Fun times with friends

The week that started horrible but ended blessed

This week started really bad. First I am having problems with flooding in my bathroom. So I woke up Monday morning to step in water all over the floor. UGH! After cleaning that up and getting my shower and dressed, I headed out the door to go meet my co-worker to certify some papers. I tried to lock the door to the house and my key went in circles. ( I have a door that you have to use a key to open it once it closes) For security reasons I have a paddle lock on the back door, so getting in by that door wasn't an option. All my windows have security bars on them. I was stuck out of my house. So, I went to get the papers certified and my colleagues went to town to try to find someone to come fix the lock. The only place that knew how to fix it had all their workers out on other jobs. We were told to come back at 2:00. We got there at 1:30 and picked up a lock smith. When we arrived he had to break the lock off the door and manipulate the lock to open the door. We found you can't just replace the lock. They had to take the door off and take it to a welder to remove the old lock and then get another lock and have it re-welded. Finally about 5pm it was finished. Praise God I had a door and lock before dark.

Tuesday I was taking a friends daughter to her therapy, she is only 3 years old, she was crying for her mom and I wanted to comfort her so I attempted to give her an "altoid" mint and I hit a pot hole the entire tin of mints flew in the air and all over the car.

Then later that day I was going out to help a friend who was trying to get a new home due to her hose not being secure, I started out the door only to see another dog that my dog does not like and will fight with every time. Well, when trying to keep him in and let me out I fell off the step and bruised my knee, arm and bottom. I was sore all over.

On Wednesday I helped my friend move into her new house. She had been staying with me for the past 2 weeks after an attempted burglary in the middle of the night. 4 burglars pulled the security bars out of the wall at her bedroom window. So this day was a blessing for her.

Thursday was a public holiday here and I didn't do anything in the morning. Afternoon I had Ladies Bible Study. It is a small intimate group studying about how to have a revival with God in your heart. I am really enjoying this study and the opportunity to get to know these other women more intimately.

Now it is Friday and I am at work with time to update my blog.

Sorry no pictures for this post.

English club

I've talked a lot about my English Club. They are really progressing quickly. Most are at intermediate level. 4 of the boys from the club are now attending church at Tana City Church (where I attend). One boy in particular is asking a lot of questions and growing quickly in the Lord. It is amazing how God can use the English club to help someone grow deeper in Him. On an average there is 20 to 24 students each week. I really look forward to Thursday mornings.

The young man in the picture introduced me to a project being offered by the Ministry of Population. This project is to teach English to the poor all over the city. They have 20 schools to teach English at a cost of 300 ariary a month. (that is about .15). The Ministry of Population ask for my help in training the teachers and helping them with their English. I will meet with them beginning in April they also requested I attend the opening of some of the schools. I will co-sign the certificate with the Ministry of Population, at the end of the 3 month course. Last Saturday I attended one of these schools. It is exciting to see the excitement in the students to learn English.


The Lord led me to start another English Club but this time for beginners. It is more like a lesson than a school, however I have high hopes they will progress quickly. I had to put a cap on the number of students at 20 because it is too hard to get them talking when it is too big. I am glad I have a big living room and can host them all.

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was a joyful time. 1 year ago I was feeling lonesome and homesick, but this year was much different. The Saturday before Christmas, my friend and I hosted a Christmas Dinner for about 20 people. After dinner we enjoyed a gift exchange and Christmas carols.

The English Club I host at my house also enjoyed a celebration of Christmas. Everyone brought something and we all enjoyed a time of fun fellowship.

My Ladies Bible study group celebrated our last session of the series just before Christmas so we also had a time of fellowship in the form of a cookie exchange. Everyone brought their favorite cookie and the recipe. It was a nice fun day. We played the snowball fight. Since we have no snow here we used old paper as snowballs and had fun with 2 teams trying to throw the most to the other side.

On Christmas day after church my friend and I attended a Christmas dinner at another Missionaries house. I think there were 30 + at this dinner. We all brought a dish and shared. After eating we exchanged white elephant gifts. It was a lot of fun. I got a dress that was about a size 3. I don't think my arm would fit in it. LOL. It was a good gift to give to my cleaning lady along with a hat that fit her perfectly.

I ended the year by going out of town to a friends hotel. They have a beautiful hotel and nice pool. On New Years Eve there was a concert by a famous Malagasy singer "Lola". These friends are such a blessing. They offer to me as a guest any time I want to come. This is about 3 1/2 hours away and just enough to feel like a vacation.

Long overdue update

My deepest apologies for being so delayed in sending updates.

Over the next few days I hope to post several posts of what has been going on since my last post.

October 2011,

The office staff headed north to Mahajanga for a field conference. It was nice traveling in the new vehicle. It is a 10 hour drive so having something comfortable to ride in is very important. Having trouble with the A/C, but that is minor

The conference was a internet tel-conference about member care. With half of the team being new to the field, we thought member care would be an important issue. It was very good. There were times of crying, laughing and most important praying. We all walked away requesting the presenters to present another time.

The last day was a fun day where we spent time together. We had a little green friend join us for lunch.

Here are some of the pictures of the conference.