletter about Bazaar
Kits being sent out for sales in churches.  The great news is that
all of them were ordered in addition to most of the extra
merchandise that was left over from other shipments.  Thus, the
cupboard of products is bare!  A huge thank you to all the churches
which have been hosting the Bazaar Kit sales and selling the Manna
products!!  The other exciting news is that we seem to be making
some connections to retailers in the US as a result of the Bazaar
Kits and through the website.  Hopefully this will continue and
increase so that we can provide more consistent work for the women
in the centers here.

The women are currently swamped with orders which make them very
happy.  They are working on a new order from WorldCrafts and are
preparing an order to be shipped to the USA for churches and synod
assemblies (or other large church gatherings) to sell in the
Spring.  We are organizing it a little differently to give those
ordering more flexibility in what they will sell at their event.  It
will still involve churches or synods ordering products with no
money down and then sending in the money for items sold and
returning unsold products.  These products should be ready for
shipment in March, 2006.  If you are interested in selling products
at your church or a bigger church gathering, please email Lea
Mulqueen at lea_mulqueen@... .

You probably remember that we have written earlier that in Diego
prostitution is very accepted.  A friend told me recently that in
Diego families are considered wealthy if they have a lot of
daughters because they can get their daughters to earn money through
prostitution to support the family (often starting at 13 or 14 years
old.).  Then when they get older the family tries to get the
daughters married to foreign men so they will send money back to the
family.  Meanwhile, the male members of the family don't go to
school, don't work, and spend their time consuming alcohol and
locally grown drugs.  We believe that God has a different plan for
this city and we ask for prayers that God would do an amazing work
here.

One ministry that is trying to do something about the situation is a
PACWA (Pan-African Christian Women's Alliance) group of women.  In
partnership with Manna for Madagascar, they are planning to open a
women's center in Diego in January.  City officials have agreed to
let us use a government building which we have been fixing up.  We
plan on teaching classes in sewing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Unfortunately the woman who was supposed to be the lead teacher
moved away recently because her husband was transferred and the
other teacher is away for several months to have a baby.  Thus, we
would appreciate prayers that we can work through all the details
and find new people to take their place so that ministry can really
begin and have an impact in this city.

Manna for Madagascar is still in the process of writing its Bylaws
which will then be submitted to the government to become an
officially recognized organization.  One of the challenges is to do
so in a way that will safeguard the organization from people trying
to take advantage of it or steal from it.  The country's laws do not
seem to have sufficient safeguards for protecting organizations so
we need to write these in somehow.  Please pray that this can be
accomplished.

Prayer Requests:
- For wisdom and peace during our upcoming move and home
assignment.
- For Antakarana M., that divisions in their kingdom will lead
many to seek the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
- For the PACWA center in Diego, that its ministry will be
blessed.
- For Manna for Madagascar, that many women will be empowered
both spiritually and financially through the growth in this ministry
and that the organization structure and Bylaws can be established in
a way that will safeguard its future.
- For Project Shalom, that our move to the capital will not
hurt the ministry, but rather expand it into new areas while the
existing work continues.

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com
visit the NEW Manna website at www.MannaMadagascar.org


Highlights from this December, 2005 Edition of the Footprints
newsletter:

We're moving soon.  Recently we decided it would be best for our
son, Ben, if he could study in English starting next Fall.  Thus, we
will be moving to the capital, Antananarivo, just before heading to
the USA for our 2006 home leave.  In "Tana" Doug and Monica will
continue working in their respective ministries, with Doug
frequently traveling back to Diego.

Home leave in 2006 (likely mid May-mid August) will include visiting
sponsoring congregations which we will begin to schedule starting in
January.

The Antakarana tribe in northern Madagascar continues to function as
a monarchy with their king having great spiritual and cultural
authority.  Recently a conflict has arisen within this tribe with
two different groups each supporting a different king.  We are
praying that this might provide an opportunity for many in this
tribe to hear the gospel and believe in Jesus as Lord.

Manna for Madagascar products which were sent to America for Bazaar
Kits have been ordered by churches and a new order is underway which
will be sent for groups and churches to sell in Spring, 2006.

One ministry hoping to address the prostitution (which is culturally
acceptable and encouraged for girls starting as young teenagers)
here in Diego is about to open a center in January to teach various
classes.

Manna for Madagascar is still writing its Bylaws to submit to the
government.  Doing these in a way that ensures transparency and
honesty for all involved is important at this stage and we ask for
prayers for this process.

Footprints mission newsletter from the Cox Family in Madagascar>>

> >

Antsiranana (Diego Suarez)            December, 2005>>

> >

> >

Dear Friends,>>

> >

Belated Christmas greetings from lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace>!  Our "Christmas tree" ath o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f">ath> is blooming brilliantly right now with bright red blossoms.  Not a typical Christmas tree but a fun tropical version of the symbol of Jesus' life everlasting.  We have heard of cold and snow in parts of the lace w:st="on">USlace> which is making Ben wish to see snow.  Jeremiah doesn't have any concept of snow so isn't missing it at all. We've started decorating for Christmas but I don't think it will ever feel like Christmas while we're sweating all day and night.  Then again, the Christmas spirit is really in knowing Jesus as Lord and King…in hot or cold weather.>>

> >

Big Changes Ahead>>

Ben has had the opportunity to attend French schools ever since he started at 4 years old in lace w:st="on">Francelace>.  He loves to say he has always studied in French and enjoys being much stronger in French than his parents, but we continue to have concerns about his lack of formal English education.  After much prayer and soul-searching, we resolved that it would be best for him to enter an English school by the next school year.   Yet we do not feel that God is calling us to leave our ministries and leave lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace> at this point.  Thus we sought and received permission from DGM (our mission) to relocate to the capital city, Antananarivo, so that Ben can study in English at the lace w:st="on">lacename w:st="on">Americanlacename> lacetype w:st="on">Schoollacetype>lace> there.  We are still concerned about his transition into that system since he is below grade level in English reading and writing.  We would appreciate prayers about this as we work through many related questions and transitions.>>

> >

One logistical challenge in making this move is that we also expect to do our home leave next summer, 2006.  That means we will be doing all the scheduling of those visits and preparing for that trip while we're also trying to pack up, find a house, and move.  Again, we are praying for this major transition. >>

> >

Yet we are also getting excited about the time in the lace w:st="on">USAlace>.  We enjoyed our visits with sponsoring churches in 2004 and look forward to meeting many more of our sponsors in 2006.  We are tentatively planning to be there mid May-mid August.  We have not yet started scheduling but will be contacting our sponsoring congregations soon. 

>>

> >

A Kingdom Divided Against Itself, News about Project Shalom>>

> >

Kings are not just something of the past in lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace>; they are living guardians of the culture, the ancestors, and all sorts of spiritual power.  Today the authority of most Malagasy kings stretches only within a limited region and most of them are little more than figureheads.  Historic battles and contact with other nations has given way to a national, democratic government.  Yet, where we live, the Antakarana King still has significant authority.  He collects taxes and exercises both spiritual and physical claims on his people.  His people are the majority of our neighbors.  They mostly adhere to another faith and are thus the primary focus of Project Shalom's ministry in the north.  >>

> >

Yet in early 2005 many elders publicly called for him to be dethroned.  Another man has been selected by many of the people as a NEW king of the Antakarana.  Yet the old one won't leave.  Tensions have been rising throughout the year until just a few weeks ago the old king was tied to a tree, beaten, had dog manure put on his head, and may have been killed if the army had not rescued him.  Now many of his loyal supporters are camped out in the palace, guarding him as he heals.  Meanwhile, this brings to mind the words of Jesus: "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined…" (MT 12:25).>>

> >

This may be a unique moment in the history of the Antakarana people.  As the kings shame each other, the authority of the kingdom itself is shaken.  We believe that the traditions of the king create a spiritual barrier or darkness blocking people from coming to Christ.  (A simple example might help: One of our evangelists quit and moved to another part of lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace> outside the Antakarana kingdom and continued evangelistic work there.  In his 4 years of working with Project Shalom no one of another faith had come to Christ and been baptized.  Yet within 1 year in the new place, he baptized 70 converts and began a new church.)  If people lose confidence in this kingdom, we have hope that hearts will be more open to Christ.  We are preparing for a new day in evangelism here, an open door unlike we've seen before.  A number of new converts are currently "hiding" their new identity and may find a new possibility for life.  Meanwhile we are training and sending out more and more Christians motivated to share the Gospel to this people group, distributing Bibles and other literature, etc.  >>

Please pray for the lacetype w:st="on">Kingdomlacetype> of lacename w:st="on">Godlacename> to grow as the lace w:st="on">lacename w:st="on">Antakaranalacename> lacetype w:st="on">Kingdomlacetype>lace> wanes.  >>

> >

Please also hold up two friends of another faith that Doug has been discipling for around a year.  They are hungry, and one is already believing in Jesus as his Savior.  As he left our home recently, he glowed about how light and free he feels each time after studying the Bible here.  He went on to say, "I know what it means when Jesus says, `His yoke is easy and His burden is light.'"  We're hoping for the greatest Christmas gift ever for him this year. Yet, there are still many things that tie them to another faith.  Please pray for them to find freedom and new life through faith in Christ.>>

> >

The Cupboard is Bare; News about Manna for Madagascar>>

You may remember that we wrote in our last newsletter about Bazaar Kits being sent out for sales in churches.  The great news is that all of them were ordered in addition to most of the extra merchandise that was left over from other shipments.  Thus, the cupboard of products is bare!  A huge thank you to all the churches which have been hosting the Bazaar Kit sales and selling the Manna products!!  The other exciting news is that we seem to be making some connections to retailers in the lace w:st="on">USlace> as a result of the Bazaar Kits and through the website.  Hopefully this will continue and increase so that we can provide more consistent work for the women in the centers here. >>

> >

The women are currently swamped with orders which make them very happy.  They are working on a new order from WorldCrafts and are preparing an order to be shipped to the lace w:st="on">USAlace> for churches and synod assemblies (or other large church gatherings) to sell in the Spring.  We are organizing it a little differently to give those ordering more flexibility in what they will sell at their event.  It will still involve churches or synods ordering products with no money down and then sending in the money for items sold and returning unsold products.  These products should be ready for shipment in March, 2006.  If you are interested in selling products at your church or a bigger church gathering, please email Lea Mulqueen at lea_mulqueen@... .  >>

> >

You probably remember that we have written earlier that in Diego prostitution is very accepted.  A friend told me recently that in Diego families are considered wealthy if they have a lot of daughters because they can get their daughters to earn money through prostitution to support the family (often starting at 13 or 14 years old.).  Then when they get older the family tries to get the daughters married to foreign men so they will send money back to the family.  Meanwhile, the male members of the family don't go to school, don't work, and spend their time consuming alcohol and locally grown drugs.  We believe that God has a different plan for this city and we ask for prayers that God would do an amazing work here. 

>>

One ministry that is trying to do something about the situation is a PACWA (Pan-African Christian Women's lace w:st="on">Alliancelace>) group of women.  In partnership with Manna for lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace>, they are planning to open a women's center in Diego in January.  City officials have agreed to let us use a government building which we have been fixing up.  We plan on teaching classes in sewing, embroidery, and jewelry making.  Unfortunately the woman who was supposed to be the lead teacher moved away recently because her husband was transferred and the other teacher is away for several months to have a baby.  Thus, we would appreciate prayers that we can work through all the details and find new people to take their place so that ministry can really begin and have an impact in this city.>>

> >

Manna for lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace> is still in the process of writing its Bylaws which will then be submitted to the government to become an officially recognized organization.  One of the challenges is to do so in a way that will safeguard the organization from people trying to take advantage of it or steal from it.  The country's laws do not seem to have sufficient safeguards for protecting organizations so we need to write these in somehow.  Please pray that this can be accomplished. >>

  >>

Prayer Requests: >>

-          For wisdom and peace during our upcoming move and home assignment.>>

-          For Antakarana M., that divisions in their kingdom will lead many to seek the lace w:st="on">lacetype w:st="on">Kingdomlacetype> of lacename w:st="on">Godlacename>lace> through faith in Jesus Christ.>>

-          For the PACWA center in Diego, that its ministry will be blessed.>>

-          For Manna for lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace>, that many women will be empowered both spiritually and financially through the growth in this ministry and that the organization structure and Bylaws can be established in a way that will safeguard its future.>>

-          For Project Shalom, that our move to the capital will not hurt the ministry, but rather expand it into new areas while the existing work continues.>>

> >

e-mail us at dougmonica@...>>

or write us at: BP 471  Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) 201  lace w:st="on">MADAGASCARlace>  >>

or contact us through: Robbie Cox  2101 Copeland Way  Chapel Hill, NC  ostalcode w:st="on">27517ostalcode>>>

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: rojectshalom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com">projectshalom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com >>

visit the NEW Manna website at www.MannaMadagascar.org >>

> >

> >

Highlights from this December, 2005 Edition of the Footprints newsletter:>>

> >

We're moving soon.  Recently we decided it would be best for our son, Ben, if he could study in English starting next Fall.  Thus, we will be moving to the capital, Antananarivo, just before heading to the lace w:st="on">USAlace> for our 2006 home leave.  In "Tana" Doug and Monica will continue working in their respective ministries, with Doug frequently traveling back to Diego.  >>

> >

Home leave in 2006 (likely mid May-mid August) will include visiting sponsoring congregations which we will begin to schedule starting in January.  >>

> >

The Antakarana tribe in northern lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace> continues to function as a monarchy with their king having great spiritual and cultural authority.  Recently a conflict has arisen within this tribe with two different groups each supporting a different king.  We are praying that this might provide an opportunity for many in this tribe to hear the gospel and believe in Jesus as Lord.  >>

> >

Manna for Madagascar products which were sent to lace w:st="on">Americalace> for Bazaar Kits have been ordered by churches and a new order is underway which will be sent for groups and churches to sell in Spring, 2006.  >>

> >

One ministry hoping to address the prostitution (which is culturally acceptable and encouraged for girls starting as young teenagers) here in Diego is about to open a center in January to teach various classes.>>

> >

Manna for lace w:st="on">Madagascarlace> is still writing its Bylaws to submit to the government.  Doing these in a way that ensures transparency and honesty for all involved is important at this stage and we ask for prayers for this process.>>

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antsiranana(Diego Suarez)                         March, 2005
_____________________________________________________________
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:

(1) It's That Time of Year!
(2) Literacy Training in Ampinasina
(3) Women's Project Ready to Grow
_____________________________________

It's That Time of Year!

It's that time of year!  The time of year when pillows and bedding
and everything else smell musty and moldy, when a film of white
grows on everything leather, wood, and well, pretty much everything
that isn't used on a daily basis, when the yard has turned into a
forest and the struggle to make anything grow has turned into the
struggle to keep everything at bay, when mosquitoes feast all day,
not just during the "mosquito hours" from sundown to sunrise (though
the ones during the day do not carry malaria), and when everyone is
waiting for the "new rice" with hungry tummies in long lines to
receive imported rice.  It's the rainy season, soon to give way to
the season of dry tropical winds which will dry everything out and
cause the ground to turn from lush green to barren red clay.

