Paige- We've Come This Far By Faith

Today is my birthday (there's a time difference but it's November 21st in Madagascar)! I am 26 years young and blessed beyond measure (I know that sounds cheesy but it is true).   A year ago today, I was in a long distance relationship with a great guy from Connecticut.  We got very serious very quickly and we had even talked about marriage.  Last year, if you asked me where I would be right now, I would have told you about my plans to take the Connecticut Bar Exam and move closer to my boyfriend.  Madagascar was not even on my radar.  My how things change! I soon realized that being in a serious relationship was not in God’s will for me and so, after drawing it out longer than I probably should have, I ended the relationship in February.  It was sad and all, but I had faith and confidence that it was the right thing to do and I am very thankful for the experience of the relationship.  It was something I had to go through to get to where I am now.  I am stronger in my faith and in a deeper relationship with Christ than I have ever been.    It’s like the proverbial monkey with his fist stuck in a jar grasping a banana which he refuses to let go; if the monkey would just ease his grip, someone could give him a whole bunch of bananas. Like the silly monkey, I sometimes catch myself not wanting to let go of what is comfortable because I am afraid of what will (or won’t) be handed to me.  Even though I know that God’s ways and thoughts are better than mine (Isaiah 55:8-9), I still sometimes have trouble trusting Him and allowing His plans to manifest in my life.  However, as soon as I let go of my lofty life plans and put my faith and God, He trusted me with Madagascar.  God trusted me.  He softened the heart of my boss to give me the time off from work and He provided for me financially so that I could wholeheartedly serve Him and the Malagasy people.  When in fact, the Malagasy have served me, loved me, blessed me, taught me and given me more than I think I will ever be able to serve, love, bless, teach or give in my lifetime. 

I don’t know everyone who will read this or where you were a year ago, but I encourage you to let go of whatever you are holding onto and let God give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).  That doesn’t mean that He is like a fairy godmother who will turn a pumpkin and mice into a horse drawn carriage, but He is perfect, righteous and sovereign and the closer you move to Him, the more you’ll want His will to manifest in your life. Suddenly, the horse drawn carriage won’t look as attractive as it once did.  It is all an exercise of faith, “…being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).  And if you have already let go of some things that you once held dear to you, continue to have faith and don’t look back.  There is a blessing in every lesson that God teaches us and He always works things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

We have less than 3 weeks left in Manakara and it is my prayer that we finish strong.  Please pray the same and also pray that we don’t get so excited about returning home that we check out early.  Pray that we let go of everything except our mission to serve and share the gospel. I don't know where we will be a year from now, but I know that we have come this far by faith and we will only go further if we continue to trust and obey in the Lord. 

For the Kingdom,

plc

Tiffany-three

3 weeks.

3 more Friday night dinners with the Newtons. 3 more English classes. 3 more Sunday mornings at church. 3 more Saturdays of playing with the kids.

It is becoming more and more apparent to all of us that we are leaving. We have such a short amount of time left here. What is even more obvious (to me at least) is that a large portion of our hearts will be left here.

They will be left with Judge Olga, who spoke of how we changed her view of Americans. They will be left in the smiles and laughter of the kids at the church, in the strength of Matt’s soccer team, in the joy of the students we have met, in Paige and Laura’s dance class, in the songs Kai has taught Hermes, in the humor of Mika our friend and brother.

There is still work to be done…for sure. Fact.

While here in Madagascar, I have been reading through 1 Corinthians. I love reading Paul’s letters, and often times laugh at how blunt he is.  Chapter 13 is where I am right now, and the more time we spend here, the more it resonates with me.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Paul speaks of love as the most important thing we do. You can have all these amazing gifts and abilities, but if you don't love, they are useless. I love verse 7 the most. Love trumps everything. Love is not just telling someone you love them, but showing them. Showing that you believe in who God created them to be. Knowing that God loves them enough to send His only Son for them and telling them. Love is not a feeling, it is an action.

If there is one thing I hope to do in the next few weeks, its to love.  In all our actions, I know that our love flows out. Not our love…but Christ’s love. It is overflowing. I pray that my cup runneth over….for the rest of my life.

The time is not over. We still have three weeks to love on people. To share the Gospel with people. To show them that there is joy, hope, love, and so many other things found in Christ. Please continue to pray for us. That we finish well. That no matter the cost, we share the Gospel. Above all, pray that God's love is shown to all the Malagasy people we meet.

