Oh, Madagascar!
There are so many beautiful faces there. If I can paint a picture of what I saw there it would be a cross between the southeast Asian islands and Central America with complexions ranging from medium to dark. Madagascar has taken me completely by surprise. And I absolutely love it.
Here are a few pictures that will give you a glimpse of the beauty I experienced and the ministries we served for the month.
Our first week of ministry we would travel about an hour and half to the University of Antananarivo. The mornings would generally be us walking around the campus with our translators meeting students and inviting them to English Club, which we held in the afternoons. We would normally have a devotional thought at the beginning of English Club and finish with some sort of activity where students could practice their English.
I enjoyed campus ministry because it allowed us to meet and talk to locals. Sometimes conversations would lead to talking about Jesus and other times it was just us bringing the light of Jesus to those we came in contact with.
The second week of ministry was so good! Even though, we only spent 3 days there, we really enjoyed our time there. We had the pleasure to work alongside of a church and school for different projects from helping in the classrooms, to serving lunch, to painting walls. One thing that really stuck out to me about those few days were the young people we were able to spend some time with. It was sweet to see how much they wanted to get to know us. So we poured into them what we could in the amount of time we had with them. They told us about their dreams and what they wanted for their future. I will continue to pray for them and the church.
And this brings me to the last week of Madagascar. This is the week I fell in love with Madagascar. We have the opportunity to go to Bakaro, a small village that we refer to as the “bush”. We stayed in a house and not our tents, which was great. But the reason I fell in love with this country here is because we were really able to live amongst the locals. The house we stayed in was the home of one of the translators parents. They really made it feel like a home away from home.
Bakaro was also where we were able to connect with people on a personal level. Sometimes I wished we could have stayed there a bit longer. This is also where I met Onintsoa, the young lady I told you about in a previous blog. Beauty In A Broken Vase I wanted to spend more time with her. Learn more about her story. I still remember her in my prayers.
Another ministry we had were blessed to be a part of was going to a school. We thought we were just going to play with the kids and teach them stories about Jesus. What we didn’t know was that we would also be washing the kids hands and feet. This is something the woman who started the school does for the kids. She says that this is a way for them to feel loved.
Man, did it teach me more about the love Jesus has for us. Just think about how much He went through when He walked the Earth. All that He suffered — JUST FOR ME! *inserts praise break* Just think about that for a moment. She shows the love she has for the students by washing their hands and feet because that is sometimes the only washing they get. And Jesus came down to live among sinners and died on a cross to show His love for me. That’s amazing.
Continue to pray for the squad as we are entering into our 6th country. Lots of changes will be happening so I will keep you posted.
xoxo
Jackie