For us, we're well into our second year in Diego, our third in
Madagascar.  When thinking about what to write for a newsletter, we
find ourselves wondering what to say because things have become
so "normal," routine, everyday.   I recall many trips through the
market last year when I felt I had to pinch myself to confirm that
it was really true; that I was really here, in a very African
market, in a Malagasy town.  Now I hardly notice the roughhewn
selling stalls, some of them holding a few meager piles of some kind
of fruit, or the vivid colors of the cloth wrapped around the waists
or chests of the women, or the huge clump in men's cheeks as they
chew a leaf called "qat."  It has become home and for good or bad,
we have started to take these things for granted as part of our
lives, our daily experience.  So what do we say?  We have challenges
and joys, frustrations and contentment.  We are learning from and
yet frustrated by the culture.  We struggle with and celebrate the
language.  We see incredible progress and also frustrating
roadblocks in our work.  And through it all, we see God's hand
protecting, guiding, teaching, calling us still to the work He
brought us here to do.

It's easy to overlook the miraculous workings of God when all we
notice is our daily routine.  May this Easter celebration be a
reminder to us all that the resurrected Jesus is alive and at work,
bringing joy,  peace, and strength to all who will trust in Him.


Literacy Training in Ampinasina

Quietly he goes about his work, his call of serving Christ in the
small village of Ampinasina, 30+ kilometers from the nearest town
with a paved road.  The village is embedded in mud during the rainy
season, flooded when cyclones hit, and a 4X4 adventure for the
missionary in the dry season.  Perched atop stilts to escape the
flood waters is a small bamboo hut that is home to him and his
family.  But still it can't escape the rising water so their few
possessions get soaked whenever it rains.  Spaces between the bamboo
let in bugs and wind and rain, so he hopes to find a few treasured
pieces of cardboard to line the walls and minimize the elements from
the outside coming in.

For four years Ricien has been working there as a Project Shalom
evangelist, seeking to find a way to convey the good news about
Jesus Christ and his love and grace.  Yet Ricien's shy, soft-spoken
manner has made it difficult for him to share much, so outsiders
looking in comment that not much progress has been made.  While
other evangelists have used music or children's ministries or pilot
farming as ways to crack the proverbial door, none of those have
worked for Ricien.   Suggestions about methods and strategies have
gone seemingly nowhere, leaving some wondering if he would ever find
a "key" to proclaiming the Good News in that place

Then a youth group (St. Andrew's Lutheran, VA) offered money to help
with literacy training in the north.  Already the workers of Project
Shalom had been thinking about the need for doing such work in their
villages because of the high incidence of illiteracy (often over 90%
in the villages where we work).  As a result of the US donation, a
class was scheduled and a trainer found to teach all those who would
become the literacy teachers. Among those invited were all the
Project Shalom evangelists, including Ricien.

Some wondered if he would get much from the class.  His own low
level of education did not even meet the minimum required for the
class but we made exceptions.  Many wondered too if his quiet, mild
manner would lend itself to the teaching of reading and writing.
Would people respect him?  Would people get much out of it?  How
would he do?

He showed up for the first day of class with two friends from his
village who were of a different faith.  The three of them were to be
the team that learned how to teach and then return to their village
to start classes in literacy with a curriculum containing Bible
verses and stories.  The three of them attended each day for a
week.  By the end of the week, the trainer was less than optimistic
about the capability of that team to accomplish much due to their
struggles in mastering the techniques and material in class.
Their "practice teaching" session had not showed much promise.  The
method of the class included opening devotions every day which they
were expected to continue when teaching their own classes.  How
would the non-Christian students-to-be-teachers deal with the
Biblical and prayer aspect of the teaching?  Many questions rested
on our minds.

Yet that team went back to Ampinasina and set to work right away.
Within two weeks they had not one, but two classes going in two
different areas.  One group of students live too far away to join
the Ampinasina group so the teachers walk the several kilometers,
including crossing rivers, to get there five days a week to teach
them how to read and write.  One month after the training, Ricien
proudly told Doug that there were 20 students in one class and 10 in
another.  All of them of another faith.  The students are excited
and eager to learn!

And Ricien is excited too. He has an "in," a connection, a
springboard for sharing the gospel.  He is thrilled to be planning
an Easter service for all his 30 students where he will share the
good news about Jesus Christ in a more focused way.  He is confident
they will come because for them it is a class gathering, and a
chance to learn about this "holiday of those who pray."

Please pray with us that the Easter proclamation of the Gospel will
be heard and understood.  Please pray too, that the prayers of those
teachers will speak to their own hearts as well as to the 30
students in their classes.


Women's Project Ready to Grow

What do all of the following have in common: a recently released
prisoner, a man who just lost his 39 year old wife to cancer, a
group of women prisoners, an abused wife, and about 50 other women?
They're all skilled at making beautiful handcrafts and are hoping
for an opportunity to make products to be included in the 2005 Manna
Bazaar Kits.  Thanks to the support of many churches and individuals
who participated in the 2004 Bazaar Kits, we have a good amount of
money needed to make this happen.  Yet, instead of producing enough
for 20 kits this year, we are hoping to make 50 as a way of giving
many more artisans that opportunity to use their skills and thus
feed their families.  We are committed to pay the artisans as they
do the work because they otherwise don't have the means to buy the
supplies and they need their salary to buy food for their families
right away.  Yet it takes several months until the repayment comes
back for the products.  Thus, it means we need a large amount of
capital as products are ordered and completed so we can keep the
people working more consistently.  As we do the calculations for
what we want to include in this year's Bazaar Kit, we are still a
few thousand dollars short of being able to accomplish that.  We're
trying to look for ways to make this work and are praying that some
solutions will come through.  If your church would consider a gift
towards a rotating fund which can be used to make orders, get
replenished as the payment comes back, and then used to make orders
again, it would be a huge help.  It is a gift that would be used
over and over and over again as the money recycles through the
purchase of products and payment from products year after year after
year.

This challenge of needing more capital is really a good problem
because it means we are confident of the market possibilities in the
US based on what has happened in the last months.  More contacts are
interested in selling our products and what has been sent is
selling.  The Bazaar Kits which we sent in fall of 2004 were
an "absolute impossibility" to achieve yet they have been selling
and money is coming back.  It worked!  We are getting good feedback
about how the sales and the whole process of selling went.  Many
thanks to all who participated in spite of the very late date of
shipment!  We're planning on an EARLY fall arrival date this year to
accommodate those October and November church bazaars.

Here in Madagascar there are exciting prospects as well.  From the
beginning we have been committed to looking for markets for products
IN Madagascar as well.  We are starting to work through details of
producing mosquito nets for sale at subsidized prices so more people
can afford them.  Mosquito nets are a very effective way to reduce
exposure to malaria, one of the leading killers of children and
pregnant women in Madagascar.  Thus, there is a double benefit: the
production can give much-needed income to women, and the nets can
save lives from malaria.  Until recently this idea was only a dream
which needed a home; a building in which to make it happen.  But
there is great news!  An ecumenical group of women in Diego (PACWA)
has been praying for years to find a way to reach out to the
prostitutes and other women in the area. They recently received news
that they can use a government building for free with a renewable
contract for two years.  Their plans and dreams for using that
building to reach out in humanitarian and evangelical ways are
soaring right now!!  Many years of prayers are being answered!
Their outreach is about to begin.

Please pray for this group of women who are embarking on a huge
undertaking.  We covet your prayers as well that the women's project
will receive the financial gifts necessary to increase the amount of
products that can be ordered and sold each year.

Thanks for all your prayers, support, and encouragement!  May God
grant you a blessed Easter!
________________________________________________________________
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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

December 2, 2004
Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Advent!!  And belated Happy Thanksgiving!  We celebrated
Thanksgiving with over 20 Americans here.  It was quite the change
from last year when we did not know ANY other Americans in the
area.  We invited all the Peace Corps volunteers from the Northern
region, an anthropologist, her assistants and sons, and a couple
teaching English at the university so with us there were over 20
Americans plus several Malagasy workers and friends who celebrated
with us as well.  We couldn't get turkeys but had barbeque chicken
sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and lots of other wonderful dishes
which everyone brought to share.  We asked people to write down
things they're thankful for now which they may have taken for
granted before.  Some of the responses from those who were here
included: "clean water, health, American style transport,
refrigeration, the English language (being able to communicate
easily with those around us), lack of flies, paved roads, reliable
public transportation and scheduled departures, love of family and
friends and having time together with them."  It is so easy to take
things for granted that it seems especially appropriate on
Thanksgiving to reflect on ALL those things for which we ought to
offer thanks.   Even here we take the running water and electricity
for granted, until, occasionally they are turned off.   Wouldn't it
be a blessing if we could truly notice ALL our blessings and be
thankful every day?!!

Speaking of thanksgiving; several months ago we asked for prayers
for an upcoming election in the Malagasy Lutheran church.  That
election has been held and many people are ecstatic over the
result.  There is great hope that the new leadership will bring
positive changes to this church.  Thanks for your prayers.  Yet as
we give thanks we also ask for prayers for the new leadership; for
strength and wisdom, for discernment, and for protection from
becoming so proud of their new positions that they fall into
corruption.

We have been grateful for the leadership that Madagascar's president
Ravalomanana has demonstrated in the area of fighting corruption.
Yet, lately we hear many rumors, some of which are positive and some
are not.  It is hard to know what to believe.  What we do know for
sure is that the price of rice almost tripled in one day earlier
this week.  For a nation which eats rice three times a day, and for
some people nothing more than those three servings of rice, that is
a huge shock!  Please keep this in your prayers as well.

Between Monica's travels to Tana and Doug's trips to towns and
villages around the north, we've not been home together much
lately.  Monica traveled to Tana in October and November and Doug is
going on trips several weekends in a row now.  In between, he has
been busy with Project Shalom meetings, translation work, synod
meetings, preaching and leading services, organizing schooling for
evangelists' children, starting literacy programs, organizing for
the evangelists to receive bicycles thanks to a gift from a
sponsoring church in America, and is working on finding a covenant
group of Christians committed to doing outreach with Project Shalom
with whom he can meet weekly to pray for the work and do training
and share mutual encouragement and support.

His hopes of making more instructional and inspirational videos to
share with Christians and others seemed to be thwarted recently when
our video camera quit working due to condensation somewhere inside
it.  The moisture here in Diego is not technology-friendly!!  Hope
of getting it repaired in Madagascar was slim but almost nonexistent
here in Diego.  Getting a new camera was also much to ask.  Yet God
provided!  Through a Malagasy contact who lives a few hours from
here, Doug learned about a Malagasy man in DIEGO who takes cameras
apart and fixes them!  Doug picked up the repaired camera on Friday
in time to go on his trip on Saturday.   It works again!  That same
man will likely be able to fix our TV which exploded when Doug
plugged it into the generator he uses on these trips.   We still
need to try to locate a part for the TV in Tana, but the repairman
thought we should be able to find it.

The last time we wrote, Monica shared about a seemingly impossible
task of getting a shipment sent in time for churches to sell
in "bazaar kits."  Many more obstacles involved in that endeavor
(too many to name them all) have since surfaced and been resolved so
that many of the kits are now being sent out to churches interested
in receiving them.  We made it through our first international
shipping which included Manna, USA, Inc. (now up and running)
receiving the shipment as well.  That meant for a LOT of work on the
part of Lea Mulqueen in Baltimore who worked through many more
importing issues and jargon that she ever bargained for!  But she
did it!  And it worked!  God provided in a BIG way for what really
did seem impossible.

God has also been working in many other ways to provide new contacts
in the US for new market possibilities.  Monica just sent several
samples to America with hopes of getting new orders from several
different places.  New contacts have also been made with people
interested in helping, including from someone who has been to
Madagascar and plans to come back next year.  Contacts with women's
Lutheran groups are being made and as mentioned, the sister
organization of Manna Madagascar is up and running as Manna, USA,
Inc. with its own board of directors and officers.  There is much
reason for thanksgiving and hopefulness for the future!

We tried to contact everyone who was interested in selling the
Bazaar Kits about their availability, but if we missed you, and you
are interested in learning more, please let Monica know at
dougmonica@....  There are still some available as of
today so let her know right away.  We'd love to get all 20 of them
out this December.

Along with the praises for what God has done through Manna, we want
to lift up a concern as well and ask for your prayers in a recent
development.  During Monica's November trip to Tana, she met with
the Board of Directors of Manna Madagascar to work through more
details of its structure and role.  During that meeting, however,
not much was accomplished due to divisiveness within the board and
decisions which seemed to be focused on serving self-interests,
rather than what will allow Manna to progress and expand.  It became
questionable in Monica's opinion whether the structure that was
established is one that will allow Manna to continue if unchanged.
Monica's role is not to direct, but to support and advise so there
is a limit to how much she can do if the women involved don't want
it to change.  Thus, we are praying for discernment about what to do
and how to proceed.  Also as a result of the meeting and much time
and energy poured into the project, Monica is feeling rather burned
out at the moment so we ask for prayers for strength and renewed
energy for her.

We celebrated Jeremiah's third birthday the day before Thanksgiving
with a cake at his preschool and a little party at home.  We had a
bigger celebration with other friends this last Wednesday.  Ben and
Jeremiah are both doing better with school so we're very thankful
for prayers for them!

One of the challenges common to missionary kids is frequent moves
and frequent losses.  Although we're not planning an imminent move,
Ben will lose his two best friends here at the end of this week.
The American anthropologist returns to Georgia with her two sons who
have become very dear to Ben and Miah.  Ben recently told us for the
first time that he really likes Madagascar and wants to live here
forever.  We took this as a wonderful sign that he has adjusted to
being here and is not fighting it anymore.  We are concerned,
though, that this may change when his best friends leave.  Please
keep him in your prayers through this upcoming transition.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.  We know that many of you
pray faithfully for us which is not an easy commitment.  Yet we want
you to know we don't take those prayers for granted, but rather
appreciate them deeply.  God is honoring those prayers. We hope that
through these letters you have been able to see some of the ways God
is doing that.

With warm regards from,
Doug, Monica, Benjamin, and Jeremiah

Footprints
mission newsletter from the Cox Family in Madagascar

Antsiranana (Diego Suarez)                        October 13, 2004

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.

Greetings once again from Madagascar,

In this issue of Footprints:

Life Back in Madagascar

Roads, Tombs, Tracts, etc.
Dealing with Impossible Tasks
You Can Make a Difference in the World
Ben & Jeremiah's News
Malagasy Choir Concert in Minnesota

Life Back in Madagascar
We're back from our three month furlough in the US and somewhat
settled again.  The boys are both in school with Jeremiah going only
mornings.  Doug is back in the swing of meetings, translation work,
and teaching trips (nothing routine about his schedule though).  I
am trying to catch up on all the correspondence that didn't get done
in the US (still have over 250 emails sitting in the box to deal
with) and finish up all the details for a big shipment of handcrafts
we hope to send the end of October.

