A safe arrival in Madagascar - and an unexpected twist

We are a bit late in starting our blog posting due to a broken internet connection at our hotel in Antananarivo, but better late than never! 

We arrived in Antananarivo on Monday after spending several days enjoying the beautiful island of Mauritius. It has been two years since our last trip to Madagascar and we have been very eager to return. We were picked up at the airport by Misa, a lovely woman who runs the Manga Guest House, which is our hotel in Antananarivo. Our plans have been a bit upended since our arrival due to the ongoing Air Madagascar strike. All flights have been cancelled and the airline is now teetering on bankruptcy. We had been scheduled to fly down to Toliara on Friday, but have been forced to come up with a plan B, which is to hire a car to take us down. The good news is that we will be driving down with Bishop Todd and Patsy McGregor. Due to the strike, they haven't been able to get down to Toliara either. We actually see this twist as an unexpected blessing that will allow us to see more of Madagascar and to spend additional time with the McGregors. Depending on whether or not the Air Madagascar strike ends, we may have to drive back up from Toliara as well. Spending what will amount to 5 days in a car will cut down on our actual ministry time, but we are trusting that God will maximize what time we do have. If there is one thing we have learned from our mission trips, flexibility is key! And, of course, God is always faithful. 

Our schedule in Antananarivo has turned out to be quite full, as we have spent two amazing days at the Iris Ministries base and will also be visiting the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base. We'll share about our experiences at Iris and YWAM in our next blog post. Stay tuned!

This amazing rainbow was visible outside our airplane window during our flight from Mauritius to Madagascar. 

Saying our Goodbyes (for now)

As we are preparing to leave Madagascar today, I am finding myself grieving a bit. My heart yearns right now to be in the villages, to be with the people who are so desperately in need of God's boundless love and mercy. A part of me belongs here now, sitting in the sand and dirt, praying for the sick, playing with the children, and sharing the love of Jesus. I have never felt so alive in my life as I have here. The same was true last year, but this year has confirmed it. This feeling has come despite the fact -- or because of the fact -- that here I have continually been stretched beyond myself. We have been faced with the impossible, stepped into the impossible, and then seen God do the impossible. The great extent to which I have had to trust and rely upon God has been incredibly stretching and truly life-giving.  

The needs here are so vast and overwhelming. There is no way one person, or one family, can solve all the problems. In a sense, our family's time here has been like a tiny atom of water, not even a whole drop, falling onto a great dusty landscape. I suppose this could be cause for hopelessness, but instead we are confidently resting in the knowledge that we have a God whose Kingdom Jesus described as being like a mustard seed (Luke 13:18-19). The smallest seed becomes the greatest tree in the garden! So we are praying that the 'little' we accomplished here will be multiplied by God for the glory of His Kingdom. But even if we had been sent by God so just one child could have his hand healed, or one man be delivered from demons (we didn't have time to write about this one), or one family could be brought into the Kingdom, or one baby could receive healing ointment for its severe burns, then that would have been enough. Jesus taught in his parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7) that the shepherd is willing to leave his flock to go rescue the one sheep that is lost. So great is the love of God, our Shepherd.

We are already beginning to make plans for our return visit next year. It is our hope and prayer that we will be able to bring a small team back to Madagascar with us. What a joy it would be to have a team to minister here together!  We are praying that God will, even now, be placing a call on people's hearts to share the hope and love of Jesus with the people of southern Madagascar. Perhaps God might be calling you?  

To all who have been reading our blog, we pray that God has blessed you with a glimpse into who He is. He is a truly loving Father who is able to do more that we can ever ask for or imagine. His love is so great that He chose to save the world through his own son Jesus, who gave up His own life so we might forever be with the Father who loves us. This is the Good News. It means freedom for the captives, healing for the sick, relief for the poor and oppressed, and forgiveness of sins. It also means a new life as children of God, filled with true love and power through the Holy Spirit, and called to live and love as Jesus did. And God can use you (in fact has chosen you) to love the world into the fullness of His kingdom. To God be the Glory! 

A final photo with friends. 

A farewell photo with Bishop Todd.

Scratching in the Dirt

After a very full weekend, we headed up the coast for a short stay and some much needed refreshment in the coastal village of Ifaty.  We took advantage of some tourist opportunities including a morning of whale watching and an afternoon zebu cart ride through a baobab forest.  We arrived back in Toliara this afternoon having thoroughly enjoyed our little side trip.

Upon our return, I headed out to visit some struggling families in the neighboring village.  My guide was an American missionary named Linda who works predominantly with women who have experienced trauma in their lives.  She works with prostitutes, abused wives, child brides, victims of trafficking... the list goes on and on.  Linda just jumps right into any situation and truly loves these women and their families.  It was amazing to watch her work.

After our brief respite at the beach, it was a little jarring to go right back into the abject poverty that exists in the village.  One of our first stops was a home where a young woman lived who was struggling with a troubled marriage and very little food with which to feed her family.  She had been a child bride, although she is now 18.  She sat in the dirt in front of her home with her young child, her husband and another male family member.  

