This trip to Mauritius and Madagascar, has been a tremendous blessing. Everything went very well and by the Grace of God very much was accomplished.
When I arrived in Mauritius, Brother Nanda was at the airport to collect me as I arrived late in the day. The next day, I went to the VGR library and was impressed with the neatness and the way Brother Paya kept the library. Mauritius is a predominantly Hindu state and even the prime minister himself is a Hindu, thus they have priority, but amidst this condition there is a constant flow of people coming to the Message (mostly through the library).
While I was there, I found two people coming from the street to the library showing great interest in the Message and questioning Brother Paya.
That evening we had a meeting with six pastors. All of them asked for fresh and more material. We discussed many issues, and even though I could not speak or understand their language (French) I could pick up during their prayers how earnestly they mentioned Voice of God and Frere (Brother) Joseph Branham’s name.
When we arrived in Madagascar in the late afternoon, I was shocked to see how primitive the living conditions were. We were picked up at the airport by a pastor brother in his little vintage 206 Peugeot car. It is hard to put into words the condition of the capital city Antananarivo that is occupied by four and a half million people, consisting mostly of beggars and vendors trying to survive. 15% of the population lives in the cities, and 85% live in the farms and rural areas.
We went directly to the Sunday evening service from the airport. The brother with the car is the pastor of this humble little group of 90 believers. I was introduced to the believers and I spoke to them through an interpreter. When the people came to know that I was in their country as a representative from Voice of God to get the Message into their language, the little building could hardly contain the eruption of joy coming from the believers. Brother Nanda and I stayed at the pastor’s house while we were in Madagascar.
The next day we went downtown to book a vehicle that would take us to the eastern part of the island called Tamatave, which is 370 kilometers from Antananarivo.
During my stay I found out that not a single believer, other than the pastors, owned a Bible and this moved Brother Nanda so much that he went to great lengths to buy a number of the Bibles to give to them that could read.
As we were about to leave for Tamatave, a brother heard that I was there and wanted to join us, traveling from 100 kilometers away. He used to be a pastor in the UPC (United Pentecostal Church) and has recently accepted the Message with 30 of his people. He was eager to learn more and to know what is available for his group.
There was nothing that could have prepared me for the road trip that was laying ahead to Tamatave. It was an exhausting nine-hour drive to complete the 370 kilometers. The road around the mountain consisted of unending curves and corners. The scenery was breathtaking as the people were knee-deep in mud, working in the patchwork of rice patties. Seeing the oxen laboring under their yokes to pull the plow in preparing the ground for the seed, was really something.