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