Dogs and Bunnies

Today, I experienced a first... I was in the kitchen getting my lunch ready before leaving on a 3 hour drive for a woman's retreat that I am attending this weekend... (hopefully another post will come from the weekend)

I heard this screeching coming from the back yard. I looked fast enough to see my two girl dogs (Shack and Bennie) fighting over who was going to get to eat my mommie (SnowWhite) bunny. She just had 7 babies one week ago so she is still needed around here. Well, they knew they were wrong because I came flying out of the kitchen with one of my shoes in my hand and ready to smack the dogs if they would not give me the bunny. Since they saw me and knew they were doing something wrong, they gently put down Snow White and headed for the front yard with their tails in-between their legs.

Funny how even dogs have an instinct when it comes to wright and wrong... Yet they wanted that bunny so badly... they were willing to suffer whatever the risk. I know that I am the same way and sometimes I know what is wrong yet I do it - Like Paul mentions in the scriptures - I don't do what I should and I do what I shouldn't.

Do you have a bunny in your jaw, closed down tightly upon it and ready to partake in something that GOD doesn't intend for you to have? What does your bunny look like? I am going to be asking GOD to show me if I have any bunny's that I have been eyeballing, that I haven't clamped down on yet but might be right on the outer edge...

So, tell me about this Jesus...

Today, I went to the post, like I do many times to pick up parcels of care and love sent to me from many of you back in the States. There might be a few more coming my way these days as my birthday approaches, not that I expect them. I am humbled and honored that people still think of me and care to send things that will open doors for sharing about GOD, Jesus and the HOLY Spirit.

Because I am there so often, I find that I have started many great conversations with the controllers...

First I have to say that going to the post is a very different experience than in the states... THere are no lines to get into, you just shove your way to the counter and get your paperwork in front of the person that you think will help you as fast as you can. Sometimes you find the clerks sleeping on the counter, watching a favorite TV program in the back room or even chain smoking right there at the counter.

You go to the first counter and give your paperwork to someone who in-turn writes it into a large book, with your address, your passport number and your parcel paperwork number. Then you are sent to another long counter where you give the then stamped paperwork to another person, they find your corresponding paperwork and make you sign two more items, then you pay for the package usually about 6-12$ depending on the size and declared value of the parts in the package...

You finally receive your package and then have to take it back to the first desk to open it in-front of the clerks. They they take things out, ask "what is this for", "can I have this" or "who is this from" and "why are they sending it to you."

Todays encounter was a little bit different because when I received my package and went to open it in-front of the clerk at the first desk, they asked me to sit down with them and one of them said "tell me about this Jesus". WOW! An open door...

I am excited because this is only the start of many more conversations about Jesus, why I follow HIM and who HE is, what HE does and how HE reveals himself to me every day.

Thanks for sending packages as this seems to have become a ministry as well and I am excited to see where it will go.

Only in Madagascar - walking containers

Well, just when you think you have seen it all living here in Madagascar something reminds you that each day is it's very own, unique day and will not be repeated again in the near future.

A couple of weeks ago I was traveling down my very narrow, cobblestone, market street in my oversized 4 x 4 when coming toward me was a 20 foot shipping container being carried by 4-5 men and being balanced on a broken down cart with wheels that look like they were stolen from Laura Ingles Pa off Little House on the Prairie...

Today while traveling through town, around a large traffic circle, I came across another incredible sight. The shell or body of a small 4 door vehicle, totally gutted, no doors, seats or extras... on top of a sirete (a cart with oversized tonka tires on it).

Wishing both times that I was good at driving and getting out my camera to take these shots yet knowing, only in Madagascar could you see something so amazing, creative and funny going down the street.

10 years old and in 2nd grade

I have a couple of neighbors that live in my compound yet work for my landlord and one of them is a 10 yr old girl named Madaline, or Mada for short...

Yesterday, I was crushed because out of my bedroom window I witnessed this young girl being beaten with a wire hanger by her older sibling and then by her mother. They were trying to force her up the hill and out of our compound gate. Since I don't know enough Malagasy I asked a friend that was visiting what they were saying and she said it was something about not leaving with her friends. We went back to our time with each other and the screaming and beating soon stopped.

