Reality and Contentment

(written earlier today, rewritten later today)

Here I am on a set of train tracks whose only use it seems is to provide a rather uncomfortable seat for me as I think and pray and write. A small grouping of pine trees that reminds me of Alabama sits off to my left about 100 yards away. At my back I feel a wind that, if I choose to close my eyes and think hard enough, would make me believe I was back in Fort Worth. But with open eyes there is no doubt about where I am, for I can see in the distance the mountain I climbed yesterday with April and the girls. In the foreground lies terraced land full of rice fields accompanied by the Malagasy men women who tend them. I am in Madagascar.

I begin to ask questions as I discreetly watch the Malagasy people work in their fields. What if that was me? What if I was born here and what if growing rice was my only source of provision? What if I wasn't able to take leisurely bike rides and sit on deserted train tracks and write down my thoughts? Or perhaps, what if I was being observed by some white guy sitting on train tracks and writing in a little book? You would probably ask some of these questions too if you were in my place (see what I did there?).

The truth is, we ask the same types of questions in the States, they're usually just pointed in the opposite direction: What would life be like if I had that person's good fortune? Or what if I had been born into a wealthy family? What if I had that person's house, job, ministry, etc.? What if? What if? What if? See how endless this can be? Oh, what wasteful and deadly fantasies we have!

As I sit here asking these questions, I quickly realize that I shouldn't dwell on them. I couldn't possibly know, or even learn, the answers to such questions. C.S. Lewis communicates this well in his book Prince Caspian as he tells of Lucy's second meeting with Aslan. In Aslan's first encounter with the Pevensie children, Lucy is the only one able to see him, but instead of following him as he wishes, Lucy folds to the pressure of her siblings and follows them. In her second meeting with Aslan, Lucy feels the shame of having not followed Aslan, and she speculates at what might have been if she had.

"You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out alright--somehow? But how? Please, Aslan! Am I not to know?"

"To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."

Hypotheticals of the sort mentioned above are devilish, and if entertained, can lead either to coveting and lust (a sinful desire for more than what God in His goodness has provided) or arrogance (partly manifested by a subtle, yet sinful "thankfulness" for one person's superiority over another). Furthermore, it reveals a lack of trust in God's grace and His sovereignty. Why am I American and not Malagasy? Why is the Malagasy man not American? Because God, in His infinite wisdom and goodness, "made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place" (Acts 17:26). That is why I am American, but it's also why this American now lives in Madagascar.

Each of us must say with the apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phillipians 4:13). (Notice the reality of Paul's statement: He "can do" all things through Christ.) Paul's reason for making such a bold statement can be traced back to verse 11, where he says, "for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." Paul stationed himself in realities, not in hypotheticals, and from these realities God taught him contentment, even in the confines of a prison cell. See how it happens? We learn contentment by engaging in the world of reality, not by wondering what would be if we were someone else or somewhere else or doing something else.

Well, it's time to get going; the Antsirabe winds are now pushing in the summer rains on the plateau here in Madagascar. This is where I live, and it's where I'm learning to be content.

--Adam

if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask...

In her last post (December in Madagascar), April wrote about Lantu and her family. As you can imagine, we were both very excited that Lantu and her oldest son had prayed to receive Christ. Furthermore, just last Thursday we had our first opportunity to study the Bible with Lantu and her second son Yasina (13 years). For the most part, this type of thing is still very difficult since we know so little of the language, but our night guard, Kris (also a pastor), speaks English well, so he serves as our translator when we exhaust our kindergarten-level knowledge of Malagasy. We had a wonderful night talking with Lantu and her son as we shared our testimonies, listened to hers, and then read some scriptures together in Malagasy. As we concluded this first meeting, April and I were encouraged and Lantu was excited as we made plans to meet on a weekly basis.

This week has brought with it some unexpected changes to our plans, though. As April mentioned, Lantu's husband, Henusi, has been staying three hours away in Tana looking for work. (Quick side note as a point of clarity: when we mention a place being three hours away in Madagascar, that is roughly the equivalent of 6-8 hours away in America; such is life on the Red Island) Surprisingly, at least to April and me anyway, he and Lantu had not talked for a relatively long period of time, but he returned to Antsirabe early this week. We thought this was a little odd seeing as it was unannounced; at the same time we were glad Lantu was reunited with her husband and the children had their father back.

