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STATUS UPDATE: A Personal Thank You from Pastor Kris for the MacBook Pro Laptop. The MacBook has survived it’s odyssey across the world to Madagascar. The day after I purchased it, I sent it to Missionary Pastor Ben to take with him, and Western Union’ed the $210 cash to Kris. I also added a few more essential peripherals to the MacBook. Thank You to everyone who contributed, and thank you to everyone who gave their support in prayer and spirit, you are now a daily part of Pastor Kris's ministry in Antsirabe, Madagascar. Misaotra Betsaka! (Thank You Very Much) From Jess & Pastor Kris P.S. the song at the end of the video is composed and sung by Pastor Kris.
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STATUS UPDATE: SUCCESS!!! WE DID IT!! We got the 15" Macbook Pro AND Apple Care! We reached our stretch goal last night. But that wasn't the end of the story. I went to the Apple Store today to make the purchase, and I had a bit of "wait time" with the cashier while we were waiting for the MacBook to come out. The employee asked me who the MacBook was for, I was totally beaming, and SO HAPPY to tell him about my mission trip to Madagascar, and the fundraiser, and Pastor Kris, and as he listened, he started beaming with smiles too!! I pulled out my USAA credit card to pay for it, so he asked if I was military, because they give military discounts. I said, “Oh no, I have USAA through my Dad.” He paused and stared at me, gave me a nod, and said, “It’s for the Pastor,” and he added the military discount. The discount was for $210 OFF!!! I am converting those savings into cash for Pastor Kris & his family. I nearly cried in the store, feeling this overwhelming sense of goodness. God is so GOOD.  A story about Pastor Kris. Our mission team had gone to visit a school called “Fitsinjo.” It’s a school for the poor, the Blind, the Deaf, or the disabled. The teachers are all unpaid volunteers. Just regular folks who are trying to help these disadvantaged kids. While we were there on our initial visit, checking on the status of the deaf children, the team noticed that the fence was broken. Pastor Phillip immediately pulled money out of his pocket to purchase the materials needed to rebuild the fence. Sebastian, the maintenance man, was elated! The mission team planned to return to do the work themselves, but word of our project got out to Pastor Kris, and he showed up with an attitude to pound sand and take names. Pastor Kris volunteered for the HARDEST job-- pounding all the dull fence posts into the hard ground. Without the proper tools and leverage, the brute force required was staggering. But Pastor Kris would not be swayed. Everyone took notice of his dedication and commitment to work so incredibly hard. His servant heart would not quit! “People may doubt what you say, but they’ll believe what you do.” -Lewis Cass The team worked from morning to lunch. They repaired the broken fence, fixed the broken swing, boarded over the stagnant puddles beneath the swings, and more. When the work was done, Sebastian the maintenance man said the team had accomplished in one morning what it would have taken him 3 weeks to complete alone. Before leaving Pastor Kris asked Maxim, the man who was partially in charge of the school, if he could invite the children to attend summer vacation bible school at his church. While Maxim, a nonbeliever, was not keen on the group speaking about Jesus directly to the children, after being so impressed by Pastor Kris’s spirit he invited Pastor Kris to put up flyers for the vacation bible school when the time came. And just like that, a little invisible door was opened, for God to move through.  Hello Friends, this is Jessica Hook, I am putting this out there to get as many eyes & ears on it as soon as possible. I have a very time-sensitive mission that I hope you can help me with. I am looking to buy a laptop for Pastor Kristifor Rahrimanana, whom I had the honor of serving with, on my mission trip to Madagascar last month. His church hosted half of the training sessions we did with the Deaf. He is a man of great humility, wisdom, and compassion. He is doing everything he can to help missionaries who pass through his city of Antsirabe. I have kept in touch with him since we left Madagascar. He reached out to me to ask if I could help him acquire a MacBook Pro laptop. He is currently running his church with only the use of his iPhone. He uses GarageBand on his iPhone to compose music for church. He uses his iPhone for all email communication. Back when he had a working laptop, he did all the graphic design for the handouts, flyers, and church signage himself. He is an artist, musician, composer, and tri-lingual Pastor… He is a "one-man band” operating his church with a drumstick and a triangle. I want to help him do more with a laptop! Why am I short on time? Madagascar's mail system is not as reliable as personally delivering the laptop to him, and we have an opportunity to do exactly that if we can have it ready to go by March 5th. We have a Missionary friend, named Ben, who is going to Madagascar and will hand deliver the laptop to Pastor Kris, I just need to have it in my hands by March 5th. How can you help? Would you like to help me fund this purchase? Then please donate any amount. We've all seen that micro transactions can go a long way. You can donate here: https://www.youcaring.com/kristiforrahrimanana-765985 Do you have a quality MacBook Pro for sale that would be a "better deal" than if I were to buy one in the store? Please contact me with details asap, as I have to make the purchase very soon. The final purchase will be fully disclosed publicly. And please pray for the success of "Operation Kristmas MacBook," this will make such a big difference for Pastor Kris and his church. Thank You So Much!! From me (Jessica Hook) and Pastor Kris. Questions you may be wondering--- Why is the goal set at $2000? I called