Mile Stones...

I have officially lived in Madagascar for one month! Can you believe it? Sometimes I feel like I am just visiting here because I don't know much of the language but actually my comprehension is much better than I expected. I am learning how to speak it, write it and yet my understanding when they speak is amazing. I do have a long way to go but am very excited about the journey and all that I will learn along the way.

After a couple days of meeting with Malagasy friends, getting the word out that we are in need of a place to move to. SAFE is the key word. Today we put down half the deposit on a home in what seems to be a really Safe neighborhood. (meaning that there are bars on the doors and windows inside), You have to enter two gates to get to our home, one for the land the homes are on and the second for the home that we are renting. Really by American/Malagasy standards it is what we call a compound, meaning that there are a couple of homes on one large plot of land. Each home being fenced in for that area. I will post pictures to give you a better feel.

Our new landlord, Heri (a Woman) seems to be very nice as we went back to the home three times in one day, first when a friend took us there to check it out, then again 2 hours later to bring a Malagasy co-worker, lastly to see if our computers internet system would work at that home and to give half of the deposit. She works for the airport here in the capital. I hope and pray in the coming months after we settle in to spend some time with her and learn a few things.

We are very happy to have found a place to live without getting an agent involved because when you have to use a relator here you have to pay them an entire months rent as well as paying first and last to the our new landlord. I know that this home will stretch our budget a little bit but we are confident that this is the move for us. We have prayed and asked GOD to shut the doors if this was not to be the place for us. Weighed the positives and what we considered negatives and we are so very excited to report that we are moving ahead.

We could use your prayers as we ready this current home by cleaning up, organizing and packing up. Along with all the prayers that have to do with moving. There are curtains to make, fabrics to purchase, mosquito nets to make and set up, really an entire home to clean from top to bottom.

We are rejoicing in the provisions of the Lord and looking forward to all that GOD will do with us in this new home, community and surrounding neighborhood.

Let the packing begin... 2:57 PM

Have you ever?

Have you ever had an experience that you could not share with a single soul?

Have you ever felt like no one in the world understands you or cares for you?

Have you ever tried to live life for everyone around you and not been happy at all?

Have you ever....

This week I listened to a Malagasy gal that asked me these questions. I listened, I prayed, I asked questions and listened some more. I am so very blessed to be here and be that listening ear that God desires of me and look forward to all the wonderful things that will come of this journey.

WE received a package!

Well, I know that the package was not addressed to me but I am so very grateful that today of all days a package arrived for us. Sandi and I share as we are roomates so that makes it work out nicely for us both.

It was filled with magazines, tea packets, puddings, a brownie mix, daily devotional, some lotion, coffee, scripture tapes, bible lessons and much more. It was so great to sneak into the city (Sandi's day off of language learning) and get into the bustling city to collect our package. It was a bit errie as it looked like they were getting ready for something or nervous that something would happen but all that said. We went in, paid the fee to collect the package and then we were on our way.

It was shipped in the Large international FLAT rate box from the States and cost a little more than $50 but It means the world to us, to be encouraged in that way, to be thought of and to be showered with such extravagance.

Thanks so much Burl and Miriam! We are really blessed! Praise the Lord for the little things that people send and how they bless us exceedingly, abundantly more than we could have ever hoped or imagined.

Mofo anana (Bread with leaves)

Mofo anana (Mufu ann -n- a)

Today I learned along with another Malagasy friend how to make a very common Malagasy bread here, called Mofo anana. I was introduced to this bread by a good friend of mine in another town here in Madagascar, His Mother makes bread and sells it on the local str

eets.

I will post the video clips on Facebook for those of you interested in trying to make this wonderful Malagasy bread there in the States. I challenge you to try something different, you might like it? I love it, but have realized that only certain people make it the way that I like it, there are many variations.

Enjoy!

