Making contact...

On September 24th, I (Andy) was able to make contact with a small Malagasy people group located on the Southeast coast of the island, called the Antambahoaka.

Mananjary

Leaving the central plateau of Madagascar and entering the rainforest along the East Coast was a beautiful sight to see! We were not able to see all of the rain forest, merely drive through, but Jeremy, my boss, said, “it is a typical rainforest with the high canopy and animals” (including the many species of lemurs, frogs, snakes, birds and also fossa).  The first leg of our trip took about 12 hours, which brought us to the hotel where we stayed.  The next morning we made our way to the town of Mananjary, about a 2.5 hour drive from our hotel and explored the town and the surrounding area for 2 days.  I was surprised that the town was probably less than 20% of the size of Antsirabe (the city we lived in for language), but there was still a good bit of tourism there.  Also in comparison to the plateau there was very little to no rice fields and a lot fewer cattle (zebu).

The people listening to the gospel

After that we found a large village just north of town called Amboanato (about 850 people lived there).  The women wore more traditional dress (a lamba; a piece of cloth used to wrap around the woman’s lower half of her body like a skirt) and the people looked similar to the people on the plateau in their facial features, but with darker skin tone (approaching the look of what people see as traditional African people).  The people were welcoming and friendly and tried to help us find our way around as well as answer some of our other questions. 

As we entered the village, a large meeting of the local chiefs, and government leaders, was finishing-so we were able to meet with 10 (or so) of the local leaders (with many other onlookers through windows and doors).   Mostly we spent time listening to them talk about their people and culture.  At the end of our time, they invited us to come back the next day.  God truly went ahead of us to pave the way for us to be able to meet with so many influential people in this area!!

One thing the Antambahoaka shared with us was about one of their customs,  

a ceremony called the Sambatra that they perform every 7 years to circumcise any

previously uncircumcised males. There are many aspects to the ceremony, including

setting the male child on the head of a bull after the bull has been decapitated and then

pouring holy water in a circle on the ground around him.

Jeremy talking about the wide & the narrow path

On our second day in the village, I was a little surprised that the people answered question after question about who God is, who Jesus is, and what He has done. The person who knew the most, and spoke the most, was drunk. 2 Timothy 3:5 says that many people “hav[ing] a form of godliness but deny[ing] its power.”  In much the same way, the people of Amboanato knew a lot of the ‘right answers,’ about God—but they did not appear to really know God.  Many seemed to mix a little of one religion (such as Catholicism) with ancestor worship, feeling like they have not offended anyone while still satisfying their ancestors!   But Praise God, it is not up to us to save them, but we were faithful to share with them the truth of the gospel and we are praying that it will take root in their hearts!

"lakana"

Other Facts from the trip:

Common mode of transportation: a few taxi “brousses” (buses), but mostly many “lakana” (boats) are used to travel up & down the rivers & canals

Man making a fishing net

Common livelihood: Fishermen (mostly in the ocean, but some in the rivers & canals); Charcoal makers

Making charcoal

Children playing a game

Homemade drumset

B.U.S.Y.

Aug. 11-21– Andy went to Johannesburg for a medical training conference and also had some allergy testing done.

The Report: The conference was informative, but we are not sure yet if we can incorporate it in our work at this time. 

The allergy testing showed that we need to get rid of all dust in our house and we need to get rid of our cat!?  Okay, we don’t have a cat and we can’t get rid of all the dust here in Tana since there is a lot of dust in this city so…Please pray that things get better after we move from our moldy house!  Andy is now on 3 allergy meds and we are going to try a new form of allergy shot in November.

Aug.24-27—Zoey was very sick with a bacterial infection.

The Report:  BUT God was so good and faithful to us!!!  He provided her with a well trained Malagasy doctor, Harena, (which is very hard to come by here) and we were able to share the gospel (at least in part) with her and give her a Malagasy tract.  Please pray for her to be convicted of her sins and her need for a Savior.

End of Aug.—We have a new house!! 

The Report: We don’t have a firm move in date, but we are so excited to have a house that is not green.J 

Sept. 3—Eli started the “big” French school.

The Report:  We had a rocky first day, but the rest of the week was great!!  We are so proud of Eli for being brave and working hard though he still doesn’t understand a lot of what the teacher says.  God is so faithful!