my local Apple Store to ask what they have in stock, they have a year 2015, 15" MacBook Pro with 256GB storage for $1,999. Or a year 2015, 13" Macbook Pro with 128GB storage for $1,299. Go Big! Why can’t Pastor Kris buy one for himself in Madagascar? Because two-thirds of the population (of Madagascar) live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. A median income would be around $150 per month. I’ll let you guess how much a Pastor there makes. (His iPhone was generously gifted to him by another missionary.) http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/kno.../Madagascar.html... Why can’t we just do a bank transfer for Pastor Kris to buy it in Madagascar? Because electronics cost TWICE as much in Madagascar as they do in America. Strange but true. Why a Mac and not a PC? Because of the integrated Mac apps like GarageBand, and iMovie, and the ease of using it with his iPhone. Why a laptop and not a desktop? Because he will need to take it up and down the stairs frequently. The church is one single room on the ground floor, and he lives with his beautiful wife & children upstairs. Just woke up (at 1:07am) to our beds shaking in a 5.4 Earthquake. We are in Antsirabe Madagascar. We are all fine. It's 2:15am right now, Im going back to bed. We will be driving back up to Antananarivo at 8am this morning for our final day in Madagascar. "Get thee behind me, Satan!"  We have faced every challenge there is to face in the last couple days. Pastor Phillip, Marilyn, and Desiree could not get onto the connecting flight out of Paris because their tickets were listed as “stand by” even though they were paid in full, along with our tickets. Me, Dad, Connie, and Janice did get on the flight. We had one of our baggage lost. We've had an incredible amount of communication failures due to intermittent cell phone service and internet access. We couldn’t communicate with the Deaf Malagasy without Phillip once we got here. Delayed flights, stomach bugs, head colds, jet lag, rolling power outages, megalodon spiders, EVERYTHING was against us, except God. A barrage of unfortunate events was countered by a barrage of equal sized miracles to keep the mission going. When Pastor Phillip was stuck in Paris and had to miss the first session, Dimby, one of the Deaf Malagasy, stepped up to LEAD. Normally, it would only be the Deaf teaching the Deaf, but as God would have it, the Deaf also taught the hearing! The Pastor and young adults from the hosting church came to watch the training session out of curiosity and ended up getting completely involved. There was no existing community whatsoever between the Deaf Malagasy and the hearing Malagasy, but where there is a desert, God will make a river of living water! The second night was no different; it was filled with raucous laughter between the Deaf & the hearing. The Deaf don’t normally clap, (because they can’t hear the applause) so they do (what I call) “jazz hands” to show approval & appreciation. The Deaf were clapping for the hearing all night. I can’t begin to tell you all the stories that happen in one day. But you can watch this video for a tiny glimpse of what we’ve been doing. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your continued prayers. -Jess I am about to embark on what I hope will become a wild adventure! I am boarding a plane destined for Madagascar, with 6 other people who want to share the love of Jesus with a small group of Deaf Malagasy who are largely overlooked by the culture around them.
We are: 1.) Myself, who cannot speak a lick of sign language. But my hands speak the language of art, and I think that talent will find a call to service somewhere in the field. 2.) My Dad Jack, who also can’t speak any sign language. Today in church a woman was signing to him, and he was nodding his head “yes" continually. I was so impressed. I said, “Dad, did you understand that??” He said, “No. Not at all.” But his heart is in the right place. He has wisdom, strength of character, and experience, so we may need him to carry heavy things and herd cats. 3.) My step-mom Connie (not deaf) who speaks American Sign Language (ASL). She’s the one who will keep us smiling when we feel pinched between a rock and a hard place, and remind us that it’s our rock, and it is there for us, not against us. 4.) Coming in from North Carolina, a (born) Deaf Pastor named Phillip who has done work evangelizing to the Deaf around the world. He DOES speak Malagasy Sign Language... -PRAISE JESUS- he is surely the one who will get us through any locked doors… and bail us out of jail. Everyone needs a Pastor Phillip. 5 & 6.) Coming in from Pastor Phillip’s NC church are Desiree & Marilyn (both deaf). I don’t know much about them yet, but Im sure we will all get friendly fast. 7.) Coming in from Texas is Janice (not deaf), she will be my roommate, and like Connie, she speaks ASL and has a heart for the Deaf. She heard about Warren Baptist Church’s mission trip and asked if she could join us. When God calls you, you GO. We will be inviting the deaf Malagasy to bible studies, visiting a couple of deaf businesses, filling needs as we see them, and we will be performing our own -renegade- "Operation Christmas Child” for about 55 children, at the Antananarivo Deaf School, and the Antsirabe Deaf School. Our flight departs from Atlanta, connects in Paris, and then onto Madagascar. We return on Jan 13th. Please pray for us. For our safety during travel, for our security during our 2 weeks in Madagascar, for our effectiveness in sharing the gospel and encouraging the Deaf to meet together and support each other, for them to share stories and life with each other, and for the prosperity of the deaf school children we will meet. With all my heart, Thank You for your Prayers! Jess Im so proud of my Dad!! When he's not rebuilding bombed-out schools in Lebanon, he's rebuilding orphanages in Cape Town, Africa.  |
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