Thankful for an amazing team!

Our team here in Tulear is growing by leaps and bounds! Over the last few months, it’s been amazing to watch God bring person after person, family after family to the southwest! Now we’re all here (though still with some on the way :), and starting to settle in.

Last week we took a team retreat up to Isalo National Park, a beautiful park near Tulear full of fascinating rock formations and wide-open spaces! We had fun hiking, swimming, repelling, playing games, and making s’mores around the fire!

One of the things I love most about our team is the families—our team is currently 1/3 children, with more on the way! I’m thankful and encouraged to be a part of multi-generational work here in Tulear through these families!

Though our retreat was action-packed, I was blessed with some good prayer times, both by myself and with others. My summer has been so, so busy, and I think these times of prayer were just what I needed to bring me back into the abiding fellowship with Him I need.

Since we’ve been back, I’ve been excited to see rejuvenation in my own life, and I think in others’ too. We started a monthly team worship the first Sunday evening we were back, and the experience of listening to teaching, studying Scripture, and praising Him with the people I work with was very precious. Also, it’s amazing to see how gifted each member of our team is—and to recognize that we are uniquely gifted. Because of this, we can pray that we will live out Hebrews 10:23-25:

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

I can look back over the last year and see that each member of our team has “spurred me on” in some unique way, and I’m so thankful for that! Pray that we will each continue to grow, to encourage each other, and to work together to see His plans accomplished here—He is the One who is faithful!

Syncretism and the Golden Calf

When I was last in the village in the forest, we worked on the story of the Israelites and their golden calf. Until then, I had not told this story, so I was interested to see if it would be clear, and what they would take from it. I am always amazed when I do new stories how new and alive the scriptures become to the group and to me, even if I’m the one who has prepared and is telling the story!

The group seemed to really enjoy the story. We acted it out, and they were really enthusiastic about this. I think it helped them follow the story too. During the discussion, they really identified with the themes of idol worship and the exclusive worship that God demands.

An interesting idea that rose to the surface of our conversation was syncretism (the practice of introducing Christian beliefs, but allowing them to be held together with pagan, traditional beliefs.) This has occurred in many parts of the world, and creates problems for believers and missionaries who try to teach worship of God alone and the rejection of ancestral beliefs. We started discussing this because they asked about Aaron—why did he not correct the descendants of Abraham? Instead, he seems to have encouraged them.

One interesting thing in the story is that after Aaron builds the calf, it is the people who say, “These are your gods, who brought you out of Egypt.” Then, Aaron says, “Tomorrow we will have a festival to the Lord”, the Lord, the true God, all caps. He doesn’t correct them, but seems to sort of ride the wave of their enthusiasm and try to direct it back to the truth. This really looks to me like an early example of syncretism. Maybe Aaron was afraid, and felt he couldn’t oppose all the people by himself, so he tried to bring their thinking closer to what was right . . . but thereby also allowing for mixed ideas and beliefs.

It was an interesting discussion. All of the people in the group have friends and family members who have tried to accept some of the beliefs of Christianity while still wearing their charms and visiting the witch-doctor. The believers we know regularly face temptations to return to these beliefs or put their charms back on —these types of questions are very present realities for them. The group seemed deeply disturbed by Aaron’s failure to lead the people in unadulterated worship of the One True God . . . pray that they will have courage to stand against the ancestral beliefs so strong around them. Pray that we, too, will be diligent to eliminate any idols in our own lives, or any hesitation to follow Him with our whole hearts.

"The going itself is the path . . ."

I love to plan. I have spent so much of my life planning the future, from big picture ideas to minute details. But the reality is, next to none of my plans have worked out the way I expected them to. You’d think that I would give up on making plans . . .

I also have this deep-rooted, persistent belief that each season of my life is some kind of test, with specific tasks that must be accomplished in exactly the right way in order to move on to the next phase. I, though often subconsciously, picture God as a very strict, possibly indifferent teacher, waiting to see how I will fare and ready to dole out punishment or reward based on my behavior.