Sept. 3—Zoey starts home-school with her beloved mommy! J

The Report:  She did well for the first 2 days or so but then became kind of bored with me telling her what she had to do all the time.  Then she informed me that she didn’t like home-school or me as her teacher.  I have to appreciate her honesty (because that’s what we ask them for, right?), but I am still hopeful that we will be good friends some day! J

Lately—Allie’s cuteness never stops.  Bare with me as I share with you the joys we are experiencing with our youngest.

The Report:  She makes us laugh all the time.  She is practicing sitting on the potty, she loves to give multiple hugs each day to our house helper, Zo, (her best friend), she growls at people to make them laugh, she has learned how to pretend to tuck the big kids in for bed, she pretends to read books (but thinks all of them start with “Row, Row, Row” (from “Row, Row, Row your boat), she loves to eat all the time and has learned how to pretend to eat her toy foods J, she loves sitting in the big kid’s seats and coloring with crayons, she is starting to say several more words and she loves to take care of her baby dolls.

Sept. 15-20^th—potential time we will be moving.

The Report:  We are in NO WAY ready to move, (get away from the mold?—absolutely!!) but we have yet to get our things packed completely.  I think we have got this under control because we have done this just a few times beforeJ, so we should be pros by now.  Thankfully, we are moving to a house that is not very far away, so we can take trips if we need to. Please pray for this time to not be too stressful and for us to do whatever is needed to get it done when it needs to be done.  We know God is faithful, but we do appreciate your prayers for this!

Last week of September--Andy is going to the bush.

The Report: Andy is heading out to the bush with our supervisor, Jeremy, to do the next step in research of one of our people groups!  Please be in prayer for this time; that there would not be any problems with the road, Andy's car, and that we would all be in good health!  

“Who lives there?”

Happy 1 yr Birthday Alleluia!

Perspective.  That is the word that we have found ourselves struggling with often. Perspective is something that changes from person to person, it changes depending on recent circumstances and it changes depending on your upbringing and your worldview.  

So what kind of perspective should we have as true followers of Jesus?

          I was very excited, but also nervous to pick up our new friends at our local grocery store.  I had met Diamondra at this same grocery store several times as she had been my cashier.  Now we were having her and her husband and their two small children over for dinner.  The evening went very well as we expressed our joy in getting to know them and then Ruth shared her testimony with them while Andy talked to them about the importance of baptism after salvation.  They seemed very receptive and expressed that they had already made the decision to follow Jesus and that they would love to get together with us to study the Bible. 

I was thankful that the evening had gone so well, but why did I feel bad after they left?  What I didn’t tell you was that when our guests first entered our house, Diamondra had said several times that our house was very spacious.  Then she proceeded to tell me how very small their house is because it only has one room, but that they are looking for another house.  After we ate dinner, she was looking outside at our shed and asked me, “Who lives there?”  I felt sick to my stomach; how can I tell this sweet girl that that ‘house’ is where our stuff ‘lives?’  And not only that but we have been looking for another house that is bigger because we have had a lot of problems with our current house and it is also not big enough for all our stuff.  Though I did not tell her the latter half, I stumbled over my words to tell her the truth of the situation. 

So tell me how does one live as an American in one of the poorest countries in the world where most people earn about $1/ day?  That is the question I pose to myself often.  I know we will never fully realize what it is like to be Malagasy and live the way they live, but how then shall we live with this knowledge?  And so I ask that you would pray for us to have wisdom in everything and to have God’s perspective on daily situations so that we would not get caught up in having to have all that we are used to having as Americans while being sensitive to the Holy Spirit in matters of where our money is spent because frankly it is not good just to give it away without much prayer and wisdom.  Also, pray that we would always be thankful for everything and be content in every situation because that is the right perspective we should have!

Other Happenings this month:

Alleluia turned 1 year old!  We celebrated on three different occasions: with our missionary family, with just our immediate family and then we also celebrated with our close Malagasy friends.  Allie enjoyed her cake/ cookie each time!  

Celebrating Allie's birthday with our missionary family 

Saying Goodbye.  This is Caleb (our supervisor's son), he has grown up in Mada and is now transitioning to a whole new world in America as his parents & his older sister follow God's leading in their lives to go back to America after living & ministering in Mada for 10 years!  Please pray for them to have wisdom & guidance to follow where God would lead them and also for comfort as they have left many friends here in Mada.

