Richard & Ruth Jertberg
Missionaries to Madagascar
Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples
September 2024
Dear Praying Friends, Our baby Jeremiah is born! We are here in Nosy Be! It has been a busy few months! Each one of these paragraphs could easily be expanded into whole letters. Several big things have happened since last letter! I was able to take a CPR course, finish an on-line lactation conference, and renew my neonatal resuscitation before the new baby was born. Richard was able to find a truck to transport our stuff over the dirt road from Maintirano to Tana. He went out to Maintirano, loaded up the stuff from there, and receive the stuff when it arrived in Tana. Dan Brown and a group from the church came to help us unload the truck. We had a sweet time of saying good bye with the church in Ambohitrarahaba. We will miss our friends there at church! We were able to watch the military parades and demonstrations at the stadium in honor of Malagasy independence day. We packed up the trailer and excursion and all the stuff in the house. For a while, it was questionable whether the trailer was going to be able to go on the trip because of licensing issues/changes. We are very thankful that our friend helped us figure out a way so that the trailer could go. On July 14th Richard with Matthew, Nate, Abby, Kezia, and the 2 dogs and 4 tortoises left Tana loaded down with the excursion pulling the trailer. They were trying to arrive before us and get the house opened. They took the road slowly, but did not have any major breakdowns or problems with the vehicles. They arrived at the port to cross over to Nosy Be in the late afternoon of the 4th day of travel. Richard had a ferry lined up to take them across the next morning. The day of the crossing turned into a day of waiting in the hot sun at the port because of a miscommunication and a ferry that was too small. After waiting all day and almost losing our dog to heat exhaustion, they decided to leave the car and trailer at the port and take a speed boat across with the animals to get into the house and pick us up from the airport. Richard spent the next day crossing back over to get the car and trailer and bring them over on the ferry. To avoid giving birth on the bumpy road trip, I got tickets to fly to Nosy Be on July 18th with the three youngest and Sarah. When we arrived at the check-in counter, I had a letter giving me “midwife’s permission” to fly; but they informed us that there was absolutely no way to fly if you are over 32weeks (I was 34 weeks). This is only an hour and a half flight. After talking for a while at the counter, they agreed to send me over to the infirmary to determine how many weeks I was and if I could fly. I was relieved that they were giving me a chance! I was having “what ifs” running through my head if I was not allowed on the plane with all the babies. When my dates were not conclusive at the infirmary, the lady decided to measure my fundal height. Feeling the baby’s head instead of my bone, she measured me at 28 cm (which was at least 6 cm off). I had been having a lot of hip pain due to the baby’s head being so low, but now God used it for good. The lady was very kind and wrote up a letter giving me permission to fly. All this was happening 30min and less before our flight was scheduled to take off! I was a little stressed that we would not make the flight, but they assured me that the flight would not leave us. When we got back from the infirmary (which was 2 parking lots away), the Browns (who had taken us to the airport) had already helped check all of us in and got us through security. Several people helped carry our stuff and put it in the plane. We had SO many carryons! (2 pillows, a guitar, a double stroller, 2 carry-on suitcases, a backpack, a cat in a carrier, a diaper bag, a toy bag, and 2 food bags.) It was a great relief to be sitting on the plane! We were going! The little kids were excited about a plane ride! We are so happy to have ALL arrived to our new house in Nosy Be! Since arriving, we have been getting the house set up and working more smoothly. The electricity has been on and off in cycles; sometimes it stays on; sometimes it is off for around 16 hours per day. Even though we have some problems, we are so very blessed with a nice place to stay starting out our life here! We celebrated Hadassah and Moriah’s 5th and 3rd birthdays. We screened in a porch to be used as a bedroom to make space for everyone. We prepared for the birth of our new baby. We finished up our school year the second week of August! All the kids (and most definitely the teacher!) are ready to be on school break! This was just in time for my mom to arrive from the Ivory Coast on August 15th to be with us for the birth of our new baby and the postpartum. On August 23rd, Matthew, Sarah, and Nate left for camp in the capital via public transportation. It was a 36 hour trip on a “taxibrouse.” The trips there and back went smoothly – as smoothly as this kind of trip can be. They just got back on September 3rd after being gone close to 2 weeks. When you have such great kids like ours, you really miss them when they are gone! The babies really missed them too! Jeremiah Daniel was born! (more details on the separate birth announcement.) We are so thankful for how God worked everything out! Having my mom here helping with the house, cooking, kids, baby, and adjustment has been a huge blessing and encouragement to us. Moving to a new place where we do not know anyone or have friends is hard for all of us. We miss our life and friends back in the capital. It is a comfort to my heart being able to spend time with my mom and have her here with us. If the local office gets the paperwork for the birth certificate done in time before my mom leaves at the beginning of October, we hope to travel to the capital to apply for the baby’s certificate of birth abroad and passport. My mom would stay with the kids while we do paperwork. Please pray that the local paperwork will be done in time. We also need to transport the rest of the stuff from the capital Tana to up here preferably before the rainy season starts in November. This requires that we get a truck, load up the stuff there, and unload it here. Language is still a barrier that we need to work to overcome; but at the moment, adjusting to a new baby, helping everyone transition, and figuring out how to live in this new place is taking all our energy. Please pray for us as we balance the MANY responsibilities of family and ministry and life! Next month, we are looking forward to having Richard’s parents visit us. Please pray for safety and a health in their visit. Please pray for us for direction and wisdom as we seek to know what step to take for ministry here. We have several ideas, but we want to follow God’s plan and not our own ideas. There are quite a few neighborhoods that have so many people and need the gospel! We are seeking direction on the right area to start in and what to do when starting. In the service of the King, Richard and Ruth, Matthew, Sarah, Nate, Abby, Kezia, Hadassah, Moriah, Grace, and Jeremiah JERTBERG
Prayer Requests: • Big transition for our family! • Recovery and adjustments • Truck and transportation of things from the capital to here • Finances needed to purchase things and moving costs • Safety for Richard’s parents as they visit • Good new school year • Direction and wisdom in the next step for ministry • Souls to be saved
Praises: • Jeremiah Daniel was born healthy and strong • We all made it to Nosy Be • Safety on the roads • Finished requirements for CPM • We were able to transport our things from Maintirano • We finished a school year • My mom came for a visit • The privilege to serve God here
