out of contact and will be updating

Most of April I have been in remote areas where internet was not available. I will do my best in the coming week to give you updates out of my journal of those times, people I met, how I spent my time and some of the growth challenges that came my way.

I am growing so much! Love this life! thanks for following me on this journey!

Manambolo: Thursday, Day Four

Today I planned lunch and dinner, more pasta - since rice is hard to grow out here in this countryside. I talked with Vivian (the only other woman on the trip) about relationships and that was a very insightful time, many insights into the Malagasy life and style.

I carried water on my head again today. It is a very hard job, I had to use my hands to keep it balanced on the top, did not slosh it at all but I cheated this time I used a lid and really tried to only use one hand for balance. Not such an easy thing to do but accomplished it for the distance that I needed to for that day. HUGE admiration for those that carry it for miles on their heads, without lids and don't slosh any over the edges.

Todays plan - be strategic and survey the surrounding villages to see what the needs are spiritually and how God can use all of us there in the future. A group of 5 set out in the helicopter to follow up from the sky. I loved to see how GOD was using HIS people to be intentional for the future. Like in the scriptures when the spies went out to see if the land was good, some came back stating that it was not but two saw all that GOD could do there. Awesome.

Later in the day part of our group went on a longer walk to another village in a different direction today to check up on others that had been baptized in the past through this ministry. Amazing times, I stayed back to help cook the dinner and wash up the young girls that were there with us. Reports came back that 6 more people had made decisions for Christ. Now we are praying for discipleship, encouragement and the ability to read the written word (literacy is a huge issue in this area).

There were elders that were invested in this whole week and that was a large blessing also.

Cattle thieves have made this a hard life here in the Monambolo region so there were groups of men passing by in sets of 3 all week that were armed. It never bothered us because they never stopped by and were mostly friendly. Today a group stopped when I was at the camp with the 3 young girls. Two other men were near by but it appeared that I was alone with the girls. The girls colored and I cooked. The men were soon making themselves very comfortable around the girls and I had an instant alert or "red flag". I made my way very easily to one of the men and let them know what was going on and asked that he make himself known. Soon he was talking two the three men but that was not really going well. I then made my way to alert the other man that was left behind with me, who was at the time trying to take a bucket shower behind our brick shelter. He is a missionary kid and easily made his way to the three dangerous men and befriended them. It was great because the three men were really there for bad intentions. They wanted to get with the women there at the camp and were going to use force to get what they wanted. Praise the Lord for allowing us to be protected in just the right way.

Manambolo: Wednesday, Day Three

Rolled over at 7:30 after a terrible night of no sleep and hot weather also felt that people were watching everything and that was a bit creepy. Good to have a few pictures with me of friends and family to help bring me back into a calm reality. Really enjoying reading James and talking about the trials that we will face and what they will create within us.

Cleaning dishes and making lunch and dinner were the main projects for the day again for me.

Challenge: I carried a 5 gallon bucket of water on my head and only sloshed once! This is a very tough task and one that really compressed my spine. How do these people do this every day and not end up two inches tall?

We visited with Ravezo again today in his village, took pictures and shared more about Christ. Many people sat with us and listened for over an hour and a half and the HIGHLIGHT during this time was that 4 men accepted Christ! Ravezo is the only one with a bible so he was asked if he could read to them every day in the late afternoon and when they had questions if they would talk about them and then ask us that would be great. As an elder in his village, this is an honor and we are so looking forward to all that GOD will do in and through these people and their true conversions into a life with Christ.

I noticed many children and women with home made bracelets and necklaces, worn tightly around their necks and woven into their hair. These are worn to ward off the bad spirits and many times come with bondage and evil of their own.

Community was working on the foundation again this afternoon now that it is not the heat of the day. The women even pitched in and helped roll the huge water drum from a closer well to the work site to mix our own concrete and make it here.

One of the other Men on our outreach team from South Africa shared how this trip, his first into a remote area, was so eye opening. He was really seeing God at work and was so glad that he was able to be here to see first hand what GOD was doing in people that had not ever heard before. Great to see this time through the eyes of someone new to service in this capacity.