Recipe is:

A handful of water cres (leaves) medium to finely chopped

4 cups of flower

4 tsp Salt

1-3 tsp baking powder (if you have it) Can be done without this ingredient

1 Chicken bullion cube (crumbled up)

2 cups water

2 cups oil (to cook the mixture in)

Mix flour, salt and bullion cube. Then add water, a little bit at a time until you have a batter type consistency, a little bit runny.

When the oil is hot, not boiling - drop in a spoonful at a time, make sure that they don't touch right away. When they are golden brown take them out and add more until your mixture is all used up.

Wait for them to cool just a bit and enjoy!

foods

One of the exciting things in my week is going to the local markets to purchase our food. The conditions are horrendous and many of you back home would not shop in these conditions unless you were forced but I feel most at home here and really you get much more for your Ariary at the open air market than at the local "vazaha" or foreigner market or grocery store.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy! Eventually the food gets washed, cooked and consumed no matter where you purchase it, so why not go for the adventure?

A sewing project

Well, since it has been so cold here in Antanarivo... I decided tonight that I was going to make pajama pants, a scarf and even a beanie out of the left overs, all out of fleece. Warm and fuzzy fleece! Thank the Lord for fleece!

Ta dah, well... I was successful! Praise the Lord that I have had all the years of sewing class and that my roomie, Sandi has a small sewing machine.

After about 2 hours all items were done! I do have a small problem though! The beanie is to large on the top so I will have to cut that down and alter it to fit my large head. Then when I sat down in the Pajama pants tonight I heard something snap... Yes, the tension on the machine was to tight for such an easy fabric so when I sat down I ripped a small hole... Guess where.

Searching for...

Well, I have been in Madagascar now for a little more than 3 weeks, have gotten over jet lag, have met up with past friends, have gotten my room set up and all 5 pieces of luggage unpacked and moved into my tiny room.

Now I am searching for a language teacher. I have gotten some leads but they are either to expensive or their schedule doesn't work with mine. My hope and prayer is that I will have someone lined up by the end of this week so that I can start really diving into language study. In the mean time I have flash cards to work on and am learning little words here and there. I have purchased a small notebook and am writing down all the words that I have been practicing so far.

There is more... Of course after I found myself all settled in to this new home. Sandi and I have prayerfully considered that God is leading us to look for a new home. She was robbed over a month ago and just this last week when we came home our doors to the kitchen entrance were open enough for us to notice that we did not leave them that way. We have gone down to the local market and purchased a new lock, had a good friend install it and now we know that there are only 3 people with the keys. This has helped us to sleep easier in the nights since the last instance. We both have purposed in our hearts that we would pray over moving or not moving and now we are in the process of looking for a new home.

So, as we search for the right home to move into. Some prayer requests are: Safety, in the home we now reside and the future home.

God would lead us to the right home, close to bus for CBI workers and in this same part of town. God would lead us to hire the right night guards. We will need two so that they can rotate. Lead us to the right full-time house help. Most of all that it would be within our budget and still have some left over for emergencies.

bamboo lot

This week I found myself in need of some furniture in order to be able to really unpack all five of my pieces of luggage and get settled into my room at Sandi's house.

So the logical place here in Madagascar is the

bamboo lot. Francisca and Germain took me to a place where there is a collection of people that make things out of bamboo for a living. Each one with different types of furniture. Some make bookcases, some make bed frames, some make wardrobes, others make kitchen cabinets and yet there is still much more to choose from. Anything that you could need and in different colors of bamboo, with different fabric options and much more.

I was able to find just the right sized night stand and a shelving unit that would be able to store my folded clothes, bedding, backpack and anything else that I could desire. It was a fun time of being followed around by all these people, each wanting me to purchase something from them.

Mofo anana (Malagasy bread with leaves)

You have got to try this bread~

A couple of weeks ago I was introduced to the best bread or deep fried item I have eaten in a long time.

Mofo (Bread) Anana (leaves)

Francisca is going to teach us how to make it this coming week! So look for the video and pictures in other posts.

