As I lay in bed this morning I started dreaming about what I
should say in my post. I guess this can
only mean I better get to it. I can’t
remember the post I had all worked out in my dream, but I will do my best to
give you an update.
This past year has been a very good year for me spiritually and
emotionally. I really feel God is using
me where he has planted me. 6 years ago
this month I retired from the position of probation officer. It really seems like a lifetime. I was so blessed during the next few months
with the sale of my house, the sale of all my things (except the few things I
packed to ship to Madagascar) and preparation for the journey. Well, as you all know there have been many
ups and downs over the last 6 years, but this last year has been mostly
ups.
In January 2012 I started a 2nd English club at
my house. The previous group moved to
intermediate and the new group was beginners.
At the end of 2012 these 2 groups had moved to the next level. The now advanced group is getting smaller,
but that is a good thing because several have secured jobs using their English
language skills. Of this group 5 started
attending church with me. They are now
hearing the word of God on a regular basis.
The now intermediate group is doing a lot better. We are now working on pronunciation. This is hard since they have never made some
of the sounds used in the English language.
We have fun by making them try to stick their tongue outside their teeth
for the sound of th as in three. We
laugh at the way they say “third” sounds like turd.
Starting this January I began another club. This is now the beginner club and the class
is so big I had to put a limit on the number of participants. No more than 25 students are allowed. I prepared a grammar English book and am
using it with this group. Some of the
advanced group members are taking turns helping with the beginners club. They enjoy helping and can explain things in
Malagasy when I get stuck. We try the “only
English rule” but sometimes I don’t know how to draw a picture or make a
gesture for some words. I really enjoy
their help. The members of the advanced
group have become more like friends now.
The next thing that started last year was helping with
children’s ministry at my church. I am
working with the 3 to 6 year old children.
It really reminds me of when I helped with AWANA cubbies at Craycroft
Baptist Church. I love the kids this
age. They are so egger to learn about
Christ. Now we are doing the Armor of
God. This is really a fun lesson. Since supplies are limited here I have to use
my imagination to come up with crafts for the kids to make. Tracy Marcantonio has sent me some supplies
that we can’t get here like glitter, wiggly eyes crayons, markers scissors ect. Thanks Tracy.
Next about my work in the office. There are three of us working in the
office. It is located in my house so I
am never late. Things have been going
smoothly over the past year. In January
2013 we changed our accounting program from Excel to Quick Books. This has been (and continues to be) a learning
curve. To top it off a week ago my
computer crashed and I had to reformat it.
I needed to re-install all the old programs. I lost my copy of Microsoft word and had to
get a new copy. I tried to re-install
quick books and got an error message each time.
I spent several days trying to get it to install. After 3 tries with skype calls to intuit, the
help desk was able to get it to install.
The last time I was on the phone (skype) with them from 4pm until
2am. (They are only open 6am to 6pm PST)
. So finally success and I am back up and working on the new program. Praise God I save all my work on a flash
drive and only lost some pictures. Not a
lot though because many are saved on facebook.
While in the states last year I shared about some of the
children in my neighborhood in need of help.
Through donations 8 children were helped to go to school. I want to thank all of you that helped.
Personally this last year was fairly normal. I went back to the states during September
and October. I visited with my parents
in September and was in AZ during the month of October. The visit with my Dad was nice. His health is not the best and he is very
lonesome in the house by himself. He visits
my Mom every day. She doesn’t know me,
but still knows my dad. There are ups
and downs with my mom, but overall the main problem is the Alzheimer’s. My dad however has trouble with his back and
legs which limits his activity. His
hearing is getting worse and it makes it hard to talk to him over the
phone.
My time is Arizona was nice.
However the return trip was anything but calm. I was scheduled to leave AZ on Sunday;
however my flight was canceled due to hurricane Sandy. I finally reached NY on Thursday night
(Friday morning about 2am) and my flight back to Madagascar was scheduled for
Friday afternoon. And, as fate would
have it my luggage didn’t arrive with me.
I guess it stayed in San Francisco.
It did arrive about noon on Friday.
I met up with Tracy and my luggage about 2pm to prepare for our trip to
Madagascar. After that everything went
smooth. Tracy came for a month to see
what God was speaking to her about. She
now really feels God is leading her into missions full time. She can tell you more about that
herself. We had a great month and she
got to see a little glimpse of live here in Madagascar.
After that the rest of the year flew by. In January some of my club members gave me
new years gifts. Here in Madagascar it
is customary to give gifts for new years, not Christmas. Thinking about this makes me feel good. I like the idea of Christmas being about
Christ and not what gifts you get. Oh
what a lesson to learn.
I will close for now.
Thanking each of you for the prayers and support you give me on a
regular basis. I could not do it without
you.
With all my Love
Blessings
Sandi Horen