"So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (v.13)

Paige-Prison Break

About a month or two ago, I was able to connect with the President of the Tribunal here in Manakara.  Her position is the equivalent to the Chief Judge of a Federal Court in the U.S.  I prayed that I would meet an attorney that I could befriend and I ended up meeting her; she was an absolute answer to prayer.  Since meeting her our relationship has grown tremendously.  We have shared meals with her and her children and have enjoyed enlightening discussions about the culture and political climate of Madagascar.  Tiffany and Laura have definitely blogged about her before and if you are on my email list, you have already heard about her.  She impresses me so much.  She told us that she came from a poor family and she took her education very seriously.  To become a judge here in Madagascar, there is further schooling after receiving your law degree.  Entry into the judicial program is very competitive and under 20 students are accepted each year.  She has been a judge for 10 years and has balanced a marriage and had 3 children within that time.  She was appointed President of the Tribunal in June of this year and she is sort of like a local celebrity.  What is even more awesome about her is that she is a Believer; a shameless Believer.  She has told us how she encourages litigants who appear before her with scripture and lessons from the Bible; something you wouldn’t normally expect from a member of the judiciary who is supposed to be impartial.  I really admire her faith though and today I was absolutely blown away.

Elections took place in Madagascar on October 25^th and Olga had been very busy since then.  She had to count and collect local ballots and travel to the capital to deliver them.  We usually see her once or twice a week but we haven’t really seen her at all since the elections.  She sent us a text message last night inviting us to visit the local prison with her today.  We weren’t sure what would happen or what to expect but we knew it would be interesting and so we went anyway.  When we arrived, Olga told us that she had to tell the prisoners that the government would not be supplying them with any more money for food and they would have to rely on their families to bring them meals.  That was an obvious shocker to all of us.  Also, the prison conditions there made U.S. prisons look like 5 star hotels (the few U.S. prisons that I’ve been in at least).  When Olga addressed the men, they were all sitting nicely and their attention was on her.  The attention of over 200 men was captured and all she had to give them was bad news.  After she addressed them, they didn’t get upset or unruly, they all just continued to sit with these pitiful looks on their faces.  One of us made the comment that it looked like they were ready for a Gospel presentation and so…when opportunity knocks we walk right on in.  We asked Olga if we could share the Gospel with them and she said yes!  We shared the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-32.  Olga read the story in Malagasy and afterwards we explained it with our translator Mika.  We told them that we are all like the son in the story.  We mess up and we stray away from God, but if we return to Him with humility, acknowledging that we are sinners and we are not worthy of His grace, then through Jesus Christ, we can come back into a right relationship with God, the Father.  After the story and further explanation of its significance, I asked if there was anyone who wanted to come back into a right relationship with God.  So many men raised their hands…I almost burst into tears (happy tears of course).  Kai, along with Mika’s Malagasy interpretation, explained salvation through Christ and then led all of the men in a prayer.  After we prayed with the men, we visited the minors and the women and each of those visits was similar to the one with the men. After today, I believe we have many new brothers and sisters in Christ and we have already talked about wanting to return to the prison to worship and fellowship with them.  Today was a reminder of why I am doing what I am doing.  God knew this day would happen before we even arrived in Madagascar.  He opened the door for us to meet the Judge and absolutely set the table for us to share the Gospel and pray the prayer of salvation with those prisoners today. 

We only have 31 days left until we are back in the States but the Holy Spirit is moving here in Manakara.  Please pray for the prisoners we met today (sorry I don’t have names and we weren’t allowed to take pictures…but God knows every single one of them).  Please also pray that in these last few weeks our voices will be still and God’s voice will be heard, that we would be seated and He would stand. 

For the Kingdom,

plc

Tiffany-Wages

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Who can tell me what this means?”

…..silence…..giggles….more silence….quiet chattering in Malagasy

“You can explain it in Malagasy if you want to!”

Last week I shared about my English class! It was such a fun time! The room was FILLED…quite literally to capacity! Everyone brought a new friend…someone I had never met before! We played a game and the Gospel was shared…was a great time all around!

As this week’s class approached, I just got so excited! So excited….I couldn’t even think of what to teach them other than the Bible…a great problem to have if you ask me! Anyways, this week I dove into my many years of teaching preschool and played Simon Says and sang “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes”…I know my teaching friends would be so proud!

