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!!

Prayer Requests!!

Hello Everyone!!!

I have some prayer requests for y'all!!

1.) Please pray for us as we visit and minister to a village tomorrow. We are excited for this opportunity

and are praying the Lord speaks through us! We are teaching the young kids a Bible story as well as

the youth the True Love Waits. Please pray their hearts will be open and the hear what God is saying to them!!

2.) On Sunday we are teaching at another Church. We have attended this church several times and love the people there. We are excited at this opportunity. Please, once again, pray for open hearts!!

3.) We leave Monday morning to travel 9 hours to a rainforest. We will be teaching 4 different times there. On Tuesday we will be hiking to a village and teaching and ministering to the people there. We will stay the night in tents (Oh boy!!) and hiking back the next morning. We will then teach to a school with about 50 kids. The next day we will teach two times to a total of 300 kids!! WOW!! We are excited!! We will be traveling back half way on Friday afternoon and the rest on Saturday afternoon. Please pray for safe travels as these roads are not the greatest. :) Also pray for open hearts!!

4.) A personal prayer request is that I stay humble. I want to always be aware that it is God speaking through me and not myself. We teach the same material over and over again and it is easy to think we can do it. When we begin to think we got it..we fail to humble ourselves before God. I want to stay humble. 

5.) Another personal prayer request is for me to stay focused on what God has before me. I tend to be a future thinker. I want to stay present here and want to be ALL here. I want my joy to come from Jesus!! I want to recognize His will in my life and live in it!! 

6.) One last thing I want to ask you to lift up is a couple new ministries we are beginning. On Wednesdays we will be starting an English club at the University here. We are using English as a way to talk about the Lord. The university prohibits Bible lesson or clubs. So as we are teaching them English we will be using Scripture and Bible stories. We are also starting a Bible study with some Malagasy girls. We had our first meeting Thursday and it went great! We are praying God continues to grow it! We also ask you pray that we would be able to mentor/disciple these girls!! 

THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR THE PRAYERS!!!

I seriously would not be where I am if it were not for your prayers and support!!

So thank y'all so much!!

I hope to update again soon!! 

Love Loves!!

Wait on the Lord

Waiting....what a foreign concept to us humans....well Americans really. One thing I have noticed here in Africa is that they don't mind waiting. They take their time with everything and when they get there...they get there. :)

We have become so rushed with everything that waiting for anything becomes so difficult. It is especially hard when you like to plan things...or when decisions are needing to be made, and you don't know what to do. 

Waiting on the Lord is especially hard for me sometimes. I know all the right answers in my head. However, sometimes my heart fails to listen. I need to be reminded that the Lord is in control. There are so many accounts in Scripture where we are instructed to wait. 

Psalms 25:5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalms 37:7a Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:

Psalms 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

Psalms 39:7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You."

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 

I am going to honest. I do not like waiting. I like to plan everything out...I like to know what is going on. There are times I get a "hint" of what I think God is doing, and I somehow think I can handle things from there. I take that hint and run with it. I began planning everything out. So finally I have a plan. That's the problem... I have the plan. So I am learning. I am learning to stop trying to take control of everything. I am learning to allow God to full work His plan for me. While it is so difficult at times relinquish that control it is so freeing once I do. Afterall...I can't control my future...only God controls my future. The testimonies of complete trust and surrender from these verses are so humbling. The promises given in the last verse are more than we deserve. While we are waiting for Him to work an amazing plan in our life, our strength will be renewed. Not just ordinary strength...the strength to fly like eagles, run and not be weary, and walk and not be faint. How incredibly undeserving is that?? 

I am so thankful that He is in control and not me. I am thankful He continues to show me how to be more like Him. What an amazing God we serve!!

Here is a quote by John Piper that I liked.

