Manamboatra Sambo i'Noa

This morning, Ryleigh and I visited the deaf class at a local Luthern school.  It was our 1st time to share a Bible story with them and I think we were both a little anxious!

Ryleigh and Hasina (amazingly sweet lady/teacher)

Since Ryleigh seems to have such a love for animals, we thought telling the story of Noah and the ark would be appropriate.  I shared the story in Malagasy and the teacher translated it into Malagasy sign.  Every time we go, I pick up a few more signs - so I'm learning!  After we finished the story, I asked them to draw a picture of the animal they were most thankful that God had put on the ark.  We brought some crayons and construction paper with us and the kiddos seemed to really enjoy it!

students working hard on their drawings

Ryleigh seeing if Franck needs help :)

Their favorites included - giraffes, snakes, chickens, cows, birds, and Noah!

Zara & Viky drawing their pictures

Needless to say, the Lord has a way of dispersing all anxiety and flooding His children with joy and peace.  It was such a great time of fellowship and language practice.  Please continue to lift up my language fluency and that I will have the confidence in the language to speak freely.  We're looking forward to visiting again next week with Mrs. Patti & Alanna from Midway!

What joy the Lord brings!

Zambian Princess

One afternoon at bush camp, we dressed Ryleigh up in shatangis (the local Zambian dress) and had a photo shoot!  Thanks again Robyn, Krista, & Emma – it wouldn’t have happened without each of you!!  Here’s a few of my favorites!

Prayers Please!

Steve will be heading out to the bush with Grant, Doug, Nathan, & Connor today.  Please keep them in your prayers!  He will be visiting a village recently adopted in prayer by Midway Baptist and setting up a time for the team to stop by in a few weeks!  Please also pray that he can hear and learn the Mahafaly dialect - so that he may share stories from God's word with the Mahafaly people!!

Ryleigh and I would love for you to keep us in your prayers as well - life is always different when daddy's gone!  We will miss him!!

5 years already!

May 19^th we celebrated 5 years of marriage.  There are times when I can’t believe it’s already been that long & other times when I feel like that’s not nearly long enough to love Steve the way I do and to be loved the way that I am.  Blessed beyond measure is the only way to describe my life with Steve.  He is my best friend & the love of my life.  He never expects to be anything above #2 in my life and he continually challenges me to fall more in love with my Savior (#1 in  our lives).  He shows me love when I am far from loveable, he forgives the countless mistakes that I make even when I know better, he provides grace when I am least deserving, he can bring a smile to my face even when I’m crying, and the list could go on.  I prayed for him long before I knew who he was and he is an answer to every single one.  He’s even an answer to ones  I didn’t know to pray.  And you know, after saying all that – we’re both just two ordinary people.  Sinners saved by the only true God’s grace.  It is because of Him and His love that we are able to love one another.  For this and so much more am I eternally grateful.

2005 - the night he proposed

2012 - date night for our anniversary in Joburg!

Looking forward to all He has in store - I love you Steve!

Mother's Day

I know this is slightly late but considering we were living in a village (doing our homestay during 40/40) miles from any type of electricity much less internet on Mother’s Day – I figured being late was acceptable!

Of course I want to wish my mom and Steve’s mom the greatest mother’s day anyone could ask for – and for that matter I pray that every day is special and blessed for them.  They are incredible mothers, wives, and followers of Christ – we couldn’t ask for better!

What I’d like to really bring up is how much I enjoyed my Mother’s Day this year.  It was quite different than last years but more special than I could have imagined.

 I spent my Sunday here

 

With views like this

Watching my beautiful baby girl adapt so well to her surroundings

And helping to mud thatch a grain storage J

Does it get any better?!?!

Catching Up

Wow!  We are finally back home!  We missed being in Tulear so much and at the same time thoroughly enjoyed our time in South Africa & Zambia.  I’ve shared on here about our time in South Africa but haven’t told you about Zambia.  While in Zambia we had very limited internet – and for ½ of the time we were living without any electricity at all!  Our training was rural/bush training for Sub Saharan Africa.  We had a great time and the Lord really showed us lots of things to apply to our lives and ministries here in Tulear. Most mornings were spent doing DFAs (Daily Field Assignments) – we were partnered with another missionary and a Zambian helper and were sent out into different areas of town.  There are lots of people who speak English so asking questions and getting to know folks was a little easier than here in Mada!  In the afternoons we would learn through different lectures about certain customs & beliefs in Zambia and then the following morning we would go and ask questions regarding what we had learned.   While at bush camp, we had the same schedule but were living in tents and taking bucket showers!  Steve was incredible at making sure Ryleigh and I had hot water for our baths and having buckets of water pumped from the nearby well.  Considering that these are definitely considered "women jobs" here in Africa I was extremley grateful for my hard working husband!!   If you’re on facebook you’ve seen plenty of photos but for those of you who aren’t…here’s a few of our life from the past month!

Kruger National Park

We had some time between our conference meeting in Joburg and our training in Zambia – so we decided to vacay for a few days in Kruger National Park.  If you are anything like my husband, then you have grown up hearing about this park through any TV series done on animals in Africa.  It is a massive park with lots of animals all around!  We did 3 days of “self drives” through the park and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.   We never imagined we would see the number of animals that we did or that we would be so close!!  The other part we were unsure of was going while Ryleigh is so young – however, she LOVED it.  She’d stand at the windows and just gabber away at the elephants, giraffes, and monkeys!  Here’s some pictures of our time there!

We are so thankful for opportunities such as these!