Even writing this I’m appalled. I know these ideas aren’t true—I know that He is active in my life, and that His activity is characterized by grace and love and joy. I once heard Beth Moore say that “He is not looking for perfection; He’s looking for faith”, and I believe this. And I also know that I really have no control over how the various plans I have work out.

And yet, I continue to plan in a desperate crusade for control, and to try to walk in perfection (though not necessarily true righteousness), as if this will somehow ensure that my future is as I’ve planned it.

And all the while there is so much more. I’ve been reading C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, and was recently knocked to my knees by a few simple lines in one part of the story. A female character is musing on some newfound revelations about what it means to walk with her Creator. She describes an experience that reflects one of the main reasons that my planning can negatively affect my spiritual life. She talks about going looking for one thing and finding another, and, instead of welcoming what one finds, thinking only of what one has not found. In this way, one “turn[s] the good which was given it into no good” at all.

How often do I do this? How often have I allowed the pain of surrendering my own plans to blind me to the true good that He’s given me instead? 

The character continues with a startling conclusion: she says, “I thought we went along paths—but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path.”

“The going itself is the path.” These words have lingered in my mind the last week or so . . .  what a freeing thought! This perfect plan—which I’m seeking out, preparing for, trying to force into existence through my flawless execution of it—doesn’t exist! At least not in any realm where I can access or control it. Possibly it exists in the mind of God—I don’t presume to understand His “perfect” or His “permissive” will, whatever these mean . . . but all that is really irrelevant isn’t it? If I’m truly walking with Him, engaged in intentional relationship with Him through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, then that daily, moment-by-moment going with Him is all that matters. I can fix my eyes fully on Him, and let Him worry about planning and accomplishing whatever He wants! And I can be quite sure that the very best that I can come up with is nothing to what He is already doing! May I not be found staring into the path that isn’t when my eyes could be filled with Him who is All in All!

“Righteousness will go before Him, and will make His footsteps into a way.” Ps. 85:13

decisions

I love Myers-Briggs—everyone who knows me knows this. I’m an F, so according to the paradigm, I prioritize feelings over logic in my decision-making. I know this is a shocking idea for some . . . but I’m excited to share that I had an experience recently that introduced me to a new kind of decision-making.

My sister Molly was here in Madagascar with me for the summer. Less than a week before she was supposed to fly out, she started having intense cramps in her kidney area. At first, we assumed she had eaten something that made her sick—we had just been out in a rural area. After a day or so, the cramping went away, and this idea seemed even more likely. Then, her pains began again, this time much worse. I took her to the clinic here in Tulear, and they were able to give her medicine for both pain and vomiting, and they found signs of infection. They gave us some medication and sent us home.

At this point, I had about ten pills I was supposed to give her daily, and three days until her flight back to the USA. She was always on the verge of the intense pain, struggled to eat anything, and had unpredictable and frequent nausea and vomiting. Also, the options for good health care here in Madagascar are of course very limited.

This was one of those situations I dread. I hate making decisions, especially when there are multiple, inter-dependent factors involved, and especially when some of those factors are other people’s feelings.  And while I know that every day people deal with situations much more serious and frightening than this, I really did feel the weight of responsibility for Molly in a way I never have before.

Another hard part was Molly herself. The pain medicines she was on made her very emotional and depressed, and of course none of us thinks clearly when we’re in pain.

So, in the midst of all this, I started discussing options with several other missionaries on the island, and constantly praying for God to make things clear. And something happened—I was able to look past Molly’s feelings and pain, my parents’ feelings, my own feelings, and make a good, logical decision. What I felt was that the right decision was rising to the forefront of my mind at the precise moment I needed it, and I’m sure this was the Lord. At the same time, I could see that He was helping me decide what was truly best for us, regardless of who felt what.

The first decision was for us both to fly to Tana a day earlier than Molly had intended to, and to get her in a hospital there. I decided this at about 11:15 in the morning, and we were on a plane by 6:30 that evening (which, here in Madagascar, was pretty miraculous!) What followed was a week of daily decision-making, with her situation and needs changing each day. And though both of us were emotional roller-coasters, He kept enabling me to make good decisions, over and over! He also blessed me abundantly throughout the time with help from the other missionaries--so many people were there for me in so many ways!

