A Year In Mada - Bullet Point Style

Greetings one and all! I am currently working on a blog post that delves a little deeper into my year in Mada, but in the meantime I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the many adventures and experiences I have had this year. We will take a brief look at my; travels, illnesses, experiences, ministries and friendships. 

"Why tarry...let us off to the castle!" - Court Jester ....if you haven't seen it..go watch it! If you have...watch it again! :)

Travel

Madagascar is a truly beautiful and unique country! So blessed to have been able to see God's artistry on full display here, even if getting to these beautiful places was often torturous! In the case of traveling in Mada it is def the destination that makes it worthwhile...the journey is BRUTAL! (Sorry for that mini rant...taxi brouses have not been my friend.)

• I spent well over 100 hours in crowded taxi brouse's
• One taxi brouse trip that was supposed to be 12 hours turned out to be 24 hours due to multiple breakdowns, smoking tires, breaks falling off etc.
• I had the opportunity to travel to the east and west coast of Mada (west is best!)
• I hiked through several rainforests
• I swam in a secluded waterfall paradise in the rainforest in Ranomafana (which means hot water) (oh and btw this place is perfectly safe to swim in [I think] and was not where I contracted schistosomiasis)
• I spent two weeks sleeping on a cement floor, and eating rice morning noon and night in Foul(pronounced fool) Point (east coast of Mada) on the ECA annual trip.
• Swam in the Indian ocean
• Stood in the center-most part of the island. (very cool)
• Paid 1000 Ar (50 cents) to take a small boat to a beautiful secluded island (in Foul Point)
• Went on a 20 mile bike ride..all uphill dirt,rocky roads (huge deal for me!) to visit lake Tritriva near Antsirabe
• Hiked 8 miles through rice fields into the countryside with a teacher at ECA (and a good friend).

Illness/Accidents

Oh man! I have always prided myself on being a very healthy person. This year made me relinquish that title. From minor cuts and bruises to some severe bouts with sickness this year has had it all.

• Bit by chickens on several occasions while riding the bus. (never serious at all though)
• Hand slammed shut in a bus door
• Foot run over by a passing (very heavy cart) just bruised
• Woke up one morning with one eye swollen shut..fine by the evening
• Got a deep puncture wound (from a knife) on my index finger, couldn't bend it for a very long time
• Burns to numerous to list. I blame my new-found interest in cooking, and to be fair...my fascination with matches and candles may have accounted for quite a few.
• Several bouts of food poisoning, but nothing serious
• Flu
• Got an amoeba
• Had round or hook worms twice
• I got severe salmonella poisoning (one of the worst weeks of my life! So miserable) Word to the wise...do not consume copious amounts of raw cake batter (with eggs) in a developing country.
• I got schistosomiasis..twice. Which for those of you who aren’t familiar with this lovely disease. It is basically a parasitical worm that sets up shop in your body and lays thousands of eggs a day wreaking havoc on your body. Was really sick for two months before finally going to the doctor. Still working on completely eradicating the little buggers!

New Experiences

This year has been full of new and exciting experiences and adventures! To numerous to list them all but here are some highlights.

• I ate zebu tongue
• I ate chicken liver (thanks Nina)
• Ate a fried fish that still had on it's tail, fins, head, eyeballs etc... Crazy part...I actually enjoyed it!
• I decapitated, plucked, cleaned, cooked, and ate a chicken
• I rode in countless pouse-pouse
• I learned to barter
• Became an expert at killing cockroaches, (huge) spiders and other critters!
• I bludgeoned a mouse to death with a can of tomatoes
• Received numerous marriage proposals (so if I am still single after several years..I know where to go!) :)
• I learned how to cook! Craziness! (I can make awesome homemade tortillas!)
• Learned how to do without a washer and dryer, dishwasher, microwave, tv, and car
• I was peed on by a lemur in a rainforest, and by a boy while waiting in a line
• I learned (some) Malagasy

Ministry and Friendships!! =)

I saved the best for last! I have been so blessed by all the different ministries I was able to be a part of this year! This wont be a comprehensive list, but covers the main ones.

• Worked at the CFCA for almost ten months helping them with their English and getting to know some of the sponsored members. This is also where I made a wonderful friend in Odile, one of the CFCA staff.
• Taught an ADV 1 ESL class and conversation class at the English Cultural Center of Antsirabe.
• Taught 2 INT ESL classes at the ML school.
• Spent several months working at a local orphanage. Playing with the younger children and (attempting) to teach the older kids English!
• Joined the a small team consisting of Malagasy doctors and a med team from the States in a week long medical clinic to surrounding villages (this is one of the biggest highlights of my trip.)
• Became a member of the NorMal Gospel choir and participated in a Christmas concert with them! So fun worshiping God in Malagasy/Norwegian and English!
• Recorded a song in Malagasy with my good friend Odile for her album and made a corresponding music video
• Became an “honorary” founding member of the English Chapel of Antsirabe, got to record a radio ad for the chapel and was a part of the worship team.
• Sang Amazing Grace in front of over 2000 men women and children at the CFCA birthday celebration and was able to share my testimony (with translation)
• Made a music video with NorMal Gospel choir
• Joined the Antsirabe Youth For Christ team, specifically their prison ministry and was able to share my testimony as well as several devotionals over the course of many weeks.
• Had the opportunity to share my testimony and sing at a Youth For Christ conference.
• Led a small weekly Bible study with three young Malagasy women.
• I made friends with people from all over! England, Scotland (woohoo!!), Australia, Madagascar (obvs), Brazil, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and France.
• I made a dear and lifelong friend in Nina! Nina filled so many roles in my life this year. My landlady, my sister, a mother figure, my tour guide, my chef (and what chef she is!!), my friend. Thank you so much Nina! I will always treasure your friendship. You have taught me so much! I love you friend! And am sincerely going to miss you!