Refreshing sounds of RAIN!

I'm so glad that we are tucked in, locked up and well guarded as it is raining outside and sounds like it will for some time. It is only an hour before midnight and they have been saying Rain in the forecast for here for weeks, since I have been here and now it is happening.

I am looking forward to going outside tomorrow and walk in the freshness and newness that the cleansing rain brings...

One blazing fire

This week I have found myself having cold chills off and on as my body has not fully adjusted to the cold that comes on so quickly here in Antananarivo. It is nice to put on sweaters, Ugg boots, socks and start roaring fires.

The other good things about fires is that it must be tooo cold for mosquitoes and you can keep your tea warm by setting it on the bricks in the fireplace, you just have to leave the handle on the shady side.

Welcome into our warm living room!

August / September Praise and Prayers 2009

" Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For Brothers to dwell together in unity! " Psalm 133:1

I have been in the country for over three weeks now! Praise the Lord!

PRAISES: MY HONDA HAS BEEN SOLD! Praise the Lord and great thanks goes out to my friend Ed! Thank you so much for that! Praise God! (insert happy dance here!)

1.) Adjusting to living in the city has not been as hard as I was preparing for. Please continue to pray that it would be a breeze. Please continue to pray for safety!

2.) I was sent off with such amazing memories, gifts of time to help me pack up for the shipping container and so much more. I am so very blessed!

3.) I have been doing a study on Prayer and am reminded that God wants us to care for everything from the governments around us to the poor that we encounter (daily here) and give whenever we can.

4.) Amazing reconnections have happened! I am now looking forward to moving forward and seeing about a language teacher!

5.) Changes ahead that are a bit sticky. Please pray and as I can give more details I will do just that.

PRAYERS:

1.) Pray for the political unrest to become resolved and for the Malagasy people to be provided for. Many are becoming desperate and many more in the 50,000 to 100,000 range are looking at POSSIBLY loosing jobs in the coming months, before the end of December. Pray that God's peace would be amongst the people here and a resolution will be agreed upon soon.

2.) Please pray for safety in the new surroundings here. Safety in our home, safety as we are in town, shopping at the markets and everywhere we go. May the Lord walk before us every single step.

3.) Pray for me to continue to experience the Lord in refreshing ways daily. I have been very quiet so far as I absorb my surroundings. Pray that will not be offensive to those around me and that I will soak up all that I need to learn and know.

4.) Continue to pray for Bonnie Shattenberg as she is still going through a tough 3rd regemend of chemo therapy regarding her Breast Cancer that has infact spread to other organs. Recently she had liquid taken out of the space between her lungs and something else for the second time on the same side. It seems to be filling up rather quickly each month on the same side.

5.) Please consider praying regarding the right language teacher and the right tutor... I am looking for someone to teach me for 6 hours a day 4-5 days a week. I might even consider going to a tutor on my days off or maybe just once a week. Pray that this is lined out just as GOD would have it and that I don't try to overwhelm myself but that I move ahead with HIS understanding and patience.

I lift my life up to HIM every day, asking what do you want of me? How can you use regular, simple me? The answer is always, Trust, keep moving forward and I will provide all you need. What a time of clear refinement.

Laundry day! Anyone have a dryer to spare?

On Saturday Sandi and I did over 4 loads of laundry. Now if you saw our tiny washer then you would surely laugh out loud but for us it is a huge blessing to have this amongst so many that wash in the local rivers or canals.

We don't have a dryer though so all of our items once washed go out on the line. This is my favorite part of the process. Getting to be creative in how we hang all the items on the line to dry as fast as possible before we loose the light of day.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Keeping warm

Bundling up or layering, as I have often heard it referred to in California where I have spent most of my life.

Living here in Madagascar in the capital city is giving new meaning to these terms.

Most days so far I wear long pants, my UGGS, a long sleeved shirt under another shirt and never go anywhere without my hoodie (jacket). Sometimes I even take my Vest to go over the hoodie.