Roads, Tombs,Tracts, etc.
A little more than 48 hours after our return to Madagascar I (Doug)
began the several day drive north to Diego.  Last time Dr. & Kathy
Quanbeck were my guides.  This time I had to go alone.  I prayed for
guidance and protection, because I didn't know the "road" well at
all (often there really isn't a road, just various well beaten
paths).  We heard that there had been lots of road work in the
intervening 13 months, so I had reason for confidence.  The
improvements were striking!  It was still a very tiring trip, but
hour after hour I felt like cheering as I witnessed road crew after
road crew improving (and creating) the road.  This is a hopeful sign
for development here in Madagascar.

Since arriving I've made a couple of trips into the bush and taught
here in town.  With the help of an American anthropologist we met
here I attended the annual visitation of the tombs of the kings for
the dominant tribe where we live.  It was a wonderful experience
from many angles.  I got to witness very obvious examples of the
syncretism here as traditional ancestor worship mixes seamlessly
with Sufi and other more orthodox practices.  It was a treat to be
in the shadow of an anthropologist, because most people had no idea
I was a pastor or missionary.  This meant they treated me
differently, without quite so many honors.  I could observe a bit
more anonymously than usual.  From traditional dances to
slaughtering bulls, to sacred readings and mystical rituals, to
visiting the King and walking among some 300 former king's tombs…the
experience deepened my perceptions of the context in which we serve.

A huge boost to the work this year has come from a young Malagasy
college student, quite good in English, who spent this past summer
in America.  He is able and very willing to help by translating
tracts for me.  What took me a month last year he can do better in 3
days!  I just came back yesterday from another teaching trip where I
introduced two new pieces (a tract and a hand-out) which he
translated for me.

Meanwhile, excitement is building as I talk to Malagasy people about
developing videos to aid our work.  We've already begun the next
video.  Also a reporter came to our home and interviewed me for the
national radio (That was tough since I wasn't always sure what he
asked me and I had to answer anyway!  Oh well, I did my best.).
Other development projects like literacy training and solar ovens
are becoming hotter topics as there is growing grass-roots interest
in seeing these happen.

So all in all, the pace is picking up and I feel like my work is
taking off like it couldn't last year.  I still feel the need to
advance faster in my language skills, but I'll keep trying and God
will provide.

Dealing with Impossible Tasks
I, Monica, continue to work with the women's ministries of Manna
Madagascar.  One piece of exciting news is that God has answered my
prayers for someone to help me here with new product design.  A
former sewing and cooking teacher from one of the Manna centers just
moved here because of her husband's job and is eager to work with
Manna.  So far I have been very impressed with her and am hopeful
she will be a wonderful asset to the work here.   Unfortunately
there are also major challenges at the moment, as we are finding
ourselves in a situation where the task before us seems impossible.
This has happened before, but God has provided miraculous answers
when there seemed to be no solution in sight.  So we move forward in
faith, trusting that something will work out.

Already last summer we took a big step of faith.  Inspired by
sponsoring churches wanting to sell more Malagasy handcrafts, we
forged ahead with plans to send a shipment of products that could be
sold through churches this fall.  I emailed an order to Madagascar
from the US and women excitedly got back to work.  Now they are
close to being done and we should be ready to ship the things, but
there is still a huge amount of paperwork, details, boxes again, and
more kinds of items to include in the invoice (complicates the way
it's done).  But the biggest challenge is that we haven't shipped on
our own before and still have much to learn about legalities and
paperwork.  People in the US are researching how to get it to work,
but at times, it seems impossible.  One little glitch in how things
are invoiced or tagged can hold things up for weeks in customs.
When we were in the US we talked with one US Custom agent who had
some discouraging news. She told me that many people trying to do
small-scale imports like this to help people in developing countries
end up getting discouraged and giving up because the importing and
customs are so complicated.  We're not ready to give up, but we are
aware of the challenges.  Not surprisingly, we're running later than
we hoped with this shipment.  We're not sure what that means or how
these details will work out, but I must trust that God has worked
things out so far and God will work it out in the best possible way,
whatever that means for this shipment.  We appreciate your prayers
for this too.

YOU Can Make a Difference in the World

We have another prayer request as well.  During the time in America,
it became clear that we needed to have a non-profit there in the US
that could coordinate the importing end of goods, handle the money,
and do some of the leg-work and connections needed for publicity and
sales there.  At the last minute, we started putting one together.
A lawyer volunteered to do the legal aspects.  Several people agreed
to be on the board of directors, including a chairperson, someone
else agreed to do the bookkeeping, and someone else offered to help
with grant proposals.  We're excited about such wonderful support.

Yet we're still missing two key components that are crucial to
making this work.  We need someone willing and able to volunteer to
be the president of the new non-profit, Manna, USA, Inc.  We also
need someone who could be excited about helping women in Madagascar
by doing several important tasks there in America which I am not
able to do from here.  These would include phone calling, mailings,
contacts with interested churches and retailers, working on
publicity, and generally representing Manna Madagascar in a variety
of ways.  If there is one person who is able to be the president and
take on these tasks, that would be incredible. However, it could
work equally well to have two different people taking on those
roles.  If you know of someone who you think might be excited about
this kind of ministry and would consider being involved, please let
us know or check with them.  Then, please pray with us that the
right person will be found.   Also, please prayerfully consider if
YOU would have some free time to commit to this ministry.   The
difference you can make will reach all the way around the world.
Contact me at dougmonica@...  to find out more.

Ben and Jeremiah's News

Ben is back to school (equivalent of 3rd grade) and Jeremiah has
started for the first time (preschool).  Both boys are in the French
school with Ben having to do a little "catch up" after not speaking
much French during the summer and Miah starting from scratch.
Fortunately at their ages it's much easier than it is at mine!  They
pick it up quickly and don't have the accent we can never shake.

In addition to adjusting to school, the time back in Madagascar has
also been more "eventful" for the boys than they (or we) would've
liked.  Ben was bit by a friend's dog upon entering their yard and
subsequently received four rabies shots which God provided after we
were convinced we couldn't find a kind that we could accept.
Recently he was whacking down ripe mangoes while up in our mango
tree and was stung by wasps 13 times.  Fortunately Doug was around
to climb the tree and help Ben down.  Jeremiah has not had as many
incidents, but one major one with a case of malaria.  Last weekend
we finally took him to a doctor when his fever persisted into the
second day.  The doctor diagnosed it as malaria and prescribed
medications which have done the job.  We are so thankful for a
connection with that doctor who we didn't know last year.  When we
had a medical question last year we were able to call our Swiss
friend, a nurse or Dr. Stan and Kathy Quanbeck.  Knowing they were
all going to leave the country, we wondered how we would get medical
help.  An American anthropologist who is here for a short time
introduced us to her friend, Dr. Titi.  He is willing to help us out
whenever we need it and so far has not even charged us!  God
provided again!

Malagasy Choir Concert in Minnesota
For those of you who live in Minnesota, you have an opportunity to
learn more about Madagascar, meet several Malagasy people living in
that area, and enjoy great Malagasy music with this great event.
You may have heard us mention before that Malagasy people have a
wonderful gift of music.  They are incredible singers.  You can
experience this for yourself without the cost of the airline
ticket!! The Missions Committee at Brooklyn Park Lutheran Church is
hosting the Malagasy Choir on Sunday, October 17th, at 3pm. Two
sections of the program will be Christian music and the third will
be Malagasy folk music. You'll have the opportunity to listen to and
also join in on some of the songs. A special treat will be valia
(round harp like instrument) music.

An offering will be taken which will benefit the ministries of
Jordan New Life Church in north Minneapolis and SOA, Brooklyn Park.
Jordan New Life is a ministry of sharing Christ's love in a very
challenging urban setting under the leadership of Pastor La, one of
the choir members.  We came to know and appreciate Pastor La as we
met with him to study Malagasy and talk about Malagasy culture
during our year in Minnesota.  It's worth attending the concert just
to meet him.  He's incredible!   The second ministry, SOA, has
supported Christian ministries in Madagascar for many years in the
form of weekly volunteer work to pack and ship medical supplies.
Claire Stolee, responsible for making that ministry happen, has been
an incredible gift to medical work in Madagascar.  He has also been
a huge help to us and other missionaries in many ways.  He and his
volunteer team not only pack supplies each week, but pray faithfully
for the Malagasy church, ministries, and missionaries.  He also
facilitates our personal goods being shipped in those medical
containers as well.  He and his family lived in Madagascar several
years ago and now he continues to serve this country through his
volunteer time in America.  You've got to meet him and his family
too.  Tell him we sent you!

A map and driving instructions will be on the www.soa-web.org web
site soon. If you have any questions, please call 763-560-6876.
Wish we could go, but since we can't, please tell us all about it!!





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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

St. Paul, Minnesota, USA                August, 2004

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:

Home Assignment in the USA
MANNA comes to the US
THANKS to our Sponsors
Another Prayer Request

Home Assignment in the USA

In spite of best intentions, I apologize I have not written any
updates since we left Madagascar.  Keeping up with correspondence has
not been our forté during all of the travel, which has kept us
moving!  It has been a wonderful time of visiting family, friends,
sponsoring churches, and more.  The time has flown by and already we
are preparing to return Thursday, August 26th.

As we prepare to leave we are excited about getting back to our
friends and ministries in Madagascar, but we are already grieving the
family and friends we leave behind as well.  At the Global Mission
Event we attended, Benjamin played on a rug that pictured a world
map, jumping from the US to Madagascar in a simple leap.  "I wish we
could go that easily between the two," he said.  We agree of course.
The challenges of leaving people we love, and so much that is
comfortable is real and we will certainly face readjustment to
Madagascar.  Yet we feel strongly that God's call for us is in
Madagascar and are eager to see what God will do there.

The biggest challenge is for Ben.  He is not looking forward to going
back and is dreading the return to school.  Of course most American
kids aren't excited about "Back to School," but for Ben there is the
fear that he will have "a mean teacher who yells all the time" and we
are praying that his fear is in vain.  You may remember that two
years ago his school year was absolutely awful followed by a good
year last year.  Please pray with us for a supportive, sympathetic
teacher who will understand and work with Ben.

Jeremiah will also be starting preschool in the mornings and we know
he'll face adjustments as well since he has forgotten most of the
Malagasy and all of the French he acquired.  This will be total
language immersion and we think he'll do fine, but not without some
frustration.  We covet your prayers for him as well.

And, we covet your prayers for Project Shalom and MANNA Madagascar as
we seek to work together with our Malagasy counterparts in these
holistic ministries to make a difference in people's lives.

MANNA comes to the US:
Fortunately, this home assignment has allowed me (Monica) time to do
lots of research and make lots of connections, which hopefully will
have a positive impact on the future of MANNA Madagascar.  Our thanks
to all the sponsoring churches we visited who were very supportive of
all we are doing, including your support through the purchase of the
hand craft products we brought with us to sell.  We sold almost
everything and earned over $5,000 for MANNA in the process.  Thank
you to everyone who made that possible!  One quick aside: If you have
comments or concerns about products you purchased, feel free to email
me. I'd love to get feedback, which can help us in designing future
products.

Many of you also indicated an interest in selling more MANNA products
through your churches or other sales so we have decided to put
together "Bazaar Kits" which we hope can be delivered in late October
for sale through your regular bazaar or other venues.  I will be
sending a letter about that soon but will have limited numbers of
kits available this first year.  If it is successful, we will
increase the number for next year.  We've been able to make other
connections for sales through other sources and see a market that is
ready to receive these products.  We realized though that we need to
have a legal entity in this country to manage the receiving,
distribution, and finances.  Thus, we are in the process of setting
up a non-profit here in the US to deal with all of these issues.
Currently we are looking for people with specific skills which would
be helpful in working with the non-profit or occasional consultation
for areas of need in Madagascar (consulting from the US or
Madagascar).   Some areas of need include managerial for the non-
profit, graphic design for a logo, publicity/promotion, seeking out
grant possibilities, product design for specific products, and import
consultation.  If you have any of these skills or interests and would
be willing to work with us for as little as a few minutes please let
us know.   For more information about MANNA, watch for our upcoming
website soon where I will be posting a detailed report of what is
happening and what the needs currently are.

THANKS TO SPONSORS:
We also want to thank all of our sponsoring churches we visited for a
wonderful reception and such incredible support.  We were deeply
humbled and impressed by the commitment we saw among you to
proclaiming Christ's love and sharing with those in need around the
world.  We appreciate and feel deeply blessed to be in partnership
with you in the ministry in Madagascar.  We apologize again to those
congregations we were not able to visit.  We have already started a
list of those who requested a visit but for whom we could not work
that out.  We will start with that list when setting up our home
leave in two years.  Also, soon you should receive a video about our
ministry in Madagascar, which we hope will be helpful in lieu of us
being there.  If you do not receive one by the end of Sepember,
please contact David Lerseth at DGM at 1-800-638-3522.

One more word of thanks to those we visited for all the financial
support for our travels and personal gifts.  We had estimated an
amount that would cover MOST of the travel and you exceeded our
estimate which consequently covered ALL of the travel expense around
the country and most of my flight to Washington, DC to meet with more
organizations about support for MANNA.  Thank you all so much!  We
have really enjoyed our time of meeting with you all and sharing the
story of ministry in Madagascar.  Thank you for allowing us that
opportunity. It has been a blessing for us!

Another Prayer Request

We also appreciate prayers for the situation in Madagascar.  Grenade
explosions in three Malagasy cities marked June 26, Madagascar's day
of independence.  Some officials say that the explosions were not
coordinated but independent acts.  Unfortunately there is opposition
to the President and this was one of the more violent expressions of
it.  Some Malagasy people are growing impatient and want to see
improvement in the country come much more quickly.  Please pray for
wisdom and protection for the president (Mark Ravalomanana), relief
from poverty and corruption, and for peace in Madagascar.


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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antananarivo,
Madagascar
May, 2004

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:

Autumn in Diego
Homeleave schedule
Ministry of Presence and Teaching
Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork
A Challenge in our Last Months


Autumn in Diego

     Days are getting shorter and the temperatures are not as
scorching now as autumn drifts off and winter blows into Diego.  The
dry season has begun, which means the abundance of green growth
virtually everywhere will soon dry out and much of the ground will
again be bare.   We won't be there to witness this change because we
have already left Diego for our journey to the States, our first
visit since we arrived here in August, 2002.  After finishing up some
business in Antananarivo, we will leave Thursday morning at 1:00 am
(business finished or not) and arrive in Minnesota 25 hours later,
but on that same calendar day (Thursday night).

      Our last two months have been full of preparations for home
leave, Doug teaching, Monica arranging a shipment to America, and an
unexpected large amount of time spent dealing with the results of a
burglary in our home.