To wait on God means to pause and soberly consider our own inadequacy and the Lord’s all-sufficiency, and to seek counsel and help from the Lord, and to hope in Him (Psm. 33:20-22; Isa. 8:17)… The folly of not waiting for God is that we forfeit the blessing of having God work for us. The evil of not waiting on God is that we oppose God’s will to exalt Himself in mercy.- John Piper

In other news...we had two session this weekend. They both went very well!! Praising the Lord for all the opportunities that we have here! We are also going to do a radio program so please be praying for that! It will be March 23rd. Another big prayer request is that we are heading to a rain forest from March 11th (this monday) till March 16th. On the 12th we will be hiking to a village and staying the night. Please pray for us as we minister to the people here. We are excited about this opportunity and can't wait to share how it goes!! 

Thank you so much for your love, prayers, and support. It means so much to me!!!

Love, Loves!

One Month, A Remote Village, and the Sovereignty of God

Well, Saturday was one month that I've been here in Madagascar. It really is crazy to think I've been here a month. There are times I feel as new to this city as the first day. There are other times I feel like I've been here or years. This month has been filled with unexpected moments, joy beyond measure, and grace....lots of God's grace. I started this journey with a mental image of what the next 4 months of my life would look like. While some of those images proved to be true...others were far from what the reality is.  God has shown me time and time again that He is in complete control. I have learned so many times just to trust HIM! There have been times where the culture was more than I could bear. When I literally wanted to stay in my house all day and not go anywhere. We can now look back and get a good laugh at those moments. For a while it seemed every time we left our house...something happened to us. We have had moments of uncontrollable laughter mixed with those "why am I here" moments. In every second of those days I knew one thing was for certain. God was with me...and He had a purpose for me in Madagascar. It has been so sweet to full rely on Him and no one else. I have been reading through the Old Testament and am just struck with how many times it says "I am the Lord your God" He wants us to ALWAYS know and reflect on who He is. Not only is He THE Lord...the rest says He is MY God!! What a precious thought!! 

We had the amazing opportunity to leave the city and travel around 3 hours to a remote village. It was the most beautiful ride. Such a contrast to the city we live in. There were wide open fields, mountains, creeks, and Cows...lol. It was just so pretty. We arrived to the village with a huge greeting party. 

There were so many precious kids waiting anxiously for our arrival!! I was elated to see their sweet faces. If you know me...you know how much I love lil ones!! We didn't get to spend much time with the smaller ones because we only had a limited of time there. We got right to teaching our lessons to the older kids. They seem to receive it well. It was a bit different than teaching in the city, but I think they understood everything. There is an organization called  The Grain of Wheat. They sponsor this village and have equipped ladies to teach there. Because of what they have done...the kids are able to go to school. It was very humbling to see how they live. They have no plumbing, no electricity. They are very poor...yet they are so happy and so full of joy. They blessed my heart!!

I was reminded of a very important truth this week. I learned that what I have planned...is not always what God has planned. On Monday Ashley and I were so excited that we were going to visit with some children. We had heard about this organization I mentioned earlier, called the Grain of Wheat. We thought it was a "children's home" type place. (A lot of details can get lost in the language barrier) We asked if we could visit the place and they graciously said yes! Well....as we began our way to the place we find out it isn't quite what we expected. We were just going to visit the headquarters. Which means...the office...which also means no children. :( So we were a little sad but thought it would still be cool to see how they run things. We found out that they have weekly meetings for the kids in the area. They come and hear Bible stories and have snacks and play games and such. While we were there the secretary went to talk to the school next to the office. Before we knew it...we were sitting in the principals office scheduling TLW for their school. We totally didn't plan to meet with anyone to plan anything. It just happened. He ended up booking 3 fridays!! Then we walk back over to another man waiting to speak with us. He had heard that we taught the True Love Waits and felt that God had brought him there for a purpose. He went on to say he had an organization of young people who had a desire to change Mada! He wanted us to come speak to them. So right there in the director's office we had a meeting with him. He booked us for this Saturday!! God just showed me loud and clear....He is in control. Not me!! So thankful!! If we would have known it was just the offices...we may not would have asked to go. God is in every detail!!!

Well, I guess this is long enough!! :) 

Love Loves!! 

A Pure Heart!

