I suppose our natural tendency when heading into foreign territory is to try to control our environment. We want to know what each day will entail, what hazards lie ahead, where we will lay our head at night. We feel safer minimizing the unknowns.
On previous trips to Madagascar, we'd been able to minimize the unknowns to a certain extent. We knew what days would involve travel, where we would stay, where we would eat, which days we could rest. This trip was nothing like that. And we were blessed beyond measure!
Visiting Madagascar is always an adventure, but the adventure takes on new dimensions when the Creator of the Universe becomes your guide. This is not to say that we did not rely on God during our previous trips. However, this time we were forced to depend on Him in a new way. Once we relinquished control, we discovered new freedom, new joys and God-appointed encounters.
Many of our favorite moments of the trip occurred in this way -- connecting with leaders and students at the YWAM base in Antananarivo, marveling at the beauty of central Madagascar for the first time, ministering in the south of Madagascar without the assistance of non-Malagasy interpreters, hearing (and recording) three little girls in a pousse-pousse (Malagasy taxi) singing a beautiful song that turned out to have been written by our host, Rev. Patsy McGregor.
We were stretched. We were challenged. And in a strange way, it seemed easier to take the unexpected turns in stride, knowing they were part of God's plan. While we always hope to be a blessing to those we encounter on our trips, perhaps it is the way we are changed by these encounters that is the real blessing. I only hope that I can apply these lessons to my everyday life back here in New York. After all, we don't have to be in a place like Madagascar to have a grand adventure with God!
-Shay
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