Madagascar was an interesting month. I talked about that in my last blog so now I’ll just give you a quick overview of what we did for the month.
We got there and the spiritual heaviness immediately hit the squad. We fought against the heaviness all month, it was a constant battle. I had never experienced spiritual warfare before and at times I was very overwhelmed. Through these tough times, my prayer life was strengthened and in the end God overcame the evil, as He always does.
I got severe strep throat when we got there. I had the highest fever I’ve ever experienced and had to go to the doctor 5 days in a row to get a shot of penicillin in my butt. When I initially went to the doctor they wouldn’t even let me into the building because I was so contagious. So, I got my first shot in the back of the van. As I was bent over on all fours in the back of a random van I was thinking of how ridiculous I probably looked to the nurse who thought it was funny enough to take a picture. God’s has a good sense of humor and he knew that ridiculous situation would make me laugh even when I felt awful.
Because I had to go to the doctor for the first 5 days, I missed the first week of ministry. I was super bummed and discouraged. I still wasn’t feeling 100% when I was able to return to ministry, but God decided to flex a little bit to lift my spirits. We went to the University to do evangelism and the first 4 people we talked to gave their lives to Jesus. I started crying because I was just so happy. It was the first time God had used me to bring people to Him and it was such a cool feeling. Glory to God, ya’ll. Every situation has a purpose, even when we can’t see it.
I began to grow more confident in my faith and before I knew it I was preaching an Easter message to the English school we were working with. I was very nervous but somehow God spoke through me and over 40 people gave their lives to Jesus. More tears. My goal coming on this mission trip was to tell people about Jesus, and to see my efforts working gives me a joy that I’ve never felt before.
The last week of the month was spent camping in the bush. We did something different almost every day, but it was such a good week. We cooked, painted, played with some local kiddos, swam in the lake, and put on a “fun day” for the families of the surrounding villages. One day I walked 8 miles through the forest and canoed across a lake to talk to some kiddos about Easter, it was so much fun. I also bathed a cow in the lake.
Anyway, I know this blog was sporadic but I think that about sums it up. I’m thankful for the lessons I learned over these past three months and I’m excited to move on to Asia! God bless.
