Happy Chicken Day and Faly Faly Christmas!

 I am sure you have heard of ‘Happy Turkey Day’, but this year we had a huge feast with a ton of chicken to enjoy!  It was such a blessing to host a large number of our mission family on the island at our house this year.  We had quite a feast & we were all able to reflect on God’s many blessings in our lives.  We definitely missed our family & friends in America, but we cannot help but see how God is so faithful to fulfill the promises from His Word.  In Mark 10:29-30a it says, "Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,  who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands.' "

 

 

I can’t believe that Christmas is right around the corner!  And yet, we are wearing shorts, enjoying some hot weather & seeing no Santa Clauses.  I am so thankful that we were able to buy a small fake Christmas tree at our grocery store.  Most places we go even play English Christmas music.  The kids really enjoyed getting to help put up the tree & decorate it this year (even if it does look lopsided).  We hope to make this Christmas a special one since it will be our first in Mada.  We are also looking forward to celebrating it with 2 other mission families that live here in Antsirabe.  We  hope to do some special things together as a family to spread Christmas cheer to the Malagasy.

When I reflect on the first Christmas, I often think of the 3 gifts that the wise men brought to baby Jesus and I ask myself what 3 gifts can I give to Jesus?  Well, the first most important gift I can give Him is myself completely.  Yes, I gave my heart to Him many years ago… but I know that many times my heart is not fully surrendered to Him daily like He desires.  Secondly, the gift that I was given in Jesus Christ I should not keep to myself because frankly, it is not just for me.  It is a gift for all people-- I must proclaim it on the mountaintops!  Lastly, we all, as Christians, eagerly await Christ’s return.  The Bible clearly states that He will not return until all peoples have had the chance to hear about Him.  Won’t you pray about giving to Lottie Moon (http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=5725&LanguageID=1709) so that people who have never heard may have the chance to hear about the One that we sing about at Christmas time?  Please pray fervently about what God would have you give to further His Kingdom.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

 Language Learning

I wasn’t very excited to go on this field trip to a Christian school in our area; mainly because I still get nervous speaking in Malagasy in front of a big group of people.  Somehow holding an adorable baby breaks the ice pretty easily.  In each classroom (about 70-100 students per class) we went to, the kids bombarded us with questions about America & what it was like.  They were so interested in relating to our culture that they even asked about our president several times.  In the last room I visited, I was able to share why we had come to Mada.  In another room, Andy was asked to share the Good News (this is the reason we tell people we have come to Mada).  Andy told them that we would share the Good News with them the next time we visited there.  We need to prepare a lot more before we could adequately share this very important news to these eager listeners.