Rainforest Adventure!!

I am going to attempt to put in words the great time I had in the Rainforest last week. It was so great!! It is one thing to hear God working somewhere...but to actually go see it with your eyes is another story. I will give a little recap of what we did during our week with The Norton's in the rainforest. 

After a 9+ hour drive we made it to Ifanadiana. It was such a drastic difference from the busy streets of Tana to the quite small town of Ifanadiana. We settled at the house and spent some time getting to know the missionaries there we were going to be staying with that week. They were so sweet and had the cutest, sweetest kids!! I was excited to get my kid fix! :) 

We got up early the next morning to hike to the village we would stay the night in. Let me just say here...I have never really hiked before. I wasn't sure what to expect and was a little nervous. I told everyone up front that I was a clumsy person and would likely fall at some point on this hike. Well...I did not disappoint...I fell a total of at least 4 times. Thankfully it only resulted in a couple skinned knees and some bruises..nothing serious!!

So once we arrived at the village our schedule was to teach TLW to the students in the school there. However, in normal African fashion...they were taking a test and were not ready yet. So we decided we would go to the home of the first believer in the village. This experience was beyond refreshing. We hiked another good bit and finally arrived at Looloo's house. She was a gracious hostess and we were welcomed with open arms. As we sat in her hut I noticed two Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes up on a shelf. Of course that made me smile! :) She has 5 kids and the three youngest were there with her. They were unbelievably cute!! They stole my heart instantly and I hated to leave them. We played with them for a while and ate lunch with them. LooLoo was the first believer in this village. After she came to know Christ her husband did as well. Now there are several more who have trusted Christ as their Savior!! I am so thankful for the missionaries who continually pour out their lives into these precious people!!

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes :)

This is Tsiki...Cutie!!

Mbola...sweet girl!!

Little Sureally :)

The three siblings :)

Looloo and two of her kids :)

Their home!!

So after we visited with Looloo and her precious family we hiked back down to where the school was. They were now ready for us to teach TLW! So we shared with them what it means to stay pure and also shared the Gospel with them! We had 4 out of about 20 commit. Compared to our other numbers...that may seem low. But considering where we were...it was a blessing!! One of the young men that committed had just been baptized the week before!! How awesome is that!?!?

The school in the village :)

After we spoke to the children in the village we set up our tent and rested for a little while. While we were teaching the missionary (Tim) had hiked up another trail with some of the locals. They were trying to hunt down these pheasant type birds that the locals have been trying to kill. They were successful in killing a bird...however...on the way back to the village...Tim fell and hurt his ankle. He said he heard it pop...it was so swollen by the time he got back to the village. We weren't quite sure how we were going to get back to the house considering it was a long and narrow trail. We decided he would see how he would feel in the morning. So we ate dinner then got some sleep. When morning came...his foot was really bad. The locals insisted on carrying him out on a chair contraption they made.  It was quite scary to see them carrying him down this trail on top of the shoulders in a chair with two poles. But...Praise the Lord...we made it back down!! :)

The next day we got up bright and early to teach at a high school not far from the house. We had about 67 students. It was great! I will mention...that when we got there we noticed a student sweeping up these little black things off the floor. As we walked in we smelled the aroma of urine...only to hear bats in the ceiling. As I was standing waiting for us to begin, I looked up.....and there they were...bats! I could see them!! I had to totally do mind over matter so I wouldn't freak out!! lol!! Out of those 67 students about 42 committed!! We feel most of them were really sincere and genuine!!

We had the opportunity to go back and teach two more times at that school that day. Three different groups in all!! The second group was about 61 students and 42 of them committed as well! The third group was around 35 students and all 35 committed!! It was a great experience and I feel God is working among those people!!

We rested Friday morning and started the drive back around lunch time. We made it to Antsirabe and stayed the night there! It was a gorgeous hotel and we were in a little bit of culture shock...lol!! It was nice!! We finished the rest of our journey on Saturday!! 

Thank y'all SO much for all the prayers!! They mean so much to me!!

Please continue to pray for these people who have committed!! Pray that they seek after God and follow Him!! Pray that if they have questions they will know where to go and who to ask!!

I will update again about this weekend and week soon!!

Love Love Loves!!