After dinner I saw the shadow of something moving quickly toward one of the smaller children that we had brought with us. After hesitating I decided to shine my light on the thing and was so glad that I did! It was a scorpion and headed for the open and vulnerable toes of a child. I quickly shouted “Scorpion” grabbed the child and held her until the threat was killed by the others standing around. Praise the Lord for his still small voice and following that so quickly!

Gatoraide, Game, Tang are important drink mixes when going to somewhere remote when your body is loosing such important nutrients out sweat glands.

Some of the village kids came over to sing and dance with us after dinner. They really know how to move and it was a great time to laugh and experience time with all of them. Asleep by 8 pm! WOW this climate takes it out of a person!

Manambolo: Tuesday, Day Two

"Up about 7 because the sun has been up for hours now and it is getting really HOT and steamy in my tent. Enjoyed reading in James this morning because when I woke up there was an older Malagasy man staring at me sleeping in my tent. That was a bit on the creepy side but when reading James 2 about the rich and the poor and treating them the same there was a great peace within me!"

"Just after Breakfast I started preparations for Lunch and Dinner. I collected water from the watering hole today but walked about a mile in search for a cleaner water source and ended back at the original one filled with algie. I have a new respect for those that carry water back to their home from a watering hole. It is heavy!"

"Grateful for the gift of a switchblade because I used it all day today! Cutting food, cutting wood to make tools and much more. Just cooking food is an all day process here."

"I dug poop holes for the children that were with us because everyone else was busy working on the foundation, collecting water and moving mounds of sand and rocks. The dirt here is very hard and not so easy to break through. I got blisters quickly but enjoyed helping when I could no matter the job."

"We were off to the local villages to encourage through the word today. We actually sat with a man, Veholita and 20 local children that were interested in listening and then once we moved on to the next gathering of homes we were so encouraged ourselves. You see, a man that was baptized on the last trip in October last year was sitting in the shade, leaning up against his mud home, reading the bible that was given to him on that very special day. We sat with him, Ravezo for a long time, asking questions about how he is doing, how his crops and village and family are doing and if he had any questions about what he was reading in the word."

"The physical work project is moving along quickly because some of the men from the local villages are coming out to help. What a great picture of community!"

"All day we had to make trips to the pond to draw water so that we could filter it and then drink it. It is VERY HOT here, water is consumed quickly by all, all day long. THe filters are not working as they should and have to be cleaned almost twice a day, this is getting annoying. Keeping my perspective on Christ, and remembering that everything that I do, I do it as unto the Lord."

"I actually took a quick pond water rinse to my head tonight in lieu of a shower, I was cooking and needed to stay close to camp at that time of night. It was great to see the sunset though! Tonight BED by 7:30 I am exhausted!"

Manambolo: Monday - Day one

Because I was out of touch for some time I will be entering exerpt's from my journal here to tell the story of my time in the "countryside" or "bush" area of Madagascar that I was just able to visit.

"Today started very early - arriving at a bus stop around 5:45 am so that a group of us could drive 4 hours out of town to meet the helicopter that would take us to the remote area we are going today. Along the way at a checkpoint, some police decided that they wanted to ride with us, they told us that two would join us, yet four men joined us for about an hour or more of our ride. At least one was armed with some sort of shot gun. That was strange."

"I helped three young girls (6, 5, 3) learn to pee on the side of the road, since we were very far from public toilets. It was a fun experience that is for sure. Searched my brain for new words to explain "squat" to little girls."

"Heli arrived, we weighed everything and loaded it up. Arrived in the Manambolo area just after lunch and were very hungry from traveling all morning. Set up camp, held a friends baby because she was tired and would not sleep, until I rocked her to sleep! Glad that I still have the touch with babies"

"We walked to a river about 4 miles from camp, through brush taller than 6 and 8 feet. We could hardly see the walking path, many times stumbling and almost tripping! We walked past snakes, lizzards and crazy bugs. It was very itchy and some of the tall grass gently cut our arms and legs as we walked through the various obstacles."