Today, the same scene happened, and I was very concerned. This young girl was doing everything she could do to not leave with the older boy that came for her. I found out later that the boy is her older sibling and he just came to walk her to school. You see school just started last week for them both but because of crowding he is going to school in the mornings and Mada is scheduled to go in the afternoons.

The scene got ugly fast and after Mada finished kicking and screaming and laying down on the road so that she did not have to leave with her brother, the father came out with his belt and started giving her a flogging of a lifetime. I could not watch anymore, asked my house helper what was going on and she replied "she doesn't want to go to school". As I made sure that the family could see me watching from my yard I was praying that GOD would allow something to happen so that this would stop.

I contacted a friend that used to be the principal of a large school here and asked her what I should do, or if I should just stay out of the mess because I was after all a foreigner and she is a young Malagasy girl. I could be crossing the culture boundary and do more harm than good. After about an hour of the beating and the crying I asked my friend to come over and see if the parents would talk with us. It was arranged with my limited Malagasy through my house helper talking to the parents. They agreed and were very happy to have someone help from the outside.

After a meeting with the parents in my home, with my friend the former principal we asked all the probing questions that we thought to ask and then asked the child to come in to meet with us without the parents (we had the parents permission to do this). Come to find out Mada has been tormented by other children at the school, teased and bullied. She would rather have many lashes of a belt and wire hanger than go and face the other children again. This was tugging at my heart. It was a very hard dynamic for me because I wanted to just meet with the family and make changes, yet the wisdom of my friend who was not only the former principal of a different school but a Malagasy herself was incredible. When I asked ridiculous things she did not translate, or if I asked something that was going to get me into a position of commitment to something financially then she guided my words and carefully helped me see what the family would see because of us getting involved.

The day was a success, Mada agreed with a thumb to thumb pact with both me and the principal to attend school the next day. If the children were still giving her a hard time, my friend the principal would go to the school herself and talk with the teachers and the students if she needed to. We were also blessed with time to sit with the parents and let them know that there are other ways to get to the root of issues. Listening to a child and understanding that it is important to hear what they have to say. Especially a child that really has a history of obeying through all situations, this one being new to them, they resorted to beating way to quickly.

I am praising the Lord for this opportunity to get down on Madaline's level, listen to her heart, ask the right questions and see where we could meet her need. Not meeting a financial need, or placing her higher on a social level, yet just listening to her, validating her feelings and helping her and her parents see that there are other ways to work through tough issues.

Looking forward to what GOD will do in this relationship that has just been forged and after one year of living on this property and trying to get to know that family - now GOD has allowed an in, a very special way into their lives.

FANTA

OK - Just have to put up a post about my new favorite soda! Being overseas you get some strange things, or flavors as soda, and you only live once so you just have to try it. Filtered water gets to taste strange and when you are out it is even harder to just order a glass of water so I have sometimes been known to venture out and try something new.

In this instance I was so glad that I did. I found a new wonderful soda - Black Currant Fanta... It is even better with a scoop or two of Vanilla ice

cream... I hear that they only make it in Kenya so my heart will be forever excited about Black currant Fanta and visits to Kenya.

One can hope, right?

Yummm, is your mouth watering yet? Well, mine is just reading this... Here is a picture, I hope that your mouth waters like mine is..

Could you join me in praying that Fanta which I think is owned by Coca-cola... would have the great idea to market this fantastic drink in Madagascar? One can hope, right?

KENYA: Spiritual conference and retreat

I would not have ever thought that October 2010 would find me sitting in Kenya at a spiritual retreat and conference with other missionaries from all over Africa but it did and what an event it was.

First of all the culture shocks that I experienced on the way there and once we were there were incredible. There was an anomonyous donor that paid for 3 of us single gals to travel and stay at the conference. This was a huge blessing because none of us could have ever afforded to do

that on our own and asking our supporters for money was not something that we really wanted to do, even knowing the need of this time away to regroup, meet with other missionaries that had experienced troubles and trials just like us so that we would not feel so alone.

This time was for me very emotional as I needed to meet with leadership and discuss some very difficult situations but HUGE blessings to have people to walk with through this journey and people that have delt with the very things I was experiencing. Their wisdom and understanding was both profound and difficult but cause for incredible JOY because GOD is in the process, working through us all.