Then the strangest thing of all happened: we returned home yesterday afternoon from a day of walking through rice fields and climbing big rocks to find that Lantu and her family--all except the 13-year-old boy Yasina--had left Antsirabe and were on their way to Tana. We noticed that they weren't around yesterday afternoon, which wasn't difficult because the twin boys (Mikael and Erik; around 3 years) are never shy about letting us know that they know when we're home. We just assumed the entire family was gone until Yasina popped his head above the outer wall outside their home this morning as we were leaving. He and April talked for a couple of minutes, long enough for him to communicate that everyone else was gone and that he had no electricity or running water in their house until December 31.

I'm sharing this because we need your prayers for this situation. Obviously, we are saddened at the departure of Lantu and her family (Antsa, the nine-year-old girl, is Emma's best Malagasy friend). We didn't get to say goodbye to them, and we only hope that they return sometime soon. Also, we are confused about the fact that they left a 13-year-old boy here to fend for himself. This certainly isn't an American cultural trait, but we also don't want those things that we consider cultural norms to interfere too much with our life here (or anyone else's for that matter); at this point we just don't understand why they would do that. Moreover, we were in agreement with Lantu that we would meet every week to study the Bible in order to help her grow in her walk with the Lord, and it goes without saying that those plans are presently on hold.

How you can pray specifically:

--That we would have the wisdom we need to handle this in a way that honors God and is beneficial to their family.

--That Lantu would continue to grow in her relationship with God even though we can't meet regularly for discipleship.

--(Somewhat selfishly), that they would return to Antsirabe so we could continue our relationship with them.

--That God would save Henusi, Lantu's husband. To be completely honest while using American terms, all we know of him is that he's a shady character.

Thank you all for your prayers as we seek to follow God in these distant lands so that people from all tribes and tongues might join with us in worship of the only One who is worthy.

--Adam

December in Madagascar

It's hard for me to believe it's really Christmas time when it's 80 degrees outside and becoming summer here in Mada. We are putting our minds and hearts attention toward the celebration of our savior's birth. The thought of Jesus coming here and being born in a stable, humbling himself and suffering for us is put into a whole new light here. It makes me so thankful we have a God who didn't sweep in like a king in royalty, but chose to come in a very humble manner. I am so glad that is the Jesus I know and get to share with the people here who are so very poor physically and spiritually. I think it makes him someone they can relate to much more. God is working in us and we pray He is working through us.

We have felt a multitude of feelings this past month. We had a guard who broke into our house and stole numerous things while we were at church. That was hard. We felt betrayed and taken advantage of, as well as sympathy and sadness for him spiritual state. He confessed and returned our things because he knew he was caught and he was scared of going to jail. What was amazing was that he hadn't sold them yet. We thank the Lord we were able to get our things back. He said he was sorry and came to church the next day. We haven't seen him since. He has a young son and his dishonest life is very heartbreaking. Please pray for him (Enza) that God would convict him and there would be true repentance.

On a better note, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving visit to the capitol, Antananarivo, with the Hailes family to see the Emeish and Spann families. We truly enjoyed the fellowship and food. It is nice to be in the family of God when missing our family and friends back home. We are so thankful for so many blessings and graces God has given us each day. We really enjoyed a visit to the Croc Farm there to see some of the animals we looked forward to seeing here...chameleons, lemurs, crocodiles, and fosa. The girls were glad to know there actually are lemurs here. We've talked about them a lot, but the only animals we see where we live that are different are omby (cows with humps on their backs) and lizards.

We are learning more and more Malagasy and we enjoy our time in language. We get to practice with our guards in the evening, our nanny, our neighbors, and people we meet on the streets and in the market. We've recently learned more spiritually relevant words and phrases in Malagasy, which is great.