Thankfully, she improved quickly after we got to Tana, though she did have to do more testing and have an IV for a few days. She was able to fly back to the US only three days later than she was supposed to, and now is doing great! I’m thankful for the extra time we had together, though it was under rough circumstances, and I think it was a growing experience for both of us. You can read her thoughts on the time on her blog:musingsonmada

I was thinking about how easy it was for me, during this time, to make stopping her pain my main priority, although the real issue was the infection. At times, my desire to keep her out of pain clouded my judgment. When I think about my own life, I realize how often I make decisions in order to avoid pain . . . and sometimes I assume God is doing the same thing. Though I know this isn’t the case, deep inside somewhere I believe that following Him will lead me down a happy, painless road. Thank goodness, His judgment is never clouded! I can trust His leading, even when He leads me straight into some kind of pain or suffering—I can still trust His good purpose and His love! May it be!

kids' songs, praise songs, fish songs, and songs you hear over and over . . .

We had another great trip to the forest! This trip was a little different than previous ones for several reasons. First, my sweet sister was with me! Also, our team was able to teach some in the school. The church in this village runs a very successful school, and they had asked us to do some English and Bible teaching there. We spent some time with the children each morning, teaching them some basic vocabulary, as well as praise songs in Malagasy and English. We even taught them “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and the “Hokey-Pokey” to review our body part vocab! (Who knew what a workout “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” is?!)

At the end of each morning with the kids, we asked two of them to re-tell some of the Bible stories they’ve been working on. Their teacher, Tete, is part of our story-crafting group, so after the group finishes a story, he teaches it to all the children at the school. They are fast, eager learners! They all did a great job with their re-tellings, and as always I was blessed to see how God is spreading the stories throughout this village and even into their future generations!

Another blessing of the trip was having the whole crafting group together, with some new people too! Last month, one special woman, Reliny, was at a funeral, but I got to spend a lot more time with her on this visit. She even took us out to her family’s cassava field and showed us how to pull the cassava roots up out of the ground. Hard work, but fun!

We also had some youth and children in the crafting group, and I was amazed by their attentiveness—their elders have certainly set a good example of cherishing the stories. One of the young boys was even able to re-tell the new story the next day at school!

An older woman in the group wasn’t there the first day for our story-crafting, and I was worried we might not see her. The next morning, I woke to the sound of girls chanting in Masikoro:

There are fish,

Over at Brigita’s!

They’re cheap!

Come quickly to see!

Their little ditty rhymed in Malagasy, and told me two things: we would be having fish that day, and Brigita was back in the village in time for the second day of story-crafting! And she was! The fish were delicious, too. :)

Another special moment during the trip: we visited a woman and her family who I met the first time I came to the village. On our last trip, she had shown me her xylophone, a bundle of sticks which she stacked on her legs and played beautifully! I asked her about it again when we went to visit her, and she and some of her sisters all played together. They were amazing! One of their brothers played a handmade guitar along with them, and they even sang some—such light, playful, original music to come floating out of the Masikoro forest! 

They invited me to try too—I did, but the sounds I made were sorely lacking in the skill and quality theirs possessed. They were gracious about my inability, though :) This is a family that I really want to get to know better, and who I am constantly praying for God to draw them to Himself, as I can see He is, so I was excited to be able to spend this special time with them.

Noelle was with us on this trip, and as always he was eager to play his guitar with Mazikini, one of the members of the story-crafting group. They are a wonder to watch together, and have already composed several original praise songs, some of which stem out of the Bible stories. The children in the village are among their most avid admirers, and so most nights we gathered around the fire with our two musicians, while children materialized out of the darkness, and crowded closely to practice their favorite songs. 

Noelle also provided us with another source of musical entertainment—he had brought a cassette tape with his name emblazoned across it, which contained approximately 5 songs in English. The songs were sort of Bob Marley-esque, though he told us the singer was an African. Those songs played over and over, morning and night, over the course of our entire trip. As we drove home, one of us started humming one, and we discovered that we each had different parts of different songs stuck in our heads, but all, of course, from that tape. :)

 As always, I was thankful for the chance to get to know everyone just a little bit better on this trip—this village becomes more and more precious to me each time I visit. And it should be even less than a month until I can go back! This time, for the first time, I started a story with them that I knew we wouldn’t have time to finish, so I left it with them to work on as a group. I’m so excited to see their progress—pray that His Holy Spirit will guide them over the next month as they craft the story together!

