Modge Podge

May I present a random collection of thoughts, experiences and pictures:

First thing's first... THANK YOU!!

I was going to post a thank you to all of you who helped in sending me a package that I received and I'm sorry it's so late, but it's happening now!

We have been enjoying all of the contents of this package. The boys and I made the fake snow, we've been drinking the hot chocolate and we've made quite a few batches of delicious nachos with the taco seasoning. Thank you so much for your generosity in sending it. It was a massive package!! 

I thought this would also be a good time to share the photos from when I was able to see the kids get their Christmas boxes! They were all very excited.

It was really amazing to see the other side of the Christmas box project, but was also a little disheartening. Corruption is ever present in Madagascar, even in distributing Christmas boxes to kids.

Since we're rolling on the pictures I'll go ahead and share some from things Micah and I have been doing like playing with play-doh, practicing fine motor skills and learning the letters in his name. He is hilarious and I enjoy him so much. He's my buddy.

Also here is a picture from when we celebrated Madagascar's Independence Day! All of the kids get these lanterns and carry them around at night when the fireworks go off. They're all hand made out of paper and inside is a place to put a small candle... possibly not the most fireproof lantern ever made... but it works as long as you don't shake it too much.

So there you have it. The most random blog post ever. I'm so thankful for all of your support and prayers! Thank you so much! A longer blog post to come soon!

Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Luke 17:33

Balafomanga!

I'm finally writing an updaaaaaate! All kinds of things have been happening like...

Madagascar's Independence Day! It was last Wednesday. We went to fireworks (balafomanga in Malagasy... I think this word is wonderful) on Tuesday night and then to a parade the next morning. It was one of those moments when something that reminds me of home suddenly shows up in the middle of a completely different world. The parade was a great time, though. I went with my language helper, Vohangy and Kara and the three boys. I was finally able to see the drummer girls I'd been hearing so much about. They drum at different events, and I think on most weekends, as part of a program meant to keep them from becoming prostitutes. They are amazing!

I was able to see a few English students there and some other friends, which was so nice. That part of it reminded me of 4th of July parades when you run into everyone who's known you since you wore diapers and footy pajamas. I loved it. 

It was a bit odd thinking about celebrating a day like this with all the political hullaballoo going on. It almost seemed like we were celebrating something that wasn't real. The elections have now been pushed back to August 23rd. There are still three candidates running illegally and a lot of funding from other countries has been pulled because of it. Prayers are definitely needed for this country when it comes to its leadership because things are so blatantly corrupt.

The boys have their last week of French school this week, so we'll be upping the English schooling more during the break. We've been reading lots of books, which has been fun. And we've also been doing some of our favorite activities like playing ninjas and lego and our newest favorite... Monopoly! It was Luke's birthday a few weeks ago so he had a ninja birthday party and one of his presents was Monopoly. He's beaten all of us the couple times we've played so we're trying to end his winning streak.

There is a woman here who has just started up a class teaching women how to heal from loss and I was able to go to one of her classes a few weeks ago as well. God is really moving through her and changing the women's lives in amazing ways. Prayers for her ministry and relationships with the women would great!

Our unit retreat is coming up very soon at the end of August! I'm leading the children's program again this year so I've just finished most of the planning for it. We have a lot of kids this year and it's been amazing to see how God has provided people to help with the program.

I led my first solo English class last week and it was so great! It's a beginner's class and luckily there's a great teaching guide I was able to use that helped a lot. It was slightly difficult trying to explain some of the directions in Malagasy, so there was a lot of confusion and laughter. Although I can see that I've gotten better, I still have a long way to go with language. Thankfully there were some students who spoke pretty good English and they were able to help me translate a lot of things.

I've also been preparing for my GRE exam coming up in October... dun dun dun! So everything has been keeping me pretty occupied and has made time go very quickly. I honestly can't believe I only have two and a half months left. I can already feel that I'm going to miss a lot of things about Madagascar.

Prayer request 1: That I will be focused on what God has to teach me during my last couple months here and that I will stay diligent in language learning.

Prayer request 2: Wisdom for the future and trust that God will open up a job opportunity for my time between coming back and hopefully going to grad school.

Prayer request 3: A few missionaries have finished their time here and are headed home, so prayers for comfort for them as they've said good bye to the friends and life they've made here.

For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Luke 11:13