"Met up with many Malagasy in this remote area as we walked back to camp. People stare at us all day long and never talk - strange... I feel like I am the caged animal in the ZOO and the Malagasy that live here are the ones that are spectators. Sunset amazing! Bed by 9 pm"

Gifts in the mail - Glasses

Sometimes in these wonderful packages that I receive in the mail something spurs some fun and laughter, lightheartedness and creativity comes out of it.

This particular day and parcel there were some great sunglasses included. Some of my Malagasy friends and I had a great time trying them on and taking pictures. What a great way to break the ice and have a tiny bit of fun in the process.

I pray that you enjoy the pictures here as much as we did for the day wearing them and posing for the pictures.

Mahajanga - Security

Some local missionaries in Mahajanga had someone break into their home on Easter and steal about 400,000 AR ($200 american dollars). The money was stolen out of a locked up house, then a locked room and inside of a locked firesafe box. SO, it has to be an inside job and someone somewhere has keys, and plenty of them to get that far.

One night while I was there staying with my Malagasy friends, close by, in the Tin Box I got a call in the middle of the night. Literally about 15 minutes to midnight from two single missionary gals that live on the outskirts of town. They had a visitor again, the burglar was there again, in the house with them, hiding under one of the girl’s beds. One of them saw a hand and yelled out to the others that they were not alone in the house. They were able to chase him out of the house without harm but they were very frightened as I am sure many people would be if they found someone hiding under their bed, in their room.

The group I was with was asked to stay another day to make sure that the proper things were taken care of. Police reports typed up, copied and signed, names stated, local officials signing off on them and stamping them to make them official, locks changed, security hired, help fired and given time to move off property, people crying, more lighting added, doors boarded up, the yard cleaned out… As you can tell there are many things to look after when you find someone in your home that doesn’t belong there. Safety first!

We had a meeting with the house help and had to let them all go because they had been warned recently that if something else had gone missing then they would all have to find new jobs and places to live. It was one of the hardest conversations that I had to sit through as an observer. The women were so upset because the dishonor that it brought to the missionaries that they had grown to love over the years, previously. There was one that said she was sorry she gave birth to a corpse than a spirit (it was her 14 yr old that was found to have been the one in the house, hiding under the bed) She is a broken woman but very much loving the Lord and glad that her son was found out and glad to know that there is hope of meeting up in the future and greeting each other as friends.

Mahajanga - Living in a tin box!

My time in Mahajanga...

What a few days! WHEW! I took a group of people to Mahajanga (a town 8-9 hours north). I had a great time staying with some Malagasy friends in a tin house about 12 x12 in size.

I used their local outhouse (long drop as we call it here) and the bucket shower system that they all use every day all day long. When we went to sleep at night it was very HOT inside. You see, you can’t leave the doors or the windows open at night because you never know when people will be walking around your house, looking for things to steal or even people to inflict damage to. It is much safer to just stay in the well locked up home and sweat off those inches, try to breathe, and try to get some sleep where you can.

Easter Monday

Earlier this week I was invited to join a Malagasy family to celebrate Easter Monday. I was very curious as to how they really celebrated this day since I had

not ever experienced that in the States all the years that I lived there.

Since they decided to drive to a location about 2 hours/ 60 km out of town this was a day that would start early and go late. We planned on packing up and leaving their home about 5 am. With this in mind I was invited to sleep over at their Malagasy home.

The room that I stayed in was an addition to the main home and used to be a store or “hotely” as they call them here, A place where one could stop for a bite to eat and refreshment. Often times there are limited plates, bowls and cups to use so you are using the same one that the person before you would have used. Don’t worry they clean them before you get to use them the point is that they don’t have an inventory of plates, cups and bowls or even spoons to take up space and cut into their bottom line. Because it was an addition there was a separate entrance above the rest of the house, up a flight of steep steps.

