Sunday, September 23 -- Andranomavokely

The wee, early morning hours were spent driving to Mahajunga. I finally got to ride in the passenger's seat because somebody had to stay awake to keep Kyle awake. I had been able to catch a little bit of a snooze while waiting for the truck to get fixed, so I wasn't too tired. I'm anxious to see the terrain in the daylight! We passed through a national park/forest and you could see lemur eyes reflecting in our headlights. There was also the most brilliant planet/star that rose at around 4a.m. in the east. Several days later I asked someone if he knew which planet it was and I guess that something got lost in translation because he informed that in fact it is the sun that rises in the east (and sets in the west...)! No kidding?! After a bit of research once we got home, I discovered that it was Venus. What an awesome sight! One of the scriptures that has continually popped into my mind during this trip is Jer. 33:3 (KJV) - Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. I am so amazed and in awe of the awesome power of God that is shown through all of His creation! Especially what He has shown me here in Madagascar: the bird's eye views from the helicopter, the close-up views in the bush, and everything in between. He definitely has shown us great and mighty things about this mission field, both in the physical and spiritual realms!



We arrived in Mahajunga at about 6:30a.m. and checked into our hotel that we were supposed to have checked into last night. Check out was at noon, so that gave us a few hours to catch a short nap, shower and repack our backpacks for another trip to the bush. We met Marcus from helimission at 2p.m. and he flew us about 60 miles into the bush.

This is what the coast of Mahajunga looks like. The reddish color of the Indian Ocean is due to deforestation and erosion. It is amazing how one hour the water looks totally blue and the next it is red.
I cannot say enough great things about these helimission pilots! The whole concept of the ministry is so beneficial. Just to be able to reach the most isolated bush villages with the sole priority of fulfilling the great commission! These guys fly in and out all kinds of mission teams, humanitarian aid etc. to the bush. What an exciting job! Please check them out online at http://www.helimission.ch/default_e8.htm.

Marcus is a cool guy and explained all of the different gauges to us and pointed out all kinds of interesting trees/points of interest of the ground. Like the previous pilots that we met, he definitely has a heart for God's work! I pray that God will bless these pilots and their families; they were certainly a blessing to us!
Of course, when the helicopter landed at Andranomavokely we were the sight to see and all of the villagers came rushing up to see us. It was election day, so the chief was busy with those proceedings. He gave us permission to stay and survey. It (Andranomavokely) is a large (about 500 plus the children), progressive village. In fact there are even vehicles that regularly pass through. The houses here all have wrap-around porches and I even saw one with a porch swing! Another guy had a TV... of course he is waiting for electricity to come to the village. They did have a school and there was an Adventist church in the village. Not surprisingly, they also had a witch doctor. The people here are not nearly as tied to ancestral worship or taboos, however they are still very far from knowing the truth of the gospel. According to Kyle, the Tsimihiety are known for their idol worship and that would fit into what we saw: less ties to the ancestors and more ties to whatever idol each of them chooses to worship. We did a few interviews tonight, but will finish up tomorrow. So far, I haven't found any believers here (despite that there is a church).
This is a picture of Kyle, Byron, Lalaina & Kris as we were discussing our plans for the night.