We praise the Lord that our neighbor Lantu and her oldest son Zaka prayed to receive Christ on a visit from our guard, who is also a pastor. We introduced them and he has helped us talk some when we're stumped. Last week, we were supposed to start studying the Bible some with her and her kids, but she and one child were sick. Instead, the girls and I visited Lantu and her younger three kids; we read the Bible, talked some about God in Malagasy, sang a Malagasy praise song, and prayed (which I think I butchered, but we both agreed God could understand). Please pray for Lantu, Henusi (her husband, who we don't know if he's a believer), her kids (Zaka, Yasina, Antsa, Mikael, and Erik). We want to help them learn more and grow spiritually. We praise the Lord her husband found work, but it's about three hours away, so she's with the kids alone in a very tiny place most of the time. Please pray all of their needs will be met. They went to church with us for the second time today.

We also got to have lunch with our Nanny, Nina, and her family. Her husband Tina isn't a believer and doesn't speak English. Please pray for our relationship with them. Please pray for Tina, who is a gentle man, as well as good husband and father. He doesn't realize his need for Jesus. Nina is heartbroken that her husband doesn't know Jesus.

We are enjoying more time together as a family, which is nice. The power goes out 1-3 times a week (almost always in the evenings), so we play games together by candlelight. Our supervisors brought a bike down to Antsirabe for us to borrow, so Adam enjoys riding around town whenever possible. Homeschooling is going better with Emma, thank the Lord. She had not wanted to write or draw as much as she used to, but the last few days she has gotten back into her groove. Corinne likes to play alone some while Emma does school. That helps us a lot too.

We appreciate and need your prayers. They are very important to us. I have made myself a prayer schedule dividing the days up so I'm not too overwhelmed with too much to pray for in one day, which has helped me. Please know that you are being prayed for by us. Please keep us informed about prayer requests as well as how you are doing. We love you all and are especially missing family and friends with the holidays near. We pray God is bringing his peace to you during this holiday season.

--April

A Little Honest Reflection from Adam

I'm working on a post about one of the most out-of-the-ordinary circumstances in which I've found myself, but I'm not done with it yet and in the meantime I'm feeling the need to let some thoughts out.

Right now we're in the middle of the rainy season up here on the plateau of Madagascar. I knew that would be the case before we got here, but honestly I had no idea what that meant, this being my first rainy season and all. Would it rain all day, everyday for months on end? Would there be torrential downpours or refreshing showers or light sprinkles? Every morning? Every afternoon? I didn't know. What has happened is a little bit of everything. The rains introduced themselves with clockwork consistency as they made a short visit every afternoon. Most recently, as in the past few days, the clouds have rolled in earlier in the day and decided to hover for several hours, leaving us with the sloppy, red gift of mud.

This has proven to be an appropriate parallel for my time here in Mada so far. For the most part, the days here are good. Language school is going well, we're pretty well settled in to our new home, we have American friends here and we're building relationships with Malagasy people. But still, at any given moment, something might happen that turns my thoughts toward home, toward America. It might be the failure to communicate well with someone, or the stress that comes with dodging the thousands in the streets, even something miniscule like the different taste of spaghetti. Sometimes I miss things I didn't even like in America, like cold weather. (Strange, huh?) Whatever the reason, my homesickness has been as regular as the rains.

I know with time this won't be as big of an issue, but in the meantime I must fight to stay focused on the mission at hand. The Antankarana of northern Mada are in need of the Gospel, so we have been sent from our home in order to preach so that they might hear and believe.

A Quick Update

I have very little time right now, so I've got to keep it short. Sorry it has been so long since we've updated anything on here; we still don't have internet in our home, so our opportunities to be online these days are few. We are getting settled into our home in Antsirabe now, and it's kind of funny to me that our house here is at least two times larger than our seminary apartment in Fort Worth.

We have now been in Mada for almost two weeks now, and our days typically consist of homeschool for the girls, running errands, lunch, language school, supper, then a little hang out time before we go to bed. We are over jetlag now, but we have been thrown off by how inconceivably early the sun rises here and by how early it sets. Our internal clocks are still out of whack because of this, which just means our days start earlier and end earlier. (Just to give you an idea, 6am feels very much like 8am, and 8pm feels every bit like 10pm.) It's weird to us, but we're getting used to it.