Home leave schedule:

      Part of the preparation has included scheduling our home visits
with sponsoring congregations.  With over 45 sponsors now, it has
been complicated to try to schedule as many as possible.  We
apologize to those whom we will not be able to visit this time, and
hope it will work to make those churches a "1st priority" next time.
Also, we are including our expected itinerary of visits below, in
case you are interested and able to come to a church that is near you.



Thursday, May 13, 2004 at 6:38 pm: 4 very cranky travelers arrive in
St. Paul
May 23, am Hope Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, North Dakota
       9:00 Adult Forum Presentation, 10:00 Service with Doug preaching
May 23rd; University Lutheran, joint with Augustana Lutheran, Grand
Forks, North Dakota
      6 pm Supper, 7 pm Presentation
May 24th: possible presentation
May 25th: Roseau, MN, 6pm supper, 7pm presentation
May 26th: Hatton, ND 2 pm  Meet with WELCA
May 30th  Our Savior's in Valley City, ND
      Present during worship services at 8:30 and 10:00 am
June 5 and 6th: Calvary Lutheran, Mora, MN 7 pm Sat.. and 9:30 Sun
morn.
      Temple talks during services and displays set up
June 13, Sunday: Calvary Lutheran, Golden Valley, MN
      5 minute presentation at each of morning services: 8:00, 8:45,
10:00, 11:15, afternoon
	 presentation
June 14, 15: possible church visits
June 16 or 17: Present Malagasy family life through role play at
Calvary Lutheran Bible School, Golden Valley, Minnesota
June 20th:  Nazareth Lutheran, Cedar Falls, Iowa:
      8:30 am Present for Adult class, 10:00 Role play for Family
Sunday School
June 22: Present at Oakland, western Maryland, present during evening
worship
June 23rd: St. Paul, Frostburg  Western Maryland
      6:00 supper and 7:00 program
June 27, Sunday morning:  Holy Trinity Lutheran, Chapel Hill, NC
      8:30 am and 10 am worship with Doug preaching
June 27, Sunday evening: St. Paul's Lutheran, Durham, NC  7:00 pm
presentation
July 11: Sun, morning; St.. John Lutheran, Riverdale, MD 9:30 worship
with Doug preaching
July 11 Sun evening: St. Luke, Silver Spring, MD, 5:00 Vespers,
supper, and presentation
July 13, Tuesday evening: meet with mission committee at Reformation
Luth. DC
July 14: Wednesday; St. Andrew's, Chantilly, VA, present for VBS in
morning, evening "block party" with us having a display about
Madagascar
July 17th, Saturday afternoon;  St. Paul's, Lutherville,
July 17th;  Monica meet with Lea Mulqueen and group about Manna
Madagascar
July 18, Sunday morning: St. John's, Baltimore, MD
      8:15 and 10:00 worship with Doug preaching, lunch and
presentation
July 19, St. Peter's, Verona, NY, 6 pm picnic, 7 pm presentation
July 24: Holy Trinity, Elgin, IL, 5 pm church service, Doug
preaching, presentation following
July 25: Sunday, Holy Trinity,  Elgin, IL  two morning worship
services, Doug preaching with                        presentation in
between services
pm drive to Kenosha for summer missionary conference
July 25-July 29: Summer missionary conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin
July 29- August 2, Global Mission Event, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
present for children's program
             and breakout session
August 15:  Westwood Lutheran, St. Louis Park, MN  10 am: Present at
adult forum
August 17: Depart Minneapolis
August 18: Arrive in Madagascar

Ministry of Presence and Teaching

      In the past month and half Doug taught classes on ministry with
people of another faith in two "Saphire villages," once for the
revival movement in Diego, the youth group here, and co-led a weekend
conference in Nosy Be (a neighboring island) and another in Diego.
Among the interesting contacts was one man who runs a road-side
stand.  Doug visited him a couple of days in a row to get something
to drink. Doug felt led to bring a Bible along for the man on the
second day, but wasn't sure how he might receive it.  They sat and
talked together and the conversation turned to faith and holy books.
He had learned to read his religion's holy book, but even though he
could pronounce the words, he could not understand its language. Doug
pointed out that this man's holy book speaks very well of the Bible.
This was not new to him, but he had never seen a Bible.  Before long
he asked for a Bible.  Doug presented it with some explanation and
suggested he begin by reading the Gospel of Luke.  The rest of that
morning and afternoon he and a friend were "glued" to the Bible.
Please pray for him (Ahmad) and the continued contact he will have
with the local pastor.

	 As our time in Madagascar grows longer the value of
a "ministry of presence" is becoming clear.  Following Doug's first
visit to one remote village, a non-Christian land-owner donated land
to the evangelist who lives there saying that because a white
missionary came all the way to their village to support the
evangelist's work, he (the Malagasy evangelist) must be doing
something worthwhile.  One woman was baptized due to that same visit
as well.  It is easy to imagine that just visiting is of little
value, the poverty and other needs here are so discouraging.  Yet we
take comfort from stories like this, that a missionary's presence can
make a huge impact here.


Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

      Monica continues to work on logistics, yes paperwork, involved
in exporting a huge order to WorldCrafts in America.  The hope of
having the shipment on its way before Monica leaves will not be
realized.  That means Monica will be leaving the final details to the
women involved in the production of the handbags and table runners
being sent.  They have already been working hard to get things ready
so will hopefully be able to send the order by the end of May.
Please keep this in your prayers.

Challenges in The Last Months

      On March 15th, we were shocked and saddened to discover a large
amount of money had been taken from our house.  Due to the
circumstances it was clear to us and the police that it had to be
workers in our house or yard who took the money.  A police
investigation (interviewing each worker, but no fingerprints, etc)
concluded that three of the workers were suspects.  The judge wanted
to put them all in prison until trial, which could be months or years
later.  Yet she offered Doug a choice to simply fire all three
instead and be done with the process.  Putting them in jail would've
meant the two young daughters of the couple involved would've been in
jail with their parents.  Doug asked that they not be imprisoned.  We
let those three workers go, along with a fourth we later learned was
involved in inappropriate activities unrelated to the burglary, but
we learned about them because of the investigation.
      The result was a lot of time spent in struggling with decisions
about what to do, handling all the details, hiring new guards, and
having no baby-sitter.  Thus, Doug and I have been taking turns
watching Jeremiah, which has been a joy to have him along for errands
in town where he delights people with his Malagasy, and a challenge
to try to get things done at home.
      An additional challenge during these last weeks was having
electricity cut from 8'sh to 4'sh almost every day due to a broken
generator in town.  Getting emails and other work done meant staying
up late or getting up very early.  It has been an exhausting time,
but we're thankful for the support and prayers of friends and for the
many ways God provided and cared for us during this time.
      A fellow missionary told us that she sees many instances when
missionaries go through very difficult times just before their
furlough because Satan is working hard to discourage them so they
won't return to their ministry.  We were, in fact, very discouraged
during the first weeks after discovering the burglary and questioned
whether we could feel comfortable or trust people again.  God is
gracious, though, and has already brought healing and restored hope.
We thus feel excited about the continuing call to serve in our
respective ministries in which we serve here in Madagascar.  We have
also been able to let go of the resentment we felt towards the one
worker we most suspected.

Prayer Requests

-Please pray for the Malagasy Lutheran Church as it prepares for a
new presidential election in a few months.
-Please pray for the ministry of Project Shalom in Madagascar.
-Please pray for the women's projects, especially the shipment of 300
table runners and 600 handbags needing to be sent soon.
-Please pray for our many travels this summer and our time with
congregations, friends, and family in America.
-Please pray for the protection of our house in Diego while we are
away.

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antsiranana (Diego
Suarez)                                                  March, 2004

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:

Meeting the President……………Lutheran Missionaries have luncheon meeting
with President Ravalomanana
One Big Prayer Answered……………………….Women's Projects get Help from
Mauritian Business Woman
Lenten Devotional on ELCA Website……………..Check out ELCA website, and
devotional written by Doug
Prayers……………………………….…………….Summary of prayer answers and requests from
this edition

Meeting the President
We had heard it might happen, but one can never be sure.  After all,
the president of Madagascar is a very busy man.   So we tried not to
get our hopes up, but when we saw the dark-clothed security scattered
across the entire mission compound, we knew President Ravalomanana
was REALLY coming to meet the Lutheran missionaries to Madagascar;
Norwegian, Danish, and American.  It was an amazing day which still
seems a bit unreal!  President Ravalomanana came for the afternoon,
spoke with us about his life, his vision for Madagascar, and answered
questions from the missionaries.  It seemed he actually appreciated
the opportunity to talk with fellow Christians who share his dream of
helping the Malagasy people.   We certainly enjoyed hearing him talk
about his faith and commitment to addressing the corruption, poverty,
and need for improved infrastructure in Madagascar.

The afternoon was one which Ben will certainly not forget.  As the
president was walking back to get some desserts, he walked past Ben,
shook his hand, and said, "Hello."  Ben was quite impressed! After
pictures with each mission group, President Ravalomanana also posed
for a picture with Ben.  (see our website for pictures). The
president of the Malagasy Lutheran church, also named Benjamin, was
also present and was holding our Ben's hand in the mission group
picture.


One Big Prayer Answered
Meeting the president was but one part of an amazing two weeks which
were exhausting, but invigorating for me (Monica).  Shortly after our
arrival in Tana, a businesswoman from Maurice, named Aline, flew in
to begin a few days of consultation for me and the women involved in
the project, "Manna Madagascar". It didn't take long to figure out
that this was an incredible answer to prayer! She owns her own
clothing factory as well as three stores/boutiques. She is also the
commissioner for an organization which seeks to help women in
business in Africa. I had worried that our project would be a shock
to her in how undeveloped and small we are. Our lack of structure and
size did not shock her, but what did shock her was to hear the women
involved in the project talk about how much they invest in this
without any financial return for themselves. The poverty and lack of
resources also amazed her. Yet she was undaunted. Instead, she
figured out ways to get some helpful resources. She called a friend
who owns a children's clothing factory in Tana to ask if we could
have their scrap fabric for making quilted bags. The next day I went
and filled up the mission van with bags full of scraps! When she
heard from the center in Antsirabe that they could be training many
more women to do embroidery except that they can't afford the cloth
or thread to do it, she suggested she talk to a friend from Maurice
who does occasional consulting work in a cotton factory in
Antsirabe.   Amazingly, she tracked him down IN ANTSIRABE! He was
shocked when she called him to set up an appointment to talk with him
that evening. We met for dinner and he thought it should be no
problem to get a donation of cotton cloth from the factory!! The
Malagasy people involved were absolutely amazed a few days later when
we came with seven hundred meters of free cotton cloth from the
Cotona factory.  Aline also promised to continue to consult with us
and help us with designs and possibly even order products to sell in
her upscale boutiques.  Amazing!  I had been praying for help with
how to organize Manna Madagascar.  Aline is an answer to that prayer
and even more!

Another wonderful answer to prayer has been an order from WorldCrafts
for 300 table runners and 600 handbags.  That is even bigger than we
had been told earlier, so the pressure is really on those producing
the handbags and table runners. Yet they are so excited. I
interviewed several women who are involved and they are so thankful
to have an opportunity to earn money because of this order. About 40
women are currently working on it and that number may go up if it
looks like they won't get the order done in time. God has provided
for these women through WorldCrafts and they want these orders to
continue!!  (see website for photos)

Yet we are facing a challenge right now of getting many things
legalized and organized before the big shipment for WorldCrafts can
go out. We'd appreciate prayers that the meetings and legalities can
happen in a timely fashion so that it all comes together in time!
Being up here in Diego is not ideal for situations like this so I'll
be making lots of phone calls and if necessary, maybe even go down
one more time before it's time to leave the country. I'm not sure if
our travel budget will allow that since DGM is making yet more budget
cuts again! Hopefully it won't be necessary.


Lenten Devotional on ELCA Website
Earlier in the year Doug was asked by DGM to contribute to a Lenten
devotional which is now posted on their website.  Doug's contribution
and that of other mission personnel around the world can be found at:
http://www.elca.org/dgm/lent/index.html

The work continues here as Doug gears up for many more teaching
opportunities in the next two months. He was away for a few days of
teaching just before we left for Tana.  He was visiting a town that
grew up around a sugar factory.  The factory closed a few years ago
but it is still home for about 14,000 former employees, now
unemployed and very poor.  The Lutheran church there has recently
started four new mission congregations to reach out to the
community.  Doug really enjoyed teaching there because the people are
so motivated to learn and to reach out to their neighbors of another
faith. He's also getting more comfortable teaching in Malagasy so
that helps a lot.  On his way home he and a crew of about 15 were on
their way to a meet with a Muslim king.  Unfortunately, Doug got
stuck in the mud on the way.  Wearing a white shirt, tie, and rolled
up dress pants, he and his passengers struggled to dig out the car in
the rain.  It was all in vain until a farmer came by with a tractor
and pulled the car loose.  They were all dirty and wet for the visit
to the king, but the king didn't seem to mind.

Prayers
We give thanks for the progress of MANNA Madagascar, the women's
project with which Monica works.  Prayers for help with the business
aspect of it were answered by Aline's support.  We thank God also
that a big order from WorldCrafts is giving employment to about 40
women.

We give thanks as well for our safety and good health, something we
can't take for granted here.  Three recent cyclones have caused great
damage in parts of the island, but we have been safe through it all.

We ask for prayers for the continuing progress of the women's
project, for the work of Project Shalom, for the government of
President Ravalomanana, and for the struggle of the Malagasy people
for economic development, environmental protection, and improved
health care.

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
Mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagascar

Antsiranana (Diego
Suarez)                                                   February,
2004

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,

      We apologize that this issue is very late which is due to our
phone problems.  See below.

In this issue of Footprints:
On what do we depend? Lesson from the Phone Line
"Plans to prosper" Visions Coming Together
Crocodiles, Disciples and More News Tropical Ministry Highlights
Planning for home leave Summer 2004
Website updated New Activities
Prayer Requests
Contact information

On what do we depend?
      Isn't it amazing how quickly we take things for granted?  Take
telephones for example.  Last Saturday a cyclone took out our phone
line and we have been without a phone or internet ever since.  The
people at the phone company merely smiled at Doug when he asked if it
might be fixed that day or the next.  We've had two offers to
help "make things happen" from people who were sure their influence
could get it fixed.  So far no result.  Meanwhile, we are going
occasionally to friends' houses to use their internet connection
because we have become so dependent on emails that we "need" to stay
connected!   Oh, but that we were so dependent on Christ that we
would feel equally compelled to be "connected" through reading the
Bible and prayer!!