So this was a pretty cursory overview of my year. I am hoping in the next week or so post in depth on what God has taught me this year, what I have learned, and what the future holds. Stay tuned :)  

Nearing The End

In two months I will be boarding a plane back home to the US of A. Wow, that almost doesn't feel real. I approach the end of my time here with very mixed feelings. On one hand I am absolutely ecstatic to see my family and friends again, have practically (literally, actually) been drooling at the thought of Fast Food, and the realization that I will be in a city where everyone speaks English and that I will understand and be understood by everyone is truly exciting... like really, really exciting!

 However on the other hand there is so much that I am going to miss about Madagascar. I am going to miss the fun of winning a barter battle...which happens less and less as I have gotten quite lazy. :) I am going to miss my pouse-pouse adventures, and running and jumping onto moving busses. I am not however going to miss taxi-brouse trips (brutal!)! I am going to miss buying nem and sambos from little street vendors. I am going to miss the little boy who lives by my flat and shouts hello at me as loudly as possible whenever I walk past (naturally I always respond in kind). I am going to miss the fun Malagasy/English attempted convos between myself and my butcher. I am going to miss volunteering at the CFCA. I am going to miss teaching (there I said it). Is God amazing or what? Who would have thought that He could change this stubborn heart! I have really come appreciate and love my students and found joy in watching them grow in their English skills.

 I am really going to miss speaking at the prison and partnering in ministry with YFC team as they share the truth of the Gospel with these inmates. I am going to miss my Friday Bible study with Heretina, Feno, and Cerillia! I am going to miss all the wonderful friends I have made here; Bailey (i am really gonna miss our hand & foot dates)!! Eleo, Mamia, Julie, Sitrika, Preska, Odile, Power, so many others, and especially my dear dear friend Nina. Oh how I am going to miss her friendship! She has been an incredible source of joy and support to me. God really blessed me so much through her! I love you dear friend! I am sure I missed a ton of thigs, but these are the things that come to mind at the moment!

This year has been amazing! I learned to cook (against all odds), sadly I am still a slob (maybe that change will happen in this next year). I learned how to teach and to be taught. I learned a (little) Malagasy. :) I have made cherished friendships. I learned to understand and appreciate a culture so very different from my own. I have grown in independance (which may or may not be a good thing...Nina would say not) =)! I have grown in boldness and confidence, and in my ability to share my faith with others.  I have been brought low by illness, loneliness and my own sin, and found comfort in family, godly friends and most of all, Jesus. I have drawn closer to God even as I have made (many) mistakes and stumbled (often), only to be lovingly picked up by my gracious heavenly Father.

 In short (or rather long) I wouldn't trade or change this year for anything. I think it will have huge impacts on the rest of my life, practically and most importantly spiritually. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported me financially and those who supported through your prayers this year. They have been invaluable to me! I can't say thank you enough! I had intended for this post to be about all the new ministries God has brought to me in last few months, but this came out instead. :) Perhaps next time!

Blessing to you all! All glory to God!

A day in the life...

Look at this!! Two blog posts in the same month! I am on fire!....don't get used to it! =) 

Had a lovely day and thought I would share it with you. :) 

I slept in a bit..been having insomnia again so was up pretty late the night before. Then I spent a couple of hours finishing preparations on my teaching for the prison. Then much to my chagrin (love that word) I had to make a trip to the bank...which doesn't sound too bad, but it's not quite like going to the bank at home. Going to the bank entails; being hounded by pouse-pouse (and when it is rainy [like today] they push even harder), being hasseled by men on the streets, trying to keep a lookout for my bus whilst being surrounded by street vendors and beggars. But I finally made it on to my bus and what should happen?? My trusty purse that has served me so well these past 8 months...bit the dust. Here's what happened...the bus, I guess, was in some what of a hurry and so did not stop to let me on but merely slowed down. As I was jumping onto the bus one side of my purse snagged on a piece of metal that was jutting out...which yanked me back (almost off the bus) and then it gave way. As nonchalantly as possible I picked up my dismembered satchel and made my way to my seat to assess the damage. Sadly it was a fatal blow. Rest in peace my trusty compadre. On the bright side however, I was just saying to my friend Bailey that I had never gone this long without buying a new purse, and now I have the perfect excuse! =) 

Man Down!! =(

I finally made it to the bank, got theneeded funds and had an uneventful boarding of bus #11 heading home. I did however slam my head quite hard into the doorframe of the bus as I was dismounting. Not my day bus wise I guess.

