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