"Plans to prosper"

    For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
(Jer 29:11)
     It seems God has had plans for Diego for quite some time.  I
learned recently that an ecumenical women's prayer group had been
praying specifically for six years to do outreach for which they had
a clear outline of what they wanted to accomplish.  Their idea was
exactly the same as my proposal of something to do here!  I thank God
that He brought us together at this time. These women are so
enthusiastic and things are starting to happen.  In spite of the
possibility of applying for grant money for supplies, etc. (which we
may still do at some point) we are starting with what we have and
hope to build on it so that THEY can really feel ownership of it.
They also had the idea to ask women benefiting from the center to
volunteer an hour each week to teach women prisoners how to do
handicrafts so they can earn some income. Considering the situation
in Malagasy prisons, it is not hard to understand why the prisoners
cheered last Friday when I told them about this possibility of
earning some money.  I continue to marvel at what God has prepared
and continues to do and I pray that God will continue to guide this
new venture.
      Later this month the women's cooperative Manna Madagascar will
be meeting and receiving consultation from a businesswoman from
Mauritius.  We are praying that she will bring much-needed advice for
establishing the basic structure necessary for a small business such
as this.


Crocodiles, Disciples and More News

      Doug has been blessed as well with two different individuals who
are interested in studying the Bible with him.  One, a recent convert
from another religion, is so eager to learn about the Bible and
Christianity that he has a list of questions he gives Doug each
week.  Doug then works on finding helpful ways to explain answers to
those questions before their next weekly session.  Another man, a
member of another religion, is very interested in learning English,
but also interested in talking about the Bible.  Thus, they are
planning to do Bible studies in English together.  These
opportunities are answers to much prayer and we continue to pray that
they may strengthen these men and lead to further connections with
people of other faiths.
      Meanwhile, Doug continues to translate and write tracts and
other tools that evangelists can use in their daily contact with
people of other faiths.  He made one more trip to Mananara recently
to approve the final funding of the clinic that was just completed.
His trip this time was even more adventurous than when we went as a
family.  He went by motorcycle (with the male nurse driving) except
when the road was too muddy at which times Doug had to walk barefoot
through mud (sometimes up to his knees).  They had a few close calls
when the motorcycle slid on the slick roads and bridges, but they
made it!  He came home soaked and tired, but thankful for a safe,
adventurous trip.
      Fortunately he did not have to brave crocodiles on the journey,
as some Project Shalom staff had to do recently to come to a meeting
of all the evangelists, nurses, and doctors in Project Shalom.  At
that meeting last week, staff from all around the northern region of
Madagascar came for mutual encouragement and teaching.  As they
listed the needs and problems, those who had come on foot through
flooded roads, which have become crocodile-infested waters, suggested
it would be nice to have a bicycle to get past the crocodiles
faster.
      Most of the clinics are in remote places where transportation in
or out is difficult or impossible during the rainy season.  Thus,
many also discussed the challenges of treating people without the
availability of medical supplies or the possibility of evacuating
serious cases.  Yet one after another, the medical workers shared
stories of people whom they knew they couldn't treat with their
limited supplies.  Twins born with major problems, a man deathly ill,
etc.  They needed resources only found in a bigger hospital.  Yet
roads were impassable or money not available for travel.  So the
people did what they could…they prayed.  Medical workers and patients
alike prayed.  It was a time of mutual inspiration as workers from
different clinics shared story after story of God answering those
prayers with healing.  Often people here face "hopeless" situations
and have no solution other than prayer.  Their daily lives hold
lessons (for them and for us) on what it means to depend on God.

Planning for home leave
      We've started planning for our upcoming home leave, scheduled
for American Summer, 2004.  Monica and Jeremiah will be heading home
in early May to be there for Monica's brother's wedding.  Doug and
Ben be coming in early June.  Then together we'll hit the road in
America, telling the story of mission in Madagascar.  We're looking
forward to visiting family, friends, sponsoring congregations, as
well as enjoying a few American treats along the way (hamburgers,
paved roads, and English speakers everywhere, for example).

Website updated
      Our website has been updated recently with learning activities
and new pictures.  Check it out at: www.projectshalom.org

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the women's project here in Diego, that the
foundation could be set for
      an effective outreach that can be sustainable over time.
Please pray for the two men with whom Doug is meeting regularly.
Please pray for the church here, which is often challenged due to
corruption.
Please pray for protection and wisdom.

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antsiranana (Diego Suarez)             January, 2004

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:

Benjamin Cox's Wild Kingdom ………Life in Diego in the Rainy Season
God's Provisions……………………….Help for the Women's Projects
Friends of the pope Doug and answered prayer
Missionary Kids……………………..…Ben and Jeremiah
Thanks for your Prayers………….…...Requests and Answers
Contact Information…………………..How to Reach Us

Benjamin Cox's Wild Kingdom

      The rains have started and with them our yard has turned from a
heap of dirt to a tropical garden, brimming with flora and fauna of
species we've never imagined.  Benjamin enjoys the new wild kingdom,
sporting chameleons of a variety of sizes on his head and shoulders,
catching "Christmas bugs," and watching colorful butterflies.  We are
not so thrilled with the new inundation of roaches, termites, fleas,
lizards, rats, and ants, not to mention the ever-present flies and
mosquitoes.   The house was outfitted with mosquito screens before we
arrived, but the numerous spaces left around the screens are much
appreciated by the many who manage to get through.  Yet, the
mosquitoes are still much fewer inside than out, so in spite of the
heat, we continue to sleep under our mosquito nets.  Not true for
many Malagasy.  This is the time of year many of them choose to brave
the mosquitoes, rats, and wild dogs to sleep outside of their houses
to escape the heat inside.   This is also the time of year many in
Diego can not afford much more than rice and leaves since the prices
of vegetables and rice have skyrocketed.  Thankfully we had been
alerted to this possibility and stocked up a few hundred kilos of
rice to give or sell to our workers at the cheaper earlier price.

God's Provisions

      "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ...For when I am
weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV)

      It was almost one year ago that we first set foot in Diego,
during our house-hunting trip last February.  That short trip made me
apprehensive about our upcoming move here.  Diego felt like a "dark
town" with only unfriendly, suspicious people.  I was struggling to
trust that God was providing through this move.  Now, having been
here six months, I am thankful to report that God has provided so
abundantly and is changing my heart about this town.  For example, I
am seeing that people are not as unfriendly as I had thought.  They
have learned to distrust foreigners because of those who have come to
take what they can get with little respect or appreciation for the
local people.  Yet, they respond with smiles, appreciation, and
openness when greeted warmly in their language.  This discovery has
softened my heart.  God is providing.

      God provided again this week as I joined a group of women for
their prayer meeting in which they really prayed for close to two
hours. They prayed for the country, for the churches, and for
families.  One by one, women stood to appeal for God's help in this
land.  I was touched and inspired.  It reminded me that God has
indeed been working in this "dark town."  It was evident that these
women really take prayer seriously and believe that it will make a
difference. For that reason they meet weekly for the sole purpose of
praying.  They have been praying that God would somehow use them to
minister to the prostitutes.   Soon we will be meeting to talk about
how that might happen in conjunction with the cooperative Manna
Madagascar (from the southern cities of Madagascar).   Already two
women have come forward who are interested in teaching embroidery and
other handicrafts.  They are committed to helping women as an
outreach and ministry.  God is providing and opening doors!

      God also continues to provide for the work of the other women's
projects in ways that cause me to marvel at such abundant
provisions.  For example, a website is in the works about the
project.  A Maryland photographer has agreed to photograph all the
products to be featured there.  A Mauritius businesswoman has agreed
to come in February to help with the business aspects involved!
Embroidery trainers are available to do needed training for women to
improve the embroidery work to export quality.  Financial support is
starting to come; critical at this time of needing capital.

      Still, at times I look ahead at all the needs and I feel
overwhelmed.  Based on the lack of experience and knowledge of all of
us involved, this project has no logical basis to succeed.  Yet with
God anything is possible.  Through our weakness, Christ's power and
provision can be more clearly seen!   I pray that God will continue
to teach me to trust for it is clear that God provides in God's
time!  I covet your prayers as well; that the details will come
together and that I can follow God's leading in this venture.

      There are still a couple areas that need assistance.  1. We're
looking for someone who can help with details of import regulations
into the US.  We have phone numbers of brokers, but if someone has
background in this area that could help us out a lot!

      2. Until we're ready to do big shipments, we continue to look
for opportunities to send small quantities of products with people
traveling to the US.  Anyone who plans to visit Madagascar and could
use extra luggage allowance to bring back a box would be most
appreciated!


Friends of the Pope

	 I (Doug) have been praying and asking for prayer to meet and
build relationships with significant people in the communities of
people of other faiths around us.  God has begun opening new
opportunities.  Perhaps the most colorful of which began at the
airport mid-November.  I was seeing Monica off when I greeted an
Indian man standing nearby.  He was thrilled that I spoke Malagasy
and immediately assumed I was a Catholic priest.  After we talked
more and the plane was gone he invited me to visit his store/home
sometime.  I thanked him and about 10 days later I visited.  It turns
out that he is a very trusted member of the community and personally
hosted their "pope" when he visited Diego last June (a spiritual
leader with ultimate authority in their worldwide community…but they
refer to him as "pope" or "le pape" in French). We spoke for a long
time and I was able to visit with his son and wife as well.   His
wife really wanted English lessons.  It became very clear at that
moment that English lessons may be a key to introducing us to a lot
of friends of another faith.  We are praying and seeking information
about how to best make such an idea work.
	 Meanwhile, January presses on and I am spending many hours in
my office writing lectures.  As much as I want to be with people, I
have half a dozen lectures to prepare or finish before the end of
February and it is still slow going in Malagasy.  There will be a
full schedule otherwise, with two trips into the country this month,
planning for an interfaith concert, and a 4 day meeting/training for
all Shalom workers (some of the lectures will be used then).  So
regrettably, I have less time to visit with people this month.
	 However, just today (Jan 10) another missionary brought a new
Christian to our house.  Last April he put his trust in Christ, but
formerly he was of another faith.  He used to have two wives and many
affairs.  Now he has only one wife and is faithful to her.  This is
just one example of the many changes he is making because of God's
work in his heart.  But he is young in his faith and VERY thirsty to
grow spiritually and share with his friends of another faith.  Next
week I will start meeting with him twice a week to disciple, teach
him and respond to his many questions.  What a gift and answer to
prayer.  He also wants to bring many friends, but we will start
slowly, just he and I.

Missionary Kids

      We recently heard a joke that went like this;  "How can you tell
a missionary kid?" The answer is, "They can speak in four languages,
but write in none."  We already see the challenge Ben faces each day
as he goes to school in French, trying to learn to spell in French,
then coming home to try it with a totally different phonetic
structure in English.  He's working hard and we pray that this double
duty will pay off for him to prove the joke wrong!  We're also
praying for discernment about what to do for Jeremiah next year.
According to the French system, he should start school next year in
the "Ecole Maternelle" (preschool) with school five mornings a week.
I'm a bit overwhelmed by this prospect since he'll only be 2 ½  in
September.  Yet we need to make a decision soon because it will
affect whether we ask our babysitter to come back for another year to
work with Jeremiah.

Thanks for your Prayers

      Thanks for your prayers that we would settle in comfortably here
in Diego.  God is providing!!
      Thanks for your prayers for logistical help for the women's
projects. God is providing!
      Thanks for your prayers for safety and health.  God is
providing!!
      Thanks for your prayers for new relationships with people of
other faiths.  God is providing!!

We continue to ask for prayers about:
      Discernment about what is best for Ben and Jeremiah in their
education.
      Ongoing discernment and organization of details of women's
projects.
      A building is needed to house a future center here in Diego.
      Guidance for Doug as he prepares lectures and disciples new
Christians.

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Dear sponsors, family and friends,

     We are changing our email address.  This is a permanent change,
which will allow us to keep the same address when we visit the USA or
anywhere else.  Please forgive us for the inconvenience, but be
assured that we intend to use the new address indefinitely.  Finally,
we will continue to check the "old" or current address through
January 2004.  Our new address (starting immediately) is:

dougmonica@...

     We hope that our new address will be easy to remember due the
similarities with the old one and also with our web page.

In Christ,
Doug, Monica, Ben and Jeremiah Cox

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antsiranana (Diego
Suarez)                                                    November
4, 2003

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:

"Diego Votes for a new Mayor" What does this mean for the future?
"Delivering Calendars"  Evangelism in Diego & the countryside
"Ideas, Ideas, Ideas"         Projects helping women
"Cox Family Life"  which focuses on Ben and Jeremiah
"Prayer" 	        Requests
"Contact information"  Ways to get in touch with us

Diego Votes for a new Mayor

      As much as we find all the stories and rumors about people and
events here interesting, we are often reminded that people like to
make up such stories so they may not be true.  Thus, we still don't
know if it's true, but rumor has it that among the three candidates
for Diego mayor, one is a former prostitute, one killed five people
in car accidents in the last year and was associated with the former
president, Ratsiraka, well known for his corruption and unethical
means of getting and keeping power, the last is associated with
President Ravalamanana's political party, but a known racist with
lots of talk and no action.  For whom would you vote?  It was the
third that actually won, but no one is too optimistic of change.  Yet
much change is needed so we continue to pray that God can work in
spite of these circumstances.

