Madagascar has by far been my favorite country on the race. All of Africa is beautiful and the people here are stunning, but there’s something special about Madagascar that has captured my heart. My team’s last week here was spent at Akany Avoko, a girls center that housed girls (ages 2-18) who were abused, mistreated, or had unsafe home environments. This center keeps girls for up to two years while the court system works with their families to create safe living spaces for the children. After the two year time period, if the household environment is deemed safe, the girls return home.
My team traveled here and stayed in a room above the offices. All six of us plus our two translators slept on mattresses on the floor of a large room, and honestly, it was so much fun. Every night felt like a giant sleepover where we were able to have quality fellowship with one another away from the rest of the squad. It provided us with some much needed community as well as time to rest and recharge in solitude with the Lord.
Our ministry days were short here. We rotated working in pairs in the nursery in the mornings from 9-11, and we were with the girls in the afternoons from 2-4. This was the girls’ daily break from school. In Madagascar, the children go to school in the mornings and the evenings with a lunch break at some point in the middle of the day.
Because we only had two translators and the number of the girls at the center was high (151 total), conversations with the girls were very limited. We played board games and basketball with them, but most days I found myself just sitting with them, holding their hands, rubbing their backs, and smiling at them.
The limited time we had to spend with the girls gave my team and I plenty of down time. At the end of the week we spent some time in reflection of how we felt our ministry with the girls went. I found myself fighting feelings of discouragement. In my perspective, it felt like we didn’t do much of anything for the girls. Yes, we spent time with them and did what we could to share Christ’s love with them, but I couldn’t see or feel the fruit of this.
Before we left on Friday, we got a chance to say goodbye to the girls. To my surprise, many of them had tears in their eyes and begged us to stay longer. Many asked us, “When will you come back to see us?” The director at the center even told us that we had done more for them than most volunteers do. I was in shock at this reaction and the overwhelming sense of gratitude and respect they held for us.
On the race, there are some weeks where ministry will be scheduled for eight hours a day, and some weeks where ministry will only be scheduled for two hours a day. What God showed me this past week was that the amount of time spent with people doesn’t necessarily matter, it’s what you do with that time that really has an impact on their lives and on the Kingdom.
I remembered the week before leaving for the girls center, I talked with God and said to him, “I know I can’t always use words to communicate with your people, but if all you want me here for is to comfort them, then that’s enough for me. But you will have to show me how to best do this in a way that shares your love.” I had completely forgotten that I had this conversation with him until he led me to the scripture Habakkuk 1:5, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”
Often times God works through us in ways that we can’t see or understand. He led us to a group of hurting girls so we could give them hugs, smiles, and the attention that many of them craved. He sent us to the children who just wanted to sit and hold our hands, who wanted to feel seen and acknowledged by another human, reinforcing the fact that they are always seen and heard by their creator above. Our ministry might not make sense to us in the time we spend doing it, but it makes sense to God the Father and to his Kingdom here on his earth.
If the fruits of our labor are not made apparent in the moment, that’s ok. We know that by accepting the calling to come on the World Race we are letting God use us to make a change in the lives of people we hope to be reunited with in Heaven one day. He is so good and continues to be faithful to us even when we begin to doubt the purpose he holds for us.
We leave for Malaysia tomorrow for a week of debrief and two weeks of ministry. Our ministry there will look a lot different from anything we’ve done thus far. I’ll be sure to keep everyone back home up to date on how God is moving as we move across the world. Make sure you subscribe to receive updates when I post new blogs. Thank you to everyone for your continual prayers!
