A Visit Home

A letter from Jan Heckler serving in Madagascar

March 2017

Going home to the United States has always been a joy when the time arrives. I’ve been traveling ‘home’ to the United States since I was evacuated from Zimbabwe as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in 2001. Even though every one of the 10 times I’ve returned home has been special for one reason or another, perhaps this most recent one I appreciated the most. I say this for at least three reasons.

The first reason is that I got to meet more faithful Presbyterians than in any other trip home, and in particular I got to meet those Presbyterians who believe strongly in ‘mission.’ And, among other missions that each congregation has championed, our mission in Madagascar is one that we shared. I was fortunate to have visited 14 congregations and 2 presbyteries during the time home. What a gift to have met and to know these people!

The second reason this trip home is perhaps the best ever was that a surprise set of circumstances permitted my great friend and colleague, Pastor Mamisoa Rakotomalala, to join me for a visit lasting six weeks. And since I was happily informed by every congregation on my schedule that they wanted to meet this remarkable woman she accompanied me on all of my January and February visits.

So, much like when I first arrived in Tana, when she saw the flowers and plants and animal life here, she was seeing them for the first time! It was a real delight to see her reaction at seeing her first chipmunk or squirrel, or for that matter eating at a Subway or a Mexican restaurant, which of course she enjoyed greatly! This of course made everything we did special for me as well since vicariously I too was seeing many things again for the first time.

The final reason this trip was so precious was that I got to see my dear friend Charles Dewald. Charles, a founding member of the board of directors for World Literacy Initiative, the private non-profit that developed evidence-based methods of instruction (EBMI), has made sharing effective methods of teaching with educators of developing nations a real priority these past 17 years. Charles, always a dear friend and colleague, became my mentor almost right away and in many ways became a second father to me.

Charles, always quick to volunteer, for years devoted an enormous amount of his time, talent and financial resources to good ideas that could make a big difference: generous contributions to charitable organizations, personal participation in child sponsorship, and physical help with home rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. Though retired and starting to age, he never hesitated to join a good cause. And he continued supporting the sharing of effective methods of teaching with the educators of developing countries in the majority world.

I got to see Charles at least five times outside of church—mostly for lunches or dinners. The last time we were together was to celebrate his wife Martha’s 84th birthday. It was doubly special since Pr. Mamisoa was also an invited guest and got the chance to meet them both.

So, as special as our get-togethers were, they became even more so when I learned that Charles died last Tuesday (March 14) of a heart attack at his home with Martha. Charles Dewald—friend, colleague, mentor, and second father—was 88 years old when he died and a saint if there ever was one.

Women like Mamisoa Rakotomalala or men like Charles Dewald are special in part because when Christ began his church he directed our paths with two principal commandments. These life values once established by the new covenant have driven these two people in their lives and is what ‘mission’ is all about: loving God in all that we are and showing this love in the way we love all our neighbors.

Your gifts of prayer and financial support are what make the PC(USA)’s partnership with churches like the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar and the sharing of effective methods of teaching in the EBMI Project possible. You are here in Madagascar with Mamisoa and me as we do our churches’ work in the field. We are all joined together because you enable the PC(USA) to be here and you join us through prayer and in helping shoulder the responsibilities of a long-lasting relationship between our two churches!

I ask you to do what you are able to in order to help us continue our work here and to further the work the PC(USA) and the FJKM are doing in their partnership.

I thank you for the generous support of the past. But still more is needed if our work is to continue. My ministry was underfunded once again in 2016, achieving only half of the desired amount, so more help is needed. Also, the PC(USA)/World Mission’s fiscal challenge continues. Though one-time gifts are always appreciated, gifts made on an annual basis are needed if our work is going to truly continue.

If you are able, please consider making a gift in support of our mission in Madagascar. And if you are already giving, please consider increasing your gift. The PC(USA)/World Mission, the FJKM, Mamisoa, and I will be most grateful. Thanks be to God for the privilege of serving, and many thanks to each of you who supports and accompanies me on this life-transforming journey of hope and faith.

Jan Heckler