JAN-FEB17: Prayer letter: Honeymoon in Madagascar

Seven months in Madagascar has been one of the best experiences of my life. Knowing the city where I live and all the beautiful places here make me feel very happy. Making friends with other customs and sharing time together has been a blessing. Starting Bible studies in houses have been a challenge because when you get into each one, you also get into a subculture of the homeowners. So many diversity has fulfilled my life with an unimaginable cultural richness.

FUNNY ANECDOTES

I want to share a funny anecdote that happened to me during one of the Malagasy classes. I am learning to tell stories in the dialect "tanosy". One day my language guide came with a question and said: Diana, what do you use to cut your nails?, and the word “nails” in Malagasy is “vazakoho” but  I understood: what do you use to cut the nails of the chickens? Since the word chicken is “akoho” in Malagasy and if you all realized, both have the same ending and; therefore, the same sound. Anyway, my answer was that in Ecuador we use the KNIFE to cut chicken's nails, of course, before cooking them. As she did not believe that in Ecuador we used knives to cut our nails, she asked me again “do they use knives?” And I continued saying “yes, of course”. Then she said: and “don’t you cut your fingers when using the knife?” and I told her that if you cut a piece of chicken’s finger there was no problem hahahaha ... Then, my language guide was horrified to know about this dangerous practice in my country. Finally, we both realized we were talking about two different things. In the end, what she wanted me to respond was “nail clippers” hahaha. We spent more than half an hour laughing.

Learning Malagasy with my nurturer

MINISTERIAL WORK

It is true that since I arrived here in Madagascar, I set out to share the gospel with everyone around me. I must also recognize that if I do not focus on speaking in Malagasy, the doors will not be opened to other opportunities in places where Christ has not been preached yet. My desire is to reach out those who has not had the opportunity to hear the gospel yet, those who are scattered in hostile environment, those who has been forgotten, etc. On the other hand, I cannot stop giving thanks to the Lord for bringing me opportunities to share the gospel with people whom I have done up until now and who has blessed my life in an awesome way.

Some of my Malagasy friends and I still have Friday Bible study at the English Center. Praise the Lord for each person who comes to this Bible study especially men because they are the majority of them, this amazes me because normally women fill the groups and they are usually outgoing but in this group is quite the opposite.

On Saturdays, I have a Bible study with two young girls who have made very good progress. After several months of having told many gospel stories, we have now begun deeper studies with sound doctrine. So, now they are sharing these stories with others. Glory to God!

T & F at Saturday Bible Study 

C (in yellow) being trained to be ready to make disciples

The students of the English Center reading about Jesus

I thank Father Almighty for these first two months of the year of advancement and work. I close this section by recalling the promise He told me earlier this year in one of my devotionals:

“Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel (Diana), in whom I will display my splendor.” Isaiah 49:1-3

CYCLONE ENAWO

One of the most painful but frightening event was the cyclone which affected Madagascar a couple of weeks ago. The north of the island was the most affected, leaving many losses, both, material and human. In the south of the island where I live, it did not happen with the same intensity as in northern Madagascar but it does not mean nobody noticed it.

The electric power went out at 18:30 pm and we did not have access to it until the next day at the same time, 24 hours without any communication. During that week, we had a lot of rain but that day (Wednesday, March 9) there was a torrential rain. The night before, I went to sleep early when suddenly, at midnight, the windows and doors began to ring in a shocking, uncommon way. The sound of screams and whistles caused by the wind and, at the same time, the noise of things that flew in the air, woke me up. That feeling I could not forget because I woke abruptly without understanding what was happening.

Now, I am so sad to know that the cyclone left 38 dead, 180 injured people and more than 53,000 people displaced. This cyclone has been one of the most important since the last one in 2012. I remembered my homeland Ecuador and the earthquake on 16-April-2016 that caused thousands of deaths, hundreds of disappeared and displaced people. Until now they are living in shelters and we have almost one year of such an event. I felt very sad and touched by all this.

PRAY FOR:

* Malagasy language learning that I can increasingly understand it better and begin to speak it in a fluid way.

* The Bible studies I am still carrying on in English. Pray that I am gradually able to share them in Malagasy.

* For more opportunities to share the gospel with those who still live immersed in animistic practices.

* Victims of Cyclone ENAWO, so that God comforts the hearts of families who have lost their loved ones, and for those who lost their homes, so that in the midst of all this disaster they can see a light of hope.

* For my physical and mental health. I have had constant headaches that do not allow me to be in a good mood sometimes and I cannot develop myself 100%.

* For emotional health, to continue learning about culture, my mistakes, times alone, homesickness, but that all add up in a good way in my personal growth.

* For the trip I will be going this week to South Africa. It is an international meeting among missionaries from the sub-Saharan region. For all connecting flights are safe and I can enjoy a good time there.

* For my family, my mom Lupe has been through a viral process and she has fever, bone pain and so on. May God restore her immediately.