A Pure Heart

That's what we desire the youth of Madagascar to pursue!! We want so strongly for them to seek to honor God with their lives. We want them to be a generation that rises up and makes an impact on Madagascar!! We want them to live a life of purity!!

One thing that God has reminded me of is that He has a people! He is always at work and He is making Himself known! He doesn't need me to do His work....He just chooses to use me!! I am not coming here to start a work. He is always at work. I am just here to be used in the work He is already doing!!We have the privilege to work as a team of 4. Ashley and I, and 2 Malagasy people. The two Malagasy people not only translate for us, but they also teach with us. It has been such a joy to get to know them and serve with them! They are so godly and have such a passion to make Christ known here. They have lived out the example of what they teach. They encourage us and sharpen us every time we are with them!! We are blessed to be able to serve with them!!

Sunday was our first teaching sessions at a CEIM church here in Tana. CEIM is a Malagasy denomination that is pretty much Baptist. We had such a great time at that church. The people were so welcoming and friendly. We we unsure of what to expect from the youth and prepared for whatever God had in store. We gave our presentation, which took a couple hours. They were so attentive and respectful. They were bold and genuine. We had a time for Q&A at the end, and they asked heartfelt questions. I could tell they were very sincere. We had a time where we asked them if they wanted to commit to a life of purity. Out of the 60 or 70 that were there...just about all of them committed! It was such a blessing to see them desire to follow God in purity. We encouraged them and prayed over them!! We are going back for a follow-up session in a few weeks to see how they are doing!! 

I am so excited at what God is doing here in Madagascar!! We have been asked to speak in a village and at a Children's Home called Grain of Wheat! I am so excited about these opportunities. We will also be going to the Rainforest in March for 5 days to share with the remote villages there. How exciting to know that God's Word is going forth!! 

Please pray for us as we continue to seek God for wisdom and guidance!! We want to be used in any way He wants to use us!! We want to be humble and give Him all they glory! Please pray for these young people who made this commitment and the ones who will in the future meetings!! Pray that we continue to have many opportunities to share Christ among the Malagasy people!!

I am going to introduce our team!! :) 

Meet the team:

Mirana is a woman from Antsirabe, Madagascar which is about 3 south of Tana (where I am). She also was our language teacher for our first two weeks here. She has a heart for God and is a Missionary here  in Madagascar. She has worked all over the country and is just a great example to me!! I have loved getting to know her!! Please pray for her and she obeys what God calls her to do! She fully rely's on Him for all her support and trust Him completely!! 

Mandimby is a man from here in Tana and He is just great! His dad is the Pastor of a local church that we love to attend!! He often preaches at his dads church and loves to work with the youth! He is such an encouragement to me and such a light here!! He also is very involved in Missions and is passionate about Christ being exalted here!! He has plans to attend Northwestern Seminary in TX Next semester! Please pray for him as he prepares to further his studies!!

Ashley is from North Carolina and attends Southeastern Seminary! She is passionate about missions and has a huge heart! She loves youth and has a desire to reach them for Christ!! She is such a sweet person and is my closest teammate!! After all...we are buddies. :) It has been a joy to serve with her so far, and I know it will continue to be! I am so thankful for the kindred heart we share and our common desire to see Christ exalted!! God has been so good to us!! Please pray for her as she is away from her family! Pray that we would continue to work well together! Pray that we will be a team for His glory!!

Of course you know who I am!! :) Please pray for me as I figure out what God wants me to do when I get back from Mada! Pray that He will open doors and shut doors! Pray that while I am here I can focus on my task at hand! Pray that Christ would continue to humble me and use me!!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!! I am so blessed and thankful for all of you!! If you have any specific questions or anything feel free to ask in comment below or on facebook. :)

Love Loves!! <3 p="">

Culture shock or God's way of bringing us to the end of ourself??

Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

How very true those words are! This week I have clung to them. I have reminded myself over and over that my God is there...He is always there! This week has been a time of learning and growing. It's been a week of dependence and trust. It's been a time of weakness and strength.