We laughed a lot….which is totally ok because I love to laugh! My favorite part was walking back into the small room…full of students that aren’t sure where they stand in their faith, and talking about Romans 6:23. I broke the verse into sections to explain it fully. The conversation went totally like what is written above, but the kids…I just can’t explain to you the look in their eyes. As one of our new friend’s, Tena (he is Jeremy and Angela’s day guard) stood up and gave the meaning of the verse, the kids listened intently. There was no other chatter. There was no giggling.

I told them that the verse was truth. I told them that they could believe it because it is from the Bible. I told them that Jesus not only hung on a cross for us, but we know He defeated death because He ROSE 3 DAYS LATER! Their faces started to light up. What a hope! Who did you share that hope with today?

I LOVE Wednesday nights.

Please be in prayer for us. Pray for the students in my class….that they come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. Pray for me…that I find favor at a youth center in town that I want to start having English class at. Pray that as we meet with some of the students tomorrow and Friday, that they will have questions, and that we can share the hope we have in Christ.

"Why Not?!?!" - Matt

       Why not? Probably seems like such an oddity to have such a title as that, but I have come to know this phrase all too well while being here. Why not learn a brand new language and culture? Why not join a soccer team with the hope of checking off a task on the bucket list? Why not befriend the many here in Manakara to establish growing relationships for the next missionary? And most of all, why not extend the hand of God through your words and actions in order that some might see the truth and be saved?

      I should have written this blog a lot sooner when the joyous moment occurred, but I guess this will do. I’m pretty positive that ya’ll have heard of our friend Fanza who is the owner of Om Snack (one of our favorite restaurants). Well….’why not’ happens to be a phrase that we know her by more or less. Haha When we asked if she could teach us how to make her delicious bread, she grinned from ear to ear and said, “Why not!!!” When we asked if she would come to church with us one Sunday she laughed and said, “Why not!” And when the girls asked if they could work at her restaurant and serve the customers with her she cracked a smile, laughed for a moment and said, “Why not!!” The phrase has almost become an inside joke between her and our group and we have heard it more and more as she continues to open up to us. She has been a wonderful friend here and has had such honesty and a willingness to be real with us that I cannot thank God enough for her.

      And now…..to the ‘why not’ I would argue is the best one I’ve heard yet! This last week I realized how little time was left to ask her if she really knew who Jesus was and finally mustered up the courage to present the gospel to her. She had been coming weekly to church with us over the past two months and attended the church (alone mind you) when we were gone on break. It impressed me that she had such commitment so quickly in the process so I didn’t think to ask her right away about her faith. I knew from previous situations that her family was Catholic, but she didn’t fully agree with how they ran things so she didn’t claim Catholicism herself. When I asked her about our church she said she liked it quite a bit and bluntly stated, “If I didn’t like it I wouldn’t be coming with you.” (it was very humorous!!)

     

      Anyways…with this simple understanding I knew that she was at least close if not already a Christian (mainly the willingness, commitment, and questioning of religion gave it away). And it couldn’t hurt to ask the question if she was. So for 5 days straight I went to her restaurant with another task (giving her worship music and American music) and took the time while she downloaded the music to ask her questions. I drew out the two paths illustration and tried to help her see the two paths that were possible to take. Unfortunately I forgot my bible the first day so it didn’t really click with her. The next day I made sure to bring my bible and asked her to bring her Malagasy bible with her. We went through the various verses in Matthew and Romans as well as Psalms, John and Galations. She read each of the verses in Malagasy and asked me questions if she had any…. fortunately there weren’t many. Haha By the end of it all she came to the conclusion that traveling down a broad path leading to destruction was not her cup of tea and she recognized that Jesus was the only way for the narrow path that led to life (Matt 7:13,14) I couldn’t help but ask her in that moment, “So, what do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is your Savior and the only way to have a relationship with God?” And her answer was almost too perfect….”Why not!!!!!!!” It seemed to really make sense for her and I could see it as I looked at her facial expression in the moment. I was so excited!!!!

      Now she is very young in faith and you cannot always be sure what a person’s heart really says, but I do believe that on Wednesday, October 30^th, she became part of God’s family. With that being said, I ask that you pray for our brand new sister in Christ as she starts to learn more and more about who God is and what it truly means to live by faith. She is a wonderful lady and we are very blessed to call her our friend!! Oh and here is a picture so that ya’ll have a face with a name! haha

In him,

Matt