Feels like summer!

While in the US temperatures are steadily rising, Toliara is starting to cool down. I can often be found wearing jeans and a jacket, and now sleep under a blanket at night. Though the actual temperature is probably only dropping to about the mid-60s in the middle of the night, I’m calling it “cold”—after months of intense heat, it feels wonderful, albeit the chill-bumps I frequently have.

But in spite of being cold, this season still feels like summer! I’ve been blessed with several special houseguests, as well as some exciting activities lately! My sister arrived about two weeks ago, and I’ve been enjoying sharing my life with her here in Tulear. She’s been able to connect with a few of the girls she got to know last summer, as well as spend time with all our new missionaries here in Toliara.

Also Tahina, one of my close friends from Tana, visited for two weeks. Tahina worked with me in the English clubs at the university in Tana, and became a good friend during my first two years here. She had never been to Toliara before, and enjoyed seeing what God is doing among believers speaking the dialects of the southwest!

Our house has been maxed out lately, with these visitors and another friend’s weekend trip down. The day after Tahina left, Ashley, a new worker here with our organization, arrived! We’ve been experimenting different recipes, hosting game nights, and just enjoying being together!

Also this past month, we had birthday parties for Titus and Eli, two of the kids in one of our mission families. For Eli’s party, we all dressed as pirates and did a scavenger hunt—we had a blast, and I think Eli did too :)

We also visited a local cave outside of Toliara, where you can swim, and made a team beach trip to Ifaty, a beach about an hour from Toliara. Both days, we had a lot of fun just relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the place God has called us to.

The times of relaxation are a blessing, as our team will be welcoming two new families later this month! Also, just before Molly and Hannah return home, we’ll make another trip to the forest, so expect updates from that!  

Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day Madagascar! This year our island celebrated 52 years as an independent nation. And no celebration of this holiday would be complete without fireworks, glowsticks, food, and togetherness!

My sister is here visiting me, and my friend Tahina from Tana is also here! On Independence Day, the three of us went in the afternoon to hang out with the youth from our church. Many of them had already been cooking most of the day for that night. I was glad for Molly to be able to spend some time with girls she met and got to know last year.  We talked, and sang a few songs, preparing for the first item on our Independence Day agenda: the birthday party of an 80-year old woman! A few weeks ago, during the youth’s visiting outreach, we were invited unexpectedly into the home of two older women. We shared scripture with them, and sang and talked. One of the women told us that her birthday was during the Independence Day celebration, and invited us to come back.

About 20 of us gathered in her tiny house. I had thought that her family was doing a party for her, and we were just attending. Actually, we were the party! I was so proud of the youth when I realized this—they were giving up time in their celebration to share their youth and energy and lovely voices with an elderly woman—amazing! We prayed for her and sang several songs for her, and the youth prepared a gift for her as well.

From there, we walked downtown to where we could see the fireworks. It seemed that all of Toliara was walking that way with us, carrying glowsticks and colorful paper lanterns. Downtown was crowded and exciting—people milling around, setting off tiny firecrackers all over the place. We found a good spot, and the rest of our missionaries joined us, including my housemate, and her friend visiting from Tana.

The best part of the fireworks show was the people’s reaction—this was definitely the most appreciated and enjoyed display I’ve been to! After, we helped drive the youth back to the church, with all the food they had worked so hard to prepare. They intended to spend the night at the church, with a bonfire, songs and games. While one of our guys helped the youth guys get water for the night, we were able to stay for a little while around the bonfire. I was really happy to see how excited the youth were about their night together—this youth group really is an amazing example of the love and cooperation that is to characterize all believers!

Now, a few days later, our glowsticks are still glowing, the Madagascar flag is still flying outside our house, and we’re enthusiastically planning next week’s celebration of the American independence day!