Delivering Calendars

About twice a month I (Doug) go into the "bush" for one reason or
another.  Last month something wonderful happened.  A group of Swiss
missionaries from Mission without Borders donated thousands of
evangelistic calendars to be distributed in the north of Madagascar.
So in Nov. I planned to take a couple hundred to three villages I'd
never visited.  My guide should have been a local pastor.  I drove an
hour or so to his home, but he wasn't there.  Without warning he was
required to go to a meeting in another town.  His wife came to the
rescue and offered to be my guide.  Of course, she had never gone to
these places either – so it was a bit like the blind leading the
blind.  But the people were expecting a visit and they'd be very
discouraged if the missionary didn't show up. So, not certain how to
get there we set off with the calendars, a slide show about the life
of Jesus, Bibles, song books, and reading glasses to sell, and copies
of a new tract to give away. We had also borrowed a megaphone to call
the villagers out for slides that night.  It promised to be a big
event for these remote villages and hopefully a real encouragement to
the work of the evangelists and new Christians there.
The "road" was worse than normal.  After crossing two or three rivers
and stopping several times to roll large rocks out of the way, there
were still at least four times that day I thought the road was just
impassable.  But in the end we made it, only a few hours late.
	 A Project Shalom evangelist met us and quickly introduced us
to the leaders of the first village and then we went about visiting
homes.  People of another faith dominate that village, but they mix
their formal religion with worship of the ancestors…and perhaps their
daily life is shaped mostly by "tromba."  A tromba is an evil spirit
of an ancestor that possesses someone and then speaks, advises, and
curses people through that medium.  An ever-growing host of taboos
govern people's lives, because they fear the power of these
ancestors.
	 Over the next three nights we would visit the three villages
and show slides each night.  With megaphone in hand a church worker
would travel on foot, bicycle or in our car announcing the evening's
events.  Each night about 100 people gathered.  Very few Christians
live in these villages, and most are people of another faith.  Few
are literate and even fewer have ever read a Bible.  So as they saw
the slides of the life of Christ they heard passages from the Bible.
The pastor's wife (my guide) spoke powerfully and so did the
evangelist, but the real "entertainment" was to see the white
missionary speak in Malagasy.  Before and after the slide show I
tried (in my best Malagasy) to get them to consider the unique nature
of Jesus' birth, life, message, death, resurrection and His
continuing power.  With that set up, I touched on what the Qur'an
says about Jesus and shared a little testimony of His power in my
life.  Perhaps nobody even understood my strange accent…but I've
heard from other missionaries, that foreigners just showing up some
places will be so moving that local people will convert to
Christianity following the visit.  I wanted to do more than just show
up, but when I doubted my abilities in Malagasy I took comfort in
these stories.  A couple weeks later I heard that one person asked to
be baptized and many others are coming to church services there
because of our visit.
	 There was more encouragement on the second evening, but not
without some worries.  A church worker biked for an hour or so to
neighboring villages to announce the slide show. When he returned he
had very exciting news to tell me.  He had run into the local imam
(similar to a pastor among the people we work with) and announced
that a V.I.P. (me!) had visited their village and this V.I.P. was
ready to publicly debate him about Jesus tonight at the slide show.
He also told me smugly that this imam was kind of mean-spirited and
he was looking forward to seeing him beaten in debate.  Well, I was
not as excited about his news.  It was obvious that he was young, on
fire for the Lord, and relatively naïve.  So I tried to gently
explain that if I were to debate the imam publicly, the imam would be
so concerned about being respected and honored in front of the
community that he could not be open to any new ideas.  Furthermore,
debate is all about someone winning and someone being beaten.  In my
opinion that is never a productive method of sharing the gospel.  Few
people have been argued and humiliated into a living faith in
Christ.  Not to mention that if I were the one humiliated and his
arguments seemed better to the people than mine…well that too
wouldn't be helpful.  Either way, I explained, such a debate would
likely hurt their future work.
This was obviously going to be a teachable moment for this important
church worker so  I assured him that we needed to pray, but it would
be all right.  Then Iwent on to explain that I would happily talk
with the imam, but would try to show him love and kindness and avoid
debate.  Well, sure enough, the imam came early with about 10 young
boys (his students) flocked around him.  As he approached it was
obvious who he must be.  I quickly grabbed a tract about what the
Qur'an says about the Bible, and a calendar, and I greeted him warmly
with a Muslim greeting and other friendly greetings in Malagasy.
Then I just couldn't stop.  My mouth kept going as I explained how
kindly the Qur'an speaks about the Bible, how I enjoy reading the
Qur'an, and I offered him the calendar and tract as gifts.  He was
shocked (perhaps just hearing me speak Malagasy and getting something
for free was shocking to him).  He barely said a word other
than "thank you."  Then he said he had to go.  As he walked away I
grabbed a Bible and offered it to him as a gift.  You'd think I gave
him a year's salary!  He was delighted.  The next morning a church
worker passed by his home and reported to me that the imam was still
reading it.
The third town brought us in contact with many more people and many
more stories.  Perhaps it is enough to mention the imam in the third
town.  We found him by the mosque, which I wanted to visit.  He spoke
with us, showing off his command of Arabic and warmly welcoming us.
I also gave him a tract, calendar and Bible.  He too was extremely
grateful.  Then he asked if we could give him a ride back to his
house.  That was no problem for us, but we were in the middle of
passing through many tiny villages announcing the slide show
about "Jesus our savior" through the megaphone.  He climbed in and as
our invitation continued to ring out he sat in the car smiling and
waving to the people.  Naturally the people looked shocked, but this
made for a very nice invitation!
	 It was also exciting to visit some recent converts. Here is
their story: Rakoto and Aina (not their real names), like most of
their neighbors were not Christian, but of a different faith. Aina,
the wife, secretly put her faith in Jesus.  Rakoto wanted to follow
her but was too afraid of the reaction of his community. Then Rakoto
and Aina were selected to leave their village and receive training to
become pilot farmers, using new methods which they could later teach
their neighbors, and improve the standard of living for the whole
community. During their studies away from home, Rakoto and Aina lived
in a Christian camp where they could freely study the Bible, sing
Christian songs, attend worship services, and pray with many
Christians. After only a few months they were baptized, finished
their studies, and returned as pilot farmers and evangelists to their
village.  We visited his father and friends who are still of another
faith.  We saw his new farming methods and saw how he is making a
gentle and respectful witness to Christ in that place.
	 Driving through sand, rocks, rivers, and forests to meet and
share with people is clearly a major highlight of the work here.
Unfortunately, now the rainy season has begun and it will be a few
months before we journey off the "paved" (but broken) roads again.
There are still trips every month, but not off-road.

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

      Even though it feels like I, Monica, am just starting to cross
things off the "to do" list from the last trip to Tana, I am planning
to go again Tuesday, December 2.  The agenda will be similar as the
last trip; research, meetings, and this time I'll also help the
women's groups sell some of their products at the American School
Fair on Saturday, the 6th.  This trip will be shorter, which is good,
since Jeremiah still seems to be checking out frequently if Mom's
really around.  Last time it was too long!  One of the meetings on
this trip will be with representatives of the various women's groups
involved and I am praying that we can start to pin down more details
about structure and organization.  This continues to be a challenge
and it may take several months, but we have lots of ideas that need
time to get sorted out.
      More ideas are percalating too about the possibility of starting
a center here in Diego.  I have started talking more with a Malagasy
businesswoman about it and she is very excited.  Some of the ideas
include solar cooking, English and computer classes, literacy
training, sewing and embroidery workshops, etc.  I recently learned
that a Danish missionary is working on income generating and
educational workshops for men and teenage boys.  I haven't had a
chance to talk with him yet but wonder if we can create something
better together.  So many ideas.  We need to figure out where to
start and how to find the property and building needed to house
this.  We covet prayers for direction and discernment.

Cox Family News

      The big news for our family is that we now have a two-year-old
in the house.  Jeremiah just turned two on November 24th.  We
celebrated three times and then had a Thanksgiving celebration a few
days later.

       Ben seems to be doing better with his outlook on school and
life here in Madagascar.  It helps that he adores his teacher so
much.  It also helps that he gets to go to the beach occasionally.
We continue to pray that he will settle in more and more to feeling
comfortable with all aspects of life here.


Prayer Requests

 For guidance and open doors for a literacy project
 For continued direction and discernment for developing a women's
project(s) in Diego
 For peace (beyond our understanding) with life here, especially fo=
r
the boys
 For deep friendships with people of a different faith here in Dieg=
o

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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antsiranana (Diego
Suarez)                                                    November
4, 2003

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:
"Diego, a City on Fire"  After a visit from Pres. Ravalomanana
"On the Road Again"  Doug's been travelling
"Opportunities for Marketing" Projects helping women
"Cox Family Life"  which focuses on Ben and Jeremiah
"Prayer" 	        Requests and Answers
"Contact information"  ways to get in touch with us


Diego, a City on Fire

  I wish I could say that Diego is on fire, that is on fire for the
Lord.  But that is far from true.  Un-fortunately the smoke we have
seen recently all over the city reminds me more of another
missionary's words about Diego being like Soddom and Gomorroh, more
likely to receive the fire of God's wrath than to be on fire with
faith.  But no, God has not literally sent fires of wrath, just the
president of Madagascar.  President Ravalamanana was here last week
and became so appalled at the filth all over the city that he
chastised the city leaders to clean it all up.  The mayor of Diego
was not even there for the official presidential reception, a major
shame on him!!  The bigger shame though was that the Malagasy
government had given money for clean up which had not yet happened.
Thus, in the days following the president's visit, workers have been
out in mass cleaning, burning, shovelling garbage and the town is
looking MUCH, MUCH nicer!  And we will continue to pray that the
spiritual clean-up will follow.  If only it could happen as easily
and as quickly!

On The Road Again

Doug has been on the road a lot recently. He made one unexpected trip
to Siranana because of an evangelist who decided he needed to leave
that position. He made another two day trip (one night) to Sirama and
4 neighboring villages, where he visited 5 churches, gave a brief
message in 4 of them, and showed part of the Jesus video in the
other. He would've shown the whole thing but the villagers watching
had to suddenly leave the film because they discovered their sugar
cane fields were on fire. Sugar cane is the major crop in that area
and used to provide a good living while the sugar factory still
operated. Since the political crisis, though, it has been closed. Now
thousands of people are out of work and sugar cane is rotting in the
fields. Many of those factory workers continue to show up at the
factory each day in hopes that it will one day reopen and they can
get their jobs back, claiming they were loyal employees, having come
to work every day.
All of the churches Doug visited are in villages with predominantly
people of other faiths. The members see themselves as missionaries to
their neighbors, so were anxious to learn all they could and were
very thankful for the tracts Doug offered which he had written. One
of those churches has no money for a building so they meet in a
former butcher shop. While Doug was there though, they simply sat
under a mango tree.
Doug also traveled daily to a Catholic retreat center about 45
minutes from here for three days of a pastor's retreat at which he
taught about friends of other faiths, how to build bridges between
churches and those friends, and presented two new tracts. It was well
received with many requests for visits to several other locations.
Part of that is because pastors are eager to bring the missionary to
their town, believing that such a visit encourages the believers
there. Part is because people are really hungry to know more about
how to reach out to their neighbors of different faiths and welcome
any tools that can help.
Currently Doug is preparing for a sermon he is to give this weekend
for the annual retreat of "The Awakening Movement." Someone else
picked topics and assigned sermon titles to various pastors. Doug's
assigned title; "Let's not have affairs." Of course they gave that
one to the foreigner! It's a rather delicate topic to address since
we are aware of church leaders who don't follow that advice, and
because many in this culture feel it is just a way of life which one
has to accept. In fact, one of the professors at the higher-level
seminary in Fianarantsoa recently told me while I was down there that
girls who are about to marry are told by their mothers, "Remember
that your husband is not yours alone." A recent letter from Dr. Stan
and Kathie Quanbeck further explains the cultural norm in PARTS of
the country: "In certain coastal ethnicities, the culture
of "somondrara(young girls of marriageable age)" consists of the
parents building a small house (often better decorated than their
own) near the parental home, to which is assigned their young
daughter who has just turned age 14 years or younger, but who is now
considered sexually mature. To this "somondrara" house any passing
male, whether young or old, is free to enter and offer his
experiences to the young girl who is free to refuse his offers. The
goal is that sooner or later a sufficiently endowed (financially) man
will be willing to accept her as his wife, and go through the
cultural formalities making them man and wife (such implies a
significant gift [dowry] to the girls' parents), at which time
everyone is supposedly happy and content; but in the meantime the
young girl has had sexual relations with who knows how many men, may
or may not be pregnant, has a 28 % chance of having Syphilis, 22%
chance of having Gonorrhea, and (latest national statistics, see
below) 1.35 % chance of contracting HIV/AIDS (percentages for
Syphilis and Gonorrhea are based on statistics from a non-scientific
study recently completed in Vorehe)."
We fear for the coming onslaught of AIDS which is predicted to hit
soon.  President Ravalamana is putting a lot of energy and money into
educating people about it, but the culture and generations of
tradition are against him.  We continue to pray that something will
change the practices of many whose lives will be in danger once AIDS
grows in numbers.


Opportunities for Marketing

As I delve into this project of women's income-generating initiatives
more and more, I am finding the challenges to be the opposite of what
I had expected.  I had thought it would be a challenge to find
potential markets in America, but getting products ready to go would
be easy.  Au contraire!  The experience I'm having is that we can't
keep up with the requests for products.  We are receiving requests
from churches and individuals motivated to help out by offering
a "marketplace" where they would sell the handwork from the women
here.  People are offering to bring samples to stores in their area
where international goods are sold.  And we've just sent a box of 30
different samples to an organization that sells handcafts for groups
like ours.  They will now decide which, if any, of the products they
want to market with orders of 250 minimum.  Thus, I'm discovering
there IS a market and we can reach it.  The challenge is rather
getting the products there and getting the resources up front to
create huge numbers of those products.  We're slowly getting there
though and perhaps slow is better so we don't get too overwhelmed.
The exciting thing is; things are happening; more women are getting
involved, we're getting more products available for sale, and we're
close to having an export license.  The next step is to focus on the
educational and spiritual piece of the women's centers, which will
nurture their souls and feed their minds.  I continue to pray for
wisdom in how to do this, including all the logistics of setting this
up.

Cox Family News

Benjamin had a 10 day vacation the end of October, keeping with the
French school tradition of having 6 weeks of school, then 1 1/2 to 2
weeks off. During that time, we went camping with our Swiss friends
one Friday night. The campground was nothing but a sandy yard between
some bungalows, but it served us well. We slept (in varying amounts)
in a large tent that we inherited from Doug's parents. One of the
highlights was making "smores" which we did using marshmallows I had
just bought in Tana. The
wind was blowing as usual so the smores were crunchy from sand, but
we enjoyed them anyway. It was the Swiss family's first introduction
to smores and most of them loved them, gooey, crunchy, and all. Ben
had such a great time with their son, 14, who is Ben's hero. They
played for hours on the beach, finding all kinds of interesting sea
creatures, catching them in a net I had just brought back from Tana,
and putting them in their make-shift sand-diked "aquarium" which by
the time the tide came in to take them all away included 15 starfish,
a jellyfish, two sea urchins of different types, lots of hermit
crabs, another white fluffy thing we heard was dangerous, and a
seaworm. Another highlight which they didn't catch was an octopus
which came right up to us while we were standing in very shallow
water. We all got a good look at it before it swam away.
Doug also saw a lion fish close to shore. Jeremiah just loved
splashing around in the water and playing in the sand, mostly
oblivious to the sealife. Having seen numerous dangerous types so
close to shore we kept a close watch on him.

While at the beach, Ben said, "I want to stay here forever."  That
was a rare moment for him to express such an opinion about anywhere
in Madagascar.  Lately he has been telling us again how much he wants
to go back to America.  This seems very strange too, since he appears
to be feeling good about his teacher, enjoying our yard and two dogs,
making friends, some of whom are over here every week, and getting
opportunities to be on the beach in October!  Yet we wonder if it has
to do with language since his French fluency, although incredible for
his age and circumstances, is still lacking compared to his ability
to communicate in English.  As I watched him today with a French
schoolfriend of his, I saw that Ben didn't sparkle like he does with
English-speaking friends.  Naturally this is heavy on our hearts and
we are concerned for Ben.  We are praying for discernment of how to
best help him in what continues to be a time of transition.  I also
see that the challenges of learning to read and write in two
languages are immense for a 7-year-old.  In French the letters "ch"
never sound like "chair" and "th" never sounds like "thanks."  Of
couse that's only the beginning of complicated differences in two
very complicated langauges.  We know that other missionary kids have
faced the same obstacles and have eventually succeeded beautifully so
we pray that our Benjamin will be able to do the same.