For the next five months we will be in language school learning Malagasy. Our schedule for school is Monday-Thursday from 1pm-5pm. We had our first three days last week, and so far we have learned over 100 vocabulary words, so we feel like we've got a pretty good pace going. As you can probably imagine, the language serves as a strong and sometimes intimidating barrier between us and the Malagasy people. We attempt to talk with our night guards and others as we go into the markets and stores, but we still know so very little of this language. It can be frustrating and extremely tiring (we definitely need more sleep here than we did in the U.S.), but it is also a great motivator for learning.

The other major point of interest is the driving here in Mada. There really is no U.S. comparison that I know of. The streets are filled with people, almost all of them not in cars. Most of the people walk, ride a bicycle, or take a pous-pous (rickshaw), and most of them stay on the street, not sidewalks. Getting from point-A to point-B is now a secondary goal; primary is not hitting anyone.

Okay, I'm way out of time now, gotta run. Hopefully I'll be able to upload some videos soon which will give you a view of Mada and the rules of engagement for driving here.

Mandra pihaona (See you)

Adam

This is our official prayer card. Putting this here for those who can't get one, also for practice in learning how to post pictures to the blog.

April's Update

We have been in Rockville, Virginia for almost two months now. Wow. A lot has happened in that time. It truly has been a roller coaster for us of emotions and waiting to see if we would still be able to go to Madagascar. We found out very surprisingly 3 days before we came here that we were expecting a baby. We were excited, yet concerned, but trusting God to take care of us. It was scary, but we knew God had brought us this far and would continue to put our steps into place. For a little while we weren’t sure if they would still even send us with the time taken out for having a baby. We have had several ups and downs with uncertainty whether or not we could go to Madagascar.

On one of those days where we didn’t think we would be able to go, the teaching in our class that day was on spiritual warfare. It was just what we needed to hear. One of the discussions was about no matter what problems come our way, we need not be caught up in the whys of it all, but focused on Jesus, His Word, prayer, glorifying Him and sharing Him with others. These are our responsibilities always and don’t change in the light of adversity. They are meant to draw us nearer to Him. The verse that stood out to us most that day was 2 Chronicles 20:12, which says, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. “ God truly gave us what we needed for that day.

It was only a few days later that we found out the baby had no heartbeat, which was very painful for us. The ups and downs we experienced were more painful since they seemed now to be for no reason at all. But my memory verses for that day were told us that “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-4). Adam and I repeated this over and over as we waited to talk to the doctor after we found out.

Perhaps it’s needless to say, but I did have a couple of days after that that I was very angry about why God had allowed all that to happen to us and then have the baby leave us. It was very hurtful and I couldn’t understand God’s reasoning, but He has brought much healing and given me peace. Still, I do not understand the whys, nor do I like it always. But I do not have to like it. What I do understand is that God is my Creator and Savior and I will worship Him in good times and bad, when I can understand and when I can’t. He has given us peace and grace to get through this. Yes, there are still hard moments, but He is bringing us through.

We have met some wonderful people here that have been awesome and supportive through this whole time. We share a quad with the other people going to different parts of Madagascar…The Hailes family (Adam, Suzie, Phoebe (12), Emma (10), and Baylee (7)), Doug, and Nathan. Jeremy is also in our quad; he is going to South Africa.

We have learned so much while being here. We have been reminded of sound doctrine and the importance of God’s Word in our lives. We have been reminded that God is already at work in the places we will go. He is already preparing people to know Him. We have been taught about putting things in cultural context, about church planting, bible storying, culture shock, conflict resolution, and about animist and Muslim religions. We have tried new foods and we have mostly enjoyed them.

Emma and Corinne have really have enjoyed being here and having so many new friends to play with and are thrilled to have the Hailes girls as our new family. They have really enjoyed their classes as well. Their teachers are wonderful and they have an awesome children’s library. The girls have been learning things about different cultures, other religions, Bible stories, sharing Jesus’ love and some academics as well. They both had a simulated “airport day” where they learned the importance of staying together and keeping up with things. Emma even took a packed bag and had a fake passport to keep up with. Emma has gone on field trips to the zoo and an international market to try different foods.

