Have you ever met someone that instantly motivates and encourages you? For me, I experienced that on day one in Madagascar. Before my squad entered the country we had no idea what to expect or what the Lord had planned. The first two weeks my team had the opportunity to take on campus ministry at the local university in Antananarivo. We would wake up at 6 a.m. and wouldn’t get home until around 4 p.m. Needless to say our days were long and we became exhausted. That’s where Marc comes into the picture. He is a local Malagasy that volunteers with our partnering organization, Operation Mercy, and goes to school full time. All of the young adult volunteers we were privileged to work with were amazing men and women of God, but Marc and I instantly bonded when I let him try out my ENO hammock for the first time. His response, “Man, this thing is magic. I want to take a nap now. What’s your favorite Bible verse?” Over a common love for naps and sharing our favorite Bible verses we were able to establish a friendship that will last a lifetime.
Over the course of the next few weeks with evangelizing on the campus and just daily conversation I was able to see Marc’s genuine love for Christ and his desire to see his country breakout in revival. In the face of possible persecution and rejection Marc had no fear to proclaim the name of Jesus and see the church come together in unity. That’s exactly what he brought to our squad and myself. I saw this come to life one night when he asked if some of us would pray over his family. Bill, Emily Madden, and I prayed over him for about 45 minutes. He then returned the favor by blessing us with a powerful prayer and encouraged us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus this year. That’s only one example but I could give many more where Marc encouraged, prayed, spoke the Word of God, and spoke life into myself and others. The funny part of this story is that he’s only 21 years old. Through this friendship the Lord continued to show me what true community and brotherhood is all about. We’re definitely not perfect in this by any means, but this year has been a great season for growth in many of those areas.
I am thankful for the time I was able to spend with Marc and all the other awesome translators/teammates! Holy, Tsinjo, Mamy, Ny, Miora, Philia, Michael, Johane (SHE’S FAMOUS), T’iiNah, Frederic, Andrianarimanga, Tohy, and Diary you all hold a special place in the kingdom of God and I’m excited to see where God takes you in this journey with Him! Thanks for welcoming us into Madagascar with open arms.
