Back Home in Madagascar

Well, here I am back in sunny Madagascar. Yesterday I finally finished unpacking my suitcases. During the journey there was some delays, but since I had such long layovers at each place the delays didn't effect me. I was able to spend some talking with an embasy worker from Guatamala. I talked about what God has done in my life and let him know He is there for him also. All he has to do is open the door. Waiting for the final flight to Madagascar I met a neighbor here in Ambohibao. She knew a little english and we talked briefly. I pray we will meet again sometime here in our neighborhood so I can invite her to the bible study. When I got here my friend Michelle was there to pick me up. We went to my house to unload her car. At that time we didn't know where my car was. We found it easily though safe and secure at the MEF garage. I showered and Michelle picked me up again for Bible Study. We started the Beth Moore study on Esther.

My co-worker has been listening to the radio daily to update me on what is happening in town. Please continue to Pray for the situtation here to resolve quickly. In my part of the city there is little effect. I was able to go to the grocery store and get everything I needed. The cooking oil was a lot more expensive, but most other things were about the same. Here life is going on as before, but that doesn't mean I am unaware of the turmoil here on the Island. The opposition is really pushing to take over the government. I don't know how this will all end, but God does and it is in His hands.

I thank you all for your prayers and support. I pray God will protect you all my family and friends.

Sandi

Return to Madagascar

I know many are wondering what is going on. Well here is the latest. I have been very emotional this week. On Saturday my leader and I talked and at that time thought it would be ok to return if I stayed away from the downtown area. We talked again on Monday and started feeling maybe I should wait a few weeks. I contacted my travel agent and found if I didn't return as scheduled I would loose my ticket. I prayed yesterday for God to give me an answer and felt he answered me that if peace talks started I should go ahead and travel, but if they didn't then I should wait and have faith that God would help provide the cost of another ticket. My travel agent found a return ticket for 1539.00 I just got this information. Eariler today I found a ticket for $2500.00 Well, when I got up this morning I read the news on madagascar and found that peace talks started yesterday and both sides have agreed to not burn, loot and riot. I pray they come to a agrement very soon. So I talked to my Dad and he said since I am returning anyway I might as well go now since other people that live there feel they are leaving simi normal lives as long as they stay away from the downtown area. The US embassy has not evacuated their people and held a meeting earlier this week. So, the just of all this is that I will leave this Saturday morning and arrive in Madagascar the morning of the 16th.

Here are some prayer requests.
first I pray that peace will prevail on the island. (quickly)
next please pray for safe travel.
next I am praying for some one time gifts or new supporters. I found out today I have to pay $668.00 in income tax. ( I thought I wouldn't have to pay because I spent more than I earned in my mission work, but I guess you can only claim 1/2 of it. So anyway I have that expense and I planned to send two boxes back to madagascar by post, but since the problems are one block from the post office I will not be able to go get them, so I am taking an extra piece of luggage and that costs $250.00 also because of the recent problems in Madagascar my mission has required I get political evacuation insurance and that is $183.00 I am still underfunded to make my medical payments each month and soon will have to start paying that out of my current living expense. I pray for more prayer partners and more financial partners.

I will update my blog upon my arival in Madagascar.

God Bless you all Sandi

plans

Well,I think most of you have heard that last week was very eventful in Madagascar. The Mayor of Tana wanted to overthrow the President of the country. There were a lot of riots and burning of buildings. This week however, it appears like things have settled down and businesses are back open. I received e-mail from friends that are there and they said yesterday and today were like nothing happened. I saw in the new link on this site that the Mayor was fired. I pray that peace has returned for good over this situation. I wasn't sure if I would be able to return as planned, but it appears if the peace continues I should be leaving on the 14 of Feb as scheduled. I do however, have to make sure the mission is OK with this also.

January was a good month for me. I had the opportunity to meet with Rich, Bonnie and Nichole while I was in Arizona. We spent the afternoon together and it appears things are going forward with new missionaries gearing up to come on board in Madagascar. I am excited to return and get things going.

My Dad is doing a lot better than the last entry. We were able to get all the paperwork finished and my Mom is now on Medicaid. She is getting very good care at the nursing home and it is very close to my Father's house.He can get there in 2 minutes by car. Physically Mom is getting a little better. She can now eat ground and soft food and not baby food. Most days during the day she can talk where you can understand her. The nights though are tough. The other day she had the nurse call home so she could talk to us. That was a huge thing. I am so glad God is with us every day every hour every second and we can leave everything in his hands and he will take care of it.

As for me I finally caught the cold everyone else had. I was down for over a week and still have a cough now. It has been 2 weeks now. I did go to the Dr though and he gave me some antibiotics. I guess with that it just takes time. I pray the cough will be completely gone when I travel.

Thanks for all the prayers and keep praying for the country of Madagascar. Pray that peace will prevail.

Thanks God Bless Sandi