As I sat on my bed a few nights ago...I began to feel that sense of inadequacy. I began to feel useless and to be honest...I was longing for home. I wanted my comforts back. I wanted my security back. During that time of loneliness and longing, I realized my security was in the wrong place. I realized that I had began to trust in myself and my own strength. I let a guard down and became "confident" in my own abilities instead of totally depending on God. You see...when I came to Madagascar, I set out to learn a lesson of independence and dependence. I wanted to really learn to be independent from people and things and to be fully dependent on God, and all He is for me!! I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to be challenging, but I knew that I desperately needed it. 

In our week of orientation we were "warned" about culture shock. We were told that we would go through these phases where we would feel great and excited about all the new things. We would love the culture and feel so peaceful and great! Then we would probably go through a time where we had culture shock. We would be ready to go home...we would feel overwhelmed with everything. The  newness would fade away and we would face reality. We would realize that 4.5 months is a lot longer than it seems. But we also learned that we would come back up and get settled back in and remember why we were there. 

Like I said...I realized I was right in the middle of the culture shock cycle. However, as I began to pray and seek God, I realized something. It is so much more than a culture shock that we go through during that time. I think it's more Gods way of bring us to the place of total dependence on Him. You see I had become comfortable. I felt somewhat confident in my abilities to get around the city. I felt good about being here. I felt good about what we were going to be doing here. I felt too good...too confident. So God began breaking me down and taking "me" out of the equation. It was all for His purpose...for my good. I was reminded by my sweet friend and mentor that God had a purpose for me here. She reminded me that In my weakness...I am strong...because His strength is made perfect in my weakness!! What a blessing it is to have good..honest people to speak into your life!!

So I sit here tonight...amazed at His grace! I am totally amazed that He cares so much about me. That He wants to use me. That He wants to mold me into who He wants me to be.

Today was our first day speaking about True Love Waits to the youth at a church here in Tana. It went so good and was so encouraging! I plan to blog about it in the next few days. I have been working on this post for a couple days and haven't been able to finish it. :)


Sorry it's so long :) More on the TLW later!!

Love Loves!!

Weekend fun! :)

Just thought I would post a quick update sharing how our weekend went. :) 

We had a great weekend!!

We began by sleeping in...I love sleep!! :) So it was great! We also decided we were going to fast for the day to spend time praying for our mission that we have here and the opportunities that are before us. It was just a sweet time of prayer and reflection on who God is!!

We then took our friend at the dumpster food...we also gave him a tract! We are praying God speaks to him through the truth he now has!! Please pray God stirs his heart!!

I think I mentioned before that we have a family that lives in a house across from ours...it really just a square mud shack. It has been so humbling to see how they live. How joyful they are when they have hardly anything. We decided we were going to try and play and talk with the kids. So I got some crackers we had and some water (the water here is non drinkable...so clean water is hard to get or expensive for them) so we just sat with them. 

There was a 12 year old girl named Rosa

A 3 year old girl named Majon (May for short :) )

And this 6 month old lil guy name Fola (Fula)

They were so precious!!!   I am so excited at the relationships we are going to be able to build with this precious family!! While we were sitting with them the mom came home from the store. She invited us into her home! The small building we thought was their home was even smaller than we knew. There are two families that live in it. It is two houses in one building. So half of the small building was their house. It was about the size of my bedroom in the house I am staying here. 

Their house

 

It was so humbling to see how they live. They were so happy and full of joy and have so little! Material possessions didn't matter to them. I learned so much that day. Things I already knew...but needed to be reminded of. Even here...in Africa...in Madagascar...I am still faced with the human desires for more and better. I am so human. I can be so selfish at times. I am thankful God placed a great reminder right outside the gate to my house that the things of this world are rubbish. One day they will all pass away and all I will have is Jesus...He is enough!! 

He will always be enough.

Even on the days I feel I need more...on the days I lose sight of what my existence is for. 

He will be enough.

I am so thankful for this time God is changing me and growing me. He is so amazing that He would chose to not only use me here in Mada...but change me...to be more like Him! I am humbled!!