We are all getting excited and a little scared about leaving and actually getting to where God is leading us. There are so many unknowns, so many challenges ahead. We pray for God’s equipping for the task. We pray for His love to shine through us and for us to be able to learn the language quickly. We pray that we all would adapt well, but especially the girls. Please join us in praying for these things. We thank God so much for our family and friends and would love for you to pray with us for the Antankarana people of Madagascar as we seek to reach them with the Gospel.

--April

fragile little containers

Hot tears ran down my cheeks and into my beard as I laid on my back staring at the ceiling. All strength had drained from my arms and legs, leaving me with a strange sense of deadness. I certainly hadn't gone numb, because I felt the stinging emotional pain of having lost a baby all throughout my body. My heart hurt, literally, and I still feel as if there is a hole in my chest. I prayed brokenhearted prayers, but to this point I haven't asked God why.

It's not that I don't wonder what the reason is for all this stuff, which to some may seem arbitrary or even cruel. To say the least, the last four weeks of our life has been a bit overwhelming: A surprise pregnancy about which we were very excited, but which also threw our certainty of going to Mada into question. Then the news a little over one week later that we were fully approved to go. Then the news one week later that our situation had been re-evaluated and a non-negotiable decision had been made that we cannot go to Mada. Then the news only one day later that our situation was being "re-re-evaluated" if you will, and the non-negotiable decision of the previous day was being re-negotiated. (It was on this day, a Friday, that we saw our baby's heartbeat for the last time. 137 beats-per-minute. I will never, NEVER, forget this.) Then came Monday and a concerned trip to the doctor. No flutter of a heartbeat on the ultrasound. No movement. A miscarriage, and devastation.

While I haven't asked God why, I do wonder about the purpose of these things, but at the same time I'm very comfortable with my belief that my good Father has His good reasons, and He will let me know all I need to know. No more than that, and no less.

Perhaps as I continue to grieve I will ask more pointed questions concerning God's reasoning. Perhaps not. But what I'm sure of is that now, in this moment of clarity, my prayer is that God would use our story, particularly these struggles, to glorify Himself as they serve as a testimony of His goodness and all-sufficient grace.

I will finish here in agreement with Paul, who tells the Corinthians and us, "But we have this treasure (our Lord Jesus, who is our glorious King) in jars of clay (What weak, fragile little containers of the Almighty we are!), to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. We (as weak, fragile little containers) are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed (no doubt), but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken (He promised He would be with us, and He CANNOT lie); struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies."
1 Corinthians 4:7-10--parenthetical notes mine.

8.16.11 10:40pm

As most of you know, a lot has been going on with us over the past few weeks, which is part of the reason we haven't updated the blog in a while. I did, however, want to share a couple of things I've written in my journal recently. One is a prayer and the other just contains some thoughts.

I can most assuredly say I've never experienced anything like this before. Lord, I'm not quite sure what to think about all this, what has turned out to be the most intense few weeks of my life. I sit here now in the aftermath of a lost child, still in the middle of an emotional roller coaster ride concerning our deployment to Mada, yet I also feel a great sense of peace and comfort. Your words, I can tell, are taking root and providing a firm foundation on which to stand. Jesus, your prayer that the Father would sanctify His children by His word is being perpetually answered (John 17).

What I notice at this moment is Your work of sanctification through pain. And because I know it is accomplishing Your intended ends, I can rejoice in the means (Rom 5, James 1). I can't promise that I'll feel the same way tomorrow, but I know my feelings are a fickle, untrustworthy judge of truth. Your word is truth, meaning it tells me what is true so I can believe what is true. If you gave up your own Son for us, how will You not also, with Him, graciously give us all things (Rom 8:32)? As a good Father, you have graciously given suffering to sanctify us while simultaneously giving strength to sustain us. Your grace is sufficient. Lord, by whatever means You choose, fill up what is lacking in me.

When Will My Plant Grow? a short story by Emma Mitchell

"When will my plant grow? I remember I planted it about three weeks ago, so it should be growing by now," I told my mom. "Honey, you have to wait, because plants don't always grow fast." "I don't want to wait," I shouted.