Linda asked how she was doing, and the young woman expressed concern about a health condition with which she and her little girl were struggling.  Linda indicated that she would stop by tomorrow to bring both of them to a local clinic.  The young woman agreed, but as I watched her face, I couldn't help but think that I had never seen someone whose face looked so utterly hopeless.  There was no life in her eyes.  I can't imagine having lost all hope by the age of 18, but sadly, this is the reality for many young Malagasy women.  

We offered to pray for this woman and her family and then all sat down in the dirt and held hands.   As we prayed, a cute little chick hopped into the center of our circle.  It stayed there, scratching in the dirt, trying to find something, anything, to eat.  I watched the chick and thought about how this little bird's existence was not unlike so many Malagasy families -- scratching in the dirt just to survive.

Poverty is so widespread in Madagascar that it is hard to wrap your head around.  Human beings, created in the image of a loving God, should not have to scratch in the dirt to survive.  And yet, for many of these families, there is no other way of life.  

As we leave Toliara tomorrow to begin our three day journey home, I am left with a mixture of emotions.   This year I believe I have gained a greater understanding of Malagasy life, but it has left me increasingly overwhelmed by the desperate needs of these people.  The poverty is huge, but I have to keep reminding myself that God is bigger.  He is the one who "raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap." (1Samuel 2:8)  This is literally the need of so many Malagasy, and it has become the cry of my heart.

--SSM

One of several families I visited today.  The adorable baby boy in his mother's arms is struggling with pneumonia.

God vs. the Witch Doctor

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.... (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

God has continued to amaze and challenge us day by day as we minister here in Madagascar. We have prayed for hundreds of people (both children and adults) and have seen God's healing power regularly at work.  It is impossible to describe all we have seen God do in the pages of this blog, but we can testify to the fact that Jesus is alive and well in Madagascar. Bishop Todd and Patsy McGregor's ministry here is so incredibly important, and the sacrifices they have made to be here are extraordinary. We are grateful and blessed to know them. 

On Thursday afternoon our healing teams went out to pray as usual. Our target this time was a small nearby village that we had not visited before. Calling it a village may be a bit of a stretch, since we were actually visiting scattered groupings of houses (most made of sticks, but some of concrete).  My healing team consisted of me, Abigail, Nestor (a student evangelist) and Zafi (our translator). After walking along a series of sandy, cactus-lined paths, we stopped at a small grouping of houses consisting of a larger concrete house and a few stick houses. We sat in the dirt and prayed for various members of the family. The last person we prayed for was an older man, who was the owner of the larger house. As he put it, he 'had a demon' and wanted prayer. As I began praying for him, I had a very strong sense that God wanted us to pray for his house. So I had everyone get up, and I explained that we were going to pray around the outside of his house. I specifically felt we needed to pray that the Lord would build a spiritual wall -- a wall of Holy Spirit fire -- around his house, so that nothing evil could pass through. We also blessed and cleansed all the exterior walls, the foundation, and the corners of the building. I prayed for his window and door, that nothing evil or unclean could ever pass through them. The man then allowed us to come inside (or perhaps we just went in), and I prayed for the floor, ceiling, walls, support beams, beds, and anything else I could see. I then felt convicted to pray specifically and boldly that the house would be a dwelling place of God's Spirit and I proclaimed the Lordship of Jesus over it and over his entire family. As I look back at it now, what we essentially did was 'prayer bomb' his entire home. I had no idea why we needed to do this, but I just followed what I felt was the leading of the Holy Spirit.

After leaving the house we moved on to pray elsewhere (God healed a woman completely of pain an stiffness in her wrist). When we returned to the Bishop's house, all the teams re-grouped, and it was then that I learned something that left me astonished. Every group gave a report about their experience praying. Nestor gave our report, and what he shared took me completely by surprise. Apparently, the older man who we prayed for was actually a local witch doctor (an 'ombiasa'). When we approached his house, someone was dropping by to get 'medicine' from him. Nestor said that when we began praying around the man's house, the man began to shake (I wasn't paying attention to him, so I didn't notice). Nestor also shared that he, himself, had been terribly frightened that something bad was going to happen to us because of what I was praying. As Nestor was sharing this with us, the other prayer teams were amazed and thought it was all extremely funny. I had absolutely NO idea that this man was a witch doctor. But God apparently used me, an oblivious white foreigner, to take authority over the dwelling and 'workplace' where the powers of witchcraft and darkness had been embraced and used by this man, and had likely caused harm to many people. Upon reflection, it was probably better that I didn't know he was a witch doctor. I suspect I might have then been hesitant to pray so boldly. Once again, God's plan was absolutely perfect. 

One more ministry day left, followed by two days of rest and then our journey home. It has gone by so quickly!

-Bruce

Here we are with the Witch Doctor (the older man on the right) and his family. Abigail is on the left.  Zafi is in the back row in the blue shirt, and Nestor is in the back row center in a white t-shirt. Everyone is standing next to the Witch Doctor's house. It is nicer than the rest because people pay him for his services.