Recently I have found that I need to wear a tank top under the other two layers and bring a newly made beanie to keep my head warm as well...

You will have to use your imagination on this as I have not been able to get a shot of myself dressed this way yet. You also must know, oftentimes I leave the house and don't completely match. It is about staying warm, People! Staying warm.

So, how does one prepare spiritually and mentally for this sort of bundling up? That is the question.

I use my smile to break down barriers so far, since I am not fluent yet in Malagasy... Knowing that God is with me is great mental preparedness as well. Reading about Prayer and practicing prayer help me walk daily, what about you?

Getting settled / phone

So after about 5 hours of waiting, conversing and traveling from one store to another I have a phone with Zane here in Antananarivo. My phone number is 033 253 6866. Call at your own risk and please check the clock when you call as I am 10 hours ahead of you.

Does anyone know of an inexpensive cell phone that will hold two sim chips that would work over here in Africa? I really could use one as there are three carriers here and many people

have three phones because it saves money that way to call people from the plan that they have...

We left the house about 11 am this morning in search of a few items to help my stay here in country be a little bit more comfy. Things like a hairdryer, an electrical outlet strip, some material to make a skirt for a very ugly shelf unit. I still need to get pictures up on the wall, and empty the last suitcase (there is not a place to put it) no shelves, no dresser, not even a night stand or a lamp for my room. So, I am in process until my container arrives sometime in the next little while. Lets pray that it comes before September 21st without any hitches or red tape, pray that it will be the smoothest transition, pickup and that it will just glide through customs.

Here is a picture of my room with my bags or luggage the day I arrived. Enjoy

American Embassy

I registered with the American Embassy today or at least tried to Register with them.Sandi and I took a drive into town to do some errands. To check things out from the last time that I was here in this wonderful country.

So, Sandi and I visited the American Embassy. We had to go through intensive security first with our car and then we went through metal detectors and had to sign in. We are not allowed to take camera's or phones inside the building but we did meet up with someone on the high tear of leadership that allowed me to take a picture of the floor mat in the reception area. I hope that you enjoy it, more knowing that I was there, and have received the email address for them so that I can be put on the list to register with them. https://travelregistration.state.gov

This way when any alerts go out the embassy emails and contacts each american by phone. Two ways to contact us in this ever increasing technological age that we live in. So, Lord willing we will have enough of a connection this week so that I can finally register with them online.

Blessings to all my family, friends, supporters, all of you! I love you all and am so blessed to be on this journey!

Our little PINK home

I thought that I would post a little bit about the home that I am now sharing with my friend and partner in ministry, Sandi.

When you drive up you are on this tiny, (meaning only wide enough for one vehicle at a time) bumpy and rocky street or what I would call an alley way. There are large or tall concrete or brick walls on both sides, topped with barbed wire or thorny bushes like bouginvilla, "bogus bush" as I have called it for years. When you get to the very tall, blue metal gate on the left that is ours. It has some Gold ornate design on each panel to distinguish it from the one right next to it that is the same color. You have to get out of the car with the key for the gate (turning off your car). Unlock the gate and move it inward then manuver into a steep driveway that will really only hold 3 cars if placed just right.

As you get out of the car to the far right there is a wide set of concrete steps going downward. After traveling down about 15 steps looking to the left is our PINK 3 room home. Each room is about 8 x 8 and often times have funny shaped cut out spaces. There are not any closets already in the room so we have to rely on the local bamboo

type furniture pieces to make life organized.

When you enter in the house from the front door there are wooden full sized shutters that cover two wooden doors with bars built into the the windows on the top half. Once inside there is a couch and three couch like chairs a bamboo coffee table, and a built in fireplace on the right

side of the room with a dining table that seats 6 if necessary but only has chairs for 4. The table is nicely adorned with a malagasy table cloth (hand embrordered) with Malagasy life depictions. Each place has a large white cloth place mat with green embrordered bamboo, each one a little bit different than the last. On top of each place mat there is a cloth napkin with a branch of bamboo including the leaves.