I went to my dad. "My plant isn't growing," I said. "You have to wait, because you don't have to just worry about the plant; don't waste your time, because you can play with your sister, brother, baby sister, or baby brother. "No," I answered.

I went to my sister. "When will my plant grow?" I asked. She replied, "I know that not all plants grow fast. Just take your time to play with us, not worrying about the plant." I was mad.

I went to my brother. "My plant won't grow," I said. "Well did you put a seed in it?" he asked. "Yes," I said. "Well, did you give it water and put it in a sunny spot?" he asked me. "Um, well, no," I answered. "Then do it!" I didn't do it.

I went to my baby sister. "Ooh," said my baby sister.

I went to my baby brother. "Gug," he said. "I guess you don't know."

I went outside. I sat. Then I stood up. I went to the kitchen. I got a cup and poured water in it. I went outside and poured the water on the plant, then I moved it in a sunny spot. "Time for supper," Mom said. I washed my hands, then ate supper. I went to bed.

In the morning, I got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, then went outside and looked at my plant. "Yay!" I shouted as a I jumped up and down. "My plant grew!" I went inside, told my Mom, Dad, sister and baby sister, brother and baby brother that my plant grew. "It did?" they all asked. "Yes! Come look!" They went and saw it. "Wow!" they said. "I watered it and moved it in a sunny spot and it grew!"

The Countdown...

I figured an update would be appropriate at this point, especially considering I'm in danger of doing what I always do with blogs, which consists mainly of good intentions and bad follow-through.

As of today, we have 14 days left in Fort Worth before we relocate to Alabama for 3 weeks before we relocate to Richmond, VA for 8 weeks before we relocate to Antsirabe, Madagascar for approximately 4 months of language school before we relocate to Diego Suarez, Madagascar to do the work we've been called to do. (Also, sometime in our first year in Madagascar we will spend 30 days living in the "bush" in Zambia, or somewhere like that). To look at this way is a bit overwhelming, and it probably looks a bit crazy, but I have no doubt that this is what the Lord has set before us.

The next two weeks will be pressure-packed as we finish our time in Fort Worth. We are doing our best to spend as much time as possible with friends, and this is certainly a blessing. Over the past three years, we have developed some great relationships, which will make leaving that much more difficult. I am realizing that obedience to God does not eliminate sadness, and I'm reminded of the numerous times in the book of Acts that Paul finishes his work in one place and moves on to the next. Acts 20:37 says that after speaking and praying with the Ephesian elders, "there was much weeping on the part of all." I'm not saying I want our close friends to weep over our departure (just a few tears will suffice :)), but personally I am feeling a real sense of sadness about saying goodbye to those with whom we have shared in the Gospel. (The strange thing is we will do this twice, once in Texas and again in Alabama). Honestly, I'm not looking forward to this part of the process, though I see God's goodness even in goodbyes.

Aside from that, we have a busy couple of weeks that includes packing, giving away some stuff, and selling other stuff.

-April has two nights of work left at the hospital (praise the Lord, she will be done forever with night shift). She has really been strong through all this, but also feels the pressure of our tight schedule.

-Emma has one more day in the first grade, then a week of art camp (right up her alley), then a week of ballet camp. She also just lost her first tooth, but don't mention it to her; she's a perfectionist and doesn't like the fact that her grill is asymmetrical now. She will begin attending Homesville Elementary School in the fall.

-Corinne (Ms. Happy-Go-Lucky) is busy singing her way through this time of transition. She will finish school next week, and then will happily join Emma at ballet camp the week after next.

-I will finish up at my job on the 30th. I am also working on a writing project for the great Jeremy Maxfield that will be completed on the 27th (this has been fun, both to work with Jeremy again and to write something that will see the light of day, as opposed to the hundreds of pages of seminary papers that are now locked in a vault).

I had the opportunity to preach at our home church, The Rooted Church, on June 5 (listen here if you want: Romans 5:1-11; thanks to Nick, Chris, and David for that opportunity). I've also been volunteering at the Forth Worth Pregnancy Center on Mondays and Wednesdays, which has provided a great opportunity to talk with young guys about life, manhood, fatherhood, and the Gospel (what a blessing this has been).