I then had a very fun encounter. I turned down the alley leading to my home and three adorable little children, dirty from head to toe, dressed in rags came bounding up to me. They naturally asked me for money, I appolgized and said I couldn't give them anything. But they were so darn cute! One of them gave me a playful tap on the rear and soon the others followed suit. Then they wrapped their arms around me as we walked gigggling and chatting with each-other. I didn't want to send them away empty handed, so I told them I couldn't give them money, but would they like some candy? They squealed in delight part at the prospect of candy and in amusment of the fact that I spoke to them in Malagasy. So they walked the rest of the way back to my place. I went in and brought out some starbursts for them, and they ran off with smiles on their beautiful faces. 

And then to my great joy I received a skype call from my baby bro Isaac A.K.A Pookey! Was such a joy to talk with him and hear how things are going for him! Love you so much bro!

Finally it was time to head to the prison! I geared up against the rain and headed out the door!

This is the best raincoat ever! 

After a little bartering I found a acceptable pouse-pouse and was on my way. I got to the prison a little early, so I just sat outside thinking and praying about what I was going to say. I must say I drew quite a bit of attention. I guess not a lot of 'vazahs' spend there afternoons sitting outside the prison. Finally the other lady from the team showed up and we went into the prison. 

Love this book!

First we sang a few songs, then my partner (whose name I can not remember!) prayed for us and invited me to share. I found myself to be much less nervous this time and really excited to be there! Been reading(and greatly enjoying) the book 'Jesus with Dirty Feet' and felt like it would be helpful for the women at the prison if we spent some time studying verses that talk about who Jesus is (i.e. the bread, the good shepherd etc). So  I took about 20 mintues talking about the character of Jesus, and how it influences our relationship with Him. I think it went well and the translation was very smooth. The women seemed blessed by it, and excitedly asked me if I would be coming back next week. So blessed by this incredible opportunity to minister to these women. Thanks to everyone who was praying,

On my way home from the prison.

Got home around 4:30 and realized I hadnt eaten all day, so I went to work and whipped a delicous meal!! Thanks so much for the recipe Nina!

Delicous pancakes with home-made syrup, scrambled eggs with
bacon crumble on top and crisp apple slices! Yummy!

Sorry that was such a long post, hopefully it wasn't too boring! =) 

Blessings to you all and thank you for yorur continued prayers!

Prison Ministry Update =)

Okay...before I get into the meat of this post I think something needs to be said. It my intention to never again make a proclamation regarding the regularity of my posts. Such as "going to try and post 3 times a month" or "how about song fest Friday." I think it's time we all aknowledged that at this point in my life I am simply not consistnet enough to keep up my end of the bargain. Although in my defense I think Facebook is partially to blame. I mean, I frequently post short little updates. prayer requests etc so I don't always feel the need to blog. But enough about that on to bigger and better things! =)


Today I had the awesome privelege of joing a small team that ministers to the prisoners in the women's prison here in Antsirabe every Sunday. I was really excited/nervous! Especially about speaking with an interpreter. I spent all Sunday morning praying for God's assistance, listening to worship music, listening to Matt Chandler, John Piper, and Francis Chan in sermon jams, and going over what I would share with the women.

I decided to share my testimony and through that, clearly (to the best of my ability) lay out the Gospel and how it has changed me and continues to change me. I decided to also share how, about two years ago I really became distracted by the world. Trying to find satisfaction and joy in things other than God and coming up empty. I felt compelled to share how God has created us to be in relationship with Him. And only He can satisfy our souls. And how once He graciously called me back into His presence my joy was restored. There is no greater pleasure than being in the prsence of the Lord and enjoying his fellowship! When I actually shared at the prison I went into more detail and shared some verses but this is the gist of it.


I decided not to bring any notes as I felt it would feel awkward as I would just be standing in a courtyard with no podium or anything to set them on. However once I got to the prison I became incredibly nervous that I was going to forget everything I had planned on saying and I was going to speed talk making it impossible for my translator. So I quickly bowed my head and asked God to use my words to speak to these women regardless of my 'performance'. And he graciously answered that prayer. I was able to remember everything I wanted to share with great clarity, and to my surprise, found speaking with a translator easy as can be. I actually really enjoyed that aspect! I felt confident and excited about the message I had to share and Power my translator did a wonderful job communicating it in Malagasy and the women were all so receptive and grateful to me for coming. All in all a fabulous afternonon. And then Power asked the women if they would like me to come again, and they all responded very positively that they would.

So once outside Power asked me when I could come and teach again and how often I could come. I asked him how often he would like me to come and he grinned sheepishly and said...every week?? I enthusiastically agreed. What an awesome opportunity. And it was so exciting to finally be able to share my faith in a real and tangible way. It is slightly daunting to think that I will need come up with a short message to share every week with these women but a task well worth my time and effort.

So thank you so much to everyone who was praying for me and for the ladies in this prison. All praise goes to God! He was (and always is) faithful! I am excited to see how He will use me in these women's lives over the next four months. Please continue to keep me and these women in your prayers!