For everything..there is a season..

 "I could not have known then that everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons; they have to or they die. The seasons remind me that I must keep changing."-Donald Millar

Honestly, saying goodbye to Madagascar is hard. It is hard to leave what has been a beautiful journey, a privilege and a gift. Yet, as I leave this beautiful country God has reminded me again of the seasons...

I absolutely love that stage when a season changes. There are new sights, new sounds, new experiences with the coming of another stage in the year. With spring, everything seems to bloom where there once was nothing and the air comes alive with new sounds. In winter, things die, yet even in the cold and the death I feel that there is a freshness and beauty in the stillness and the dying, because one know that new life comes again in spring. So as I finish my time here in Madagascar, I feel like I have enjoyed the season of spring inside me. I know that God has planted and bloomed new things in me. I have been given the gift of seeing-seeing the beauty in new people that I’ve met. Seeing the beauty in the midst of what is often dirty and dead. Seeing the beauty of Gods unfathomable grace…the beauty in the smile of a child who know He has been ‘born again.’  …The beauty of the sunrise and the sunset. God has given me eyes to see these things. I am so thankful. God has given us this gift of seeing so we can view Gods glory, His artwork. It's an invitation to worship Him, to know Him. I have been given the gift of spring- of seeing all things new.

Personally, I am quite the fan of the sounds in spring…It’s the time when kids come outside to play…when the country comes alive with sounds of animals. So too, I feel I have been able to hear new things in Madagascar. God has whispered new things about Himself to me. I have been able to listen to His thoughts about me in a fresh way. I have been able to hear the sounds of joy as well as the sounds of pain and suffering. I have heard the sounds of children playing, laughing….worshiping. I have been able to grow to understand more of the sounds of the new and very different language that has surrounded me, which I once didn’t understand. I have heard the sound in the morning of the rooster, and at night the sound of the grasshoppers mixed with a bit of SK Melody…:) Yet, amidst all these new sounds the most wonderful has to be the sweet sound of the name ‘Jesus..’ In Malagasy, French or in English etc this name changes people. The name of the Jesus has power everywhere. It springs new life, forgiveness and hope in people. I thank God for the new gift of being able to hear.

So, in some ways spring is now over. I say goodbye to Madagascar…to the lovely people I have met. Yet, another season begins in my life. God has given me such a wonderful gift. I stand in awe. I go back to Ireland in wonder of my God. In Madagascar the season is changing. From the hot sun of summer to the cooler winter…in Ireland….I go home to summer. Time moves on. Things change. Yet, even though I am sad to leave, I am excited for what God will bring next. It is tempting to want to stay in the season of life and newness and birth….yet, I am aware that I have been called to move on. To go to this new season God has called me to... I thank God for who He is and what He has done in and through me the last few months. Thank you for the seasons God.

Whatever place you are in at the minute…whether you feel dead, cold and far from God..whether you feel new and excited about who God is..know that God is unchanging in every season. I am reminded if the word in Ecclesiastes 3:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace.

So the journey begins...

Madagascar...When I knew that I was going to be living in this beautiful country for 3 months, I really didn't know what to expect. Certainly I knew that my expectation of seeing talking penguins and lemurs was probably a tad unrealistic..;)

However, as I left Northern Ireland on Monday with all the 'unknowns' of what was ahead, I was so excited in the certainty that I am indeed under the shadow of my fathers wings... the 'God with us' and the God of Madagascar. What an amazing privilege to go to this land and simply get alongside with what God is already doing. 

Well, we arrived in Antananarivo on monday night with no problems. The first thing we had to do was to get some visa things sorted. This proved to be sort of interesting. Our flight had a lot of French people on it, so it was funny to watch the developements of the queue for visas..Hmm.. basically the 'french queue' is summed up in- 'get to the front at all costs.' Needless to say,  the only 3 Northern Irish people on the flight somehow ended up in the back of the line:) 

