Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The need is great...

We often hear the words unengaged and unreached. We hear them but do we really understand what it means. We see statistics and look at numbers and try to ponder what they represent. It's hard. It's hard to really feel the depth of those words until you are face to face with the reality of them. 

When a place is unengaged it not only means there is no one sharing Christ with them, but they have also never heard the gospel. Can you imagine for one second, living your life and never hearing the gospel??? They have never heard the name of Christ uttered from anyone. That should break your heart in two. People often hear of places and never imagine how dark it can be. 

When I came to Madagascar, I came with the mindset of teaching them True Love Waits. I was focused on that and prepared for that. During orientation week we had amazing opportunities to share the gospel with many people. They were moments I will never forget. I have never had experiences like before. As I made my way to my destination of Mada I had a different mindset. While I knew my main purpose for being here was to teach them TLW, I also knew there was a greater need. However, I didn't fully understand that need till I sat at a table in the missionaries house and was given the stats for Madagascar. God is working here...and in great and mighty ways. However, there is still such a need for him, and there is so much darkness. I know God has placed me here for a purpose and I want to be involved in everything He is doing!! Below is a map that shows the specifics of Mada.


As you can see from the Map the dark red are people groups who are unengaged and unreached. Which means that they have never heard the gospel and no one is currently working among them to share it with them. They currently have no knowledge they have a need for a Savior.

The Orange groups indicate the engaged unreached people groups. This means that there is someone working in that area but less then %2 person of the people are evangelical christians. This can mean that in the whole area there may only be one missionary family....or there could be three missionary families. There is still however a great need!!

The grey areas are places where the gospel has taken root, and local people have began to see the need and take action. We praise God for bringing up Malagasy missionaries to share Christ with their country.

Please pray for these places and the people to whom God will send there. Please pray that there will be a great awakening and Christ will be known!! Pray for the families who are already here with a heart and desire to see the Malagasy know Jesus. Pray for the Malagasy people...that they will see their need for Jesus...and run to the Cross!!


Thank you for your support and prayers!! It means so much to me!! Continue to pray for us as we are learning the language!! I will update again when I can!!

Love loves!!



Saturday, January 26, 2013

Hello Everyone!!!!

HI!!!

Just thought I would send out a little update to let ya'll know what's going on here in the world of Madagascar!! :) We are still getting settled in and getting everything we need! Today we went to the markets and a few stores and got some things for our house! :) That was fun! We just have to set it all up. We also had a chance to meet with a family that just moved here and is going to be working with us some!! They were so precious!! I am excited to see what God does!!

Today for lunch we ate at an indian restaurant!! Who knew my first time eating Indian food would be in Madagascar! :) On our way there...we were able to see a lot of the city. I am going to post some pics so you can see what we are seeing! :)

We start language school on Monday so please be praying for that!! We are excited to be able to communicate some with people here!! :)

Love Loves!!!







People drying there rice on the sidewalks in the heat!!!!



 Flying into Madagascar!!




 Rice Fields!! 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Dumella!!

Hello Everyone!!! I am finally able to update my blog!! It's been a crazy but awesome week!!! I have learned so much and seen so much I couldn't begin to explain everything!!

God has been so near to me during this week!! We have been non stop busy with experiences galore. We have had many opportunities to share the gospel with locals and just be totally immersed in Africa and it has been totally awesome!! I am not allowed to share specific details of what we did but I can give a vague description!!

Monday we arrived in Johannesburg and got ready for the week of our life. We arrived in Gaberone, Botswana on Tuesday morning and hit the ground running. We ended up arriving in Lobatse, Botswana by bus...all by ourself!! It was crazy!! Here we are sitting on a bus with a bunch of Africans and we don't know the language at all and we have no idea what we are doing! Through all those experiences we learned to rely on God and trust God in it all!!

This past weekend we stayed with an African family and it was great! We learned what it was like to be a family living in hard times in African and it was definitely a humbling experience for sure!! We ate some african food and went to the local Baptist Church!! :)

One thing that really sticks in my mind is when we were at a bus stop one day...our mission was just to share the gospel. I noticed this older woman sitting by herself with a bundle of blankets beside her. As I approached her I noticed that the bundle was a tiny baby. It was really windy and cold that day so that's why she was bundled up. I sat next to her and began to talking to her and of course asked if I could hold the baby. :) So as I held that sweet two month old baby I prayed over her that her life would be impacted by the gospel and that someone would tell her who Jesus was!! I began talking to her some more and ended up by sharing the gospel with her and praying with her an over her. It was such an awesome time and I will never forget it!!

Please continue to pray for me and my partner and the rest of the teams spreading out in Africa!! Our Plane leaves at 7 am my time in the morning!! :)

I will leave ya'll with some pics!! :)










Monday, January 14, 2013

Joannesburg!!

Well...I finally made it to Johannesburg. It was a long flight and I am so glad to finally be on the ground. I won't have internet after this post for about a week at least. So I will update again as soon as I can!!

Johannesburg is nothing like I thought it would be. It look like a big city from the US. It's busy and big. It is beautiful here though!! We are staying at a really nice place with a bunch of people from Hands On so that is nice. I am glad I have like minded people to talk with!!

I can't wait to be able to share more about what's going on! This week is going to be very interesting for me and I am sure there will be lots to tell when I am able to post again!!

please pray that it goes good this week and that I am able to learn a lot!!

Love to all and thank you so much for your prayers!!

~Dani