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