The night proved to be a bit restless, sleeping in a bed that was less that comfortable, a very light sponge on top of a wooden frame, but was generously given up for me to have the best in the house. Each time I tried to get comfy I could feel wood from something making it hard to really drift into a deep sleep.

In the early morning hours the house was bustling as people did what they could to get ready, packed up and cleaned up for the day. We were soon on our way but about an hour later than we had originally planned and that is ok by Malagasy standards depending on who you are with. We loaded up the borrowed mini bus with family and extended family and then were on our way. The bunch included 3 Grandmothers, 3 married couples and their children and then 6 singles from the teen years to my age! What a loaded bus! When we talked about going on a picnic I did not know that it would include taking a small brick/metal oven and all the other items needed to properly cook our food on there at the lake. Sort of like camping but with the things that you would use in your home every day. No specific "camping or day out" items here. We stopped at a local market and bought all our food fresh right down to the chicken and then finally we were again on our way.

Most of the day I was surrounded by Malagasy speakers, taking in the sights of people enjoying the day, enjoying each other’s company and relaxing (as much as one can when not knowing the language that is surrounding you).We took walks, played dominoes, prepared a wonderful full meal, ate food, took pictures and went out on the lake in a medium sized row boat twice as a group. We even sang songs on the boat! What an enjoyable time. This one thing of going out on a boat is scarry for so many Malagasy because they can’t swim. Enjoyable day all around and an adventure to remember for years to come.

It was a lot of work, a long day, packing up, loading the car, picking up people, cooking, preparing and lots of driving in traffic (most Malagasy go out of town to enjoy the day so you can imagine that many people are going to the same place…) Over all it was something that I hope that I get to enjoy each year from now on!

What a great way to celebrate the stone being rolled away and the opportunity to live a life in fellowship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit!

2010 April - Praise, Praise and Praise!

...not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope.... (Romans 5: 3-4) Thank you for persevering with me through this amazing, life changing process!

Praises:
1.) YAHOO, GOD has led me to the perfect truck for transportation. What an incredible answer to prayer. (See blog on the truck) It was much more than I was expecting or that I had been able to collect money to purchase but I know that it was the only option for me. The more I looked at cars the more this stood out as the perfect truck for ministry. The Malagasy man that was selling it is trusting me and in the Lord for the money to come in by April 8th.

2.) WorldVenture in Madagascar has just completed their prayer/ team meetings (thanks to a donor for paying my way to this, YOU and GOD know who you are!) It was a very tough but encouraging time! I have to be honest, I cried, and struggled to communicate well, but they were tears of growth, encouragement and working out of character in both me and others that needed to happen. I am HONORED and BLESSED to have been able to attend and grow so much in such a short time.

3.) I have been invited to spend Easter Monday with a Malagasy family. I have never experienced Easter Monday before (we have not celebrated this in the States before) so I am excited and yet feeling very reserved as I will be spending one night over with this family and really experiencing the day long traditions. I should be able to share more in a later post.

4.) The Large home that I have been living in has been a great blessing in the last month. For over 3 weeks I have had guests coming and going! Can you believe it? Already working toward the ministry of hosting people over here. GOD has been saying "WAIT" to me when it comes to housing and seems that all along HE has been working me toward this goal. I was able to collect overnight fees for room occupancy, meals served, transportation and internet service... I love hosting and LOVE how GOD has been in the midst of all the details.

5.) Incredible times of encouragement happened between the leadership and myself. GOD really used them each to share with me what they see in me for growth, and for the ministry ahead and they dynamics of the team that has been forming. I have been moving into this role of team and individual coordinator much as many others have that have gone before me in other parts of Africa. ALL as GOD has led because I had no idea! Isn't that incredible?

6.) Monthly support continues to climb back slowly. (85% now) I am moved to praise the Lord for how HE provides even amongst the fallen economy. I don't lack in food, in safety, in transportation, or in community! HE is my ultimate provider.


I am honored that you are reading, praying and following this incredible journey of growth in me and through me. May you be encouraged through all the tiny details,

Nicole