So I guess that's it for now. Please pray that we would make God look great to this world even in the midst of great stress and a busy schedule.

--Adam

April's Thoughts

Adam and I wanted to let everyone know how God has been leading us and about our plans to move to Diego Suarez, Madagascar, on October 5 of this year. The preparation for me began years ago as God obviously knew I would need much preparation before I was ready. After the 2004 tsunami, I felt an overwhelming call to take a short-term mission trip to India. My heart was so broken for the people there considering the great loss of life and knowing there were many who didn't know Jesus. Emma was very young and I didn’t want to leave her, but couldn’t get away from it; I would even wake up at night with dreams about it. After four months of praying and struggling, I surrendered to the Lord and God provided all the money I needed for the trip. I was fully intent on going until three different trips were cancelled or postponed because there weren’t enough going.

For a while, I couldn’t understand why God didn’t put it together. During the worship time at church one day, I even had a vision of myself ministering to ladies of different countries. I was then at peace, confident that God wanted to use me someday, somehow, somewhere in foreign missions, I just had no idea of the details. Adam felt really burdened about overseas missions last spring (2010) and couldn’t get away from it for long after that. We really began to discuss and pray about whether international missions is what God had for us. I had a great desire to serve those in physical need and those who don’t know about Jesus, but at first, I had a hard time thinking about going overseas for an unknown amount of time and was very concerned about leaving my mom.

We found out about the 2+2 program through Southwestern Seminary, which is essentially where seminary students to two years of their MDiv studies on campus, and then finish up their course work while serving on the mission field. (Adam’s situation is a bit different, but he can explain that part later). Thinking of serving in another country for a two year term was something I could actually wrap my mind around so we pursued that and felt strongly that it was what the Lord was directing us to do.

It took me a little while to work up the courage, but I finally told my mom and she responded surprisingly well. She said it would be hard, but she wants us to do what God wants us to do; she even said she wasn’t that surprised and had thought we might end up going overseas. (I was very thankful to the Lord for this since I had prayed He would prepare her heart.) Since our discussion, I have been at peace and excited to go serve the Lord in another country. We began talking to the International Mission Board last fall about going overseas with them to share Jesus' love with people who don't know about him. (And yes, we know there are HUGE needs in our own country, but this is something God has clearly put on our hearts and we want to be a part of the nations knowing and worshiping God.) We really didn't have a specific place to which we felt called, but we did tell the IMB of several countries we were praying about, including Africa. Not long after they called to tell us about Diego Suarez, Madagascar—labeled a “high priority" job—we began to pray and feel at peace about moving there.

As I look back over the years of how God has prepared me to serve people in great spiritual and physical need, I can see how it began long ago in my early years as our family struggled financially. Even later in life, I can see how God used the time that Adam thought we would go to serve in Austin as preparation to pull away from our very settled situation in our home in Alabama. I can also see how the time living with Mom and Alex was beneficial as it gave us the opportunity to get out of debt, and it prepared me for our move to Texas. Most recently, God has used our time in Texas to grow me into a more spiritually strong woman and He has taught me to be okay with having less and living in a small space. (Our washer and dryer are in a washroom outside, we have no dishwasher for the first time in my life, and our apartment is 624 square feet). It's amazing what God uses to mold and shape us.

We plan to move some things to Alabama the first week in July, which is where we will be until we go to training in Richmond, VA, for eight weeks (starting July 25). We will then fly to Madagascar on October 5th, 2011; we will visit our city for a short time, then go to Antsirabe, Madagascar, for language training for four to six months.

We ask that you will please pray for us, specifically for:

-Our preparation to go. (We will have a yard sale soon to get rid of some things and store some other things at my mom's.) It will be very hard to say goodbye to our friends here in Fort Worth. We have really enjoyed our time. It will also be hard to say goodbye to all our friends and family in Alabama.

-The missionaries already in Diego Suarez- Michael and Michelle; and the Berry family, who are in language school in Antsirabe now, but will be moving to Diego soon.

