Church in the Bush

Somewhere along the way Christians began to associate 'church' with the buildings they meet in. Perhaps this began when the buildings Christians met in began to not only be functional but beautiful. Efforts had to then be undertaken to keep these spaces beautiful - which meant people invested themselves in their church buildings. Or perhaps this shift began when the great cathedrals began to be built. Their towering spires inspiring awe - more awe possibly than was directed towards the one (God) for which they had been built. But whatever the reason, we lost the biblical understanding that the church is actually the body of Christ - a body that transcends buildings, locations and even time.

This truth was every apparent to me when we pulled up to a little church in a very small and desperately poor roadside village called Bitsefy. I have passed this village many times as I have traveled to other towns to minister. I always wondered how it was possible to live in those very primitive stick huts, and what they must think as the traffic passes them by on the way to Toliara.  I also often wondered if anyone had ever come to share the Gospel with them. What a surprise and joy it was, therefore, when our car pulled up at this little village a couple of mornings ago to minister at a newly planted Anglican Church. There was a newly constructed small stick and grass building with a wooden cross perched atop it, and the people were eagerly waiting for our arrival. After we arrived, they quickly packed themselves into this tiny building and began to sing with incredible joy. I thought about the people and then about the building and was reminded again that what I shared with the people here was not the building (though I loved it actually), but a unity in Christ and a family bond in the Spirit.

We spent a couple of hours in that tiny church building with its dirt floors and stick walls and watched the Holy Spirit do what he loves to do. As usual, we prayed for people and God healed them and delivered them from demonic spirits. We watched a woman begin to dance like a mocking serpent (that is the best way to describe it), and then be delivered from that demonic spirit and restored to her right mind. Praise be to God!  Another woman had fallen to the ground and lost her ability to communicate or even move much at some point after we had arrived. Yet after praying over her in the name of Jesus, she too was restored to her right mind. She stood up and began to speak normally. All the while, the church members sang on and on with great joy, led by a man with a rough, homemade guitar. God was truly being glorified that morning in that little, rough, and 'ugly' church building. All in all, it was another extraordinary Madagascar experience.

My prayer is, and continues to be, that we Christians will always remember who we are as the body of Christ -- that we will look past our buildings and our walls and to the world around us. There is nothing wrong with having a church building of course, but in the end God doesn't care about our buildings, but our hearts. And, of course, he cares deeply about whether we are fulfilling the call and command he gave us to love one another as He first loved us. I sure hope we can visit those beautiful believers in Bitsefy again. (We'll actually be driving by them again tomorrow. Sadly we cannot stop.) I saw Jesus in them and pray that they will know that they are forever wrapped in His loving arms.

-Bruce

Heading South...

We arrived in Toliara on Friday after an incredible week with Iris Madagascar.  Words really cannot express how touched we were to be able to minister to the Iris team, some of the Iris children and even some other members of the community.  The work done by the Iris team in Antananarivo can only be described as sacrifical love.  They work in very difficult circumstances (often 24/7) to share the love of Jesus with 133 orphaned or abandoned children, many of whom have special needs and/or have experienced unspeakable trauma.  Truly, it is almost impossible to wrap your head around the way that some of the women and children here have been abused.  That is what makes the work of Iris in this country so vital. The Iris Children's Centre is not an orphanage. It is a family.  These children are loved, and it is beautiful. We feel so blessed to have been welcomed into this very special family.

Since our arrival in Toliara, both Bruce and Abigail have been sick.  We are thankful that Bruce now seems to be on the mend as he is longing to get out and minister.  Abigail has also improved, although she is now covered in painful bug bites.  No fun!  We are all hoping to be well tomorrow as we have been invited to pray with a local witch doctor who is open to receiving blessings for his family and home.  We have also been blessed to have connected with two other newly arrived short term missionaries (Wendy and Lydia) who are staying here at the Bishop's Gathering Place with us.  Wendy is a recently retired nurse from Connecticut who will be spending the next couple months working on public health issues.  Lydia is from London and happens to be studying at the same theological college that Bruce and I attended.  Abigail and I had a wonderful time yesterday giving these two ladies an orientation tour of Toliara.

Please keep us in your prayers as the last few days have felt like a bit of a battle.

-- Shay

The brand new St. Patrick's Cathedral in the Diocese of Toliara.

Our adventures at Iris Madagascar

Today is already our fourth day in Madagascar. For the past three days we have been busy ministering at the Iris Ministries base praying for the staff and kids. Iris Madagascar is such an amazing ministry! It was planted in Antananarivo by Caroline Thomas and does absolutely astounding work rescuing and caring for orphaned and abandoned children. They currently have 133 kids at the center, many rescued from near death circumstances but now wearing infectious and bubbly smiles on their faces! The depth of the trauma many of these kids have already experienced in their short lives is almost too hard to describe, we have witnessed with our own eyes the fruit of the transforming power of the Father's love and grace in the faces of these children. We spent our first day just hanging out and playing with the kids and also reconnecting with Caroline and the Iris staff. The past two days have been spent praying for both staff and kids. We have seen God do amazing things as he has been pouring out his healing love! Our hearts are so burdened to bless the Iris missionaries and support them spiritually and pastorally. We will be praying for people all day again tomorrow. Early on Friday we fly down to Toliara. In the days ahead we'll post more about our specific experiences and share our reflections and thoughts about what we have seen and heard. In the meantime, here are some pictures from our time at Iris:

Madagascar -- The Adventure Continues...

Our flight to Madagascar on Saturday was different from our three previous journeys to this remote island nation. Having taken a morning flight from Paris, much of the flight took place in the daylight hours allowing us to see parts of North Africa we had only previously flown over in darkness.  As we flew, I looked down upon the barren Sahara and the breathtaking Nile.  I thought about the history of this incredible land -- the glories of ancient Egypt and some of the more recent struggles of its modern counterpart.  As we continued our flight toward Khartoum, I couldn't help but think of the ravages of war in Sudan -- only yesterday I read that South Sudan is again engaged in a civil war.  As we flew over Kenya, I thought of the slaughter of innocent people by Al-Shabaab.  But it isn't just Africa.  I'm reading the news back home about racial strife and escalating violence.  Just a day ago we were in Great Britain, which is currently reeling from its recent Brexit vote and wondering what the future holds. We live in a messy, broken world, and sometimes it seems there's not a thing we can do about it.

Our flight arrived late in the evening in Antananarivo.  As we disembarked and walked across the Tarmac, I realized it was all so familiar that I wasn't even stopping to take it in.  I just walked on toward passport control without a second thought, confident that I knew what lay ahead.  But we don't know what the future has in store -- not really.  Not in Madagascar or anywhere else.  We will spend the next couple weeks ministering to broken people in Madagascar just as we minister to broken people in upstate New York. In some sense, the human condition is the same wherever you go.  This is not to say we have the same challenges or struggles.  Some of us will never have to live in a place with no clean water and no medical care or endure the horrors of slavery, but we all know what it is like to suffer loss, to experience grief, to be human.  Life takes a toll on all of us.  And we all need the touch of a healer.  We may not know the future, but God does.  He doesn't guarantee us an easy life, but He does promise to never leave us.  As we begin our ministry time in Madagascar, I am thankful that we have a God who is constant amid the chaos of life.  He is with us in our struggles, and I can be confident that He will be with us as we minister to those He brings to us for prayer and healing back in New York, here in Madagascar or anywhere else He chooses to send us.  His love is so much greater than we can even imagine, and it is through that love that we can bring healing to a broken world.

-- Shay