Well I thought I would do one last blog before I go to Diego for three weeks. If you look at a map Diego is the very Northern tip of Madagascar. I am taking the place so it will only take me a couple of hours but if I did decide to take the taxi bus it would have taken two days. I am looking forward to going to another region especially when this one happens to have lovely beaches. I am a little nervous however about taking the airplane all by myself with my limited ability to speak Malagasy. Oh well guess I will just show anyone my plane ticket and they will point me out in the right direction. I am thankful for the opportunity to be going by plane since I heard the bus is very rough and usually takes longer than expected.
So Diego is an opportunity to observe another ministry; specifically one that works with Muslims. Another AIM missionary, Esther has started working in Diego shortly after I arrived in Madagascar. Her ministry is working as a teacher teaching English to the University. About 90% of Diego is Muslim and I'm not sure about the other 10% but at least you get the idea. Esther's job is go along side the Christian Malagasy young people and equip them to minister to their fellow Muslim peers. Now I'm not quite sure what I am doing yet; I think I might help Esther in preparing her English lessons and I know she has a Bible study that she might want help with but other than that I will see when I get there. I think for the most part I am there to observe what Muslim ministry could look like for me in the future. Yeah I'm a little nervous because I'm not sure what to expect. I know Diego is a very dark region and many people have told me it's nice to visit but not so nice to live. I also just found out that there is no running water where I will be staying, this shouldn't be a surprise to me at all but to be honest it is a little. Hey I have been living in Africa like a queen; I'm surprised it has lasted this long. So just please pray that God will do wonderful things in these next few weeks; especially to my heart as I learn from these people and hopefully build some relationships with some of the students I will be working along side. I know it's hard to build relationships in just three weeks but hey they know English so lets start there. Oh and here's another important fact; the Malagasy language is different there. So in other words back to square one. I did however learn the greeting, Bola Tsara which basically means Hello!
Thursday 31 January 2013
Sunday 13 January 2013
Hello Friends
Another monthly update coming your way. I know, I know, I started with trying to do weekly updates but that obviously didn't last too long. Hope all of you can forgive me.
Anyways this past week was the first week I back after Christmas Vacation. It pretty much felt like I had been on vacation forever for some reason. I spent my vacation doing more language hours; trying to work ahead so I can finish my language course a month early (which you will hear more about later). This meant doing language lessons on Christmas Eve and the rest of the holiday. It went alright though; increasing my hours I think has made me progress in my language ability a bit more. I appreciate all your prayers in this area, it has really helped. I actually talked to the taxi drives twice during Christmas vacation and it was more than just 5 words. Of course the words might have been in the wrong order and my pronunciation being very poor but I think they both understood me. I also talked a little in Malagasy with the English teachers I work with and they said that if I stayed a year longer I would be really good! I think everyone is just glad that I am trying and they enjoy laughing with me about it. So next thing on the agenda is working on my Ethnography. I told you guys about that right? I'm not sure but anyways it is a study of a topic in the Malagasy culture that I can learn about and than do a written report. My topic is on the Kabary which is a tradition that stems way back in history (they are unsure when it exactly occurred of speech making. Now this isn't just any kind of speech making this is a Malagasy style of speech making. Malagasy people like to express there feelings through many proverbs and images. Kabarys are unique to only the Malagasy culture because the speeches are created around the Malagasy style of speaking. This is something the Malagasy people are very proud of because it is something that belongs to them and not any other culture. The Malagasy people have had a lot of things taken away from them but this is not one of them. I am supposed to do research through research and observation. I have supposed to have 5 interviews and lets just say there has been a few bumps on the way that makes me a little short reaching that goal so far but it is okay I know God will come through for me.
I don't know if I will have a chance to blog you again in the next month so thought I would let you know about my next adventure. I heading off in three weeks to the region of Diego which is at the very northern tip of Madagascar. If you look at a map you can find it pretty easily. Anyways this region is full of Muslims and since I am thinking of working with Muslims full term this will be a great opportunity for me to see what this kind of ministry would look like for me. I will be living with a full time AIM missionary there who is a University English teacher. I will help her in class and outside of class with preparation. I could really use your prayer as I go and check out this ministry. Pray that God will give me direction through checking out this ministry and pray that God will continue to give me an open and loving heart towards the Muslims. Also pray that I will be able to get all my schoolwork and ministry work wrapped up here so my focus can be there in Diego. So the next time I write I may be getting reading to pack up for home because shortly after I get back from Diego I go home. So hopefully I will write when I get back from Diego but if I don't keep me in your prayers for my trip back which is March second. Thank you so much for all of your support. All of you are amazing!
Anyways this past week was the first week I back after Christmas Vacation. It pretty much felt like I had been on vacation forever for some reason. I spent my vacation doing more language hours; trying to work ahead so I can finish my language course a month early (which you will hear more about later). This meant doing language lessons on Christmas Eve and the rest of the holiday. It went alright though; increasing my hours I think has made me progress in my language ability a bit more. I appreciate all your prayers in this area, it has really helped. I actually talked to the taxi drives twice during Christmas vacation and it was more than just 5 words. Of course the words might have been in the wrong order and my pronunciation being very poor but I think they both understood me. I also talked a little in Malagasy with the English teachers I work with and they said that if I stayed a year longer I would be really good! I think everyone is just glad that I am trying and they enjoy laughing with me about it. So next thing on the agenda is working on my Ethnography. I told you guys about that right? I'm not sure but anyways it is a study of a topic in the Malagasy culture that I can learn about and than do a written report. My topic is on the Kabary which is a tradition that stems way back in history (they are unsure when it exactly occurred of speech making. Now this isn't just any kind of speech making this is a Malagasy style of speech making. Malagasy people like to express there feelings through many proverbs and images. Kabarys are unique to only the Malagasy culture because the speeches are created around the Malagasy style of speaking. This is something the Malagasy people are very proud of because it is something that belongs to them and not any other culture. The Malagasy people have had a lot of things taken away from them but this is not one of them. I am supposed to do research through research and observation. I have supposed to have 5 interviews and lets just say there has been a few bumps on the way that makes me a little short reaching that goal so far but it is okay I know God will come through for me.
I don't know if I will have a chance to blog you again in the next month so thought I would let you know about my next adventure. I heading off in three weeks to the region of Diego which is at the very northern tip of Madagascar. If you look at a map you can find it pretty easily. Anyways this region is full of Muslims and since I am thinking of working with Muslims full term this will be a great opportunity for me to see what this kind of ministry would look like for me. I will be living with a full time AIM missionary there who is a University English teacher. I will help her in class and outside of class with preparation. I could really use your prayer as I go and check out this ministry. Pray that God will give me direction through checking out this ministry and pray that God will continue to give me an open and loving heart towards the Muslims. Also pray that I will be able to get all my schoolwork and ministry work wrapped up here so my focus can be there in Diego. So the next time I write I may be getting reading to pack up for home because shortly after I get back from Diego I go home. So hopefully I will write when I get back from Diego but if I don't keep me in your prayers for my trip back which is March second. Thank you so much for all of your support. All of you are amazing!
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