Paige- Children are our Future

Oh my gosh, we’re back again! Well we’ve been back for about a week now.  Tiffany and I spent two weeks in Antsirabe with our supervisor and some of the new IMB missionaries.  It was nice to see new parts of the country but returning to Manakara was a very sweet homecoming.  As Tiffany described in her post earlier this week, the population of Manakara doubled if not tripled with students while we were away. The reason we are in Madagascar is to, of course, share the Gospel, but our specific job description is to build relationships.  The relationships we build with the youth are key because, in the words of the late, great Whitney Houston, “children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.”  With school back in session and more children in town we are beginning to focus more on the youth. On Tuesday we got to meet some of the Secondary School students and on Wednesday we were able to spend time with them. 

We met the students at the beach just before lunch on Wednesday.  We weren’t exactly sure what to do or how to pass the time with them so we taught them an ice-breaker game and then we played a game that they taught us.  Our ice-breaker was sort of a concentration game where we stood around in a circle and kept a rhythm with our hands and had to count in order.  It involved minimal physical activity and I was very good at it.  Their game was exactly the opposite.   It was like touch football in the sand without a football…the team version of Tag if you will.  Now, I’m fairly athletic and I enjoy a good workout, but there is about a 10 year age difference between me and most of the students we met and…well…I was not very good at their game.  I wanted to call a time-out or take a break but my pride wouldn’t let me.  I was determined to keep up with them.  Luckily the kids got tired and suggested that we stop playing and walk down the beach to jetty (praise the Lord).  As we walked I was able to catch my breath again and my heart rate slowed to a normal pace.  When we got to the jetty we took lots of pictures (there's one below for your viewing pleasure) and ran away from the crashing waves; it was an all around good time. Just before we parted ways, Tiffany suggested that we tell them a story.  I wasn’t against the idea, but I wasn’t overly enthused either.  Nonetheless, I agreed and we proceeded to share the Gospel. Tiffany started with the illustration of the two paths in Matthew 7:13-14.  Laura drew in the sand while Tiffany narrated the story.  Tiffany told them that there is a narrow path that gives eternal life and leads to Heaven and a wide path that results in death and leads to Hell.   She said the narrow path is difficult but the wide path is easy.  Dannielle then told the story of the Bible starting with God’s Creation of a perfect world.  She explained the fall of man and how we are all sinners and ended with the beautiful picture of Christ- A savior who knew no sin, but came into this sinful world and humbled himself to death on a cross so that we may have a right relationship with God again. Somewhere between my lack of enthusiasm and our Gospel presentation, the Holy Spirit moved within me.  I had been quiet for a while, but suddenly God began to speak through me.  I was encouraging them with scriptures that I forgot I knew. We were even able to give them analogies and illustrations that they could relate to. When we asked the students what they thought of the story and which path they thought they were on, they were shockingly honest.  Many of them told us that they thought they were on the wide path, but that they wanted to be on the narrow path.  They even admitted their struggles with temptations. They were very attentive and receptive the entire time and when we finished, they thanked us for sharing. The entire day was completely ordained by God.  They games on the beach, the walk to the jetty and most definitely the sharing of the Gospel.  All of it was a definite answer to prayer.

Please continue to pray for these students and the new students we will meet.  Pray that our voices will be still and only God’s voice will be heard whenever we witness to them.  The children are the future of Manakara and we want them to experience the greatest Love of all and equip them with Truth to lead the way.

For the Kingdom,

plc