-The Antankarana people to see Jesus' love through the missionaries there and believe in His truth for salvation from their sins.

-The few new believers to continue to grow in Christ.

-For our eight weeks of training in Virginia; we desire for this time to be beneficial.

-Our language study.

-Emma and Corinne to adjust well to having much less toys, no air conditioner, living in a different country, making new friends, and seeing family on Skype rather than face to face.

Emma's Notes

Madagascar sounds really,really super awesome,and I'm super exited,nervous,curious,and amazed,because I really want to see Lemurs,and especially chameleons,because they are colorful.I'm going to get used to it,I bet.We'll have fun in Madagascar.I know that we are going because we are going to teach people about Jesus.We have a French book,so we can know some French because we need to.I learned some French on Rosetta Stone,something on the computer.I had fun learning French on the computer getting eager to go to Madagascar and learn Malagasy,and French. I'm intrestead about the food they eat. -Emma Carol Mitchell

why not?

On April 12, 2010, I (Adam) wrote this question-in prayer form-for the first time in my life, "Could You be wanting us to live in another country?" That question marked the beginning of the whirlwind of a journey we have been on for barely over a year now, and it is on this journey that we will make our way to Madagascar to work with the Antankarana people later this fall. In some ways this seems so weird, and in others it seems so natural, even normal. We believe in a sovereign God who has a heart for the nations. He is the One who desires praise from all peoples, not because He needs it, but because He deserves it, and because it proves to be most satisfying to those who do it (read John Piper for more on this; just pick any book of his and you'll see). For this very purpose, namely, that we might live "to the praise of His glory," we believe God saves people, freeing us from slavery to sin and releasing us from His wrath. All this is accomplished through Christ, who died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice, taking the place of us sinners so that we might be reconciled to God. This belief, this truth, is what drives us to follow God, and we believe He is leading us to Madagascar.

A couple of questions that I'll answer now is Why us?, and Why Madagascar? I'll answer those questions, first by asking it another way, "Do we feel called to Madagascar?" My answer to the first two questions is simply, Why not? Why not us and why not Madagascar? If you ask me if we're "called" to missions, specifically referring to international missions, my answer will be (at this point) something like, "I believe so." But what we do know is this: God has given us a desire and granted the opportunity to do missions, so based on the information available to us at this time, both in desire and opportunity, we believe the Lord wants us in Madagascar.

We were introduced to the need in Madagascar through the International Mission Board (IMB). Since we have so little experience from an international standpoint, we've never felt a "pull" to a particular nation or people group, so we decided that we would wait to hear from the IMB about where they were sending missionaries, and that would help us make the decision on where to go.

During our interview process (which is by far the most grueling process we have ever been through, but also one of the most productive as well), I received a call from the IMB about 3 jobs in Africa: one in Malawi, one in Madagascar, and one somewhere else I can't recall. Before this all happened, Madagascar had not even crossed our mind. All we knew of Madagascar was talking lemurs and some displaced zoo animals. However, what really caught my attention was that the job in Madagascar was listed as "high-priority" by the IMB because of the state of lostness of the Antankarana people. There are approximately 330,000 Antankarana, and only a few are born-again Christ followers.

Currently, there is a missionary couple (Michael and Michelle Allen) working with the Antankarana, and while they have seen several come to know Christ, there are still so few true followers of Christ among that people group. For April and I, that immediately turned the question of Why? into Why not? We believe wholeheartedly that we have a God-given desire and a God-ordained opportunity to go, and so we will.

(Side note: We will live in Diego Suarez, a city of about 120,000 on the northern tip of Madagascar. Also, we have met Michael and Michelle through Facebook/e-mail, and have enjoyed getting to know them electronically. Michelle is from Alabama; weird, huh? We have also met another couple, Andrew and Christina Berry, another missionary couple who will be living in Diego Suarez as well. Can't wait to meet them all on the ground in Madagascar!)

More to come later. April, my wonderfully detailed wife, will soon fill in some of the gaps I've left. If you have questions, we'd be glad to answer. Leave a comment and let us know what you want to know.


--Adam