She didn't like her cake at all;)

This sweet family (Rina, Zo & their son, Nambina) works for us but they are more like our family than our employees.  Please pray for Rina as he has recently begun his own Bible study with 5-7 men.  Zo is our helper at the house and Ruth will be beginning a Bible with her and some of our neighbors and possibly others that we have met different places.

This is Rina and her daughter, Rianala, please pray for her as she is going to school to become a missionary to her own people.  She has two daughters & very little money to live on, let alone go to school.  Pray that God would provide for all her needs!

“I did not forget about …”

As soon as Eli knew that the mail was for him he tore the envelope open quickly.  Inside the note was very simple, it read:  “Dear Eli, I did not forgit about Eli.” 

I wish I had captured the look on his face as we read the note together.  With tears in his eyes, he turned to take the note to his room.  Like buried treasure, he wanted to quickly find a safe place to put the note so that he could find it later.  What a priceless gift!

I know he will treasure that note for a very long time.  He will not treasure it because it is elaborately decorated or because it has a really cool drawing on it (though there is a good drawing on itJ).  But he will treasure it because it is from his friend Evan and because Eli has prayed over & over again that his friends would not forget him.  Thank you Evan for the reminder that God hears and answers our prayers!

Please don’t read this and think that I am asking for pity because I am not.  In fact, instead be happy for us that we are doing what God has called us to do.  Though there are days that we do feel sad and miss our family & friends, we also know that God is at work here in Madagascar.  He is at work in us.  He is stripping away the things we still try to cling to for comfort, stripping away our pride, stripping away the things that hold us back from doing everything that He wants us to do.  He is also at work in our kids.  As they struggle through missing family & friends, He is drawing them to Himself showing them their need for Him more than anyone else.  He is at work in our people groups.  I don’t know this firsthand by seeing it through my fleshly eyes, but I know this by seeing with my spiritual eyes because I know our God and how He is always at work in the hearts of the people He loves because he doesn't want any to perish. 

So please know that we still want & need your prayers.  Though we know God is at work, there are many times that we feel we know very little about our people groups.  There are days we feel like we are moving forward, but then Satan tries to distract or discourage us with frequent sickness or problems with our house.  We want you to know how much every prayer, every card, every phone/skype call, every care package and every email/ FB message means to us.  We have not forgotten you, we only ask that you tell us how we can pray for you also.

Recently I was reading the Bible story, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God?” to the kids.   When Jesus’ disciples asked him this question, he responded, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  Please pray that we would humble ourselves and pray fervently like Eli, believing that God will answer our prayers for our people groups.  And on days when we are doubting His plan & we are being oppressed by the enemy, that we would be reminded that God did call us here and he wants us to know…”I did not forget about you.”

Eli doing the bungee trampoline at the Carnival

Eli & Zoey at the French School's carnival!  

The kids playing with one of Zoey's friends from school

Zoey trying out the bungee trampoline

Table, please!

What happens when time passes by while you keep waiting for that thing you think you need to have in order to be obedient? 

We have been waiting, but not for something extravagant, we have been waiting on a dining room table.  We were trying to be wise with how we spent our money since we spent more money than we had expected when we first moved here to Tana.

Shortly after we moved into our new house, I promised our day guard (Rina) that we wanted to have him & his family over for dinner one night after we got a table.  I often thought of that promise, but we were still missing the one thing that we had to have to be able to do that (or so I thought). 

About 3 weeks ago, I decided that I had waited long enough & that we were going to have people over whether or not we had a table.  Can I tell you that having a dining room table is not the key to a successful meal with guests?

Alleluia 'sharing' her food with her friend, Nambina.  

We had such a fun evening with Rina, Zo & their 1 yr old son when we shared a meal with them!  Of course afterward we had rice & meat all over our floor & stuck in our carpet, but “tsy maninona” (which means it doesn’t matter: commonly said in Malagasy culture).  The important thing was that we had the opportunity to tell them how much we love & appreciate them and how we wanted to share the love of God with them because that was why we were called here.

Tanzona, Solo (one of our night guards) & Zoey

This led us to have our other two guards & their family/friend over for a meal in the following weeks.  We had great fellowship and good spiritual conversations!  Afterwards, I found myself wondering why it had taken us so long to do this in the first place.  I can’t express the joy we felt knowing that this is why we are called here—to be with the Malagasy! 

The answer to my original question is: we miss out on the joy that comes from knowing that we are being fully obedient and the blessings that follow (for us blossoming Malagasy friendships and the opportunity to share the gospel)!  What are you waiting on?

