A letter from Jan Heckler serving in Madagascar
March 2016 - Mampion
We had come to pay our respects to V (Vololona) and her family over the loss of V’s mother, who lay in wake not 10 feet from where we stood. V’s mother was 85 and had been ill for a while. The family we had been told was prepared for this final goodbye and perhaps was even relieved to have her suffering finally end. V’s mother was a victim of congestive heart failure and accumulated difficulties resulting from past strokes so that even the effort to breathe had become increasingly pronounced. With the suffering of their loved one past, the family was free to consider that her soul was now in the eternal presence of our Maker and the love that knows no boundaries or end.
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Fiainantsoa Herimampionona Rasoanomenjanahary
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(Above left) Mampion (Rasoanomenjanahary) and Lalaina (Rasoanjanahary) at the Teacher Orientation Workshop (DEC 15 in Antananarivo).
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Beginning with Mampion (left and working clock-wise) me, V, Dio and Lalaina in December 2015 after having some unch to celebrate the TTCs graduation from the textual part of their preparation in EBMI as Teacher-Trainer/Coaches (TTs) and to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and safe holiday.
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Beginning with Mampion (near right) and working clock-wise ñ me, V, Dio and Lalaina celebrating the TTCs graduation and readying for Christmas soon to come. 23 DEC 2015 in Tana.
Still, it was a trying moment for everyone. Despite the demands of the moment, we asked the youngest member of our group to speak for the rest of us, to stand before a group of 15 strangers and lead us through an exacting Malagasy ritual: the “condolence visit.” Mampion (Mahm-pee-une), every bit up to the task, stood quietly, lifting her chin ever so slightly. As she spoke she reminded us why we had chosen her to express our troubled emotions and our love at such a difficult time.
She waited a few seconds for the rustling to stop, for everyone to be still, and for every eye to find her own. Then with quiet compassion she began the three-part, 10-minute expression of grief, gratitude, a gift, and finally our good-bye. With nothing prepared ahead of time, she speaks quietly, confidently leading from her heart to those of the family. Gazing into their tearful eyes, Mampion sounds as eloquent and grand as a matriarch of many times her years despite the fact that this was the first such occasion in her life.
In careful, caring words she expresses with feeling the grief of all who loved V’s mom—a grief that comes from the heart-stopping realization of how huge is the empty spot left by this person’s passing. She conveys gratitude for all that this woman had contributed during her lifetime: the begetting; the teaching, the sharing, the loving—a lifetime full of giving and selfless devotion.
After the preliminary oration, Mampion indicates that we have brought a gift, and she signals to Dio to deliver it now. Our prayer is that this gift will help the family manage during this difficult and burdensome time. Mampion continues in her quietly profound rendering. She soon arrives at the part where we are to pray. She turns and asks Lalaina to do so.
The prayer was full of thanksgiving and relief that the deceased is now with our Lord. Mampion shares our love and compassion for the mourners, explaining with delicacy and tenderness that we know others are waiting for their turn to greet the family and it would be unfair for us to occupy the family’s time any longer, though we wish we could, and so we must now beg our leave to make room for the next group of people to come and express their commiseration.
While Mampion expresses what our hearts are feeling, I appreciate Mampion for the remarkable person she is. Being young, Mampion is used to being introduced last, but her quiet, self-assured competence causes others not to discount her because of her youth.
Although she is petite and her physical presence is slight, her alert eyes and ever-present smile signal her intellectual stature and quickly cause her to stand out in a crowd. Once she has your attention, she doesn’t let go. Her on-target replies to queries and engaging sense of humor, along with the depth of her intellect, keep your attention.
As a result no one was surprised when Mampion became the first ever certified teacher-trainer/coach (TTC) of the Evidence-Based Method of Instruction (EMBI) Project. Passing the rigorous criteria for this certification is supposed to take three to four months of intensive study followed by two semesters of practicum internships.
Mampion aced all six units of the textual preparation with perfect scores and achieved certification after her very first semester in the classroom, coaching her teacher to use EBMI successfully with her learners. This is especially surprising because the EMBI methodology is so different from what the teacher had used before. The learners averaged 97 percent on their cumulative final exams in both reading and arithmetic, a huge increase over the 60 percent averages of the previous semester.
So it is hard not to appreciate the many gifts of this woman as she finishes before V and her family with such fluency, depth of expression, and dignity. It’s just what we’ve come to expect of this 20-year-old.
Women like Mampion and the other members of the EBMI Project team are the sprouting professionals whose parents and teachers seeded and watered and prayed over for years before. God now gives the increase, presenting this young professional who will help teach and nurture the teachers of the school system of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), our partner church. She has decades ahead of her, educating and coaching teachers . . . some 60-, some 100-fold! Imagine! Helping Mampion to use her many God-given gifts to help so many others is a wonderful part of being here and working in mission, a gift of truly great value.
Your gifts of prayer and financial support are what make the PC(USA)’s partnership with the FJKM possible. You are here with Mampion, the other TTCs, and me as we work with teachers, showing them new, more effective, ways of teaching, and then helping them to adapt this methodology to their individual classrooms and learners. You are here with us because your financial support enables the PC(USA) to be here. You are here with us because you join us in prayer! Please continue to give and pray. This furthers the work that the PC(USA) and FJKM do together.
I thank you for the generous support that an increasing number of you are providing. My ministry here is under-funded, so more help is needed if our work is to continue. Although one-time gifts are always appreciated, Presbyterian World Mission especially needs to increase annual pledges of financial support if our work is going to continue. If you are already giving and if you are able, please consider increasing your gift. Presbyterian World Mission, the FJKM 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
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 154
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