Then the kitchen, well lets just say that it is smaller than most peoples wall closets. No, I did not mean walk in closets. Our tiny kitchen only has space for two people at once and even then we are pushing the space limitations. The fridge is smaller than me and not much wider than me so we are very limited on what we can store. Then we have limited counter space and had to get creative for storage. If I am able to download the pictures then you will have to notice the green rack. 4 levels of storage and that is much needed in this tiny place. Our tiny stove has four burners and works off of a propane tank. To turn it on each time we must light it using a match or bic lighter so that we don't get burned once it catches the flame.

We are blessed with indoor plumbing and have a toilet that runs all the time. So often that in the first 24 hours it already flooded twice and we have had the local plumber here about 4 days trying to fix this problem. We would have liked to shut off the water main but found out that the 3 lines that come into the house come directly from the main line and that there is not any shut off valve besides the one that was broken next to the toilet. Go figure, I must be living in a 3rd world country, right? Like I said we are still very blessed to have plumbing here, reminded that many have outhouses with a hole to position themselves over and that is it. They have to deal with flies, mosquitoes, stench and the dingbat that misses the hole entirely.

I hope that this blog entry gives you a better picture of what our little humble home is like? More later on the shower and washing clothes and leaving them out to dry on the line for the whole world to see.

I have arrived!

Well after what felt like 3 days of travel, I have finally arrived in Antananarivo, Madagascar!

My luggage, if you did not get to see it, looks like giraffe pattern and got me looks everywhere I went but when I went to gather all 4 of my checked bags at the airport I was so very thankful because it made it so very easy.

Sandi and Francisca were there at the airport to pick me up and Germain was there with another car to gather my luggage. Sandi's car is a bit on the small side for anyone traveling with any amount of luggage other than carry on's. What a great greeting from familiar faces and people that I am sure I will become closer to in the coming months and years of ministry together.

Right away Sandi paid to get out of the airport parking lot and we were introduced to a large group of people burrying a loved one. Right there on the side of the road there was a funeral happening with a large group of people gathered in their best outfits to mourn together, right next to the daily happenings of everyone else that were going about normal Friday activity on the road. I thought to myself "Welcome to Madagascar."

I took some pictures as we drove to what will be my HOME that I share with Sandi for the next months to year or so. I felt like a dog as I wanted to stick my head out of the car and let the Malagasy air run through my hair as I took in all the familiar smells, sights and sounds of this amazing land.

After about 15 minutes we had travelled through tight unpaved roads, lined with so many people, barefooted workers, children selling fruit or wood or anything that they could and passing by what I will soon come to call "shops". One that sells conduit, next to, more of a "mini mart", next to a meat vendor, next to a plastic shop next to who knows what...

We arrived at the Large 10 foot blue gate, someone was there to open it for us and on to see the House. I walked down this wide set of stairs, turned the corner to the left and stopped. There under the locked shutters was a pink house that I would soon call "HOME". Sandi unlocked the locks, there are around 5 just to get into the house and more from the inside, we were in a cute lil' home. Immediately to my left was the dining table where there was placed so neatly a sign that said "WELCOME HOME NICOLE" and a nice bundle of purple and white field flowers. We sat and chatted at the table with a bottle of Fanta Orange and a bottle of Coke with the dried Mango's that I had brought with me along with some cute bread bites. You could tell that each of us had so many questions to ask yet we were trying to enjoy the moment. We sat for about an hour or more, I took a tour of the house and then Francisca and Germain were off for the weekend as it was already after 4 pm.

I am in awe of the next chapters of life here in Madagascar. Awe of what God will do, what he has already done and what HE is doing right this minute with me, my heart, my family and friends and so much more. Looking forward to the future and all that God has planned. Praising HIM for all that is to come.