The Pousse-Pousse

  The other day, I experienced my first ride in a pousse-pousse. This is the way some people get around Toliara. It is the Malagasy version of a taxi, though it is actually a rickshaw. We decided to take one back from the craft market in the city. At first, I was scared to ride in one because they are so small compared to the large trucks and cars that push past them on the road. Sometimes cars even knock them over! There are two types of pousse-pousse. One type is pulled and steered by a bicycle and the other is pulled just by a person on foot. I imagine that it would be a hard job to have because you are either walking or riding in the hot sun all day.

  

  As you are riding, there are many things to see along the side of the road. There are crowds of people walking while balancing sacks or buckets of various foods and other things on their head. There are also carts pulled by zebu that could be trotting alongside you. Sometimes we had to stop because there was a jam of people riding bikes and of other pousse-pousse. There is also the risk that the bike pulling the pousse-pousse will break in some way. That happened with my mom and me. We were riding along and suddenly we heard a snap and then the bike wasn't able to pedal anymore. The person pulling us got off and fixed it really quickly and then we were fine the rest of the way.

  When I was on the pousse-pousse, I realized just how different the culture in Madagascar is from a lot of the rest of the world. I have learned a lot from this trip, and I think that it has been good for me to experience the kind of poverty in this country and the people living here. It's also a little weird to walk around town and have people staring at us most of the time because we look much different. It seems that riding in the pousse-pousse was one of my favorite things that I have done on this trip so far.

Abbie

God's Big Surprise

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

For the past two afternoons, after our morning teachings on healing prayer, a team of us has headed out into local villages to go house to house to pray for healing. Yesterday Abigail came along with me, but today I ventured out on my own with the team. We've prayed for many people with various needs, but something amazing and unexpected happened today. 

My team of three prayer ministers stopped at a small family 'compound' (five stick houses arranged around a small open area). We were welcomed by the family and pointed to a young man lying on a mat and wrapped in a sheet. We were told he had been sick for a year and that he had a demon. He also had a leg that was twisted. He didn't really appear to me to have a demon, but we prayed for him to be healed and set free from any demonic oppression. Nothing appeared to happen. I have to confess that I felt a bit frustrated, since I was longing to see him healed. But God began to give me words to say to him. I began to tell him about Jesus and about how Jesus was the only way to freedom -- that if he wanted freedom, then he needed Jesus. A crowd of family members had gathered while we were praying, and listened to what I was telling the man. It then dawned on me that what God wanted was for this man, and this entire family to accept Jesus as their Lord. God wanted to bring this family, right then and there, into the Kingdom. So I gave them all an invitation to follow Jesus, and they responded with a very enthusiastic 'yes'! (One of the older men said quite emphatically that he was really ready, which took me by surprise.) I led them all through prayers of repentance, and then helped them pray a prayer to accept Jesus into their hearts. The sick man also accepted Jesus, and declared Him to be his Lord and Savoir. I then prayed a prayer of blessing over each member of the family, and they also brought the children to receive blessings. All I can say is -- God is amazing! I wanted one man healed, but God wanted an entire family saved. God's ways are always so much better. Amen and Amen. 

One final note - our family's biggest struggle over here continues to be with our health. Abigail and I have both managed to remain well, but Shay and Avery have a nasty cold-like virus that has kept them home-bound. Shay has had the virus since last Friday, so she really hasn't been able to be involved in much ministry, which has been frustrating for her. Unfortunately, Bishop Todd has also now caught the virus and is struggling. We would love your prayers for healing and protection for our family and also for Bishop Todd. Thanks for your prayers! 

Here's a picture of our amazing prayer team. On the left is Victor, a deacon in the diocese (and our interpreter). In the back row center is the priest of St. Luke's, Ankilifaly (in Toliara). Except for the woman in yellow, the rest are all student evangelists. 

New Creation

Our time in Madagscar has been a little different for me this year.  Last year, other than a broken toe, I remained healthy throughout the trip.  This year, I have been largely sidelined by an annoying virus.  I am thankful that I was able to make it through our children's outreach program on Saturday, but I have been laying low since then.  I was sad not to be able to go out to minster in one of the villages today, but I was blessed by the quiet time I spent at home.

The sky was sunny and bright today, as it nearly always is in this part of Madagascar, and the temperature was perfect.  I decided to relax on the veranda, so I picked a comfortable chair and just sat for some time looking out at the vast horizon and listening to the unfamiliar sounds:  occasional drumming and singing coming from the neighboring village, goats bleating, and birds making all sorts of noises that sound nothing like our North American birds.  Taking time to just be quiet and listen to the sounds of the place where God has placed me gave me a great sense of peace.

After a while, I looked over toward a flowering plant in the corner of the veranda and saw a gorgeous butterfly flitting around its leaves.  It stayed for what seemed like a long time.  As I watched it, I was reminded of the wonderous process that occurs when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.  I can't look at a butterfly without marveling at God's creative genius.  To me there is no better illustration of becoming a new creation.

I may not have been able to go where I'd planned today, but God met me where I was.  He reminded me of the work He continues to do in me -- indeed, in all of His  creation.  And I am thankful.

--SSM