new relationships

Mid-September, our beloved volunteer team from Southbridge Fellowship in Raleigh, North Carolina, came to visit and work with us here. They put on two youth events, visited an orphanage, and spent a week in three villages in the south teaching on health, leadership, lessons from the book of James, and sharing worship songs with the villagers.

Their coming was a double blessing for me, because along with seeing them and ministering alongside them, I was also able to visit the villages in the south, which I am able to visit only a few times a year. Kelli, one of the team members, is a Physician’s Assistant, and I had the privilege of going “hut-to-hut” with her, visiting women in their homes and talking about health issues they and their families face. Christina, another woman from our team, and Ando, a member of our church who helped us with translating, were also a part of these visits, and the time with them and the village women was truly precious. I learned so much during these visits—I had conversations with women about topics I have rarely discussed with American women, much less Malagasy women. Kelli’s medical expertise truly opened doors I wouldn’t have expected, and I feel honored that the women in the villages were willing to share with us some of the things they did.

 We had some particularly meaningful times with the women in the village of Andremba. There, we mostly met with the women all together, rather than one by one. They seemed to be tight-knit group, and one morning we spent time just sharing prayer requests and taking a few moments to lift each other up in prayer. I was also able to share with them some of my personal testimony, how my dad became a believer long after my mom and I did. This seemed to resonate with them, as many of them shared with us that their husbands aren’t Christians.

As I shared, though I am constantly hearing about and praying for these southern villages, I am actually only able to visit them rarely. I am so thankful that the Lord gave me this opportunity to connect more deeply with the women in all three villages—those relationships are precious, and inspire me to keep praying, and to ask you to pray as well!