Vaovao hafa (Other News)

Tutor time

• A few weeks ago we started studying Malagasy again with a tutor

House hunting

• We are still having problems with our house.  We are beginning to look for another house.

 Bible study

• Ruth met a lady, Rina, from a local church, and has begun to meet & study the Bible with her.  Rina senses a call on her life to become a missionary & Ruth is excited to love, support & encourage her through this process.
• Andy will be starting a Bible study soon with Solo (one of our guards) & his friend.

Mahoney Mayhem

Eli loves looking at maps and he has already learned a lot of the countries of the world, so one day during home school I asked him, “What countries are on either side of Germany?”  He replied matter-of-factly, “France and Paradise (otherwise known as Poland).”  Gotta love him!

            A couple of Sundays ago while we were in church, Zoey told me she was so glad that I was her mommy.  Then later in the service, she asked me, “When I am a mommy, will you still be alive?”  She really knows how to melt her mama’s heart!  I love my sweet girl!

            Alleluia has mastered walking & loves to play outdoors!  She thinks she is big like her brother & sister and loves to have her freedom.  She is very independent, always on the go and often makes us laugh:) .  We are so blessed! 

May Update

Sorry for such a long time between updates.   We are so thankful for your continued prayers, love & support! 

March 20^th-31^st:  We were so thankful for some vacation time on a neighboring island.  The weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed some time at the beach!  

Allie loving the sand

Beach time! 

We were also able to celebrate Ruth's 32nd birthday while we were on vacation.  There was some flooding  where we were staying, so our romantic dinner out ended up being stuck in a rental car for 2 hours followed by McDonald's!  

Us in the rental car

April 3^rd-7^th:  Company meeting at local hotel.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship and hearing how God is at work all over our island and on neighboring Indian Ocean islands! 

The rest of April, we battled a lot of sickness as well as the Enemy’s many attempts at distracting & discouraging us from the task that we were called here for. 

However, last weekend we were very blessed with an encouraging meeting with two ladies who are veteran missionaries on the island.  They shed some light on many of our people groups and imparted wisdom in reaching the Malagasy.  We were happy to have this new-found knowledge to begin to unfold the mystery of these smaller people groups.

One night, after the kids had gone to bed, disco died in our house.  

One of our large lights came crashing to the ground!  We discovered that the 15 pound light fixtures were being held in the concrete ceiling by 4 small screws, each only about 1-inch in length! 

The Mahoney Mayhem!

Eli & Zoey really enjoyed their time with other MK’s at the meeting.  Eli continues to do well with homeschooling, but has been missing family & friends from America.  Zoey has been doing pretty well in the French school, but has not made the friends here that we would have hoped; like she did in Antsirabe.  Please pray for God to provide them with close friendships with Malagasy children and other children at school. 

Alleluia has been doing plenty of squats preparing to takeoff walking any day now.  She has taken a step here and there usually when we are not paying close attention.  Her personality is really coming out as she is beginning to express herself & try out her voice especially when we are sitting in traffic (for an hour at a time). We are trying to enjoy these moments since she is growing up so quickly!

her glass is plastic ;)

We are not who you think we are

I must confess that we are not who you think we are.  You see we are not super spiritual people who are very brave or courageous.  We are just like you, we struggle with sin, we are selfish at times, we try to control what we can around us & have certain fears, and we are very busy running here or there.  That is what I have come to realize after this past month of still adjusting to life in Tana and dealing with numerous problems with our new house.

We have been so busy with life in this big city that we had forgotten our first love.  We have become just like the Israelites who committed to love & serve God only and instead we have served our own busy schedule.   It was only after Andy became very sick this past week that we were reminded that we were not called here to walk this journey alone.  The task is much too overwhelming for us to be able to do it, so we either need to humble ourselves and surrender it completely to God or we need to go back to our comfortable lives in America.  Just like Joshua told the Israelites, “As for me & my house we will serve the Lord;” we know that God has called us to serve Him here in Madagascar.

So please don’t put us on a pedestal and think that we never struggle with our walk with the Lord or with sin like you do because you would be terribly wrong.  We ask that you would continue to faithfully pray for us & our ministry.  Please especially pray that we would have sweet fellowship with Jesus each day, so that He can lead and guide our footsteps and use us for His purposes (& not our own).