Monday, September 24 -- Gana Gana Giesa!

This morning we finished up surveying Andranomavokely and I actually found a believer! However, she is not from the village, just there working temporarily. I hope that she will share her faith in Christ and the eternal hope that she has with those around her. There are so many that are just waiting to hear about Jesus; I think that we all should take note and do the same here in America. I read a book a while back and it had a story about a christian girl and her best friend who wasn't a christian. When the christian was asked about the lifestyle/lack of faith that her best friend had, she replied that religion was a personal thing and that she was not going to "impose" her personal beliefs on her friend. At this point, the author told the Christian that he would not want to be her friend. Why? Because she was more interested in not offending her friend than in her (friend's) eternal destiny. I've often wondered how many opportunities I have missed to share the good news because I was more concerned with what the person would think of me.

I mentioned earlier that there was an Adventist church in the village. We also found a house that had scripture painted on it,
however we did not get a chance to interview the owners. According to the locals, they (the owners) were members of the Adventist church. This was the only house that we saw in the bush that was painted (and of course, the only one with words & scriptures on it too). I really wish that we would have gotten a chance to talk with them and see what they truly believed. Nearly all of the people we have interviewed thus far that had a "church" background did not have a clue as to what the "good news" was all about. I'm sure that I will have more to say on that issue once I'm done with my chronological thoughts throughout our trip and move on to a "reflections" segment.

Byron and Kris got to interview the witch doctor this morning too. Not only that, but he gave them a demonstration of his skills! He took this little bag of dried seed-type things (in it too were a couple of "rocks" of a different shape), he dumped them on the floor and ran his hand over them swirling them around. By doing this, he gets a "reading" or "feeling" about whatever he may be curing or predicting etc. Byron thought that he really didn't look or act like he knew what he was doing. Oh yeah, along the topic of witch doctors... I don't remember which village we were in, but Kris and Kyle were asking some of the locals about whether or not a witch doctor was present and they said "yes, we have one but he is just starting out... he isn't very good yet!"

We spent the rest of the morning hiking (4.1 miles) to the next village, Andranomangily. It is so hot here! Much warmer than in the southern part of the island. The hike was very beautiful and we had a couple of water crossings too. I actually had to walk across a tree trunk that was about 8 inches wide and about 10 feet long... WITH my pack on. Of course the guide just walked across it like it was nothing. It isn't quite so simple with 40 pounds on your back! Well, I made it across without falling in (and so did Lalaina)! Byron kept letting people go in front of him hoping that he wouldn't be the first to fall in the water. He said that there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would end up falling off! After letting us girls cross, the guys found an easier place to cross on a shorter log with vegetation to hang on to... They definitely took the easy way out! I told Kyle that I must have missed the part in our trip information packet that said we needed to practice walking across a balance beam with loaded packs on! Maybe he'll add it in for the next team! Here is another crossing that we did today, this one was a bit easier since the log was carved in such a way that the walking surface was "flat" instead of rounded. You can note that another use for Kyle's hiking poles is to help balance during shallow water crossings.

Andranomangily was an awesome village. There were about 160 people plus kids living there. They had a great school and a very sophisticated teacher. The school had desks, the students had backpacks and books, and they learned to speak French, read and write (amongst other things I'm sure). It went up the the 5th grade and about 1/2 of the students continued on elsewhere to study further. There were 60 students in the school and it really reminded me of the old 1 room school houses in the states decades ago. I interviewed the teacher first, she was married, no kids and was sent to the village by the government to teach. She loves the village and students and you can tell that she is very much respected by the adults who live there. In her house she had maps of the world, addition tables, science posters etc. She also had many OTC medicines, matching table and chairs, a nice bed (and painted fingernails). She knew a few English words... probably a few more than I know in Malagasy. She had a christian (Lutheran) background and seemed to know all of the "right" answers to our questions, so I classified her as a believer. However, she prepared Kris and Lalaina's dinner that evening and Kris had the opportunity to share the gospel with her and her husband. Even though they had a church background, they felt that (after speaking with Kris) they had never understood the gift of salvation. Both she and her husband prayed with Kris that evening to accept Jesus into their hearts. Praise God!

The teacher asked for my address and was excited for me to point out where I was from on her map. I told her that I was very excited that she was devoted to this community, this group of kids and that she was in a position to share Christ. I gave her candy and bouncy balls to pass out to her students and what a treat it was to see them play! Kids in the states would have gotten bored in about 10 minutes with a bouncy ball, but these kids played with them for hours! And the next morning they all had them out again! In this picture the teacher is explaining to them that you EAT the candy and you do NOT EAT the bouncy ball.

It gets dark here at about 6p.m. At dusk, Lalaina and I went to the well to clean up. The night was clear and the moon was nearly full. When we returned to the village, Kris had all of the kids circled up and was teaching them "If you're happy and you know it.." and "Jesus loves me". It was precious, seeing all of them do sign language in the moonlight! Kris and I had talked earlier in the day that we should teach them duck, duck, goose, so we decided that now would be a great time. However, we used the malagasy words: gana, gana, giesa. My only regret is that while God had blessed our trip with a nearly full moon and clear sky to light the school yard so we could see and play, it was not bright enough to video tape and share with all of you! We played gana, gana, giesa for probably an hour. Then we sang "if you're happy and you know it", then we taught them a cat and mouse game. The teacher even joined in on that one (she was the cat and I was the mouse... she caught me)! The adults of the village crowded around watching the activities, so the teacher encouraged them to sing/chant in order to show us some of their cultural songs. It was very cool listening to them, again I wish that we would have been able to record it!

It was such an uplifting experience and my heart really was touched by this village. I definitely could have camped in their school yard for awhile! It is important to note, however, that even though this village really worked its way into our hearts, it is very much within the bondage of the Enemy (as indicated by this little boy: the necklaces that the children wore were given by the witch doctor to "protect" them). There were also 2 areas near the village which were a kind of holy ground. The people worshipped 2 sacred trees and as a part of that worship they offered sacrifices of zebu. All of the places we visited were touching, but this particular village and its children made such an impact on me. I pray that I will see their bondage broken this side of heaven and that I will again get to play gana gana giesa with the children and their children's children in paradise!