The first few days we stayed with some missionaries in Madagascar. We had a few days of language training-this is done by meeting with some of the local people of Madagascar who become our 'language learners'. This has been so good, allowing us to build relationships with people. The idea of learning language in this way, rather than simply studying books is that we are immediately allowing the people to teach us. We are here as learners-to serve and to get alongside the people. It has been amazing to see how the language learning is indeed not something that just has to be done before doing any sort of ministry to the people. Rather, I think that this is a massive way to minister. In allowing myself to become vulnerable and maybe look a wee tad silly (they spend most of their time laughing as I attempt to speak to them...) it enables them to see that we are here to learn from them too. God is not the God simply of my culture in Northern Ireland. Rather, God has been in Madagascar from the beginning. So, this has been a great thing to be part of. Yes, I admit...I struggle with language learning. However, just been able to see how in this I can still build relationships with these woman has been wonderful.
So, what to say about Antananarivo? It is such an interesting city full of so many wonderful people and things.  Imagine, streets full of people at their stalls selling all sorts of things, markets, more people, mountains, rice paddies, chickens, the smell of burning charcoal,  plants, dirt roads and the blue sky, the sounds of chatter, laughter and children, and then you have a little glimpse of what Tana is like. The people here will start the day early-so I sleep to the sound of crickets and wake to the noise of people and children. About half the population of Tana is under the age of 16!
I am growing to love this country more and more each day. There are certainly many adventures to be had. Some may complain about the good old ulsterbus services in Northern Ireland. But, oh man..wait until you experience a 'taxi-bus'..Basically, it looks like a minibus with as many people squeezed inside it and as many people clinging to the outside of it. So, we set off on our first journey..all was going well. We had managed to get inside, which I think is always a bonus! However, the next challenge was to fit inbetween the normal seats(which were taken) to sit on the plank..(this proves more difficult than one would think saying I am quite a bit bigger than the Malagasy people.) So, after that second hurdle was over..I was getting pretty confident. Then I heard a noise..Hmm, people looked around and the bus randomly pulled over. I thought that this must be normal 'taxi-bus behavior'..however, everyone began to pile out of the bus..and it wasnt my stop yet. I was a tad confused, so followed. I realised that we had actually got a tyre puncture! Despite this interesting twist, I did actually make it home. I am beginning to find that every journey on the 'taxi-bus' is a unique experience.:)

On saturday..Sarah and I had our first experience of a market in Madagascar without anyone who actually speaks malagasy to keep us right. So, armed with our few words..'hello' and 'I can only speak a little' we travelled to the market. We actually managed to get everything we set out to..which was quite an achievement. I really like the market though, it is such an interesting place. Somehow, I don't think I will be brave enough to go for the meat section yet..;)
Tomorrow begins the start of out teaching. We will be teaching four days a week in MCA. This is a christian english school which is part of YMCA. I am so excited about this. We got to meet the principal and some of the kids. They are all so great..:)We will be teaching the kids english, alongside helping in an english christian club every wed. So I am so excited to get to know these kids! There are about 70 children in the school Please pray that we would be able to encourage the children and the teachers. Pray for this school. That they would not only be teaching them knowledge, but also that they would be able to build disciples of Jesus.
Every Wednesday, we will be helping in a conversation club with some Malagsy women. We got to meet them and I am so excited about this. They are such wonderful woman. We will be able to spend a few hours every week just talking to these women and having discussions about God aswell as other things. I am so excited about building friendships with them. Please pray for these women.
Madagascar really is a country of such beauty. However, it is so easy to see the problems and the corruption everywhere. Most people here live only on $1 a day. There is much poverty and corruption. Sin and its effects are clear to see everywhere. The church here is established, however..not many people are being taught the truth through church. Please continue to pray for this country.
The past week as I have started to learn more about this country it is easy to focus on the problems and the evil. Yet, in the face of this I have been amazed by God. The God of Madagascar. The God who is greater than the evil that surrounds us.I am amazed at his love for me and these people. In this love I don't need to fear and worry. His love is complete. His power is unfathomable and he simply has commanded us to love him. We are complete in this love, and therefore we are completely free to love others..to love these people I meet. I am so excited about the journey ahead.
I am reading 'kings cross' at the minute and thought that this was a beautiful description of Jesus,
'Unpredictable yet reliable
Gentle yet powerful
Authoritive yet humble
Human yet divine'
Wow. What a mindblowing privilige to be a loved and to love this King.
Thank you so much for your prayers..this was a bit rushed..but more updates should come..:)