Prayer Requests
We are thankful for answered prayers for our ongoing health, for
guidance in our calls, for friends and a good teacher for Benjamin,
for God's leading in tract, sermon, and other preparations.
As noted in the letter, we still covet prayers for:
1. spiritual renewal in Diego, that many would be freed from their
fears and bondage through saving grace of Jesus Christ
2. change in the practices of many whose lives will be in danger once
AIDS starts to spread.
3. wisdom in how to do organize the women's groups, including the
financial component
4. Benjamin as he navigates through multi-cultures, multi-languages,
and many other adjustments

In addition to the prayer concerns noted above, we would covet your
prayers for continued health and safety of our family, both here and
extended family in America.  We also appreciate on-going prayers that
an effective and appropriate outreach both to prostitutes and to our
friends of another faith be firmly established here in Diego.  Please
pray, too, that Diego could one day be called a city on fire for the
Lord!

Contact information:

e-mail us at dougmonica@...
or write us at: BP 471  Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) 201  MADAGASCAR
or contact us through: Robbie Cox  201 Copeland Way  Chapel Hill, NC
27514
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-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Footprints
mission newsletter FROM the Cox Family in Madagacar

Antsiranana/Diego                 September 18, 2003

Dear Friends of Mission in Madagascar,

In this issue of Footprints:

"This is Diego," - an introduction to our new home in
Antsiranana
(aka Diego Suarez)
"Ministry in Madagascar" - containing news about Doug's
ministry
"Help for Malagasy Women" - with information about
Monica's
involvement in women's ministries
"Sharing talents" - with opportunities for you to participate
in the
work in Madagascar
"Cox Family Life" - which focuses on Ben and Jeremiah
"Contact information" - with ways to get in touch with us

This is Diego:
Greetings once again from Madagascar, this time from Diego Suarez,
the northern-most city on the island of Madagascar. We are settling
in here after a hectic summer of moving up from Antsirabe, where we
finished language study of Malagasy. It feels in many ways like
we've
moved to a different country.  The setting, the dialect spoken, and
the culture are all so different from Antsirabe.  Yet it is nice to
finally be in the place where we can call home for more than a year,
the place for which we have been preparing for three years, the place
to which we believe God has called us.

This is Diego, a beautiful city on a bay, with incredible beaches,
palm trees, and a vast array of tropical fruit. The weather forecasts
are predictable these days; hot, clear skies, and very windy. The
daily routine is much less predictable. Here in the land where people
drop by unexpectedly, where appointments are not kept for any number
of unforseen reasons but telephones are not available to call with
explanations, where a trip to the post office can change the course
of the day, and where bribes are still the difference between
accomplishing a task today or "when we get around to it;" life
follows a different rhythm. Here, people rise with the sun, shut down
for three hours at noon, then come alive again until dark. This is
Diego Suarez; seen by the Malagasy as a city of "vazaha"
(foreigners). It is true that there are a lot of vazaha here. Mostly
French, mostly retired, mostly men, who have come seeking young
Malagasy women. Diego is also known as a city of prostitutes.
Prostitution is a way of life. Parents send their 13-year-old
daughters into the streets to make money for the family. Young girls
hope to entice one of their foreign clientel to take them away from
Madagascar to a land of riches and wonder. Girls married to or living
with the foreign men continue to keep their Malagasy boyfriends,
providing income for them so they don't need to work. Young men spend
their days hanging out in the shade of mango trees, chewing
on "katy," a leaf with a stimulant effect like strong coffee
or
speed.  Most Malagasy here, regardless of their religious
affiliation, whether animistic, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, or
otherwise, still hold fervently to their practices of ancestor
worship and the use of mediums to speak for spirits.  "Witch
doctors"
are consulted for help when facing most big decisions or in
satisfying a number of desires: to be married, have a baby, to get
revenge, more money, etc.


Ministry in Madagascar
We have prayed for discernment for the best ways for Doug to fulfill
his calling in this setting.  He has discovered enough needs and
projects to keep him going for the next 30+ years at least!  Since
we're not expecting to be here that long, the challenge is to
figure
out how to best utilize the time we will be here in providing
resources and training for the Malagasy evangelists who are so eager
to learn.  He has already produced one video with a Malagasy pastor
about the relationship between traditional Malagasy customs and faith
in Christ.   He hopes to do many more.  He has also started work on
translating tracts into official Malagasy and the local dialect.
These will be tools the evangelists, pastors, and medical personel in
Lutheran clinics can use.  In addition, he is preparing lectures to
present at conferences for those same people to give them a better
understanding of the faith of those to whom they are ministering, as
well as insights on how to present the Gospel.  Meanwhile, Doug is
learning a lot from the local pastors and evangelists. We are also
inspired by the stories of the evangelists who tell of converts from
other faiths being baptized, of facing persecution, yet standing firm
in their faith in Jesus Christ.  Most of the work has been done
outside Diego, in small villages in the north.  We are praying that
an evangelical effort could be focused on this town as well.  We
covet prayers for wisdom and discretion that it might be accomplished
safely and with many coming to know the saving grace of Jesus
Christ.  We sense a very real spiritual darkness in this town and we
also ask for prayers that the darkness would be lifted.  Perhaps
there are already rays of light we have not yet seen.  We're
reminded
of a quote from Lillias Trotter, a missionary who worked among a very
closed people in North Africa about 100 years ago.  She said,
"There
is a sense of dawn all around.  I do not know that outsiders would
recognize it; it needs eyes accustomed to the darkness to recognize
the first streaks of dawn."  We are still outsiders here, but we
pray
for eyes to see.

Help for Malagasy Women
As we've already mentioned in previous letters, I, Monica, am
continuing my involvement with a project, which is helping Malagasy
women with income-generating opportunities by marketing their
handcrafts in America.  Two previously existing centers have joined
as a cooperative to obtain an export license and then market their
products overseas.  The goal is to offer the same opportunity to
women's groups and centers around the island of Madagascar.  An
additional component of education through those centers will assist
women in areas of nutrition, basic health care, possibly literacy,
and inform them about risks like AIDS and other sexually transmitted
diseases.  We also plan to incorporate a weekly Bible study and
Christian teaching.  Our prayer is that women coming to the centers
will receive new life in Christ, hope for an improved standard of
living through income-generating opportunities, and education to
improve their daily life and lifestyle.  One of the existing centers
was created to minister to prostitutes, enabling them to learn
alternative means of employment.  We hope to create additional
centers in coastal towns where prostitution is very common.  The
other existing center was created to supplement meager incomes as a
means of reducing family stress and, in turn, domestic violence.
This is also a goal for future centers.

The education piece of the project focuses on the current situation
of inadequate knowledge about nutrition, health care, AIDS, etc.  We
hear of children dying of diarrhea simply because of a belief that
giving water to a sick child will harm them.  We hear that the AIDS
situation here is like it was 10 years ago in the parts of Africa
that are now devastated by it.  We hear of many people who eat only
rice three times a day, either because they believe they can not
afford anything else, or because they are uninformed about
nutrition.  We hear of people raising carrots to sell but never
eating them themselves.  Meanwhile, their children go blind from lack
of vitamin A.  We hear of educators talking with people in the
country who have never even seen carrots and have no idea what they
are.  I have seen children in a crippled children's hospital with
crooked, malformed limbs due to inadequate nutrition in childhood.
This is preventable and we hope to address that.  Yet, Malagasy are
reluctant to change the traditions passed on to them from many
generations before.  They live in fear of what their dead ancestors
will do to them if they divert from the way things have always been
done.  Thus, change does not come easily, but we need to continue to
try to inform, educate, inspire, and empower people to make changes
that will improve their lives and standard of living.  This is what
the women's income-generating and education project is all about.

Already we have started finding potential markets in America and it
seems the possibilities are endless.  Things are falling into place
for which we are grateful.

Opportunities for Sharing Talents
We consider it a great priviledge and blessing to be here in
Madagascar where we are able to use the gifts God has given us in
this place.   I believe God has called me to work with the
women's
project just described, and yet I also see that, in spite of my
enthusiasm and belief in this project, I do not have all the talents
needed to get something of this magnitude off the ground by myself.
I have no experience in business (a special ed. teacher by
background) nor do the women on the committee.  Thus I feel rather
overwhelmed at the prospects of setting up what is essentially an
export business.  So far, God has been providing the resources and
help in other ways.  I would appreciate prayers about this need for
continued help.  Also, I am encouraging people who may have the
skills needed to help a project like this to consider how they may be
able to help through consultation and support.  If you are someone
who has business experience (especially starting up small businesses)
and have experience in developing countries (or lots of practical
knowledge) AND would be interested in being a short-term volunteer
for a period of a couple weeks to a couple months here in Madagascar,
consider prayerfully whether God may be calling you to be the
resource needed for this project.  If you fit the description above,
except for the part about coming to Madagacar, consider prayerfully
whether you have availability to be a consultant via email.  I am
eager to learn and would welcome and appreciate help if you are
willing to be an active partner with us in the ministry in Madagascar.



Cox Family Life:
We continue to thank God for the protection and provision for our
family. Last year we had major concerns about the impact on Benjamin
(now in second grade) of living here in Madagascar.  He had a very
difficult year in school with a teacher who told kids she'd cut
off
their ears if they were naughty.  Yet she enforced very little real
discipline, allowing the kids to be mean and disruptive which was
difficult for Ben.  We are thankful that this year he has a very
positive attitude about school, a very welcome change from last
year.  In the French system parents are not able to request teachers
for their children, but we believe God picked Ben's teacher this
year.  Out of three classes of the same grade, he was placed in the
one with a firm, but very encouraging teacher and a nice group of
kids.  Ben feels good about going to school, is doing well
academically, and is making lots of friends.  Though he misses much
about America (especially family  and American churches) he loves our
yard where he can play with our two dogs, whack mangoes off the mango
tree, and create something new every day.  He and Jeremiah (22
months) also enjoy playing with the two Malagasy daughters of the
guard's family who live in our fenced in yard as well.  Jeremiah
is
unphased by all the changes and unaware that there is even an America
to miss.  He speaks Malagasy and English equally well and is learning
French from our contact with a Swiss missionary family.  We are
thankful that God has protected both of our boys as health care here
in Diego is inadequate to deal with many health concerns.  We
appreciate prayers for continued safety and health as well.

Contact information:
e-mail us at dougmonica@...

or write us at: BP 471  Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) 201  MADAGASCAR

or contact us through: Robbie Cox  201 Copeland Way  Chapel Hill, NC
27514

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-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

June, 2003

Dear friends in Christ,

Pentecost greetings from Madagascar.  We write with very good news of
a new development in women's self-sufficiency project initiatives in
Madagascar.  We are three missionaries who have been working together
recently on this project and would like to share with you these
exciting developments.  You are receiving this letter because of an
interest or connection you, your church, or your synod have or have
had with Madagascar.

First, a little history about the project, which is actually a
collaboration of two separate income-generating projects, each with
the goal of supporting and empowering women.  One of the projects,
recently incorporated as Maky Madagascar, has seminary wives
producing lemur and chameleon toys to supplement the meager income of
seminary families.  The other, Akany Tanjona, works with prostitutes
and girls who have dropped out of school to teach them a marketable
skill (embroidery) and to produce embroidered goods in order to have
an income.

Recently the two groups decided to form a new "umbrella" organization
which will more easily and effectively market their products in
America and around Madagascar and to create new centers around the
island, thus benefiting more women and more families. One plan
already envisioned is to open a second embroidery eduction center in
Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez) as an outreach to prostitutes, since
prostitution is a significant issue there.  This new organization
hopes to do marketing in a variety of ways.  Inside Madagascar, they
can work as a type of co-operative by selling each other's
merchandise.  Outside Madagascar, they hope to work through Global
Fair Trade outlets which seek to market international products made
in poor countries while paying the producers a fair wage.  They also
hope to do marketing through interested individuals, churches, and
synods who would be willing to help.

That is where your part comes in!  We need help in a variety of ways,
including, but not limited to the following:
1) We need your prayers at this crucial time for both projects.
2) We would love to have you visit either or both projects in the
coming year!
3) We need your assistance in marketing the products.  Specifically:
a) We need a church, individual, or organization to offer to
develop a US-based website about the project and for marketing the
products.
b) We need a church, individual, or organization on the East Coast
who can receive product shipments and send them on to other locations
in the US.
c) We need a church or organization to be the contact address, phone,
email for taking orders in the US.
d) We need one or more organizations that have storage space that can
receive boxes of products and volunteers to fill orders when needed.
e) We need a church, individual, or organization to volunteer for
publicity of the project:
1. Developing a project brochure to be sent with orders
2. Developing a product catalogue
3. Developing a bulletin insert
4. Writing newsletter announcements
5. Contacting churches and synod offices
6. Receiving phone calls with questions about the project,products
f) We need interested individuals, churches, or organizations to seek
out occasions for sale and/or use of project products; like church
conferences, synod events, regional meetings, holiday sales, etc.
g) If you know of a store or stores in your area that sell
international products with a "Fair Trade" emphasis-that is not "Pier
One" but stores like SERRV, Ten Thousand Villages, and a host of
others seeking to help international producers-we need individuals
who can approach shop owners to see if they can offer products from
the two projects in their stores.
h) We need individuals who will approach seminary bookstore managers
with product samples to encourage them to sell the products
4. We need to find sources for capital funds for the following:
a) The Antsirabe center would like to build a dormitory for students
who need a place to live.
b) The new initiative in Antsiranana (Diego-Suarez) will need to buy
and renovate a building for their work and supply equipment.
c) We need "start-up" financial support for staff salaries for one
year, as we work to get the first three centers running at adequate
capacity to fill orders as they come in.

We have been blessed by the opportunity to work with the fine
Malagasy women who are making these projects go.  We thank you in
advance for your assistance and prayers.  Please send questions and
responses to Monica Cox at dougmonica@...   We look forward to
hearing from you!

Your partners in Christ,

Rev. Cynthia Holder-Rich, Missionary in Fianarantsoa, member of
committee involved in Maky Madagascar, returning from mission service
Summer, 2003
Betty Wilkens, Missionary in Fianarantsoa, member of committee
involved in Maky Madagascar
Monica Cox, Missionary soon-to-be in Antsiranana, consultant to
women's income-generating projects

June, 2003

Dear Friends in Christ,

Pentecost greetings from Madagascar where it is winter here in
the "Highlands."  We are busily getting ready for our upcoming move
to Diego at the end of this month where it will not be so cold.  We
are also spending a lot of time on projects now before we leave
Antsirabe.  Doug is hoping to finish a video with a Malagasy pastor
about Malagasy traditions that are contrary to Christian teachings.
Doug has filmed traditional rituals, including prayers to ancestors,
prayers to bubbling water, and a Christian version of "the turning of
the dead."  It has been extremely interesting, but is also quite a
challenge with practically no equipment to use for the editing of the
video.

Previously we have written briefly about Monica's involvement with
women's income-generating projects and it looks like this is
developing into the major component of Monica's involvement here.
This project looks to have a lot of promise and we are excited about
the possibilities for the future.  Yet, it is also a project that
will need a lot of involvement by many people here and in America if
it is to succeed.  We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider
whether there is a role for you in this project as well.  Look for a
letter from us soon with more details about the project and how you,
and/or your church can be involved.

In our last letter, we wrote that our web site was down.  We are very
happy to report that our web site has a new address (which shouldn't
change again since we actually bought a "domain" this time) which is:
www.projectshalom.org   Once we get to Diego we hope to add more
pictures and information about our projects.

We have been very blessed during our time here to get to know veteran
missionaries, Dr. Stan and Kathie Quanbeck, who will soon be retiring
and returning to the US.  We recently received a letter about one of
their trips to southern Madagascar and would like to share it with
you as well.

Ejeda
Pentecost, 8 June 2003

Last Sunday we, together with Alice and Mary Hoenecke, went to a
village (Agnegna) to worship in a church building constructed by a
former witchdoctor and recently roofed with corrugated steel roofing,
a gift from the Hoenecke Family Foundation. The former witchdoctor,
now baptized Thomas Peter, related to us how he had learned the art
of witchcraft beginning when he was 15 years old. For this he had
enlisted the training of numerous witchdoctors from all over the
southwestern region of Madagascar, whom he generously remunerated
with offers of cattle.

Thomas told of how, in the last few years before he became a
Christian (1997), over a period of four years he had had the constant
presence of two frightening images which he could dimly visualize at
any time, night or day. These two images were of an old, white-haired
woman and a naked vazaha (foreigner) man, dressed only in a bikini
swim suit. One night while sleeping, in his dream he saw a beautiful,
young vazaha couple, male and female. He was overwhelmed by the
attractiveness of this vazaha couple, until suddenly the young man
took a gun and shot the bikini-shod vazaha man. With this, this
former witchdoctor said that it was as if he, Thomas, had been shot
out of bed, and was only kept from running out of his house by the
restraint of one of his two wives.

After this episode, he has no longer had the presence of any such
frightening images; but then his 14 year old daughter became "crazy",
as that which had bedeviled him for four years now entered his
daughter, he said. Using all of his know-how with charms of every
kind, he failed to heal his daughter. He then consulted other
specialists, bringing in witchdoctors from afar, from Sakaraha,
Ankazoabo, etc., but they too failed to heal his daughter, spending
much of his wealth in so doing.

Finally, in desperation, he decided that he would, as a measure of
last resort, consult what he had encountered when having treated, at
various times at the Ejeda Lutheran Hospital, the "Fiangonana" or
church. On his way to Ejeda, his route took him through Beahitse
where he encountered a mpiandry (shepherd of the Awakeners' Movement
within the Protestant churches) who told him it was not necessary to
go to Ejeda for healing of this kind of illness, but that he would
pray for Thomas' daughter. Bringing her into the dilapidated church
structure, the shepherd laid his hands on her, praying, and
immediately, according to Thomas, his daughter was healed.

From that point on, said he, "I realized that witchcraft was nothing
but lies and cheating". Over the next few months, he was taught
Christian truths from Scripture, so that he and his family (one wife
and 14 children) were all baptized in March 1998 (he emphasized that
he retained only one of his two wives). When we worshipped in his
church that Sunday, there were about 150 worshippers and some 100
communicants. An evangelist who worked in the Agnegna area was not
there on that day, (evangelizing in another community, using a
bicycle, a gift from the Holmstroms) and it was obvious that this new
Christian of five years was leading the worship and teaching singing
to a dozen youth.

The day before, we had visited another village on the Linta River,
Agnorombalala, in which the clan leader is a high priest as well as a
witchdoctor. In this complex milieu lives and works the well-digging
team funded via the ELCA World Hunger Fund. Currently the digging of
this well has reached a depth of 42 meters, and the witchdoctor is
begging for a school for the children. During our 30-minute
conversation with him, he at various times mentioned the name of
Jesus, something he had never done previously, and which surprised
us.

So, we asked him if he were now ready to renounce his worship of the
devil and cease rejecting Jesus the Christ, to which he responded
saying that, if he were to do so, he would certainly be killed. He
went on to say that that previous night a spirit had informed him
that the next day there would be some vazahas visiting his village,
so he was not surprised when we showed up, although the spirit had
not identified who these vazahas would be. This is the same spirit,
said he, who also informs him about various patients who will be
consulting him over the next few days, and also instructs him as to
what traditional medicinal plants to prescribe.

Putting the two occurrences of the those past two days together, when
we met Thomas in Agnegna, and told him about the high priest
witchdoctor who had spoken the name of Jesus, but that he said he was
afraid he would be killed, Thomas responded, "I know how to talk with
him!" So, we suggested to the Ejeda Hospital staff that it might be a
good idea to bring Thomas to Agnorombalala, to show this well-known
and famous witchdoctor that he has nothing to fear if he renounces
his indwelling spirit so the Holy Spirit can dwell in him, instead.

Over the next few days this indeed did occur. Thomas was fetched from
Agnegna (site of another ELCA World Hunger-funded well dug to a depth
of 62 meters) and, together with the Chaplain of Ejeda Hospital and
several "shepherds", were brought to Agnorombalala. After
considerable lively discussions this widely-famed witchdoctor said
that he would now accept Jesus Christ as his Lord. His described plan
was that he first would consult with his family, and would then
inform the Ejeda Hospital staff, the following Wednesday, about his
and his clan's decision.

According to Christian health care and evangelism workers of that
Linta River area, this high priest is famous throughout a 75-100
kilometer radius, sought after for his "healing" and advice. Thomas
and the Chaplain told us that, when this high priest and witchdoctor
ceases rejecting Christ, his whole clan will follow, and the effect
will be major, affecting a large area.

They thanked us for visiting in Thomas' village as well as in
Agnormbalala, for "when you are there, Jesus is in Agnegna and
Agnorombalala."

And so we wait, praying and trusting that his decision and that of
his family will be to renounce the devil and all his ways, and to
cease rejecting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. The gentle but
mighty wind of the Holy Spirit has been nudging, gently calling him
for a long time.

Yours in Christ,

Stan and Kathie


We have entered a world very much aware of the spiritual forces at
work in the world, which is quite a contrast to how many Americans
see life.  We hear many stories of supernatural events, which testify
to the work of both powers of good and powers of evil. During Doug's
filming for the video project, he heard testimonies of people who had
become deathly ill because of submitting to the medicines, curses,
and oppressive spirits administered by witch doctors/traditional
healers.  It was not until they went to a Christian "camp" for very
sick people and were prayed for that they found healing.  Many
Malagasy people live in fear of the ancestors, who they believe curse
or bless them.  This is why they practice "the turning of the dead,"
in which they take out the corpses (or whatever bones are left) of
ancestors, rewrap them in new cloth, some dance with the corpses,
many pray to them, and then return them into the family grave.  Many
cattle are slaughtered in order to appease the ancestors, which
drains the people and the country economically.  Fear of the
ancestors quite literally enslaves people and we hope you will join
us in praying that masses of people will be freed from these fears
and the spiritual forces that oppress them, by trusting in the Good
News of Jesus Christ.

Your partners in mission,
Doug, Monica, Ben and Jeremiah Cox

May 15, 2003

Antsirabe, Madagascar

Dear Friends, Family, Sponsors, and Partners in Mission,

(Doug writes...)

Greetings again from Madagascar where we are gearing up for our next
move, this time to Diego. We're finally out of full-time language
study and pursuing more projects that involve us in ministry. Monica
is finding her calling I think. She is getting more and more invested
in empowering women by promoting trade.  There is a center here in
Antsirabe focused on teaching young girls and women embroidery skills
as an alternative to a life of prostitution. Their biggest need is
finding larger markets for their work and that is where Monica is
putting a lot of effort. We hope she can be instrumental in starting
a similar center in Diego, but we'll have to see what doors God
opens. She also recently joined in with a teacher training conference
where she taught briefly in Malagasy. They were so appreciative of
her experience and what she had to share that they plan to invite her
to do more teaching in other conferences in the future. Both of
these "projects" seem really well suited for Monica and while we
continue to pray for clarity on God's call, it seems more and more
like this might be it.

As for me, I'm making a brief film at the moment with a Malagasy
pastor based on his insights about the difference between Malagasy
customs that are benign cultural traditions and those which
participate in ancestor worship. We hope it will be a helpful tool to
show and discuss with Malagasy Christians throughout the island.
Otherwise I'm writing another lecture on Islam in Malagasy (still a
lot of work), preaching in Malagasy for the first time in a couple
weeks (still writing that too), and doing a little research for
creating tracts.

(Monica writes...)

We have survived what almost seems a rite of passage for
missionaries: our first encounter with malaria. Benjamin contracted
it while we were traveling around the island recently. Malaria is a
scary illness because the symptoms can look like many other things,
including flu, cold, etc. Advice we've received has been, "If there
is a fever, treat for malaria." Ben is so prone to ear infections
that we're reluctant to follow that advice but we're very thankful we
did when it really was malaria. The medicine brought his fever down
within an hour and he was up out of bed feeling like a real person
again. He continued to feel less than his normal energetic self for a
few days but we are very thankful that he is now doing fine.

After two trips to Diego (one for the whole family and one for Doug)
we did find a house to rent there. Our prayers about the upcoming
move now include: 1. that the work being done on the house will be
done in time for us to move in when we get there the beginning of
July. 2. we will need to hire a new babysitter for Jeremiah when we
get there as well as someone to help in the house and a few guards.
We have heard discouraging reports about the reliability and
trustworthiness of helpers in Diego. We are thus trying to decide if
it's better to invite people from this area to move up there to work
with us, or if we should wait and take our chances there. We are
praying that God will provide clarity in discernment and workers who
are the right "fit" for us.

Another prayer request is for the honest, hard-working people of
Madagascar who continue to struggle financially. I talked recently
with a woman who has a ministry to young girls. She said that her
husband who is a seminary professor has not been paid in 11 months.
She sells used clothes now and then to have enough money for food,
but they have no money for extra things. She needs new glasses
desperately but is unable to buy them, even though she gives much
time, money, and love to the girls she's helping in her center.

Another example is that of a pastor's wife who told me today about
their financial situation. They have 7 children, live in a little,
tiny house attached to the church, and her husband's salary is very
low (like almost all pastors in Madagascar). She can only work part-
time because of her duties as a pastor's wife, so their salaries
combined do not equal what they need for the basics of rice, some
vegetables, salt, soap, and school tuition. Yet, in spite of that,
they have taken in a blind man who needed a place to live, her sister-
in-law who
helps with the children, and a young man who was in trouble
constantly because of stealing, and needed a stable place to live
with people who would be a good influence on him. They have also
hired two women to help with washing clothes, etc. (done by hand)
which, if they didn't have that work, would mean they never ate. As
it is, the two meals they eat with the pastor's family each day are
probably all they eat most days.

These people are the "middle-class" of Madagascar and yet they
struggle to make ends meet for even the basic necessities. There are
many more who are in much worse situations. It makes me really re-
evaluate what we consider our "wants" and "needs."

On a more cheerful note, we continue to be inspired by the faith and
witness of so many of the Malagasy Christians. If one mentions
discouragement or fear, they are quick to announce, "God is with you.
Don't worry. Don't be afraid." They aren't just giving it lip-
service, but believe it completely and trust God sincerely for taking
care of them. We are truly blessed to be able to learn from these
wonderful people. We pray that in some way God will also use us to be
a blessing among them.

You are also a wonderful blessing to us through your prayers and
encouragement. Thank you!!

We discovered recently that our website is down for some reason.  We
are working on getting it up and running again, or may decide to set
up a new one.  We will let you know when one is working again.  Sorry
for the inconvenience.

Fellow partners in Christ,

Doug, Monica, Benjamin, and Jeremiah Cox

March 2, 2003

Dear Sponsors, Prayer Partners, Friends, and Family,


"This world is not our home.  We're only passing through."  These
words from an old gospel song are an important reminder that we are
as "aliens and strangers on earth." (Hebrews 11:13)

Recently we marked six-months since our arrival in Madagascar.  In
that time we've already become quite accustomed to many aspects of
daily life here, yet we still encounter new situations constantly
which puzzle, shock, anger, or delight us. Yet we always have the
perspective that we'll not "settle" here in the same way we would if
we planned to live here our whole lives.  In that way if feels like a
little parable of life.  In a similar way this earthly life is only a
temporary stay in Christian life.  For Christians this chapter is
lived in hope of the chapter to come, in heaven.  Thus there is much
to look forward to in the life to come, and we must remember not get
preoccupied with finding satisfaction in this world.  The words of
Jesus speak clearly, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and
steal." (Matthew 6:19)

Our recent trip to Diego Suarez, where we will be living for the next
several years starting in July, was filled with "alien" experiences.
This was a house-hunting trip, but it was also a chance to meet the
church workers, other missionaries, and Project Shalom personnel who
live and work there.  During our time there we had a chance to see
first-hand what the surroundings will be like and it gave us a
glimpse of our future life there.

The visit stimulated more concrete ideas for ministry and we are very
much seeking God's guidance in those specific ideas. Some of these
include radio ministry, literature distribution, trips to remote
villages, and teaching seminars for pastors.  Monica's role is still
very open and we seek a clear calling about where she should invest
her time and energy.  Of course getting our children settled will be
her highest priority, but there are many other possibilities as
well.  These include trips to remote villages, teaching English,
adult literacy in Malagasy, ministry to prostitutes, and/or
children's ministries.  We covet your prayers about a clear calling
for both of us about the areas we should pursue.  Especially for
Monica, we ask for prayers that there could be a clear calling to
clarify her role in ministry here.

We also covet your prayers about a house for us in Diego.  While
there, we saw over a dozen houses, however we returned without a
contract and are still working on this. Thus, we ask for your prayers
that God would provide the right house.  We'd like one that is nice
enough to be comfortable, but also humble enough to be comfortable.
It needs to be relatively close to Ben's school so that we won't take
all day going back and forth with him.  Beyond that we'd like an
office for Doug with a separate entrance (so we don't have a constant
stream of people through the house) and enough yard for the boys to
play in.

At the moment we are back in Antsirabe continuing our language
study.  Doug, however, will be traveling back up to Diego this week
to hopefully finalize the search and secure a contract for a house.
Again, in March he will be going back again to attend and do some
teaching at a conference on Islam.  Thus, he is working hard to
translate a basic introduction to Islam into a usable presentation in
Malagasy.

Thank you for your support, prayers, and letters of encouragement.
Your care and unity with us in Christ is deeply valued.

Your partners in Christ,
Pastor Doug, Monica, Ben and Jeremiah

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
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Hello,

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Nice job, keep up the good work.

Anita.
Cool link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/africadaily3


--- In projectshalom@y..., "Rev and Mrs DOUGLAS Cox"
<dougmonica@s...> wrote:
> Dear sponsors, friends and family,
>
>     OOPS!  Somehow we directed you to an old address for our
website.  Please accept our apologies and check out the correct
address at your convenience:
> http://members.truepath.com/dougmonica/
>
>     Sorry for the inconvenience!
>
> In Christ,
> Doug and Monica Cox
> Benjamin and jeremiah